Death of a Salesman - Discuss the Importance of Dreams in the Play Essay Example for Free

Death of a Salesman Discuss the Importance of Dreams in the Play Essay The American Dream is strongly linked to a consumer culture and capitalism, and this is the main theme of the play. Dreams are the main structure of the play. Dreams can be many things; they can be divided into two types. They can be your hopes and ambitions, fantasies, hallucinations, and can also the dreams in your subconscious mind whilst you are asleep. The American Dream is what Willy bases his life on. The only way for him is up. Dreams seem to motivate the characters actions, they express and explain their past and present behaviour. The American Dream is the most important part in A Death of a Salesman. Willy strives to achieve for himself and his sons, Biff and Happy, to be rich and successful having money to pay off all the bills and not being in debt is the ideal. The American Dream is literally having the best of everything, owning your own car and land, being popular and having the opportunity and qualifications to be successful. All the way through the play Willy strives for The American Dream. He idolizes two people. His name was Dave Singleman. And he was eighty-four years oldAnd old Dave, hed go up to his room, yunderstand, put on his green velvet slippers-Ill never forget-and pick up his phone and call the buyers, and without leaving his room at eighty-four he, made his living. The other is his elder brother Ben who had found wealth colourfully, romantically, by walking into the jungle and discovering diamonds. To Willy therefore success means two things being rich and being popular. Willy strives to the point of obsession to achieve this end. This obsession of The American Dream pressurises Willy to bring up his sons to think the same and like a tree, the branches representing his sons reach up towards this dream and the subsequent pressure it puts on them. Biff begins to doubt The American Dream when he says its me, Im a bum and Im one dollar an hour. Biff realizes that life is not always happy and sometimes you just have to settle with what you have got. Willy still thinks Biff will actually achieve all the aspects of his dream. Biff tries to tell him Pop! Im a dime a dozen and so are you! Willy responds Im not a dime a dozen I am Willy Loman, and you are Biff Loman! Willy will not accept this and tries to shut and block out what Biff is saying. He cannot work out that there are an exceptional few that achieve the The American Dream. Happy is totally absorbed in his fathers dream, and tries to believe that he will achieve it. Happy tells Biff that he cannot be promoted. All I can do now is wait for the merchandise manager to die. He does not appear to be working for promotion and is stuck in a dead end job. The author uses Bernard, Charleys son as a story contrast to the two Loman brothers. Willy refers to him as an aneamic and says although he gets the best marks at school he is not as popular and does not have the personality of Biff and Happy. But the complete opposite happens when they finish school and get into the big wide world. Bernard becomes part of the Supreme Court. Oh, just a case I got there, Willy. Bernard was a hard working school pupil who seemed to have achieved the dream and also got married and had two children. This proves that popularity and a likeable character is not enough for the American Dream. Both Biff and Happy have many hopes and dreams dominated by their father Willy. Biff tries to fulfill his fathers dreams in the beginning. Well, I spent six or seven years after high-school trying to work myself up. Shopping clerk, salesman, business of one kind or the another. This repeats the theme of the play that one cannot live by anothers dream. What the hell am I doing, playing around with horses, twenty-eight dollars a weekAnd now, I get here, and I dont know what to do with myself. Biff is so confused with life because he was brought up to believe that he should be manager of a big company and will always be rich and successful. He seems to like his job in the open space but thinks that he should be earning more money than he is. Happy is like his brother Biff, lost but in a different way. He is thirty-two and is totally absorbed in his fathers dreams and ambitions. Happy continually boasts about his sex life. About five-hundred women would like to know what was said in this room. he tells Biff. Happys dreams are like his bosses. He should be able to build a large estate and then sell it two months after, because he doesnt like it and then start to build another. The two boys hopes and dreams come from their father. They were brought up to want the very best and are force-fed the wrong hopes and ambitions from childhood. The hopes and dreams that the Loman family have, have affected their lives in many different ways. Biff tries to live up to his fathers expectations but seems to realize that he cannot live other hopes. Happy is the only person with a steady job. Even though he is achieving one part of The American Dream he is lonely and keeps telling Linda and Willy Am gonna get married Pop. He is not content because he still wants everything beyond what his job can provide. He seems to still be absorbed in his father dreams. Willy is all