Paradise Lost Essay Example for Free

Paradise Lost Essay Paradise Lost is divided into twelve books. In Book I Milton explains the theme of his work, man’s disobedience to God, his expulsion from Heaven and the story of the rebel angels sent to Hell. In Book II the angels meet in council to decide what they will do. In Book III God makes a speech on man’s freedom to choose between good and evil. In Book IV Satan observes the happiness of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In Book V God sends Raphael to warn Adam. In Book VI the war in Heaven in described. Book VII and VIII tell the story of the creation of the Earth and the universe. In Book IX Satan persuades Adam and Eve to taste the forbidden fruit. In Book X God’s Son pronounces the sentence of expulsion. In the last two books Adam and Eve abandon paradise. Paradise Lost is an epic poem. Milton chose the epic genre because of the greatness of the subject. He follows the typical epic conventions in his masterpiece, such as the opening with the statement of the theme. This epic takes place in the universe, in Heaven, Hell and Eden. The main characters, God, Satan, Christ, Man and the fallen angels remind the warriors and heroes of the classical epic, even though they are more philosophical heroes. Milton knew the Copernican cosmology but he based the universe of Paradise Lost on the traditional Ptolemaic system because he thought that this conception was fixed in the minds of the people and it had limits within which it was easier for him to work. In Milton’s Heaven God created the Earth, fixed in the centre of the Universe, and he put his life and thoughts in the natural world so that the external reality reflects the divine soul. In Paradise Lost evil and good are opposed. However, Satan has many characteristics of the epic hero, courage, leadership, initiative. Milton has sympathy for his Satan because he himself was a rebel against the political and religious authority. Both Milton and Dante said that their works had divine inspiration but they had contrasting ideas about Satan’s physical appearance and meaning. Dante’s Satan becomes a means of punishment and it resembles a mythic monster, with wings and three heads. Milton’s Satan is a symbol of God’s justice and it takes several forms, first it is a fallen angel, then it has an inhuman form and finally he becomes a snake. The style of the poem is elevated, the poet used a new kind of magnificent blank-verse.

Compare two or more poems that convey different impressions about town life Essay Example for Free

Compare two or more poems that convey different impressions about town life Essay Compare two or more poems that convey different impressions about town life. Compare their purposes and techniques in writing these poems. In this essay I will analyse and discuss the similarities and differences of four poems, all about relating to life in London: Symphony In Yellow by Oscar Wilde, Composed Upon Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth, London by William Blake, and Conveyancing by Thomas Hood. I will aim to focus on the techniques used by the poets and the overall effect the poet is trying to create. I will later illustrate the similarities and differences between the poems and how they convey comparable impressions of London. In the late 18th and 19th century, the country life was seen to be peaceful and calm, and London in general was seen as a busy and hectic atmosphere. Oscar Wilde was born in 1854 and grew up in an intellectually bustling Irish household. His inspirations of London came when he visited the city, in order of fulfilling his dream of becoming famous. I would expect an idealistic impression of London from Wilde, as he looks up upon London and believes that it is the place in which he will gain a successful career. William Wordsworth was brought up in the Lake District where he became extremely familiar of the exquisiteness of the surroundings. In his poems, I would expect Wordsworth to revolve around nature and to capture the inner beauty that the environment creates. William Blake was an imaginative poet who had visionary experiences for the supernatural. I expect that in his poems, the images created would be of an abnormal presence or enclosing a lack of liveliness and presenting a disturbed situation. Thomas Hood was brought up in a part of London which was not so wealthy, and where the citizens were not as well off than other parts of London. Later in his life, he was left to roam the streets of London, a time when he spent most of his life in solitary. This leads to me believing that Hood would write his poems about the different areas of the city, and what London basically comprises of. Also, I think believe that his poetry would have meaning that links in with the passing of time, as Hood spent a lot of his life watching the time go by. Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802 is a petrachan sonnet, not written about love, but one in which eulogises the view over West Minster Bridge. William Wordsworth is describing the view because he is inspired it and the feelings surrounding the beauty of the view. It is similar to Symphony in Yellow because it is an idealistic view of the surroundings; it also has a beautiful, tranquil impression of city life. The poem is set in the early morning, which gives a special sort of radiance to the city. It gives an impression of a clean and refreshed setting that is virtually seen as shiny and new. It beauty is enhanced by introducing the dazzling sun. The poem is different to Conveyancing as it is more peaceful and calming. Later in the day it would be more tense, more rushing, and lots of hustle and bustle. Wordsworths impression is based on London at a time of the morning where everything is asleep, and the time when nature invades a man-made scene. He uses antiquated words such