Why is part one of And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou called Touch Me, Life, Not Softly Essay Example

Why is part one of And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou called Touch Me, Life, Not Softly Essay There are four parts to And Still I Rise, by Maya Angelou, the first of which is named Touch Me, Life, Not Softly, and contains eight different poems. Here, I will use these poems to explore the possibilities as to the origins of the title of the first section of the anthology.The touch me part of the phrase can be very ambiguous, as it could signify the way in which there has been physical touching, or being touched in an emotional or mental way, for example, being moved to tears. The latter could then be incorporated into saying the author feels life should affect her deeply, as also illustrated with not softly, which is a theme heavily referred to in this first section.The very first poem of the anthology is A Kind of Love, Some Say, which explores physical abuse within a relationship, and the way the abused partner feels there is still love between the couple, as shown with, Sorry eyes, spoke not/ Of lost romance, but hurt. The idea of life touching people is seen here, as the ph ysical abuse in the poem will surely affect the person in question deeply, not only in life in general, but through all of their future and present relationships. Our relationships with other people are a very large part of our lives, therefore the abused partners life could be said to change forever, as they may find it very hard to trust people ever again, or find it hard to relate to people.In A Kind of Love, Some Say there is also the phrase Love by nature, exacts a pain, showing how Angelou feels life itself makes love hard, in a way that cannot be matched by anything else Unequalled on the rack. This also relates back to the way life touches people, in a way nothing else can.The next poem is Country Lover, looks at the way men can often be seen to be very careless and lack value for women throughout life, as seen with the capital letters used throughout the poem, and the very specific parts of the mans night (Funky blues, High water pants), and then the final line of and anyb odys daughter, which lacks the capital letters or the specific woman in question, instead implying the man does not care who he goes home with, as long as there is someone. As this subject can be linked to all generations of men throughout the world, it strongly reflects how life can touch people, as there are many, many women who will have been affected by a similar situation, and not in a positive way, as they may feel they are lacking importance in life, as the word anybodys implies there is really no significance as to who the woman is. This could deeply affect women, as they may go through life feeling inferior to men and therefore possibly not making as much of themselves as they could.The third poem, Remembrance, focuses on the subject of sex, but rather than the actual act, the more intimate parts of making love, such as the foreplay and the aftermath. However, the title of the poem, Remembrance, also shows how Angelou feels her favourite part of the sexual intercourse is af terwards, when her partner has left, and it is then, only/ then, can I greedily consume/ your presence. This illustrates how she does not feel emotionally stable until this point, and it is at this point she can fully take in the magic of the experience. Sex is another part of life that often deeply affects people in very different ways, for instance, in the way they view the experience, or the way particular sexual encounters have affected them in the past. It is definitely not something that would touch someone softly.Where We Belong, A Duet is the fourth poem, and looks at the way people in the world appear to always be searching for a soulmate, throughout life Then I went to schoolrooms/ And poolrooms/ And half-lighted cocktail bars. Love, of course, plays a major part in everyones life, whether it is the platonic, unconditional or romantic kind, and therefore obviously can affect people very deeply, like with the sex in the above poem, due to past encounters, or the way they v iew love. Again, like sex, love is not a subject to be viewed lightly, as it can be said to affect everything in life.Next we have Phenomenal Woman, which explores the way Angelou and other people view her, and how she feels you do not have to be cute or built to suit a fashion models size in order to be a successful woman in life. Instead, the poet feels it is not what youve got, but what you do with it, for example the fire in my eyes, or the ride of my breasts. Our lives are often much affected by the way we are viewed and also view ourselves, as it can affect everything, from the way we act around certain people, to the way we treat certain situations. Life itself can also affect the above factors, as we are often shaped by the events we experience. This is therefore a strong example of how life can touch someone, not softly.Men looks at the experience of a young girl, through a sexual encounter, possibly viewed as rape or the loss of virginity Shattered./ It is your juice/ Tha t runs down their legs. and how she feels about it; in this case, not very positive, as shown with the aforementioned quote, and also, Your mind pops, exploding fiercely, and Your body has slammed shut. Forever. As mentioned with Remembrance, it is most often experience that shapes who we are and how we feel and react to certain situations. Both the loss of virginity and rape are very serious matters, especially the latter, and so are very likely to affect people in strong ways. Touch me, life, not softly therefore relates to this strongly, as no one who ever as been raped could say it was a light experience or that they have not been touched by it in some way, as it is highly likely to have been a very negative experience.The penultimate poem is Refusal, focusing on the plight of a woman on her death bed, who will not deign to die unless she knows the partner she adores will be with her in her future lives, as she feels he has been in her other lives and lands. I defy my bodys has te is a key phrase of the poem, as the word defy is very strong and shows just how much the woman in question does not want to let go without knowing she will see her greatest love again. Refusal implies that it is not just life that touches us, not softly, but also the people we meet throughout life, as she is so enamoured by her love that she never wants to leave him, even after death, so he has clearly had a very large impact upon her life. The fact that she appears to believe in reincarnation That we will meet again,/ On other worlds some/ Future time undated. shows how she believes her love will prevail all, if she can meet her soulmate again and again in many different lives. Therefore, life can also touch us deeply through the people we are deigned to meet throughout our course upon earth, and the ways in which they affect us.The final poem is Just for a Time, looking at past relationships and how despite not liking reminiscing about past events, the narrator still does thi s and looks at the ways he loved his girl. While the first two stanzas reminisce about the past love, the final stanza explores how the narrator feels now, I dont spill tears/ On yesterdays years/ But honesty makes me say,/ You were a precious pearl. Again, it is often our relationships throughout life that very strongly affect the way we react to and feel about things as we are touched by, not softly.Overall, I believe that the first section of Maya Angelous poetry anthology is called Touch Me, Life, Not Softly as all of the poems mentioned above focus on events and experiences in life that shape us strongly, and imply that life does not let us get away with things easily. However, as Angelou appears to be telling life to do this to her, she is saying, that without life demanding so much from us and affecting us so wholly, we would not be the people we are, and would possibly be not as strong as we are.

