Langston Hughes Essays (1027 words) - American Literature

Langston Hughes As a talented American author, Langston Hughes captured and integrated the realities and demands of Africa America in his work by utilizing the beauty, dignity, and heritage of blacks in America in the 1920s. Hughes was reared for a time by his grandmother in Kansas after his parents' divorce. Influenced by the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Carl Sandburg, he began writing creatively while still a boy. Not only did Hughes suffer from poverty but also from restrictions that came with living in a segregated community. While he attended an integrated school, he was not permitted to play team sports or join the Boy Scouts. Even his favorite movie theater put a sign that read ?No Colored Admitted.? In spite of these obstacles, Hughes developed a natural sense of self-confidence and hope. His grandmother always lived as a free woman and was insistent about standing up for the right of all people to be free. Under her influence, Hughes learned to endure the hardships of prejudice without surrendering his dignity or pride. (Berry 7) ?My father hated Negroes,? Hughes wrote, ?I think he hated himself, too, for being a Negro.? Hughes wanted to attend Colombia University and needed his father's financial aid. His father refused because he wanted Hughes to study engineering. Seeing his son's determination, he finally agreed to help pay his tuition. University officials were surprised to discover Hughes was black. He was discriminated against from dormitories to the student newspaper. Angered by the racism he unexpectedly encountered, Hughes began to explore New York, which brought about the most important stage in his development as a writer. Even though his father was racist, Hughes never was. He always sought to speak to all Americans, especially on the larger issues of social, economic, and political justice. He did not hide the fact that he lived with racism, but he talked of his strength, and the strength of many other blacks, to stand tall and believe in a better future. (Berry 12) The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural and psychological watershed. It was an era in which black people were perceived as having finally liberated themselves from a past fraught with self-doubt to an unprecedented optimism. It gave African Americans a novel pride in all things black and a cultural confidence that stretched beyond the borders of Harlem to other black communities in the Western world. The Harlem Renaissance was a provocative response to the new era: an aesthetic response that transcends time to celebrate identity, creativity, the past, and the present. (Rummel 33) Hughes accepted his vocation ?to explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America.? His personal credo, ?The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,? became the credo of a generation of African-American poets. In it Hughes argued against surrendering racial pride to the hope of acceptance of whites. The urge among some black artists to be ?as little Negro and as much American as possible,? wrote Hughes, was a ?mountain standing in the way of any true Negro art.? Hughes' poetry drew from traditional sources and individual voices; his experiments reflected an attempt to capture the myriad of colors known as ?black.? He defined a black beauty in which he interpreted and recorded the lives of the common black folk. To Hughes, even when an ordinary person sang, danced, or worked; they were likely to be making beauty. He truly believed that these people were producing art and culture all the time, almost as if they were rainbows that had to be captured before they vanished. His interest in portraying the lives of average people angered black leaders who believed that black writers should emphasize the best qualities of blacks so white leaders would obtain a favorable impression. (Chow 1) When he took a job as a seaman aboard an old ocean liner, Hughes marveled at the vitality and diversity of African tribal culture, but he also saw how the continent was exploited and poverty-stricken by the European colonial powers. Hughes' time in Africa was inspirational, resulting in several poems condemning white colonialism or celebrating black unity and beauty. His racial pride made his poetry popular among many Africans. (Berry 21) When he traveled to Paris, Hughes developed a love for jazz.

