Walt Whitman’s life and works Essay Example for Free

Walt Whitman’s life and works Essay Literature is effective as a communication tool because it serves as one important vehicle of expressing one’s view through artistic form. Many literature pieces have already been found to be filled with certain ideologies so profound that it has changed people’s perspective or at least has been a vehicle of change (Mancuso). There is a certain celebration in literature nowadays on the essentially political and ideological presence in many literary pieces. One such celebrated author that many literature analysts and academicians believe to be filled with ardor for the use of literature in advocacy is Walt Whitman (Erkkila 4). Walt Whitman is considered America’s most popular and influential poet. He had humble beginnings as he was born on May 13, 1819 into a working class household in West Hills, New York. He was named after his father who was a carpenter and a farmer named Walter Whitman Sr. His father was a liberal thinker who was a fan of Thomas Paine. When Walt became four, his father moved them to Brooklyn. Once when General Lafayette visited New York, he spotted six year old Walt from the crowd and lifted him up and carried him. For Walt, that was some kind of a laying on of hands because the French hero of the American Revolution seemed like he anointed the future poet of democracy (Folsom and Price). This paper aims to situate the author on the context of his time and how his poetry is actually a reflection of the presence of political problems and political questions that arose in a rising powerful nation. There is a need to see the underlying rhetoric and styles that underwrite the general idea and opinion of the author on the many social issues that confronted him. This paper will try to cover three political issues that figured prominently in many of his texts. These are: homosexuality and the body politic, African-American and liberation, and finally the question of the Union of States. The three issues that are stated above are just some of the important factors that need to be considered in the analysis of Whitman as a political poet. Although, Walt Whitman talked about diverse issues of politics, these three are just some of the issues that figured prominently in his text and at the same time these are issues that are still being confronted today by the United States and the rest of the world. The claim of the paper is that Walt Whitman as a political poet believes that the problems of discrimination both for sexual discrimination or body politic and racial discrimination are all intertwined in the general dysfunction of what the United States believed as essence of the Union of States and democracy. When Walt was schooling, he attended a Brooklyn public school for six years. There he shared his classes with students of a variety of ages and backgrounds. In Whitman’s school, the children were huddled in one room except the African Americans who had to attend a separate class. They were segregated at the top part of the building. Waltman did not like corporal punishment and he wrote about this later in his works. One of the early influences in his life was the radical Quaker leader Elias Hicks, an acquaintance of his father and a close friend of his grandfather, Jesse. He has a happy childhood and he spend happy childhood days at the farm of his grandmother (Folsom and Price). One of Whitman’s favorite boyhood activities were his visits to his grandparents on Long Island. He loved the Long Island shore and the waters there had a different wonder for his young mind. One of his poems, Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking, was part of his reminiscences with his boyhood experiences at Long Island shore. Because of his love for visiting museums, he acquired an eclectic kind of education and became the stuff of the material for his poems. He had an informal education that worked well for his own kind of education which included literature, theater, and even music, archaeology and geography. He became a teacher even if he had an informal education. His reading and writing skills developed along the way and soon enough he was astute in the way he delineated the characters in his poems as he writes. Never before have I entertained so low an idea of the beauty and perfection of mans nature, never have I seen humanity in so degraded a shape, as here†. The situation of the homosexual in the United States during that time was no different from the African-American communities. Although to a certain degree, it was basically a peripheral issue as homosexuality is rather a private matter that was not allowed or tabooed in public discussions. There had been no incident of actual gay rights movement during the Civil War periods of the United States. The reconstruction stage of the United States has afforded many Americans to actually move away from issues of sexual discrimination. The gay rights movement only emerged in the consciousness of the United States in the early 20th century following the increasing liberal ideas in the World War (History of Minorities II). The fact however, that this was not a mainstream issue during the late 19th century figured Walt Whitman prominently in this essential task.