The Morality Of Science Essays - English-language Films, Free Essays

The Morality Of Science Essays - English-language Films, Free Essays The Morality Of Science The Morality of Science Lesley Hubbard June 14, 2000 There are two parallel stories in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein, one of attempting to discover the secret of life and the other of forcing nature to open her secrets to man (Neal). This novel can be looked by combining those two stories into a theme of the scientist who seeks to play God and what happens to him in his quest to create life from death. When looking at the book in this regard, the reader discovers the dangers inherent in defying the natural order, (Neal) and the potential consequences of scientific discovery. Victor Frankenstein, fascinated with scientific exploration in the physical world, embarked upon an experiment that forever changed his life and that of his family and friends. During his studies away from home, Victor foolishly decides that he will play God. I will pioneer anew way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation (Shelly p. 47). What lies behind Frankensteins scientific projects is obviously an attempt to gain power (Damyanov). Victor devotes himself to his task of creating life from death for a period of two years without once considering the implications of the result of his experiment. Thoughtless Victor built in no safety controls, no device to assure that only good actions would be performed (Neal). Shelley warns us of the dangerous division between the power-seeking practices of science and the concerns of humanists with moral responsibility, emotional communion, and spiritual values (Damyanov). Victor invested so much selfish care and time into his creation and never thought of the implications of his success. As if almost seeing into the future, Shelly gives us a warning to consider the final effects of scientific exploration and experiment (Neal). Neglecting all moral implications of his creation, Victor completes his work. Victor never imagined that his success would create horror instead of joy and immortality. It was a dreary night in November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils (Shelley p. 56). How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavored to form (Shelley p. 56)? Even when Victor came to the realization that his success in creating his being had become an abhorrence, he took no responsibility in trying to remedy his actions or take care of the creature. Victor emulated Gods actions when he created the being (Neal). He had hoped a new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me (Shelly p. 52). Unfortunately for Victor, the exact opposite resulted. Victor was responsible to his creation as a father is to a child, but only tried to escape the creatures wretchedness. The creature has been left to his own devices to either become part of society, or to live alone in hiding, suffering, and pain. Victor awoke the day after witnessing his creature come to life in a horrifying form and in finding the creature had disappeared, basically goes on with his life. Frankenstein does not take on the moral responsibility of remedying his disastrous creation until years later when it returned to him. Years after the creatures birth, he has learned to speak and write, and sets out in search of Frankenstein; his creator, his father. He has discovered that no man will treat him with any dignity or compassion or love and desires to find this from his creator. After realizing that he cannot recover these feelings from Frankenstein, the creature requests that Victor create another being; a female form of himself, a true companion. When confronted by the creature, Victor seems to realize for the first time the moral implications of what he has done. Wretched devil! You reproach me with your creation; con, then, that I may extinguish the spark which I so negligently bestowed (Shelley p. 96). The creature, also realizing how wrong Frankenstein had been in his attempt to become God, exclaims to him, How dare you sport thus with life? (Shelley p.96)? Victor eventually agrees to create a female companion for his creature. While working on her creation, Victor becomes more acquainted with

