...Set during American Conformism in the 1950s, Esther Greenwood, an individualistic young woman, struggles within a society largely shaped by conservative values and patriarchic structures, where women are subjected to the ideal housewife role. Esther intends to defy and eject this conventional model of womanhood, consequently the repetition or “I Am I Am I Am” (Plath 158). In the midst of this, Esther’s battles psychological downward spiral, resulting in suicide attempts and depression. Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Marymount Manhattan College, Susan J. Behrens, describers Plath’s “alter ego is Esther Greenwood… both existed on the verge of major changes in women’s roles in society. Both had college educations and talents enough to land a competitive internship; and they both bristled at being locked into traditional female roles” (240-...
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...ribs, slavering jaws, and lolling tongue” (625, Carter). These phrases are all used to stress the starvation or more the desperation of wolves hunting for prey. When the “slavering jaws” (625), “lolling tongue” (625), starveling ribs are put together a beast is created in that every ounce of their being is concentrated to finding something that will satisfy their hunger. Every detail including the wolf’s grizzly features is meant to help the reader picture the sometimes excessive masculinity the beast inside men. However even this masculinity, which is usually related to power and dominance is be easily undertaken by the feminine nature of a beautiful, young woman. Throughout the story the young girl begins to transition to womanhood. And this womanhood enables her to bed the beast of a man who is to have her virginity. The girl in the red shawl is introduced as an adolescent in the midst of puberty. According to the text, she has begun to show with “her breasts [that] have just begun to swell” (627, Carter) and her “woman’s bleeding” (627). As a young girl, she is showered with love, adoration, and affection. Many girls with this type of protection are sometime naïve and don’t...
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...Edna’s first attempt to swim successfully symbolic to the way she was in the novel? The symbolism in this moment is the maturation and rebirth of Edna; from being a clutching, tottering and stumbling child to being able to walk alone to the beach. The sea for edna was a seductive, never ceasing abyss that draws in the soul into solitude; with entering the sea Edna was able to face her fear and enter it while knowing what she was told about the ocean. This swim in the ocean shows that she is no longer dependent on the others, as what many thought of women, but she found strength within herself. The rebirth of Edna included that she will no longer be treated as a child, so becoming reckless and very confident, she wants to swim “where no woman had swum before,” and she reaches the...
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...Rites of Passage Your Name ANT 101 Instructor's Name Date In times we see many different cultures that evolved around the earth and throughout time as well. This paper will examine Native Americans, Greek and the Japanese rites of passage. Ceremonies that mark important transitional periods in a person's life, such as birth, puberty, marriage, having children, and death. Rites of passage usually involve ritual activities and teachings designed to strip individuals of their original roles and prepare them for new roles. The traditional American wedding ceremony is such a rite of passage. In many so-called primitive societies, some of the most complex rites of passage occur at puberty, when boys and girls are initiated into the adult world. In some ceremonies, the initiates are removed from their village and may undergo physical mutilation before returning as adults (Rites of passage,(n.d.). Rites of Passage have been a path of life throughout time and space. Anthropologists have found many differences between cultures but also many similatries. Rites of passage from boy to man or girl to woman are different in some and strange in others. The Native Americans and the Greeks were not the same as the Japanese, but yet believed in some of the same old blood ways. Rites are not taught but learned throughout one’s lifetime. Native Americans had a volatile version of passage. In the earlier years, the Native American boys would play as boys. They would follow fathers and...
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...Short Story 1 Little Red Riding Hood Brandon Picone Ashford University Introduction to Literature Loretta Crosson April 8, 2013 Short Story 2 Because she dares to defy societal norms of acceptable female behavior, Little Red Riding Hood faces death at the hands of the Big Bad Wolf, who embodies patriarchy. Every short story has an overall theme which is the identified representation of the idea behind the story. In the story “Little Red Riding Hood” documented by Catherine Orenstein, the long cherished theme of not talking to strangers carries a different lesson in the original version of the story. The main characters and plot remained the same however it is not only talking to strangers that Red Riding Hood should have avoided. The two literary elements of plot and symbolism, contribute to the overall theme of not losing your virginity. The plot begins when Little Red Riding Hood’s mother tells her to take some food to her Granny who is sick. Little Red Riding Hood meets the wolf and she tells him where she is going. Along the way she runs into the “wolf” and breaks one of the cardinal rules we teach our children today,” Don’t talk to strangers”. During their conversation she ignorantly gives him the location of her grandmother’s house and various other details that open the door for the wolf to play his tricks. The wolf ran as fast as he could, taking the shortest path, and the little girl took a roundabout way, entertaining herself by...