as, doth, and ne-er which gives a sense of the city being more special, The city now doth. Wordsworth also uses similes such as, like a garment, wear the beauty of the morning, suggests that the morning is the striking part, like a garment cloaking the reality of the city. It is a covering, a beautiful faà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ade that is only temporary while the morning lasts. The word steep means to be saturated in. The sun is completely saturating the hill; never did it more beautifully shine until it shone onto the buildings. The power of the sun if infusing all buildings with light. The effect given is that of the sheer radiance of sun, which is saturating everything. The metaphor, That mighty heart relates towards the human body; the heart, being the main organ, is at the centre. The heart pumps resources around and therefore gives life and feeds the rest of the city. Everything centres around the city, while country is a life-giving organ. Touching and majesty in line 3 suggests awe and wonder, the poet is emotionally moved by the sight. It is a graceful and elegant sight that holds certain power that allows it to come across as commanding and reveal an impressive nature. It is to be looked upon, and it forces you to be humble upon its present. The beauty of the morning; silent, bare, Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples lie. This list helps to construct the landscape as well as to create an image of all the buildings in the distant. It fills in the readers knowledge of the actual physical features that lay in the city, which help to understand the overall image created by filling in more detail to it. Bright and glittering implies a sense that the buildings are treasures, like jewels all glittering as the sun is shimmering through. Never did sun more beautifully steep contains alliteration, which produces sibilant sounds. This contributes to a tranquil feeling, certainly not an aggressive sound. It creates a restful atmosphere, and with the aid of soft consonants such as s a smooth dreamy effect is created. Neer saw I, never felt, a calm so deep! This repetition disrupts the flow and draws attention to the fine feeling he has. Quite a spontaneous feeling is illustrated by adding as it goes along; it is a personal attempt to record feelings. The river glideth at his own sweet will, is a form of personification that infuses the river with a sense of life. The personality of the river is amiable and sweet natured, it is a sentimental way of making it a positive feature. Dear God! The abrupt exclamation jolts the poem in attempt to suddenly articulate his feelings. It is quite a conversational line that recreates the experience of personal thought and emotion. The poem Conveyancing is a ballad that uses comedy to portray a bustling picture of life in London. Conveyancing is a general term for moving things from one place to another, which is exactly what this poem is about. It is a ballad, which tells a story, and is characterized by stanzas of four lines that rhyme alternately. The poem has a regular rhythm/rhyme scheme throughout, and regular syllables to help people sing it fluently. It is a version of a comedy poem with a punch that portrays London as a place of trade, poverty and stealing. The word Bustling suggests light-hearted action. Hood is being affectionate towards London but critical also, no one ever stops. It suggests that the city is too busy, and life is always on the go, loco-motion! Machine or man, or caravan, implies that people are always busy making and taking money. It also means that you can practically have anything if you pay for it. There is a lot of mention about the actual people in the city, and what happens in their life. Also, how they make an impact on how the city looks at a stereotypical perspective. There is talk about gambling, people getting drunk, and journalists. There are also jokes about horses being out of condition, Then if you like a single horse, This age is quite a cab-age. This suggests the poverty and scarcity in the city. Perched up to behind, at last to find, Your dinner is all dickey! This is being critical of the cafes in London, and also of the standard of food that is served there. There is a satirical tone that is brought in throughout the poem, whence the positive and negative aspects are shown. Some of the words are italicised, this defines a certain emphasis on words that create a constant rhythm going. There are a lot of references to transport such as steam, train and horses. This adds to the impression of a fast-paced moving environment. Symphony in Yellow is a poem where Wilde picks out dimensions of a scene that he is describing. There is far less activity in this poem than Conveyancing, and more of a tranquil atmosphere. The humans are not dominant impressions unlike Conveyancing. Symphony in Yellow is more about the nature and the soothing tone of the country. Crawls like a yellow butterfly, is associating with meadows and peace. It adds to the calm and relaxed mood of the poem. The thick fog hangs along the quay. This quote shows the fact that for is not just described as a dismal and depressing feature, but as elegant and enhancing. There are signs of trees and vegetation, The yellow leaves begin to fade. Also, And flutter from the Temple elms. Again, this enhances the nature prospect and the beauty of the poem. Pale green Thames, is another dazzling luxury, which brings colour to the scene. Wildes Symphony in Yellow is a simple image-based soporyphic poem. It is written in a very idealistic motion, painting a misleading portrait. It is more artistic that accurate. The poem is rather like Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802 as it is an idealistic view of London, taking into account the nature and character of the city instead of focusing on man-made features.