Activities Coordinator

Along with the views of Human Motivation, Psychological Behavior, Environmental Factors and Quantitative and Qualitative Strengths, Social Influence and Capabilities play important roles in achieving certain objectives (Brehm, 2004).   Activities intended for social interactions credit a big help in creating personal relationships for the reason that the triggering of an individual’s interest will eventually make it easier for one to be persuaded to adhere with one’s desire and expectation (Cialdini, 1998). Changing the Community’s Lifestyle Take for example having a goal within a community to change the lifestyle, or perhaps the view of people towards a healthy lifestyle.   In order to achieve this certain goal, development psychology clearly defines that change does not happen in an instant.   It follows a step-by-step process, wherein keen observation and analysis on the behavior and interests of the community must be taken consideration on to be able to identify the level of motivation and techniques shall be imposed to (Brehm, 2004). Instilling Physical Activities Benefits Positively The differences of each individual and the complexities of the differences may be hard to specify for in every community, there would always be those who would not conform to the general masses.   Ã‚  Learning psychological strategies to eliminate anyone’s unhealthy beliefs in anyone or anything’s perspective on to realigning values in any area of life, is considered an intellectual way in making the subjects follow (Grottke, 2006). Information Dissemination Indulging the subjects of the advantages and benefits taken from physical education and enlightening them with the disadvantages caused by the opposite or disregarding such way of living will make them realize the essence of the activity. The information can be disseminated in a form of flyers, advertisements and door to door consultations citing people who suffered illnesses and sickness due to inconsistent physical activities.   In that sense, by capturing their sympathy and instilling a form of fear in their minds, it will be easier for them to be persuaded. Fear and Risk Taking Fear, being one of the highest factors in emotion and a bug in motivation, serves motivation strategy to prospects.   Inculcating the horrors of an unhealthy lifestyle will horrify the living daylights of their life (Lieberman, 2005).   Making them realize that taking physical exercises will deprive them from living longer and thus will lose everything which they have sown earlier than those who are healthy.   Eventually, since most are busy in their jobs, they will grab the most efficient way in gaining a healthy lifestyle, which implies that the Center shall gain generous support from those who have been persuaded to help not only their selves, but a deeper sense of sympathy to those who need their assistance. Door-in-the-face Technique A kind of persuasion with an arrogant form of approach which is then most likely not to be accepted, hence, the persuader at hand a slighter and more levelheaded appeal which eventually the real gist of the negotiation.  Ã‚   It is a subliminal way of slightly fooling subjects to have them trapped in one’s desire.   It could be effective, but a feeling of guilt will later lurk in the scene. Foot-in-the-door Technique   A related trick of persuasion, a little similar on the first, but somehow degrading if realized, since that is a kind of method which tends to amaze the receiving party which then makes it hard for him to refuse such offer given that the offer was ascending.   Effective though, but then again, it’s like tricking the receiver still over one’s benefit. Essence of Techniques The use of door-in the face technique, foot-in-the-door technique and the art of persuasion are by study proven to be effective in dealing with social interactions.   The gift of persuasion or influence is considered as the most valuable one, which if further developed and enhanced will not only reach the hearts of those inside the vicinity of the Center’s jurisdiction, but the nation as well. Conclusion Concluding such, in this massive form of competition in the complex world of business, being wise by evaluating effects of every move taken must be clearly specified and analyzed.   Characteristics of an effective Activity Coordinator must know what to take (Williamson, 1995), when to take and how to use effectively what is taken (Hughes Beatty, 2005), what to sacrifice and what to throw away (Straker, 2007), when to commence and when to leave (Segil, 2002) – but never to abandon, instead, to save and develop what had been started (Hesselbein, Johnston, Foundation, 2002; Runde Flanagan, 2006). References: Brehm, S. S. (2004). Social Psychology (6th ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. Cialdini, R. B. (1998). Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Revised ed.). New York: Collins. Grottke, R. L. (2006). All I Needed to Know in Life I Learned Selling Door to Door. New York: BookSurge Publishing. Hesselbein, F., Johnston, R., Foundation, T. D. (2002). On High Performance Organizations: A Leader to Leader Guide (1 ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Hughes, R. L., Beatty, K. M. (2005). Becoming a Strategic Leader: Your Role in Your Organizations Enduring Success (Lst Ed ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Lieberman, D. J. (2005). How to Change Anybody: Proven Techniques to Reshape Anyones Attitude, Behavior, Feelings, or Beliefs New York: St. Martins Press. Runde, C. E., Flanagan, T. A. (2006). Becoming a Conflict Competent Leader: How You and Your Organization Can Manage Conflict Effectively. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Segil, L. (2002). Dynamic Leader Adaptive Organization: Ten Essential Traits for Managers (1 ed.). Toronto: Wiley. Straker, D. (2007). Leadership styles (Publication. Retrieved June 28, 2007, from Changing Minds: http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/styles/leadership_styles.htm Williamson, O. E. (1995). Organization Theory: From Chester Barnard to the Present and Beyond (Expanded ed.). New York: Oxford University Press, USA.