talk and never achieves anything. He blames people for his downfalls in life. The only way he thinks he will resolve all of his problems in life is to commit suicide. Hopes and ambitions are extremely important for the people in the play as they are always striving for success. At the end of the play Biff says at Willys funeral He had the wrong dreams. All, all, wrong. Willy needed to accept that he could not live his dreams and had to settle with what he had and make the best of the situation. Willys memories affect the main structure of the play. There are many types of stagecraft to show the difference between the past and present. Lighting is used in the way that in the present times the stage is very dull and gloomy showing misery and unhappiness. The stage is shown as bright and lively at the points of Willys daydreams and hallucinations of the past. Sounds depend on the mood of the occasion, faint and lifeless sounds seem to be in the background when the play is in the present. The tone of the music changes when Willy goes into the past, it appears chirpy and happy. Clouting plays an important role. The clothing also depended on the mood of the character the colours of the dress indicates what temperament they were in. Willy seems to always be in the past, this is because he feels its a refuge from the life that he is really living in and all the problems in it. The flashbacks Willy gets are all describing what happened in the past and show how the other characters were. I got it, Pop. And remember, pal, when I take of my helmet, that touchdown is for you. Biff tries to impress his father; this shows that Biff was always the centre of his life at this time. These flashbacks show the sides of the characters in the play that we have not seen before. The flashbacks also show the way Willy has brought up his two sons. Willy brings Biff and Happy up in the hope that they will fulfil The American Dream, that popularity and good personalities will get them good jobs. This affects them in later life because they still believe that this doctrine will get those good jobs but it can not. Happy depends on the death of others higher ranked than him for promotion rather than his own skills. The past events are never shown as they actually happened, they are shown the way Willy interprets them. Willy seems to distort the event when Biff finds Willy and The Woman in the bedroom in Brooklyn. He does this to try and block out the bad thoughts, and create a past he can hide in from others. Dreams are so important in the play because they seem to link everything together The American Dream, Hopes and Ambitions and Daydreams, Fantasies and Memories. Throughout this play, Miller is saying to the audience that our society, promotes things to strive for that are way beyond the reaches of that person. Peer pressure is mainly what drives us to want more and the best of everything, getting into debt. Miller says that the characters in the play are affected by the dream, The American Dream. Although the play was written over fifty years ago in 1949, it still has relevance today. In the 1950s, capitalism was taking hold after the Second World War; today commercialism still has a powerful hold in the Western worlds culture. I think Miller is telling us to live our lives according to our own dreams and not others.

Literature Review Strategy for Evidence Based Practice (EBP)

Literature Review Strategy for Evidence Based Practice (EBP) Introduction Evidence based practice (EBP) is an approach to health care in which health professionals use the most appropriate information available to make clinical decision for providing high quality patient care (McKibbon, 1998). EBP has shifted the focus of health care professionals from a traditional approach on authoritative opinions to a stress on facts extracted from previous research and studies (Sackett et al, 1997). It has been suggested by that nursing practice based on evidence enhances patient care, as compared to traditional practices (Majid et al, 2011). In addition, as nurses are increasingly more involved in clinical decision making, it is becoming essential for them to make use of the best evidence in order to make effective and justifiable decisions (Majid et al, 2011). To discuss the evidence for a clinical skill, this essay will investigate the antiseptic preparations for surgical site antisepsis. The rationale for selection of this topic is its significance for the clinical nursing practice as nurses are frequently involved in the surgical site preparation (Dizer et al, 2009). Surgical site infection (SSI) is a type of healthcare-associated infection in which a wound infection occurs following an invasive (surgical) procedure. It has been suggested by National Institute of Health and Care (NICE, 2004) that surgical site infections account for almost 20% of all of healthcare-associated infections. It has been further highlighted that nearly 5% of patients undergoing a surgical procedure develop a surgical site infection antiseptic preparations. NICE (2008) has recommended that aqueous or alcohol based solution with chlorhexidine or iodine can be used for prevention of SSI. However, it does not favour or recommend one solution over the other. This essay will explore the literature for evidence about efficacy of