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...family and I make way to a catholic church where everyone will be gathering for the Quinceanera to begin. I took part in a mass called Misa de accoin de gracias, or to give thanks for a completed childhood. I see the girl make her appearance by entering the church in procession with her parents, then followed by her grandparents. I look as she is seated at the foot of the church altar in an elaborate blue formal dress. I take notice that around her is seated her damas (maid of honors) and her chambelanes (escorts). I asked the people around me who they were and they explained to me that these are relatives or friends that are closest to her. Before the mass had started, I over hear the people talking about how the, the church service is the most beautiful part of the whole night. I take notice that everyone attending the mass mostly is Hispanic. I realize that the priest must of noticed the younger people, so he used Spanglish and sometimes English....
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...Disney's Beauty and the Beast can be seen as a very honest way of depicting how society feels about the gender roles of men and women. Firstly, of the main characters, two out of the three are in fact males. The interesting thing about this balance is that despite there being a higher number of males in the film, they are both shown to be at least partially villainous. Throughout the entirety of the film, the only two characters, main or otherwise, who truly embody and possess typically masculine characteristics (chivalry, a wish to fight to protect women, strength etc) are both depicted as being wrong, evil, and negative. The first of these two men is Gaston. Gaston is by all accounts, the villain of the piece. His great crime? He believes that he has a duty to woo Belle, something which in context is not such a bad act. He believes, according to the long espoused value of men being the ones to make the first move, of men being the ones who are forced to take the rejection when it comes and of men being the ones who are forced to make themselves entirely powerless in the relationship, that he should try to make Belle love him. This value is not a misogynistic value, and is in fact a value that has been endorsed throughout the entirety of time, as it places women on a pedestal as special and deserving of extra privilege. Gaston's other crime, as far as watchers of the film (and in fact Belle, the only character in the piece who is really deserving of positive reactions in full...
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...The book Coming Of Age In Mississippi is a realistic first hand insight to what it was like to be a young black girl, who was entering womanhood in southern Mississippi during segregation. This genre of book is Sociology, Biography, and Children's Literature. It tells the tail of a smart,confused, and strong willed girl becoming a brave, hardworking, and courageous woman who fights for what she believes in. She must go thru poverty,loss, fear, anger, love and the worse thing of all betrayal. And the name of the girl and woman that went thru all this and came out strong in Anne Moody. Anne fights for what she believes in and what she thinks is right. Here is a summary of what happened . Anne Moody's parents are plantation workers. They all live in a small shack on the plantation with Adline Anne's little sister. Her mother has a son and names him after Diddly, Anne’s father in hope to keep him from leaving them. Shortly their after Anne’s father leaves her mother for a young lighter skinned black woman. They leave the plantation to live with Toosweets sister for a little while. They move into a small house. Soon it is realized...
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... many years had ceremonies and rituals in forms of healing. They have ceremonies that can last up to nine days and some that are as little as two. Most of the more severe illnesses take the latter length of the rituals. In some of the ceremonies they have paintings or alters. Also there are many rituals that contain the head dress of the chanter. A chanter is the one who studies to do the rituals and there may be up to 58 chants and prayers that they need to learn. They may not have to always learn that many chants because if they can't they can choose to specialize in particular ones. For example there is a celebrating of maturity among the navajo. This is evidence that they are entering womanhood. On the first morning in her change of life the girl bathes and dresses in her finest outfit. She then stretches her face on the blanket pointing in a downward position outside the hogan with her head towards the door. A female family member will then begin to remold her. Once this is done they straighten her joints and press her to make her shape. Someone is then called upon...
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...(Contexts, American Sociological Association) “We Can Do It!” For many Contexts readers, these words will bring to mind the World War II-era poster of a female factory worker in a red bandana and a blue work shirt, her sleeves rolled up and her fist held high. This image has been widely associated with “Rosie the Riveter,” a fictional persona that represented (and encouraged) American women who joined the war effort by temporarily entering the paid workforce. Accordingly, it’s become a feminist icon, a symbol of women’s empowerment and solidarity. The poster is so recognizable today that it’s often parodied or appropriated for everything from campaigns to improve women’s lives to marketing for cleaning products. You can even buy a “Rosie the Riveter” action figure, complete with “We Can Do It!” emblazoned on the packaging. One retailer, giftapolis.com, enthuses, “Rosie the Riveter is no ordinary gal! Her image was used to promote the Women Ordinance Workers (WOWs) during World War II. Her confident declaration… inspired millions of women to drop their brooms and pick up rivet guns and wrenches.” However, in their 2006 Rhetoric & Public Affairs article, “Visual Rhetoric Representing Rosie the Riveter: Myth and Misconception in J. Howard Miller’s ‘We Can Do It!’ Poster,” communications scholars James Kimble and Lester Olson argue that the image was never used in any such way. The idea that the poster was an inspirational call to other women is the result of reading history...