How you have experienced social change in Qatar over the last 5 years Essay

How you have experienced social change in Qatar over the last 5 years or so - Essay Example The above changes are largely because Qatar has been hosting numerous sporting events. Mubarak Al Mana, who is the head of the country’s women’s sport committee, has played an important role in supporting women’s involvement in sports. Apart from the increase in the number of women participating in the country’s labor force, most of them tend to focus in certain occupations, particularly teaching and clerical jobs. As the Qatar society started the complex process of implementing social change decade ago, the imbalanced status of women became prominent. It also became a difficult obstacle. Nevertheless, the country has taken vital recognizable steps in the past five years to ensure that women have similar privileges as men. For instance, women have the privilege to vote and contend for any political position during their parliamentary elections (Great Britain, 2004). In 2010, Sheikha Maha Mansour was appointed as the first woman judge in the country. This greatly indicated how Qatar was experiencing a speedy social change. The situation also created an important example to other women who are currently studying different courses previously meant for men. Another recognizable social change is the organization of the family laws. Formerly, resolutions of family problems were dependent on the judge’s understanding of Islamic law. However, this has changed since 2003 when women were given th e privilege to participate in public life and business. In addition, they also have the privilege to travel alone because laws requiring a guardian’s authority for a woman to be given a passport were withdrawn during this

Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo - Essay Example Thesis statement: The close examination of the novel Pedro Paramo proves that the writer’s diction is interconnected with his aim to portray the difference between past and present, symbolism is related to the symbols like rain and fertility, usage of imagery is related to air, water and stone, and figurative language is related to the development of magical realism as a specific genre in world literature. Plot summary The novel’s plot is related to the lives of the narrator (Juan Preciado), his father Pedro Paramo, and his (the narrator’s father’s) lover, Susana San Juan. One can see that Comala, the imaginary town, is the background of the novel. In the beginning of the novel, the narrator decides to conduct an expedition to Comala to find out his father. But he did not try to stick on to his decision. Later, he was forced to start his journey to the town of Comala. Within this context, the narrator portrays the present situation in Comala. Now, the situ ation is different because most of the people who live in this town are spirits/ghosts. In the work by Rulfo, Sacabo, and Peden, the narrator made clear that â€Å"Nothing but abandoned houses, their empty doorways overgrown with weeds† (19). ... In the end, the people of Comala were forced to die by starvation. Examination: This section includes topics like diction, which portrays the difference between past and present, symbolism or the usage of symbols in the novel like rain and fertility, the usage of imagery like air, water and stone, and the usage of figurative language which represents the development of the genre of magical realism. A. Diction One can easily identify that the novelist’s ultimate aim in the novel is to make use of the story telling technique (first person and third person narrative technique) to portray the difference between past and present. For instance, the opening of the novel deals with the present condition in Comala, which is described by the narrator. On the other side, after the narrator’s untimely death, the narration suddenly shifts from first person to third person. In this way, Juan Preciado becomes unimportant in the following sections of the novel. From a different angle o f view, both the son and the father are no more and narration is handed over to the novelist. At the same time, this technique does not hinder the development of the plot because the same revolves around Pedro Paramo’s adventures. In this way, the novelist fulfils his aim to portray the difference between past and present. B. Symbolism The symbols like rain and fertility are interconnected because rain is symbolic of life/fertility. In the novel, the element of rain is made use by the novelist to portray the problems faced by the people of Comala. To be specific, the present condition in Comala is related to the lack of rain and the negative attitude of the leader (Pedro Paramo). Here, the leader is symbolic of rain which provides all to the living world. On the other

Its Raining in Mango :: Free Essay Writer

It's Raining in Mango Thea Astley’s It’s Raining in Mango (1987) is a story of Australian history told through five generations of the Laffey family. Astley introduces several issues to the reader that were and still are part of Australian society. Through the use of narrative techniques including characterisation, narrative point of view and naming, Astley is able to position the reader to challenge such societal ideologies, and instead support the thoughts and ideas expressed by the strong and dominant characters in the text. Two issues developed in the text are race and gender. Throughout the text, the white colonists are very racist towards the Aboriginals. Even cattle, horses and white women are placed hierarchically higher in society than the black people. In response to this, Astley constructs all narrations to be written through the eyes of the Laffey family, who are respectful towards Aboriginals, hence not racist, and despise societal ideologies. By making the narration of the text show a biased point of view, readers are provoked to think and feel the same way, foregrounding racism shown in the ideologies of early Australian society, and showing that Aboriginals are real people and should receive the same treatment to that given to white people. â€Å"They looked human, they had all your features.† (pg 27) There was, however, one section in the text whose narrative point of view was not given by a character in the Laffey family. This instead was given by a voice of an Aboriginal woman, when the Aboriginal children were being taken away from t heir families. By giving voice to the Aboriginal society, the reader is able to get a glimpse of their point of view on the matter, which once again shows that society was racist, and Aboriginals were treated harshly. Another narrative technique used to bring forward the issue of race is naming. By using harsh names to describe racist white people, it made Aboriginals seem a far ‘softer’ race. An example of this is Block, the white concreter who began a brawl in a pub in Mango. By using a name such as this, Thea Astley positions the reader to see Block as a hard, cold, strong male, and is also seen as an object instead of a person. Also by showing that Block is a concreter, this reinforces the thought of him being a ‘bad’ person, as he is ‘cold and hard as concrete’.