these preparation in comparison to one another. It is important for the nurses to be aware of the best available evidence regarding antiseptic preparations to minimise the risk of surgical site infection. Research Question and Literature Search The research question for the current essay will be formulated on the PICO framework as suggested by Sackett et al (1997): P Population or problem Clean-contaminated surgical procedures I Intervention Chlorhexidine gluconate C Comparison or comparator Povidone-iodine O Outcome Surgical site infection The question formulated for the current essay using PICO framework would therefore be: In surgical procedures, is chlorhexidine gluconate more effective in comparison to povidone-iodine in reducing surgical infections? To answer the question, literature search for the available evidence for was done. The author identified a list of key search terms and synonyms that can result in a large number of hits and combined these with Boolean terms AND/OR. Terms made up of of two words were looked for by making use of speech marks so that they were are not searched for separately, and truncation was used for terms identified to have multiple endings. The key words used were surgical site infection anti-septic preparations iodine and chlorhexidine. In order to make sure that an in-depth search was done, which would elicit the largest number of studies more than one academic search engines were searched by the researcher. Cinahal: Contains an index of nursing and allied health literature and is helpful for use in a thorough search (Glazsiou, 2001). Medline: Suggested to be used in healthcare systematic reviews (Glazsiou, 2001). NHS Information Resources and NHS Evidence: Is a widely used database resource containing evidence-based reviews and specialist research from reliable sources. NHS evidence was searched separately. Cochrane Library: Provides a list of systematic reviews and RCTS that have been published or are in a process of publishing (Glazsiou, 2010). Pubmed: It is a commonly used internet resource for healthcare professionals with a large international coverage. The results of the search generated a large number of article however these had to be reduced in order to generate an appropriate research article which can answer the question formulated. Therefore, an inclusion and exclusion criteria was set to narrow down the large number of articles generated. The guidelines from NICE (2008) in which both preparation have been recommended in 2008 hence the research was done for studies published after that. Only randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have been included as they provide the best evidence. The articles which were not in English and published before 2009 were therefore excluded. Also, the studies in which preparations for a particular type of surgical procedure were studied were also excluded as the evidence for general surgical procedures was being looked for. Abstracts of the studies generated from the search of different data bases engines were thus read so that the articles which do not satisfy the inclusion criteria of this essay can be excluded. This resulted in selection of one article which satisfied the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the current work. The study by Darouiche et al (2010) is a RCT which compared the efficacy of two surgical preparations i.e. chlorhexidine–alcohol with that of povidone–iodine for preventing surgical site infections. In order to achieve this, preoperative skin preparation was done for adults undergoing clean-contaminated surgery in six hospitals with either chlorhexidine–alcohol scrub or povidone–iodine scrub and paint in a random way. The primary outcome was any surgical-site infection within 30 days after surgery. This study will be critically analysed to identify its strengths and weaknesses. It has been suggested by Burls (2009) that critical appraisal is the process of carefully and systematically examining research to judge its trustworthiness, and its value and relevance in a particular context. The critical skills appraisal programme (CASP) tool (Appendix 1) for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) will be used as the selected study is a randomised controlled trial. Screening questions 1. Did the trial address a clearly focused issue? Yes, the study addressed a clearly focused issue with clear problem to be explored, comparison groups and outcomes being investigated using a PICO framework to formulate the research question thereby increasing the rigour of the study (Huang et al, 2006). 2. Was the assignment of patients to treatments randomised? Yes, the assignment to treatment and placebo group was carried out randomly in a ratio of 2:1. This will increase the validity of the study. Literature suggests that random allocation of patients to study groups help to minimize both the selection bias as well as the impact of any confounder present (Cormack, 2000). It has also been observed in the study that in order to match the two groups and deal with possible inter-hospital differences, randomization was stratified by hospital by using computer-generated randomization numbers without blocking. This is a strength of the study as stratified randomisation can help to attain maximum balance of significant characteristics without compromising the benefits of randomisation (Altman and Bland, 1999). 