A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen Essay -- torvald, nora, christine

In Henrik Ibsen’s dramatic play A Doll’s House there are many characters that have grown to be adults that they either do not wish to be or that they are expected to be. The character breakdown as the play goes from act to act is apparent. From a woman struggling to be the perfect wife and mother to a husband trying to be perfect and surround himself with people that are likewise we see that it is much harder to put on a mask to be something you are not. Nora Helmer is a simple woman. She is the mother to young children as well as an adoring wife to her husband Torvald. Nora is described by her husband as a spendthrift, a little featherhead, and a skylark. (Delbanco & Cheuse) These terms are used in a fashion to say that she is flighty, a dainty woman who shops and flits about with no care in the world. Even her friend Christine Linde tells her that she is immature and childish to the realities of the world. This is actually not a fair statement of Nora. She has already put forth a strong attitude when Torvald was ill. She found a way to get the monies needed to ensure that he got well. She may not have gone about it the legal way but she went to whatever lengths needed to ensure that the man she loved could get well. This was a step outside of the expectations of her. She has always been there to do whatever a man expected of her. Her father expected her to be there to take care of him and the household. Her husband took her in h is home and expected the same of her. She was never able to form her own person as someone else was always there telling her who to be and how to be it. Nora wants to be taken seriously and to learn how to be strong for herself. She realizes that she has been able to get this loan and has been paying i... ...ectations they are not happy but just being. By the end of the play there is some hope for all of them. Works Cited Brunnemer, K. (2009). Sexuality in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House. Retrieved 11 23, 2013, from Bloom's Literary Reference Online: http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&WID=97972&SID=5&iPin=BLTHS004&SingleRecord=True. Delbanco, N., & Cheuse, A. (n.d.). Literature Craft and Voice. In H. Ibsen, A Doll's House (pp. 1346-48). Haller, E. (n.d.). Bloom's Literature. Retrieved 11 23, 2013, from Facts on File: http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&WID=97972&SID=5&iPin=ETL0595&SingleRecord=True. Metzger, S. (n.d.). An overview of A Doll's House. Retrieved 11 23, 2013, from Gale Literature Resource Center: http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1420002305&v=2.1&u=txshracd2560&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w&asid=2a621898dc6a06a303d9c6015c7e4bd0