What Is Pre-Med Key Requirements for Medical School

What Is Pre-Med Key Requirements for Medical School SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips What is pre-med? When people say that they’re pre-med, what does that actually mean? If you’re planning to attend med school and become a doctor, it’s important that you understand the definition of pre-med and what you should be doing as a pre-med student. Read on to learn what it really means to be a pre-med, what you should be focusing on to get into med school, and what the best majors for pre-meds are and why. What Does Pre-Med Mean? "Pre-med" is the term people use to show that they want to go to med school and are taking the classes they need to get there. It’s primarily used by college students. There isn’t actually a major called "pre-med;" pre-med is just a term to let people know you have plans to be a doctor. You can be a biology major and a pre-med, a Spanish major and a pre-med, etc. Students say that they’re pre-med to let others know about their career goals and to make sure they’re taking the correct classes to get into med school. If you tell your advisor that you’re a biology major, she’ll focus on making sure you get all the requirements for that major completed, but if you let her know that you’re a biology major and also pre-med, she’ll work with you to also ensure you take all the classes needed to apply to med school. Similarly, if you’re applying to jobs or volunteer positions and state that you’re a pre-med, the people looking at applications will know that you plan on becoming a doctor, and they may be more likely to offer you a position that’s related to the medical field. What Do You Need to Get Into Med School? Once you’ve decided to be pre-med, your main focus will be preparing yourself to get into med school. Med schools are infamous for being competitive and only accepting the best, so you’ll want to be well prepared. In this section we’ll discuss all key things you need to get into med school. Classes As a pre-med, one of your most important responsibilities will be making sure you take all the prerequisite coursework required for med school. Each med school has slightly different requirements, so you should absolutely make sure you research each med school you’re interested in early on as a college student to make sure you’re on track to meet all their requirements. In general though, most med schools expect you to have taken the following classes: One year of biology with lab One year of general chemistry with lab One year of organic chemistry with lab One year of physics with lab At least one semester of biochemistry A math requirement (some schools require calculus, some require statistics, some require both) One year of English Remember, these are just the bare minimum of classes you need to meet basic requirements for med schools. You’ll likely need to take significantly more classes to meet the requirements for your major and fulfill the requirements/recommendations of all the med schools you’re applying to. Also remember that because med schools are so competitive, you never want to stop at just the bare minimum. You want to show med schools that you’re motivated to learn as much about the health field as you can and that you’ll be entering med school with a strong knowledge in a variety of subjects. Expect to take several science classes each semester in order to be fully prepared for med school. Examples of other classes you might take include genetics, public health, ethics, microbiology, human physiology, psychology, sociology, writing classes, and foreign language classes, to name a few. Test Scores The MCAT is the exam pre-meds take. Much like you did with the SAT/ACT, you’ll send your MCAT scores to med schools to show them your mastery of different subject areas. The MCAT is a 7.5 hour test that includes four sections: Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems; Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems; Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior; and Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills. The average score on the MCAT is 500 (out of a total of 528 points), and the average score for students accepted into med school is around a 509, so you should aim for at least that. Health-Related Extracurriculars Almost every med school will expect you to have some sort of scientific research experience and/or experience volunteering at a hospital or other medical setting. This shows them you’re committed to becoming a doctor and have the skills it takes to succeed as one. Letters of Recommendation You may have needed letters of recommendation when you applied to college, and they’re important for med school too. You’ll likely need at least three letters of rec when you apply, often two from science teachers and one from a non-science teacher. What Are the Best Pre-Med Majors? There are a small number of colleges who offer actual pre-med majors, but those programs tend to not be very strong (no major university offers an actual major called "pre-med"), and med schools aren't particularly impressed by these degrees since, as mentioned above, any major can be pre-med as long as you take the classes required to go to med school. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, just a little over half of all students applying to med school majored in the biological sciences. The others majored in a variety of areas, including humanities, math, social sciences, and physical sciences. Additionally, med school applicants who majored in biological sciences, on average, didn’t score any higher on the MCAT than students who majored in other areas. So what you major in doesn’t necessarily determine how well you’ll do on the MCAT. So if you’re pre-med and wondering what to major in, the best advice is to choose a major that you’re interested in and think you can do well in while completing all the pre-med requirements. However, there are some majors that are much more popular among pre-med students than others. Below are five of the best pre-med majors. Each of them will help give you the skills needed to succeed in med school and as a doctor. We consider these the best because they match the closest with pre-med requirements. This makes it easier for you to meet all your pre-med requirements and ensures you get a solid background in subjects doctors need to be masters in. Majoring in a different area, say, Russian Literature, isn’t necessarily a bad idea, but you may find it difficult to complete both your Russian Literature major requirements and pre-med requirements in four years. Human Biology If there was one major that you’d call the unofficial pre-med major, it’d be human biology. At many schools it’s the most common major for pre-meds to take because it focuses heavily on many of the subjects you’ll study as a med student. You’ll take classes in a variety of subjects, but the focus will be on the human body and human health. You may take classes in genetics, human physiology, and neurobiology, among other areas. Biology Biology is another solid choice for pre-meds, especially if your school doesn’t offer a Human Biology major and/or you want more a general biology background rather than focusing more specifically on human bodies. You’ll learn plenty about human health as a biology major, but you’ll also likely take classes in other areas such as ecology, evolution and/or microbiology. Psychology Many pre-meds major in psychology, especially those planning on becoming psychiatrists. However, psychology is a useful major regardless of what type of doctor you want to be since every medical professional can benefit from studying how humans think, make decisions, and react to different situations. Chemistry/Biochemistry The biological sciences are most popular with pre-meds, but you’ll also need to know a lot of chemistry as a pre-med and a med student. There’s an entire chemistry section on the MCAT, so it’s definitely an important subject to know. Philosophy Although it’s not a hard science, a strong knowledge of philosophy can be very helpful to pre-meds. You’ll learn about ethics and how to think critically, both of which are important for people in the medical field. Philosophy is a good choice if you want to be prepared for medical school but also get more of a liberal arts education. Summary What is pre-med? "Pre-med" is a term college students use to show that they plan on attending med school and are taking the right classes to do that. There are no official pre-med majors; instead students who are pre-med can major in whatever subject they want and just take the classes needed to apply to med school. There are multiple pre-med requirements needed to get into med school. The most important of these are the classes you take. Each med school has its own requirements, but you can expect to take at least one year of biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics (all with labs), along with biochemistry, math, and English classes. There is really no "best" pre-med majors, but there are some majors that are more popular with pre-med students and make it easier for you to reach pre-med requirements. These include human biology, psychology, biology, and chemistry. What's Next? Want to know what you should be doing right now to prepare for pre-med programs? Check out our complete guide on how to prepare for pre-med in high school. We also recommend the 7 books every pre-med student should read in this article. If you’re still figuring out whether a career as a physician is right for you, think about getting some hands-on experience. You may not think there’s much you can do as a high school student, but there is! Start by shadowing a physician, and check out our guide to 59 great med programs for students in high school. What's after med school? Check out our guide on the seven steps to becoming a doctor to see what you'll need to do once you're a pre-med. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Untitled at the moment see details of essay content