3. Were all of the patients who entered the trial properly accounted for at its conclusion? Yes, the trial was not stopped early and the patients were analysed in the groups to which they were randomised. The study has done both intention-to-treat analysis for both groups as well as per protocol analysis. This accounts for the drop outs in the study an also been reported thus accounting for these drop-outs which may decrease the internal validity of the study. According to the Cochrane Collaboration (2014) intention-to-treat analysis minimised the presence of bias which may exist due to loss of participants, thus upsetting the baseline similarity attained by randomisation. Detailed Questions The study by Darouiche et al (2010) does not explicitly mention whether the personnel involved in the study were blind to the treatment groups. However, it has been mentioned in the study that the operating surgeon became aware of which intervention had been assigned only after the patient was brought to the operating room. In addition, both the patients and the site investigators who diagnosed surgical-site infection on the basis of standard criteria stayed unaware of the group assignments. This minimises the bias in the study and increases its validity as differential treatment or evaluation of participants can possibly introduce bias in the study at any phase of a trial (Karanicolas et al, 2010). Hence, it is a strength of the study. According to Berger (2006), in addition to randomisation, it is important to keep the baseline variables of the study groups similar at the commencement of the trial as it is essential for a RCT to compare groups that differ only with reference to the treatment they receive. The baseline characteristics of both groups have been reported in the study and did not show any significant difference between the two intervention groups reflected by their insignificant p values. It appears from the study that both chlorhexidine and iodine groups were treated the same way other then intervention. In order to determine the treatment effect, clear pre-defined primary end point has been given by Darouiche et al (2010). The primary outcome was defined on the basis of a standard criteria given by the CDC hence it increases the reliability of study. The results of the study found that the overall rate of surgical-site infection was significantly lower in the chlorhexidine–alcohol group than in the povidone–iodine group (9.5% vs. 16.1%; P = 0.004). In order to find the results, the study undertook multiple statistical considerations and tests. The study increased its statistical power by increasing the sample size in each group which gives the study 90% power to identify a significant difference in the frequency of surgical-site infection between the two groups, at a significance level of 0.05 or less. In addition, as mentioned above intention-to-treat and per protocol analyses were performed which further increases study validity. The study also carried out a pre-specified Breslow–Day test for homogeneity to find whether the results were consistent across the six participating hospitals. This was also a strength of the study as literature suggests that involvement of multi-centre patients can compromise the external validity of the RCTs (Rothwell, 2010). This is due to potential effect of differences between health-care systemswhich result in different treatment affects, values and confidence intervals have also been reported where required. Regarding the application of the results in the settings in UK, it has been highlighted by that the study by Darouiche et al (2010) was done in the US and used an aqueous solution of iodine. However, in the UK, the most widely used skin preparations are alcohol-based solutions of 0.5% chlorhexidine or 10% iodine (Tanner, 2012). This is because aqueous-based solutions are thought to be less effective than alcohol-based solutions. Hence, to make the study applicable to the UK settings, 2% chlorhexidine in alcohol should have been compared with 0.5% chlorhexidine in alcohol or 10% povidone iodine in alcohol. The benefits of the study are definitely superior to the harms as SSI not only causes significant unwanted outcomes and distress for the patient but also results in increased costs for the patient, the healthcare and the wider economy (Tanner, 2012). Thus, a number of factors increase the external validity and internal validity of the study including stratified randomisation, blinding of study personnel, intention-to-treat analysis, keep the baseline variables of the study group’s similar, sample size and a number of statistical tests. In addition, clear pre-defined primary end point increased the reliability of the study. The study thus has very low risk of bias and can be therefore rated as 1++ according to NICE hierarchy of evience (NICE, 2004). Hence, alcoholic chlorhexidine solution is significantly more effective in reducing SSIs than povidone iodine. However, the results should be applied to UK settings with caution. References: Altman, D.G. and Bland, J.M. (1999) How to randomise BMJ. 11;319(7211), pp. 703-4. Berger VW. (2006) A review of methods for ensuring the comparability of comparison groups in randomized clinical trials. Rev Recent Clin Trials. 