Othello Feature Article

William Shakespeare’s play Othello is one of his four most great tragedies. This play is â€Å"widely known as being one of the most moving and most painful with the fall of proud, dignified man, the murder of a graceful, loving woman, and the unreasoning hatred of a â€Å"motiveless† villain†. Othello is an esteemed general respected and honoured for his position despite the fact he is a moor. After promoting the Florentine Cassio, his â€Å"friend† Iago despises Othello’s decision as he believes it should’ve been him who deserved it.Othello later elopes with Desdemona, which was looked down upon due to Othello being a black man. This is where Iago, the protagonist, begins his malicious plan to bring down Othello. Using Rodrigo, who loves Desdemona, to do his dirty work for him. This play was written in 1604; new versions have been made into film with modern day altercations, for example, â€Å"O†, directed by Tim Blake Nelson. Each o f these show similarities and differences. Many of the themes shown in Shakespeare’s original play Othello use the same themes. and The movie â€Å"O† shows a great deal of parallels to the book.Director Tim Blake Nelson stayed true to Shakespeare's original cast, plot, and sequence of events, but he set his movie in modern times. It takes place in a primarily white high school where Odin, playing the part of Othello, is a basketball star who leads his team to many victories. His right-hand-man, Michel (playing Cassio) is always there for him, helping in any way he can. Hugo plays the part of Iago. He shows a lot of jealousy towards Odin and Desi (playing Desdemona) being in a relationship as well as all of Odin's skills.The characters that create this play show one theme all throughout this play, Deception and Illusion vs. Reality. RACISM: Iago says many things that show his racism clear as daylight. Iago refers to Othello as `thick-lips' and `sooty-bosom', also he ca lls him an assortment of animals including `an old black ram', and a `Barbary horse'. Iago speaks to Desdemona's father, Brabantio. He refers to Desdemona and Othello's children being part animal because Iago is comparing Othello's sexuality to that of a horse. You'll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse, you'll have your nephews neigh to you, you'll have coursers for cousins, and gennets for germans† (Shakespeare, 32). McEachern describes Venice as being â€Å"proto-liberal†, even with that view in mind; she describes Iago's racism as being â€Å"super-subtle† (140). Subtle is the word of choice because gradually, all of the main characters become Iago's dupes without knowing it. Iago's racist hatred for blacks gives him a motivation for wanting to destroy Othello's happiness and also gives him a way to do it.Iago only needs to convince Othello that Desdemona hates him because of his color. Iago, in a way, must rationalize and naturalize his own ficti ons as truths in order to get Othello to believe him. He cannot succeed in causing Othello's jealousy unless he believes them, to some degree, himself. â€Å"The most unsettling thing about Iago [†¦ ] is his unblushing separation of being from seeming† (McEachern, 195). Although the reader never finds out what happens to Iago at the end of the play, it is assumed that he gets executed for his treason and lies.All of the energy he used trying to fight Othello, eventually caused his own destruction. Jealousy is destructive weather it is internal, like Iago's racism, or external like Iago's sly hints to Othello about Desdemona's unfaithfulness. â€Å"O† . JEALOUSY: There are many things that Hugo does that show his jealousy towards Odin. He shows shock and dismay when the coach of the team (who is also Hugo's father) said that he loves Odin like his own son. Hugo also takes steroids and other drugs to keep his performance up hoping to surpass Odin's skills.He tells R odger, (who plays the part of Rodrigo) â€Å"I'm considered a utility man. I rebound, I can shoot, I play guard, forward, power forward, you name the position, I fuckin' play it. † â€Å"The point is, I'm the MVP on this piece of shit team [†¦ ]† (â€Å"O†, scene 2). This shows jealousy of Odin because he was selected as MVP of the basketball team. Hugo actually admits that he is jealous, but he sees it as a flaw as opposed to Iago in the play. Hugo talks to Odin before a dunking contest in the gym and says that Odin should forget about Desi.He tells him that he has everything and that he would give his life to be in Odin's shoes and says that Desi is not a prize that he needs to win, but rather that Odin is the prize (â€Å"O†, scene 13). There is one place at the very end of the movie that Hugo directly admits to his jealousy. He is talking about a hawk and how it relates to power, darkness, determination, and to being proud. He says, â€Å"Odin i s a hawk, he soars above us. He can fly. But one of these days everyone's gonna pay attention to me. Because I'm gonna fly too† (â€Å"O†, scene 21).

The And Its Effect On The Minority And Majority World

The UNCRC is â€Å"†¦a legal- binding international agreement setting out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural right of every child, regardless of race, religion or abilities.† (Save the Children, 2009) Introducing a mixture of welfare and agency rights with the intention to empower children and young people and feel part of the society of which they live in. Focusing on areas such as education, medical care and treatment, child exploitation and the right to life which are all key articles of which the CRC focus on. We can identify the achievements and the limitations of the international agreement and can see how this affects the minority and majority world differently in certain aspects. Moreover, by also discussing the relevance of the CRC identifying more with the western concept of childhood and how to an extent it has little relevance to that of the majority world way and childhoods. Critically discuss the ideas behind the UNCRC and its relevance to childhoods in the minority and majority worlds. Every person being a human being living in society today has the right to something, whether it be the right to education, the right to their beliefs or even the right to life whether they may be a part of the young or older generation. However, Wells (2009), indicates before the new social studies of childhood children have often been overlooked regarding rights. The growth in the new social studies of childhood emphasised on children’sShow MoreRelatedWhy is it that in World War II, the Japanese Canadians were known as the â€Å"enemy† but not the German1000 Words   |  4 Pagesis it that in World War II, the Japanese Canadians were known as the â€Å"enemy† but not the German Canadians? When Japan allied itself with Germany in World War II, the Japanese Canadians were ostracized by society. 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