The need for an offshore business plan

The need for an offshore business plan Nowadays the term offshore business is getting more and more business attentions. This term covers a wide range of information technology and other business related services offered by companies in developing countries to the companies in developed countries . The off shoring business is mainly started as a business to do cheap software development, and then it is expended to other areas which can be called ITES, IT enabled services like call centres and support centres . The term Business Process outsourcing (BPO) refers to the transfer of a companies business which are not the core process but the which are critical to the functioning to an external vendor in other country .These external vendors uses IT based delivery. By doing such kind of offshoring , the firms are able to focus on the their core areas ,making cost benefits and the non core areas will be handled by experts . This will help the parent firms shareholder value to increase because it is all about the performance in the market . (Roy,Sharma and Bhushan,2006) During the last one decade India has been developing as the most attractive location for offshore businesses . Companies and Global corporate from all over the world have already moved to Indian to take the advantages of the benefits of this country provides. The number of fortune 500 companies who has already set up their captive offshore business centre in India is not small . Thus India is emerging as the largest offshore hub in the world. The Information technology (IT) Outsourcing and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) market in India has been showing an unbelievable growth. According to the estimates of NASSCOM, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), Indian offshore business (bothe IT and BP0) market is worth around seventeen billion USD, which is nearly forty four percent of the total global off shoring market (about USD 40 billion). (Tutorial reports, 2009) This report proceeds as follows .The first part will give the SWOT analysis of Indian offshore industry .The second chapter will explain about the benefits of off shoring to India .The third part will give an idea about various challenges that has to be faces in Indian offshore business. The final part will explain about the implication of development to the Indian companies . SWOT analysis In this section , a SWOT analysis of Indian offshore business sector is given .The tables below is very brief .Most of the things mentioned in this SWOT table will be covered in the coming sections. Strengths Rich and wide talent pool. English speaking graduates and Engineering graduates. Attrition rate is low compared to developed countries. Technological competency is high Benefits due to geographical location and time difference. Economical benefits .Reduced labour and infrastructure cost . Weaknesses The infrastructure is feeble. Diversity in culture . Legal issues Data protection and privacy issues Opportunities Availabily of manpower . High quality of information technology The market potential is high Growing economy . Educated young generation Threats Anti outsourcing bill in US Competition from other countries like china, Ireland, Philippians and eastern European countries. The billing rates are growing high Off shoring to India -Benefits Cost Benefits : One of the basic reason for doing offshore business in India is the direct saving of the cost. This cost benefits are calculated as a difference from the wages in India and wages in western countries for doing the same kind of skilled jobs. Even though the difference is decreasing due to the rise of wage in IT professionals in India, there will be significant cost benefits gained from outsourcing to India. The corporations around the world are not only outsourcing India for the end process tasks but also for the Knowledge Process outsourcing.( Robinson and Kalakota (2004) . The clinical trial outsourcing is an example .The clinical trials that can be done in India would give a cost saving of 40-50% compared to that being done in America. It also gives cost benefit in terms of capital benefits .The global corporate need not invest money on infrastructure and recruitment in the country where it is operating .The capital investments may be much cheaper in India. According to World Outso urcing Summit conducted in 2004, cost benefits are cited as the primary motive towards offshoring business services to India (Corbett, 2004). In the airline industry, Delta Air Lines offshore-outsourced some of its worldwide reservation services to India-based Wipro Spectramind. This third-party vendor manages Deltas reservations from its Mumbai call center; a move that Delta expects will save $26 million in 2003 alone . Robinson and Kalakota (2004) Access to the pool of Talent Offshore business is one way of accessing the talent from overseas for certain occupations. India has got a very big pool of people with rich talent .India has got several technology enabled centres (Green,2007).These centres has got the ability to attract the highly talented people .The speed of the recruitment and availability of the talent is much higher when compared to the western countries and US. This why India still remains in the no.1 position in offshore business