1(1), pp. 81-6. Burls, A. (2009) What is critical appraisal? London, Hayward Group. Cochrane Collaboration (2014) Glossary, [Online] Available from: http://www.cochrane.org/glossary [Accessed 29 January 2014] Cormack, D. (2000) The research process in nursing, 4th ed., Wiley-Blackwell: Oxford. Crookes, P.A. Davies, S. (1998) Research into Practice. London: Balliere Tindall. Darouiche, R.O., Wall, M.J. Jr, Itani, K.M., Otterson, M.F., Webb, A.L., Carrick, M.M., Miller, H.J., Awad, S.S., Crosby, C.T., Mosier MC, Alsharif A, Berger DH. (2010) Chlorhexidine-Alcohol versus Povidone-Iodine for Surgical-Site Antisepsis. . N Engl J Med. 362(1), pp. 18-26. Dizer B, Hatipoglu S, Kaymakcioglu N, Tufan T, Yava A, Iyigun E, Senses Z. (2009) The effect of nurse-performed preoperative skin preparation on postoperative surgical site infections in abdominal surgery. J Clin Nurs. 18(23), pp. 3325-32. Glasziou, P. (2001) Systematic reviews in health care: a practical guide, Cambridge; Cambridge University Press. Huang, X., Lin, J. and Demmer-Fishman, D. (2006) Evaluation of PICO as a knowledge representation for clinical questions. AMIA Annu Symp Proc, pp. 359-63 Karanicolas, P.J., Farrokhyar, F., Bhandari, M. (2010) Practical tips for surgical research: blinding: who, what, when, why, how? Can J Surg. 53(5), pp. 345-8. Majid, S., Foo, S., Luyt, B., Zhang, X., Theng, Y.L., Chang, Y.K., Mokhtar, I.A. (2011) Adopting evidence-based practice in clinical decision making: nurses perceptions, knowledge, and barriers. J Med Libr Assoc. 99(3), pp. 229-36. McKibbon, K.A. (1998) Evidence-based practice, Bull Med Libr Assoc. 86(3), pp. 396–401. NICE (2004) Reviewing and grading the evidence [Online] Available from: http://www.nice.org.uk/niceMedia/pdf/GDM_Chapter7_0305.pdf [Accessed 9 February 2014] NICE (2008) Surgical site infection Prevention and treatment of surgical site infection, London: NICE. Rothwell, P.M. (2006) Factors That Can Affect the External Validity of Randomised Controlled Trials, PLoS Clin Trials. 1(1): e9. Sackett D.L, Richardson W.S, Rosenberg W.M.C, Haynes R.B.(1997) Evidence-based medicine: how to practice and teach EBM.Edinburgh, UK: Churchill Livingstone. Tanner J (2012) Methods of skin antisepsis for preventing SSIs. Nursing Times; 108: 37, 20-22.

The Crucible: Hysteria And Injustice :: Essay on The Crucible

The Crucible: Hysteria and Injustice Thesis Statement: The purpose is to educate and display to the reader the hysteria and injustice that can come from a group of people that thinks it's doing the "right" thing for society in relation to The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I. Introduction: The play is based on the real life witch hunts that occurred in the late 1600's in Salem, Massachusetts. It shows the people's fear of what they felt was the Devil's work and shows how a small group of powerful people wrongly accused and killed many people out of this fear and ignorance. Also important to the play is how Arthur Miller depicts how one selfish, evil person like Abigail Williams can bring others down and make others follow her to commit evil acts. These evil acts affect even the most honest people in the town like John and Elizabeth Proctor, and Rebecca Nurse who cannot fight the accusations made against them by those following Abigail. Those following Abigail are considered to be holy men that are full of honesty and justice, but the play shows that even those who are thought to be respectable and right, like people of government or community leaders can bring death to innocent people if they are driven by something wrong. II. Plot: The plot begins with the inciting incident where Rev. Parris finds his niece Abigail Williams and his daughter Betty along with his slave Tituba doing some dance in the forest. Right when he finds them, Betty becomes sick and won't talk or open her eyes, about this time other people's daughters become sick too. Rumors spread that witch craft is involved in Betty's illness and the development of the plot begins. Important to the major development of the plot is the fact that in the forest, Abigail and the others were just playing like witches. But they were following Abigail because she wanted to try to put a curse on a lady named Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail was in love with Mrs. Proctor's husband, John Proctor, and she wanted to some how get rid of Elizabeth. The problem was that as the rumors spread about the devil Abigail went along with it and blamed the slave woman Tituba for forcing her to join the devil. The rising action begins when Tituba out of fear of death starts naming people that she says were with the devil when the devil came to her. This is all a lie though because once Abigail blamed Tituba she did not want to turn the story around and admit that she was lying in the first place because one, she was

Essay --