Untitled at the moment see details of content - Essay Example These essays discusses the lives of two early twentieth female artists and two contemporary ones, and attempts to throw some light on the nature of their art and also how it affected their personal lives. Frida Kahlo, born in 1907 was an internationally acclaimed Mexican painter. Her paintings carried distinct undertones of realism, symbolism and surrealism. Kahlo has gained immense popularity in the past few years, both for her work and her turbulent life. Some critics have even called her the â€Å"female Che Guevera† as her life has become synonymous with the triumph of art. The â€Å"Kahlo Cult† as it is now called, started in the 1990’s, when her paintings were breaking all records fetching up to $ 1 million in one single auction (Miller, 1999). Since then, she has been the subject of various plays, documentaries, and novels, the latest of which is a movie starring Salma Hayek as Kahlo. Besides that, she has also been designated as the goddess of the women’s movement for her paintings express certain sensitive women’s issues. But more so because of her personal life and her portrayal as the gallant woman sufferer. Tragedy stuck Kahlo at the tender age of 6 when she was diagnosed with polio; nearly twelve years later, she had a fatal accident which left her with a broken spinal column, broken pelvis, ribs and multiple fractures. For months, Frida was encased in a box like plaster cast and the pain and agony that she underwent was later represented in some of her paintings. As a matter of fact, nearly all her paintings are manifestations of her personal emotions. If one wishes to develop a cultural understanding of Kahlo’s work, it become imperative to study her personal life as well. As she herself says, "I paint myself because I am so often alone, because I am the subject I know best. One of her most famous works, â€Å"The Broken Column†, portrays her in a back brace, strongly reminiscent of her days after

Tourism and Sustainability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Tourism and Sustainability - Essay Example To successfully achieve sustainable tourism, concerned authorities, companies and managers have to collaborate in order to develop viable strategies. The union of the concerned persons is beneficial in ensuring tourism that is profitable. Wall, G. (1994). Sustainability in tourism leisure. Waterloo, Ontario: Department of geography, University of waterloo. Summary The article presents the outcomes and the proceedings of the meeting on sustainable tourism held in Tilburg University (Wall, 1994). The work and organization research center (WORC), participated in the preparation of the meeting, whose intentions were to raise issues concerning the differing aspects of sustainability that occurs to scholars of tourism and leisure. During the proceedings, an expert of Luton University doubted the possibility of successful tourism sustainability (Wall, 1994). Another from Netherlands stressed on the significance of community contribution on the issue. Jan philipsen from Netherlands availed s everal suggestions for complexity of sustainability concept. The participants presented various issues including the procedures of measuring visitor contentment in natural regions. Other issues in the meeting entailed cultural tourism in Indonesia and Europe. The discussion raised significant issues; the contradicting interests plus ways of uniting them, and the role of market plus state intrusion in ensuring sustainable tourism (Wall, 1994). Briassoulis, H. (2002). Sustainable tourism and the question of the commons. Annals of Tourism Research,. 29, 4, pp. 1065–1085. Summary The article addresses the tourism commons by describing the importance of sustainable development in social plus cultural areas (Briassoulis 2002, p. 1067). Various resources developed for the purpose of tourism are fundamental to the locals. This is because of the sharing that occurs at some points in life. The article indicates the function of the â€Å"common pool resources† in tourism sustaina bility and development. It provides various principles useful in the organization of these resources and the policies for future endeavors. From the economics and scientists description, CPRs are resources whose exploitation by a single user cuts down the quantity availed to others. In this case, omission of further utilization is complex. The article performs the analysis of the tourism commons stating their complexity culminating from their usability by diverse groups (Briassoulis 2002, p. 1071). It describes their nature as heterogeneous and made of tangible and intangible materials. The resources demand plus volatility is evident and contrasts the issue of tourists use because of changes between seasons. According to the article, there are problems of excessive use of the commons. Lack of proper management and incentive provision is evident. The associations between the commons plus tourism and other undertakings are present. Sustainable development issues are in detail with the consideration of community involvement in such affairs (Briassoulis 2002, p. 1083). James, T.G. (2001). Assessing Progress of Tourism Sustainability. Annals of Tourism Research, 28, 3, pp. 817–820. Summary Development of sensible criteria for monitoring the continuance of sustainable tourism, and considering the quality of systems instead of absolute sustainability is

The e-Project will be based on the United States Patent and Trademark Research Paper