centres. Another advantage is the availability of English speaking people with high-IQ. ( Kripalani, M., Engardio, P ,2003). Speedy and reduced cost Recruitment In US and western counties, the speed of the recruitment is comparatively less .It can take weeks or months to hire a person and fill the gap especially for a technically skilled position. Due to the large pool of candidates with high talent in Indian , the recruitment process is much faster than that of US .The cost of recruitment in US is much much higher than the cost of recruitment in India. This gives an advantage in offshore operations in India. (Green,2007). Fast Turn around time The time difference between US and India is 12 hours .This will allow the Indian part of the company to do processing at night time US .This difference in the zonal time gives a 24 hours work environment in the companies which does offshore business. So the processing tasks will be done without the backlogs. This gives a big benfits to the companies who wishes to operate 24 hrs and do some offshore business in India. The IT teams who work both in client site and Indian offshore locations has got very big advantage .The team who are in US work with the client during the day time in US and hands over the work to Indian team before they go to bed. The other part of the team who are in india will take over the work and do the work during the day time in India .This will significantly reduce the turnaround time .(Chithlen,2004) One of the main motive behind Nortal networks, an IT firm from Canada to start offshore business is in India was the benefit of turnaround time. They took the advantage of the time difference between Canada and India. Other Benefits:- Since it is not possible to explain all the benfits in details , some of the benefits are listed here . India has got people with information technology skills that are recognized by US companies . Indian government offers some tax exemption to the IT companies . Indian work practices, mainly in IT companies ly comply with the standards of ISO and SEI CMM s. More than eighty percentage of SEI-CMM 5 companies worldwide are located in India. The quality standards are approved by the leading companies from developed nations .The number of countries to which India exports software is 95.. The political factors are favouring the IT industry and it is stable The satellite and submarine connectivity is very good and which makes the broadband connectivity one of the best in the wolrd . Offshoring to India -Challenges Even though India is the no.1 attractive location for offshore business, there are many challenges that has to be faces by the firms to make a successful offshore business. In this section, the possible challenges will be explained briefly. Cultural Issues The culture in India is far different from the other countries where the offshore business jobs are coming from. The way of getting the work done and the conflict resolution methods in India are different .Even the words used in different contexts can have different meanings in Indian culture. These words may have slightly different meaning in European or Indian culture. The companies who would like to set up offshore business in India have to have a well aware of the Indian culture and they have to set their challenges and goals. According to Geert Hoftsede , Indias power distance index is very high compared to US or European countries. Higher power distance means, the inequality in the hierarchical levels is high . Indias power distance index is 77 . But the power distance of US where most of the offshore businesses are coming from is 40. The other dimensional indexes also are different. (Hoftsede, 1980). This can be illustrated by so many examples, In the call centres or other Business Process outsourced industries, the Indian teams have cultural problems in working with American colleagues. In American, the team members are expected to be taking responsibility and ownership .This is much less in Indian teams .In Indian culture is decision making is much more top-down where it tend to be less in American culture .In Indian culture the style of meeting deadlines, commitment, attitude towards the process and mindset about the different hierarchical levels are very different .These are all challenges that has to be faced while setting up offshore business in India. (Schomer, 2010) Infrastructure Challenges The infrastructure challenges are one of the big challenges of those who are keen to do offshore business in India. The firms from US and UK are keen to lease offices in Indian offshore location. The demand for the office spaces in key business locations is so high. So the companies have to book the places even before the construction is finished . Another problem is the future expansions. Companies have to look for office spaces if different location which makes the coordination difficult .For example the company HP has got 20 rented offices spaces in different parts of the Bangalore and they are running out of space .This challenges will lead the companies to get involved in developing their own campus of get involved in real estate business. (Butler,2003) Recruitment Challenges The pool of candidates in India is really huge .Nearly 260,000 engineering graduates come out of the campus every year .Finding the real best talent out of this pool is becoming a real challenge in these years. For example, the company called Infosys does the interview view for 67,000 candidates which are selected from nearly a million application .But only 260000 people are hired. So the effort and money put for these recruitment is not negligible. The companies from US/EU have to define a well structured recruitment process to find the best talent. Another additional challenge is the retention of employees. The attrition rate in India is higher that that of US/EU .As the number of vacancy is high, the candidates have got more opportunities and the other recruiter from other company will approach the candidate .So the retention policy in US or EU will not be applicable in a country like India.