â€Å"Demaryius Thomas is at the 20, the 10, TOUCHDOWN! The crowd goes wild! The Denver Broncos are going to the Super Bowl!† exclaimed, the newscaster. This wonderful image has been in the dreams of every Denver Broncos’ fans for over a decade. It has now become reality, for the Denver Broncos are participating in Super Bowl XLVIII. This paper’s main focus is to provide information on the Denver Broncos history, players, coaches, its super charged offense, and the Broncos’ road to the Super Bowl. According to Broncos history, the Denver Broncos first joined the National Football League (NFL) in 1960 with a dismal season winning only four out of the 14 games under the helm of Head Coach Frank Filchock. It took 17 years until the Denver Broncos made it to their first Super Bowl XII. Colorado embraced this team and nicknamed them the â€Å"Orange Crush† named after their perilous defense. Led by head coach Red Miller and quarterback Craig Morton, unfortunately they lost to the Dallas Cowboys in a 27 to 10 game. The Denver Broncos fans had to wait another 9 years for the next three Super Bowls under the direction of Head Coach Dan Reeves and with Colorado’s most iconic quarterback, John Elway in 1986, 87, and 89. Quite surprisingly, the Broncos lost all three Super Bowls (XXI, XXII, and XXIV) in the 80’s. Finally in the late 90’s John Elway near retirement led the 1997 and 1998 Broncos to their first two consecutive Super Bowl wins (XXXII and XXX III) under Head Coach Mike Shanahan. Presently, the Denver Broncos are the American Football Conference (AFC) Champions winning the game against the New England Patriots on January 19th, 2014. John Fox the 14th head coach of the Denver Broncos with a 24-year coaching career has won 112 gam... ...chdowns, nearly 4,000 receiving yards. This is his first Super Bowl appearance. Minnesotan, Eric Decker number 87 in his 4th year with the Denver Broncos scored 33 touchdowns, and 3,000 receiving yards. In week, 13 of the 2013-2014 season Decker earned the AFC Offensive Player of the Week award after scoring four touchdowns in a single game. To summarize, the Denver Broncos are on pace to becoming the best team in the history of the NFL. Consequently, on February 2nd, 2014 the Denver Broncos must face off against the Seattle Seahawks, the best team in the NFC at Super Bowl XLVIII. This highly anticipated game will decide the fate of which team can claim they are the World Champions. It will take the entire Denver Broncos team, coaches, players, and fans to conquer the mighty Seahawks and claim their prize in the history books as the best team in the world.

The Character of Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale in Nathaniel Hawthornes Scarle

The Character of Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, provides us with intricate characters to analyze and evaluate.   Hawthorne carefully constructs his characters, giving them each different emotions, values, physical attributes, and thus creating different souls.   One sees character development throughout the book, until at the end, one is left with an image of a seemingly "real" person.   One of Hawthorne's carefully constructed characters is, Arthur Dimmesdale.   With Arthur, one sees how sin changes him dramatically, causing in him moral conflicts.   Dimmesdale is continually trying to see who he is.         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the beginning of Hawthorne's novel, we are introduced to Hester Prynne, who has been condemned for adultery.   Through this sin, she has a child named Pearl.   The bigger controversy though, is who is Hester's "partner in crime."   But for seven years, Hester does not reveal it to anyone, not even her husband, Roger Prynne, who comes to town the day she is brought up on the scaffold.   Prynne is not happy about finding his wife convicted of being an adulteress.   He feels that the other guilty party should be up on the scaffold with her.   His deep want to find the guilty party, leads him to disguise his identity, and he becomes, Roger Chillingworth.   Hester agrees to keep his secret.   The novel takes us through the seven years that Hester keeps quiet.   A reader of the novel finds out early that Arthur Dimmesdale is the man Hester is trying to protect.         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One notices, that even in the beginning, there is deep inner conflict affecting Dimmesdale.... ...ter of Dimmesdale is excellently constructed through the actions and words that Hawthorne writes.       Works Cited and Consulted Brodhead, Richard H., "New and Old Tales: The Scarlet Letter," Modern Critical Views Nathaniel Hawthorne, New York, Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Dibble, Terry J., Cliff Notes on The Scarlet Letter, Lincoln, Cliff Notes, Inc., 1988. Fogle, Richard Harter, "The Scarlet Letter," Hawthorne's Fiction The Light and The Dark, Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1975. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: St. Martins, 1991. Matthiessen, F.O., "The Scarlet Letter," Critics on Hawthorne, Readings in Literary Criticism: 16, Coral Gables, University of Miami Press, 1972. Matthiessen, F.O., Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Scarlet Letter, Englewood Cliffs, Prentice-Halls Inc., 1968. The Character of Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarle The Character of Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, provides us with intricate characters to analyze and evaluate.   Hawthorne carefully constructs his characters, giving them each different emotions, values, physical attributes, and thus creating different souls.   