Belonging creativwe writting Essay

It has been a year since I moved out of home to attend a prestigious school. I have met new people, made new friends, and gotten use to moving around this town since when I first arrived. Although I am extremely happy about where I stand today, I’ve started to get this uneasy feeling, is it because I haven’t been feeling well or is it because I’ve started to dream more about those back at my home town. I’m running late to school again, if mum was here I wouldn’t hear the end of how I’m going to be scolded by the teacher, as much as I hated hearing it I wonder why I’m remembering it now. I got to school 10 min late for the first period. I got scolded by the teacher and got held back in class for the time I lost. I looked out the window and remembered back at school at my home town, always causing mischief and constantly being scolded, I felt a little bit happy and nostalgic mesmerising the past. It was time for roll call. I had to give a note to the teacher explaining why I was late. Rather than being scolded, he gave me short lesson of advice on how to prioritize my time. At some point I looked around the class seeing all my friends talking and laughing, it reminded me back of back at school in my home town. It was the same, although when the teacher would try to give me advice I would argue, and frustrate the teacher. I acted like a child always thinking I was right. It made me giggle a bit of how much mischief I use to get myself into. The teacher asked me if I found anything he said was funny, I apologised for being rude and listened to what he had to say until the bell for recess rung. My close friends weren’t at school today, they had a field trip for biology so I sat by myself on the silver seats in the shade and took out my recess. Watching everyone talk and play made me feel a bit lonely, it reminded me of when I first moved here, I thought I wasn’t going to make any friends and I was too shy and afraid to talk to anyone so I sat by myself at recess. Although now it’s different I have good friends here that make me happy. Then I remembered my childhood friends, all the games we played, all the laughs we had, all the arguments and fights, it felt nostalgic it brought a smile to my face that I haven’t shown in a while and it also hurt me just as much when I remember the day I left to come to this school. I wonder if they still think about me, I wonder how they all are, are they fine, are they doing well, are they still the same even without me being there and causing mischief. I wonder. Recess finished, and now I have my Health and PE class. When I arrived at class, I found a substitute teacher. He announced that our teacher will not be teaching for the rest of the week as they are sick. Instead of giving out the work he allowed us to have PE for both periods, he gave out a range of sports for us to choose form, once we decided we were playing. Everyone was sweating and laughing and enjoying themselves. I remembered back at my old school in my hometown when we would trick the substitute teacher in letting us play for two periods and the ruckus we caused because of it, it made me laugh a little bit and continued to play. ` Class ended, everyone is tired and exhausted. I went down for lunch and saw my friends; they had come back from their trip. I felt a little relieved it let me forget about a little about leaving my old friends. We talked about their trip and what they did, it seemed like they had a lot of fun. As we finished our lunch and headed towards the field and we lie down in our usual spot and relax and talk about what ever came to our mind. Without noticing the lunch bell rang and we stayed, everyone was leaving but we were too busy chatting we didn’t notice. Then a girl came running to tell us we’d be scolded again if we were late again after lunch. As we walked towards class I couldn’t take my eyes off her, I’ve had a crush on her since I came to this school, I don’t know why but it feels as though I’ve known her from somewhere. Then once again I remembered the girl I liked in my old school, I could never talk to her, I was too shy despite my mischievous self. I felt a little down because in the end I never told her before I moved and kept thinking if the same would happen again. During the last two periods I slacked off a little trying to think why I’ve been thinking so much about my old friends, about my home town. I couldn’t come up with an answer, but it hurt, it hurt so much, that I didn’t feel like I belonged here, but why? I’ve made good friends here; I feel at ease, I even have someone I like so why does it hurt so much. The final bell rang and it was time to head home, I didn’t feel like going home so I took a detour and went the longer way around, a longer way than usual that I didn’t know where I was going but kept going. I found myself on top of a hill; there was a small field of grass going down the hill. I took my bag off and sat down. I remembered that when I always felt upset and lonely I’d run off to a secret spot behind the woods of the park in my home town. There would be a grass field just like this. It calmed me down it made me feel like I was back at home, I felt a little relieved. I stayed there for a while, until it started to get dark so I headed back home. On my way I bought a few things to make food at home, on my way home I kept thinking how much I wanted to see my friends and family once again, just once would be enough. I got towards my apartment and saw my light on, I ran, I ran as quick as I could, I swung open the door and said â€Å"Mom, dad I’m home.† I looked around and there was no one; it looks like I forgot to turn off the light before I left again. All these old memories of my home town made my edgy, and showed me just how empty I really was. I finally realised why it hurt so much, and why it wouldn’t go away, and why it kept hurting more and more every time I thought about it. The truth was I was trying to cover up the fact that I truly don’t belong here no matter how much I try my heart and memories are anchored back at home and that’s where they’ll stay.