(Kottoli,2006). Training Challenges The work force should be trained to be more productive .This demands an organized training program. It can be seen that employees in India may have good englsih written skills, the offshore business demands more skills in verbal communication. The BPO employees should be trained in verbal communication which is more of accent training .(Brodsky and Vance,2009) In order for the employee to interact with the US/UK side of the business , the training should be tailored to include the cultural issues. The one who conducts the training should be aware of cultural issues of both parent and Indian organization. There is requirement that the hires should be trained in some technical specific tools This is to make them more productive in the real work environment. There are some training in specialized tools (eg. SIMMS, Kramer and Chronology etc.) Which are not available in India. This requires the overseas travelling of trainers of employees Challenges in team coordination In the offshore business teams working in different geographic locations. So there will be difference in the time zones. And the cultural differences will also be a problem for the team integrations. So coordination issues are one of the challenges to the offshore business. Rather that focusing on job, team will take time to do storming. Its the job of management to take care of the trust problems in the team and the communication gaps. This will help to minimize work stress among the members of team . The challenges of coordinating teams with different culture are little bit complex and cannot be easily solved with company policies. The companies may require consultants who can handle the cross-cultural issues.(Fabriek,2007)   Security in Data When selecting a technology provider organization for offshore jobs, companies should take care of the fact that they should have proper procedure for infrastructure security and comprehensive data security. There are different specific areas to be included such as compliance, communications and systems management, system development, and classification controls of assets. This can become a challenge while off shoring to India The procedures are policies are intended to cover business as usual activities such as restore and backup , assessment of information risk and change of control guidelines . Also the disaster recovery plans and business continuity policies could be well established Capgemini was selected to work with the Ministry of Defense of a major European country to implement an ERP system using SAP. However, the ministry was constrained by severe budgetary restrictions and therefore wanted to use offshore competencies and rates without compromising security. Following a stringent security audit, Capgemini India was awarded security clearance to develop and test the ministrys ERP solutions offshore (Dhodia-Capgemini,2006) Quality of service   The quality of service is another challenges .The quality can bring the real cost savings .Otherwise it may bring losses instead of savings .For example , after receiving many complaints about the service from customers ,Dell was forces to close one of its support centre . So a keep monitoring of the quality of the work and place where it is outsources is very much required for the offshore jobs. (Green, 2007) Off shoring India -Development of Indian Companies The offshore business in India has contributed significantly to the economic and market growth of India .These offshore business has caused the rise of many companies which are global players. Since year 2006, Indian offshore business providers have made at least thirteen acquisitions abroad in North American and European Markets. (Fitzgerald,2009) .A big competition is going in the top players in Indian offshore industry (Hillary,2004) . A brief explanation of the top players in Indian offshore business will give n insight into the development happened to the Indian companies. INFOSYS Infosys is started in 1981 with an initial investment of INR 1000.It has started its full scale operation in 1993 . The US investment banker  Morgan Stanley   has bought 13% of equity at the offer price of Rs. 95 per share  .. By the year 1999, the share price has gone above eight thousand Indian rupees. At the end of year 2000, the share price of this company went well above 15 thousand Indian rupees. (India Today ,1999) .As of march 2010, the revenue of Infosys is 4.8 billion US dollars and it employees more than 113 thousand people .