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...Freedom's Boundaries, at Home and Abroad, 1890-1900 Chapter 17 Outline I. THE POPULIST CHALLENGE A. The Farmers' Revolt 1. Agricultural prices were falling and growing economic dependency created instablities. 2. The Farmers' Alliance was formed to end agricultural dependence of farmers from bankers and merchants. B. The People's Party 1. The Farmers' Alliance became the People's Party for Populists in the early 1890s. a. Not only did they gain support of the farmers, but they also gained support from miners and industrial workers. 2. The Populists began spreading information, through pamphlets on political and economic questions, in an effort of community organization and education. 3. The Populists incorportated modern technologies such as the railroad, the telegraph, and the national market. C. The Populist Platform 1. The platform proposed a list of actions to restore democracy and economic opportunity, such as: a. The direct election of U.S. senators, government control of the currency, a system of low-cost public financing, a graduated income tax, and recognition of the right of workers to form labor unions. b. They called for public ownership of the railroads to guarantee farmers' inexpensive access to markets for their crops. D. The Populist Coalition 1. The Populists made attempts to unite black and white farmers on similar political and economic issues. 2. Many blacks declined...
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...During the month of February, the boys underwent Guan-Li, a capping ceremony, in an ancestral temple. “In the presence of family and guests, the young man was granted his inner cap, then a cap and finally a scarf. After this, the man's hair was combed into a bun, which meant that he had reached masculinity and, from then on, must behave as an adult, not like a child” (Rasi). A similar ceremony, called Ji-Li, or hair-pinning ceremony, was held for girls to signify her entrance into womanhood and her readiness to be married. “During the hair-pinning ceremony, [the girl’s] hair was washed, combed into a knot and kept together with a hair pin” (Shizuka). At the end of both of these Confucian coming of age ceremonies, the newly recognized men and women receive take on a new style name, which is “associated with respect… adulthood and takes the place of [their] given name”...
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...changing rapidly in recent years, with the changes created both by evolutionary changes in society, including economic shifts which have altered the way people work and indeed which people work as more and more women enter the workforce, and by perhaps pressure brought to make changes because of the perception that the traditional social structure was inequitable. Gender relations are a part of the socialization process, the initiation given the young by society, teaching them certain values and creating in them certain behavior patterns acceptable to their social roles. These roles have been in a state of flux in American society in recent years, and men and women today can be seen as having expanded their roles in society, with women entering formerly male dominions and men finding new ways to relate to and function in the family unit. When I was growing up a woman was never heard of having a job other than a school teacher or seamstress. Our(women's)job was to take care of the house. We had a big garden out back from which we got most of our vegetables...A garden is a lot of work you know...We also had to make clothes when there were none to be had(hand-me- downs) Gender can be defined as a social identity...
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...Name Institution Instructor Date of submission Feminism in Ancient Greek Culture from the Perspective of Lysistrata Lysistrata is portrayed as a hero by Aristophanes and just as Antigone had played a social role in politics, so is Lysistrata portrayed. Most ancient Greek writers were people who had established themselves in the society. They were people of class, and when they wrote about women, they mostly wrote about women from their own social class. Women were shown to participate only in the domestic roles of childbearing and that saw many women confined to their houses. They rarely ventured out of the proximity of their domestic dwellings, let alone participate in manly politics. Lysistrata, however, steps up and take up a political role, an unusual thing in ancient Greek. She empowers women and shows their ability to run the state. Lysistrata is thus shown to be a feminist hero boasting of women empowerment. Many Marxist thinkers would conclude that Lysistrata was nothing more about feminism bout about sex. The women of Greece attempt to end the war using their sexuality, an act that prevails as they see their men return home and agree to sign a peace treaty. There is, however, much more beyond sexuality as the play displays issues of gender, masculinity and femininity. In Lysistrata, the masculine authority that has always prevailed in Ancient Greek is challenged by the women of Greece. The main characters, Lysistrata, Myrrhina...
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...Assignment 1.2: Industrialization after the Civil War History 105: Contemporary U.S. History The Post Civil War marked an economic transformation of the United States. With the unprecedented surge in immigration and urbanization, American society was now in transition. A transition that included the most influential third political party movement ever. Major aspects of industrialization during 1865 and 1920 that influenced U.S. society, economy, and politics One key to the rite of the industrial economy was the expansion of railroads. The First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States was built in the 1860’s. Linking the well-developed railway network of the eastern coast with rapidly growing California. Construction on the first transcontinental railroad began after President Abraham Lincoln approved the Pacific Railway Act of 1862, a landmark that authorized the federal government to financially back the construction of a transcontinental railroad. Lincoln felt the transcontinental railroad was a necessity, an idea whose time had come (HUL 2014). With the development of the transcontinental railroad spurred a major economic growth. The true economic impact of the railroad may never be known, but one thing is for certain: It was dramatic. The flow of goods over the line after the first full year of operation was around $50 million in 1869 dollars (Friedman 2010). Individuals felt the joining of America...
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