One sees character development throughout the book, until at the end, one is left with an image of a seemingly "real" person.   One of Hawthorne's carefully constructed characters is, Arthur Dimmesdale.   With Arthur, one sees how sin changes him dramatically, causing in him moral conflicts.   Dimmesdale is continually trying to see who he is.         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the beginning of Hawthorne's novel, we are introduced to Hester Prynne, who has been condemned for adultery.   Through this sin, she has a child named Pearl.   The bigger controversy though, is who is Hester's "partner in crime."   But for seven years, Hester does not reveal it to anyone, not even her husband, Roger Prynne, who comes to town the day she is brought up on the scaffold.   Prynne is not happy about finding his wife convicted of being an adulteress.   He feels that the other guilty party should be up on the scaffold with her.   His deep want to find the guilty party, leads him to disguise his identity, and he becomes, Roger Chillingworth.   Hester agrees to keep his secret.   The novel takes us through the seven years that Hester keeps quiet.   A reader of the novel finds out early that Arthur Dimmesdale is the man Hester is trying to protect.         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One notices, that even in the beginning, there is deep inner conflict affecting Dimmesdale.... ...ter of Dimmesdale is excellently constructed through the actions and words that Hawthorne writes.       Works Cited and Consulted Brodhead, Richard H., "New and Old Tales: The Scarlet Letter," Modern Critical Views Nathaniel Hawthorne, New York, Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Dibble, Terry J., Cliff Notes on The Scarlet Letter, Lincoln, Cliff Notes, Inc., 1988. Fogle, Richard Harter, "The Scarlet Letter," Hawthorne's Fiction The Light and The Dark, Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1975. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: St. Martins, 1991. Matthiessen, F.O., "The Scarlet Letter," Critics on Hawthorne, Readings in Literary Criticism: 16, Coral Gables, University of Miami Press, 1972. Matthiessen, F.O., Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Scarlet Letter, Englewood Cliffs, Prentice-Halls Inc., 1968.

African American Experience Essay

African Americans lived differently than white men did during the turn of the century. They faced many problems within the society. Some of the issues they faced were out of their hands. Although things were not the greatest all the time, there were supporters and organizations that they could turn to. Along with these organizations they had leaders that tried to help the race. Many African Americans became successful in the late 1920’s, and still to this day there are many African Americans that are successful. During the time period around the late 1870’s through the 1920’s many African Americans did not have good jobs. The majority of African Americans lived in the southern states. Many were sharecroppers who worked the land and gave the land owners part of the profit from the crops. African Americans were cheated out of money through this process most of the time. The African Americans did receive the right to vote before white women. African Americans faced many issues throughout these years. A series of laws were passed in the South to keep the African Americans at the lowest point possible in society. These laws were known as the Jim Crow Laws. Shortly after these laws were established segregation became legalized, and black codes that were abolished during the Reconstruction resurfaced and were supported in Plessy vs. Ferguson. This lead to African Americans being looked down on and equality far from reach. African Americans were not allowed to go to the same schools or drink out of the same water fountains as whites; they were even told where they could and could not live. This put a strain on the race and the way they had to live. Many African Americans were also stripped of their voting rights. In 1890 a poll tax was enforced. This meant that poor people, of both races, were not able to vote simply because they could not afford to. They also instituted a literacy test where you had to show that you were able to read and write. Many times African American college graduates failed the test, yet illiterate whites were some how able to pass. The responses to these issues were not good. They did not understand why they should be treated any differently from the whites. This led to riots and outburst throughout the country. After this, African Americans became the center of violent and cruel attacks. Lynchings were on an all time high in the late 1800s with more than a hundred African Americans being lynched per year. Law enforcement usually did nothing to stop these terrible acts and sometimes even participated. African Americans fled to the North during this time in search of better jobs and home lives for their families. Many organizations were formed during this time in hopes of ceasing the violence and bringing America to equality. Two of the largest influences were Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois. Both of these men had separate approaches with the end result being the same. Washington thought that equality would be achieved, but it would be a