(Garia,2010) Since it is listed in the Bombay stock exchange , the sales and earnings growth rate of Infosys was more than seventy percentage .(Forbes,200)  .During a speech , the former president of US complimented India for its achievement in technology by citing the company name Infosys .(Indian express ,2000).The number of applications it receives is more than one million which makes Infosys a very well know and branded company among the jobseekers in India . WIPRO Wipro is another giant information technology organization which is benifited from offshore business . According to th2008-2009 financial year report , Wipro is one of the largest information technology services company which employees more than 108 thousand people all over the world .(Wipro quarter results,2009)Even though , it has other business areas other than information technology , its main revenue is from offshore IT services .When IBM was asked to leave Indian information technology sector , Wipro entered into the information technology . As of march 2010, its net revenue is 6.03 billion US dollars(Wipro,2010). Acquisitions, : Over the last few years Wipro was very successful in acquiring companies . Wipros focus in the information technology sector is mainly on SOA, BPO and con ­sulting. Wipro is interested in big deals . Wipro has acquired a company called Infocrossing which makes Wipro as a very well player in infrastructure management deals. Wipro has got collaborative deals with Nokia Siemens in the area os radio acces research and development .Also it has signed contracts with Cisco to step into the networking area. Wipro is continuing to grow as a global player in the off shoring businees. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). Tata Consultancy Services is a strong player in Indian software industry which focuses on software services and consulting .It was founded in 1968 .TCS is listed in National Stock exchange and Bombay Stock exchange .(ICMR,2004) .In 2010 , the revenue of this company reached 6.33 billion USD and it employees more than 160 thousand people . Strong Revenue Growth: It is reported that TCS has got strong 27% growth in revenues .The net income growth is at a rate of 26%. TCS does offshore business with eighteen clients billing more than 50 million USD and six clients above 100 million USD. The growth rate of TCS in Middle east ,Asia and APAC countries is incredible. TCS was able to stepped up into the Telecom and manufacturing services and it is growing. Recently , non-ADM services of TCS has contributed more than 50% of overall TCS revenues. Its BPO services also show good groeth rate which is in the order of double digit. . TCS is the first Indian IT company which employed more than 100,000 employees. These are the development of major players in the Indian offshore business .There are hundreds of companies who are benefited from the offshore business ..

Morals :: Religion, Ethics

Who’s to Blame One night, a few years ago, I was watching television with two of my younger brothers. As I flipped through the stations I could not help but notice that on every channel was an interview of our President, Bill Clinton. The discussion was about President Clinton’s involvement with another women. They questioned him if he had â€Å"oral sex† or â€Å"committed adultery† with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. Neither of my brothers commented at the time on what they saw or heard but I just started to imagine what could be running through their heads. â€Å"Well if the President can, why can’t I cheat and lie?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This, just one of many, is an example of how a child’s morals may be misguided. A young child may be looking at the wrong person or people as role models. If the situation rose in which a kid has the chance to cheat on a test will he? Would that child realize what he is doing wrong when people like the president are committing acts that may give that child the wrong impression on what is the right thing to do? These are just some questions that may be brought up on the topic that schools are teaching children bad morals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many people say that schools are not to blame for children holding bad morals. Some may ask, â€Å"Is it the schools responsibility to teach children good morals or is it the parents job?† Some parents are â€Å"too easy† on their children. In today’s world most parents defend their children rather than punish them. For example, a child is caught doing drugs or alcohol, and instead of the kid receiving a punishment from the police, his parents hire a lawyer and find loop holes in the system to â€Å"get the kid out† without a punishment. This proves to kids that although they did something wrong they can get out of it so it’s no big deal, bad morals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another problem that rises is that in today’s schools teachers can not use any type of a faith or religion as a guideline for morals. Today’s laws prohibit teachers from teaching religion in public schools. Teachers are also told not to involve personal feelings in their teaching. It is very difficult for teachers to teach about morals without involving what they feel is the â€Å"correct way to act.† Some parents ask, â€Å"who are they to say what is right way for my child?