The e-Project will be based on the United States Patent and Trademark Office as for my e-Project, www.uspto.gov. It will be an evaluation of how the USPTO interfaces with Businesses - Research Paper Example ch ‘promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for limited times to inventors the exclusive right to their respective discoveries. USPTO records trademarks which are based on the Commerce Clause of the Constitution (Section 8 of Article 1, Clause 3). While working with this arrangement of safety, the United States industry has greatly benefited; there are new goods which have been manufactured, old products have been put to new use and it return has brought about employment opportunities for many Americans. The power of the American economy is greatly dependant on an efficient mechanism which is in place to guard new ideas in originality and ingenuity. The constant requirement of trademarks and patents highlights the resourcefulness of entrepreneurs and inventors in the United States. The Federal Agency USPTO is very much responsible for the achievements and progress which the nation has made technologically. This agency is responsible for advising the Unit ed State’s president, Government agencies in charge of IP (intellectual property) policy enforcement and protection as well as the Security of Commerce only that it also encourages a more effective and strong protection of the IP outside American borders. The Federal Agency, USPTO promotes efficient protection of the IP for entrepreneurs and innovators in the United States globally by collaborating with further agencies to guard strongly the IP provision in worldwide agreements and in free trade. Furthermore it grants education, preparation, and the ability in building plans which are formed to create admiration for the IP and to encourage the expansion of tough IP enforcement management by the United States trade partners around the world. (USPTO) The USPTO headquarters is comprised of 5 interrelated buildings which are located at 600 Dulany in St, Alexandria in Virginia. The workplace provides work for about 9000 employees, from engineers to scientists to attorneys and pretty much

Pecola Breedlove In The Bluest Eye English Literature Essay

Pecola Breedlove In The Bluest Eye English Literature Essay What could he do for her à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â€š ¬ever. What give her. What say to her. What could a burned-out black man say to the hunched back of his eleven-year-old daughter. If he looked into her face, he would see those haunted loving eyes. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦How dare she love him? Hadnt she any sense at all? What was he supposed to do about that? Return it? How? What could his calloused hands produce to make her smile? (Morrison 127) In the above excerpt it seems nothing unusual that a father is musing on how best he could make his daughter feel loved, but what is most unusual is the outcome it yielded. In Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye it is this point in the novel that the protagonist Pecola Breedlove is raped by her father Cholly, a most unexpected thing to do and the events in her life take the worst turn. Considering this to be an incident where there is a reversal of action, this paper would focus on Pecola and the discovery or recognition that comes post the reversal as in Aristotles Poetics. According to Aristotles definition of tragedy and the tragic elements, the devices required to make an effective (complex) plot structure are peripeteia and anagnorisis, translated as reversal and recognition. F. L. Lucas paraphrases Aristotles illustration in the like manner: A peripeteia occurs when a course of action intended to produce result x, produces the reverse of x. Thus the messenger from Corinth tries to ch eer Oedipus and dispel his fear of marrying his mother; but by revealing who Oedipus really is, he produces exactly the opposite result. (111) The peripeteia that Aristotle talks of brings about the anagnorisis, the realization of the truth, the opening of the eyes, the sudden lightning-flash in the darknessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the flash may come after the catastrophe, serving only to reveal it and complete it, as when Oedipus discovers his guilt. (Lucas 114) Another translation of Aristotles work reads it as: a change from ignorance [agnoia] to knowledge [gnosin]. (Aristotle 54) Electras recognition of Orestes or Oedipus recognition that he himself is his fathers murderer is suggestive of the fact that this recognition revolves round the politics of identity which would include the struggle for recognition. In lieu of this, the paper takes into consideration Pecolas predicament as an eleven year old black girl whose sole wish is to have blue eyes and thereby her negotiation with the identification process. Pecola prayed each night, without fail (Morrison 35) for blue eyes. Morrison has stated that the reason for Pecolas desire for getting blue eyes must be at least partially traced to the failures of Pecolas own community: she wanted to have blue eyes and she wanted to be Shirley Temple à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ because of the society in which she lived and, very importantly, because of the black people who helped her want to be that.