very slow and ongoing process. He wanted to concentrate on getting African Americans better paying jobs and a greater education. Du Bois believed that you should demand equality and stop at nothing to get it. He wanted better education, equal rights, and suffrage. Another well known advocate for African Americans was Ida B. Wells. She founded the anti-lynching movement that came into existence in the 1880s. This group set out to stop the violent acts aimed at African Americans. Wells’ goal was to make lynching a federal crime and keep the local law agencies from allowing and participating in hate crimes. White women from the North and some others supported this movement, but it wasn’t until the 1930’s that lynching became a federal crime. For a time, Wells published a newspaper, Free Speech. An angry mob of people burned down her office in Memphis, Tennessee and forced her to leave town. In 1891, Wells supported the strike of black cotton pickers. She was dismayed when fifteen of the cotton pickers were lynched. The whites sent a strong message that they were not going to conform to her desires and accept the equality of the African Americans for some time. With the end of the Civil War, the African Americans received freedom from slavery and gains some rights but lost many of those same rights a mere twenty years later . They had sacrificed much and did not give them up easily. Even though they were often defeated in court and often threatened with violence, a visionary group of leaders laid the foundation for the future successes of the civil rights movement. They founded important educational institutions and organizations to fight for civil rights and cultivated both a new generation of leaders and a growing number of writers, artists, and professionals who embodied Du Bois’s idea of a ‘talented tenth’ and who became increasingly active and effective in the 1920s. Almost a century later, African Americans are better accepted in society than ever before. There is less of a double standard and more equality thanks to the brave men and women who came before and strove to encourage, nurture, and raise their children to grow up in a more civil environment.

The Breakfast Club – Analysis Essay

The Breakfast Club – Analysis Essay This past weekend I set out to accomplish this extra credit assignment. I viewed the task as just another mediocre film from the 80’s to watch for school. However, I can now say that I am utterly delighted to have viewed the Breakfast Club. This film eloquently covered every serious topic that a high school student has ever pondered: sex, social stratification, tobacco use, parental frustration, marijuana and even suicide.The film begins by an unlikely group of teenagers bound together by collegiate authority in Saturday detention. Each member of the circle brings a different aspect of high school life to light. The â€Å"Breakfast Club† is composed of five members: the athlete, the brain, the princess, the basket case, and the criminal. Although very distinctive character traits, I feel that every high school student could relate to certain aspects of at least one character. Initially, the five students act very typical to the ir assigned social class.The jock boasts, the princess talks about how popular she is, the brain actually begins the assigned 1,000 word essay. The basket case, well acts like she belongs in a home for the mentally insane, and the criminal smokes a cigarette inside. Almost an hour into the film, the characters social guard begins to falter. The group is able to find common ground on certain topics, specifically how all of their parents aren’t perfect, and how they all secretly hate their lives.Even though all of the adolescents come from different backgrounds, they are all going through the same struggles. I felt that this central message speaks to anyone who has ever been in a similar situation, undergoing the process of a changing life and struggling for social acceptance. The most notable aspect of the film was the transformation and unification of the students. They engaged in discussions about sex, suicide and pressures placed on them by their parents, all while under th e influence of marijuana.The gothic â€Å"basket case† emerged into a beautiful woman with the help of the â€Å"princess†. She was once a very shy, compulsive liar but with her new â€Å"preppy† makeover she exuded confidence and ultimately kissed the â€Å"athlete†. Additionally, the divide between the â€Å"criminal† character and â€Å"princess† was completely bridged. The two actually kissed in the school’s parking lot and Princess gave him one of her diamond earrings. Perhaps oversimplified, I still felt that the film called out very important issues for teenagers.I feel that although this film may have included teens, parents should take note of the film’s underlying meaning. What was brought to light in The Breakfast Club could only be interrogated out of teenagers under any other circumstances. This film illuminates the keyhole into the secret lives of teenagers. Personally, I was touched by the transparency of the cha racters and could heavily relate to the frustration they experienced when being forced to deal with their misguided disciplinarian principal. I would most definitely recommend this movie to anyone, especially parents.