Sir Gawain: A Man of Virtue Essay -- Knights Character Analysis Essays

Sir Gawain: A Man of Virtue Nobility, honesty, valiance and chivalry are the values instilled in Sir Gawain. He is a respected knight due to these characteristics. Both Sir Gawain and The Green Knight and in "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell" present these qualities of Sir Gawain. In both tales, he proves these traits through many events. Sir Gawain and The Green Knight proves Sir Gawain’s nobility and honesty while "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell" provides proof of his chivalry and virtue. The author of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight describes Sir Gawain as "the good knight" (Norton 204) within the first few verses of the story. He is said to be the "most courteous knight" (Norton 215) of Arthur’s court as well. When Sir Gawain stays in the castle with the host and his wife, he is faced with many tests. Although Sir Gawain does not know it at this point, the host is actually the Green Knight. The host, Bercilak de Hautdesert, tells his wife to seduce Sir Gawain as a test of his nobility. The wife, Lady Bercilak, listens to her husband and begins her attempts of seduction of the noble knight. Sir Gawain does not give in even though the host’s wife is boldly flirting with him. Gawain says, "Lady, by Saint John, Lover have I none, Nor will have, yet awhile" (Norton 239). This proves that Sir Gawain is filled with chivalry and virtue because although he could have taken full advantage of the situation, he does not. Sir Gawain has many chances to tak... Sir Gawain: A Man of Virtue Essay -- Knights Character Analysis Essays Sir Gawain: A Man of Virtue Nobility, honesty, valiance and chivalry are the values instilled in Sir Gawain. He is a respected knight due to these characteristics. Both Sir Gawain and The Green Knight and in "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell" present these qualities of Sir Gawain. In both tales, he proves these traits through many events. Sir Gawain and The Green Knight proves Sir Gawain’s nobility and honesty while "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell" provides proof of his chivalry and virtue. The author of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight describes Sir Gawain as "the good knight" (Norton 204) within the first few verses of the story. He is said to be the "most courteous knight" (Norton 215) of Arthur’s court as well. When Sir Gawain stays in the castle with the host and his wife, he is faced with many tests. Although Sir Gawain does not know it at this point, the host is actually the Green Knight. The host, Bercilak de Hautdesert, tells his wife to seduce Sir Gawain as a test of his nobility. The wife, Lady Bercilak, listens to her husband and begins her attempts of seduction of the noble knight. Sir Gawain does not give in even though the host’s wife is boldly flirting with him. Gawain says, "Lady, by Saint John, Lover have I none, Nor will have, yet awhile" (Norton 239). This proves that Sir Gawain is filled with chivalry and virtue because although he could have taken full advantage of the situation, he does not. Sir Gawain has many chances to tak...

Silas Marner :: essays research papers

In the book Silas Marner, written by George Elliot, many important themes are presented. It deals with things such as greed, prejudice, superstition, love, isolation and others. All the characters have different traits and all fit in to these themes. Prejudice is the most prevalent theme, in this book. All of the people in Ravelo were extremely prejudice against outsiders. Here are three characters that were victims of prejudice. First, there’s Slilas Marner, an old miser. His only joy in life is to sit at home and count his money. He moved to a town called Ravelo from his hometown of Lantern Yard. He was forced to do so because the people of Lantern Yard falsely accused him of a crime. When Silas arrived in Ravelo, the people looked at him as if he was inhuman. Silas suffered from epileptic fits. Also he liked to stay indoors and count his money. The towns’ people thought that these were signs that he consorted with the devil. When Silas’ money was stolen one night, he went to the Rainbow, a neighborhood hang out, to report the crime. After that episode, the towns’ people started to come around a little and began to talk with Silas on occasion. Dolly Winthrop was one of these people, and actually became good friends with Silas. When Eppie came along to Silas, people didn’t think he would be a suitable parent. Dolly stood up for Silas and said that he would make a fine paren t. Just because Silas was a little eccentric, people looked down upon him as though he was not good enough for them to be around. Then there was Molly. She was Godfrey Cass’ wife. She was to be kept secret from everyone, especially Squire Cass. If he ever found out that Godfrey had been married to her all along he would disown him. Molly was addicted to opium; therefore she was not worthy enough to be married to Godfrey Cass â€Å"the good son†. Molly had a daughter by Godfrey, who was also to be kept a secret. When molly overdosed on New Years Eve, the baby fell out of he arms and wandered in to Silas’ house. The light drew her in. When he later found her sitting by the hearth of the fire, he decided that he would keep her and name her Eppie after his sister. Finally there’s the peddler who was accused of stealing Silas’ money.