(Morrison 32) Pecola symbolically occupies the interstitial space that in other words: has no specified place, and she floats on the peripheries of the community she longs to enter like a wraith looking for its missing body. She is constantly outdoors, never able to integrate herself into the community, always left on the peripheries, literally moving from house to house searching for a fixed place of comfort and security. Pecola has become homeless because her drunken father has destroyed their home, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢and everybody, as a result, was outdoors. (Morrison 12) Morrison in the Foreword writes that she is specifically interested in the far more tragic and disabling consequences of accepting rejection as legitimate, as self-evident (Morrison à Ã¢â‚¬  ) It is necessary to point out here that in Aristotles illustrations of anagnorisis as in Electras recognition of Orestes, it is by means of footprints and a lock of hair which suggest that external features are necessary for identification, so are her eyes necessary for Pecola. But for Pecola blue eyes is something she does not possess, the symbol of the culmination of beauty as per the hegemonic culture and thus feels deprived and her existence splintered. The eyes symbolize her wholeness which is an impossibility just as the eyes themselves are and her inability to locate or position herself vis-à  -vis the normative discourse. Hence her mark of identification is not with a feature that is present but with the absent blue eyes. Barbara Christian points out that: The beauty searched for in the book is not just the possession of blue eyes, but the harmony that they symbolize. (24) But this harmony is what eludes her. Pecolas obsession with her eyes necessitates the presence of the leit motif of the mirror: Long hours she sat looking in the mirror, trying to discover the secret of her ugliness. (Morrison 34) The mirror and her quest for her identity lead us inevitably to Lacanian analysis. In the mirror stage, which is a forbidden realm for real image, we come into an image, which that world gives us, not a complete one, but fragmented, distorted image, which leads us to misrecognition(Bertons 161). Lacan believes identity which we acquire from the other is a form of fantasy and misrecognition. (Bertons 162) So, we become ourselves by way of others perspectives and others view of who we are. Kim describes it this way: Morrison explores the interplay of eyes as windows for gazes from the outside and for ones perception of the outside world (113-14). Lacan believes that the crucial point at which the child gives up the mother as love object and attaches to the father marks his exit from what he term s the imaginary and entrance into the symbolic order. In Pecolas case, Cholly Breedlove, her father, is unsuccessful in taking up the symbolic function, because he is deprived of phallic power by white culture, the ruling other in youth, and psychologically castrated, and his absence as the father figure ensures that Pecola continues her maintenance in pre-Oedipal moment, which results in lack of voice and hence the silence. Since Cholly couldnt take up the symbolic function in Pecolas post-mirror subjectivity, as a psychic subject, Pecola ultimately remains in the imaginary. Her failed attempt at gaining a unity or identifying with her father, after he rapes and abandons her, creates a void in her life. Indeed, the void in Pecolas psychic life can never be fulfilled in the domain of the symbolic. So, what Pecola does is to take the imaginary for the real. She keeps looking at her blue eyes in the mirror, and worries that her eyes are not the bluest. Pecola, as Claudia describes, lo oks like a winged but grounded bird, intent on the blue void it could not reach (Morrison 162). The moment of Chollys raping and abandoning her is crucial as Morrison writes of it in the Afterword: the silence at its center: the void that is Pecolas unbeing. (Morrison 171) F. L. Lucas opines that: the deepest tragedy occurs when their [the protagonist, here Pecola] destruction is the work of those that wish them well, or of their own unwitting hands. (112) Pecolas quest to establish the legitimacy of her identity is hindered by her father, resulting in her fragmentation, the metaphorical splintered mirror, a term which Morrison herself uses. Tragic recognition scenes are often moments of catastrophic loss as in Oedipus or that of Pecola. Contemporary theories and practices of recognition are grounded in more fundamental, ontological misrecognitions-that is, misrecognitions of the identity as well as of certain fundamental features of the social and political world and our place in it, says Stephen White.(10) Tragic anagnorisis would then involve not only in getting ones identity right, in a change from ignorance to knowledge, but also involves acknowledging often under the weight of failure, the limits to the possibility of doing so. An ontological discovery that is made by Pecola is that the one and only identity that she could have was by regressing into her childhood fantasy. In this she also acknowledges her powerlessness to contest or rather wrench her identity from the stifling, strangulating grip of the hegemonic culture codes. Morrison in the Afterword writes: She is not seen by herself until she hallucinates a s elf. (171) A critic writes that: Chollys deranged act of love was that terrifying, brutal blow which finally compelled her into madness. (Cormier 120) It is only the imaginary self, to whom Pecola converses, who actually recognizes her pair of blue eyes that the others envy. Shoshana Felman suggests as she writes that: Mental illness is a manifestation both of cultural impotence and political castration. This behaviour is itself part of female conditioning, ideologically inherent in the behavioural pattern and in the dependent and helpless role assigned to the woman as such. (119) Pecolas ontologically threatening encounter excluded her from the community in beauty and harmony and condemned her to psychic disintegration. Morrison tells the reader that It had occurred to Pecola some time ago that if her eyes, those eyes that held the pictures, and knew the sights-if those eyes of hers were different, that is to say, beautiful, she herself would be different hence her fervent desire for those blue eyes. (46) But Pecola by her subversive desire was both under and over (but really simply outside of) the sphere of cultures hegemony as Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar would say (27) and it is the sacrilegious fiendishness of what William Blake called the Female Will' (28) that ushers in her un-being. The manner in which Oedipus determinedly searched for the murderer of the King that led to his un-being, Pecola too struggles to pursue her identity. But insanity is what awaits her as it does to all those mysterious power[s]à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦who refuse to stay in her[their] textually ordained place' (Gilbert 32) For a postmodern self as Pecola the possibility of and the desire for a unitary self is absurd. The inconsistent, heterogeneous being that constitutes a subject Pecola is revealed in the end when she converses with her other: Why didnt I know you before? You didnt need me before. Didnt need you? Just because I got blue eyes, bluer than theirs, theyre prejudiced. Thats right. They are bluer, arent they? Oh, yes. Much bluerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ What? What will we talk about? Why, your eyes. Oh, yes. My eyes. My blue eyes. Let me look again. See how pretty they are. Yes. They get prettier each time I look at them. They are the prettiest Ive ever seen. (154-59) Cormier-Hamilton states, For Pecola, beauty equals happiness, and it is difficult to fault a young girl for the misperception; certainly both white and black communities in her world seem to support the idea (115). It is this misperception that paradoxically leads her to her misrecognition. The void that her father created in her could not have been fulfilled but by her un-being, hence this is an anagnorisis as anagnorisis undone or to use Darko Suvins phrase cognitive estrangement.(22) Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar write: Either way, the images on the surface of the looking glass, into which the female artist peers in search of her self, warn her that she is or must be a Cypher, framed and framed up, indited and indicted. (36) It is this apparently calm surface of the normative that Pecola challenges and threatens from the margins to which she is relegated. Her discovery or recognition, anagnorisis in Aristotelian terms is that her psychological wholeness (Cormier 111) is in her slivered state, hence a peculiar case of anagnorisis undone. Word Count 1915

Teaching Philosophy :: Philosophy of Education Statement Teachers Essays

Teaching Philosophy I believe that teaching is a profession in which the educator has many opportunities to apply her knowledge of content area, personal strengths and creativity, and her life skills to the tasks at hand on a day to day basis. For example, when working in cooperation with other teachers, handling difficult situations with students and even just enjoying the satisfaction of a job well done, all three of the above mentioned qualities come into play. In order to keep all of these in balance, however, it is imperative that the teacher, or teacher in training, has a clear idea of what may be defined as her philosophies of teaching. First and foremost, I have a firm conviction that the teacher and school environment must actively promote, incorporate and develop diversity in the classroom. In today’s classroom it is inevitable that many types of diversity will be present and I believe it is the teacher’s innate responsibility to recognize and support it. Diversity comes in many forms including learning styles and abilities, race, religion and sexual orientation. Any diversity encountered in the classroom should be embraced as a chance to grow and learn for the teacher, the student who is deemed as ‘different’ and the total student body. This personal philosophy has developed within me as a result of my own experiences in a diverse public school system as a student. I intend to both support my diverse classrooms and to help other educators and students to promote, incorporate and develop diversity in their own classrooms. A second dimension in my teaching philosophy is based around the term ‘enthusiasm’. Enthusiasm implies energy, vivacity, creativity and consistent effort and in relation to my philosophy, these qualities are exhibited in a three dimensional model in the classroom. Two of the dimensions depend on the teacher. First, the teacher must be enthusiastic about the most important aspect of her job, that is, the students themselves! She must demonstrate consistent effort and energy when interacting and engaging with her students both inside and out of the classroom.