Murder in missouri: celia’s story

Slavery in America is one of the most intriguing yet controversial episodes in modern history.   Essentially an economic system, its tentacles reached north, south, east, and west.  The culture of slavery, particularly as it developed in the south, was a complex web of social and labor arrangements ranging from gang to task labor, skilled and unskilled workers, field and domestic servants.   Perpetual servitude found legitimacy in the construction of local and state laws designed to undermine the ability of black men, women, and their children to negotiate the conditions of labor and leisure.Although ubiquitous, the character of slavery was unique to each region and the extent of its acceptance determined by local politics and profitability.In the north, where the soil was unsuitable for an agricultural based economy, the factory system developed allowing for the rapid conversion of southern grown raw materials to finished goods.   In the south the plantation system emerged d ue, in large part, to the richness of the soil, numerous waterways, and the widespread of slave laborers both domestic and imported.In the west, where virgin land was most plentiful during the early nineteenth-century, young men like Robert Newsom left the depleted regions of Virginia, oftentimes with their families and slaves, to seek fortune and a better life.It was this â€Å"promise and its fulfillment,† argues Melton A. McLaurin in his true story, Celia, A Slave, that inspired people like Newsom to emigrate to Missouri. [1]   Ã‚  A decisive region in pro and anti-slavery debates, the Missouri Compromise of 1821 insured that there would be slavery in the old Louisiana Territory.   By 1850 Newsom was well respected and considered â€Å"comfortably well off.† [2]In antebellum Missouri, plantations were more the exception than the rule as the economic profitability determined the number of slaves owned by a small farmer.   Still slaves were considered property a nd enslaved women were always subject to the sexual advances of the master.These coerced and morally questionable encounters oftentimes produced children who were the object of the mistress’s hate and a reminder of her husband’s promiscuity.   Ã‚  Enslaved women in Callaway County, Missouri, much like those in other slaveholding regions, were without legal or community protection and, all too often, their suppressed anger erupted in violence and, in some cases, the brutal murder of their master and sexual abuser.[3]Consider the case of Celia, a slave.   Celia was purchased by Robert Newsom when she just fourteen years old.     Convinced that she should be his continuous sex partner and not simply a cook, he raped her on the return trip to Callaway County.   After repeated unwelcome sexual encounters, she bore two children and, at some point, Newsom provided her with a â€Å"luxurious† cabin adjacent to his home near a â€Å"beat down path.†[4]  As it turns out, Celia fell in love with George, a slave owned by Newsom who was aware of his [Newsom’s] sexual assaults.     George gave Celia an ultimatum demanding that if she did not â€Å"force Newsom to stop having sexual relations with her† their relationship would be over. [5]   Celia confronted Newsom who ignored her warnings.   She even turned to his daughters for help.   It was then that Celia decided she would â€Å"resort to a physical attack to repel his advances.†[6]When Newsom arrived on the night of June 23, 1855 as promised, Celia hit him with a stick.   When he reached for her again, Celia â€Å"raised the club with both hands and once again brought it crashing down on Newsom’s skull.†[7]   Celia disposed of the body by burning it in the fireplace.   On the following morning she asked Newsom’s grandson, Coffee Waynescott, to â€Å"clean out her fireplace† and â€Å"carry the ashes out† in a container and, after which, he â€Å"spilled the remains in the grass.† [8][1] Melton A, McLaurin, Celia, A Slave: A True Story of Violence and Retribution in Antebellum Missouri (Athens: University of Georgia Press), 3; 4-8, (hereinafter cited as Celia, A Slave).[2] Under the terms of the Compromise, Missouri was to be admitted to the Union as a slave state; Ibid, 8. [3] McLaurin, Celia A Slave, 14-16; 95-101.