Captivity By Erdrich Essays - Fiction, Ojibwe People,

Captivity By Erdrich Louise Erdrich, the author of the famous poem titled Captivity, tells a story about a married mother who has been held captive by a tribe of Indians. The poem uses a wide variety of literary elements such as sympathy, guilt, submissiveness, and tentativeness. The two main themes of this first person, six-stanza poem, are love and fear. Erdrich also uses tricksters, which are supernatural characters found in the folklores of various primitive peoples. They often function as culture heroes who are given acts of sly deception. In this poem, the narrator's captor takes on the role of a trickster. In most of Erdrich's writings, she uses multiple characters as tricksters and this reflects on her Native American Heritage (Smith 23). One of Erdrich's main writing tactics is the use of "historical ?captivity narratives'" (Wilson and Jason 2716). One of the interesting facts about this poem is that it is based upon a true story. Erdrich gives us that feeling of truth and captivity before the poem begins. "He (my captor) gave me a bisquit, which I had put in my pocket, and not daring to eat it, buried it under a log, fearing he had put something in it to make me love him," (Erdrich, 26). This quote came "from the narrative of the captivity of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson," (Erdrich 26). Mrs. Mary was held captive by the Wampanoag Indian Tribe in 1676, when Lancaster, Massachusetts was demolished (Erdrich 26). The first stanza brings a strong feeling of some sort of imprisonment or captivity. "But he dragged me by the ends of my hair," (Erdrich 26). The narrator at this point is experiencing fear from her captor, however she also feels passion and love when she looks into his face. "I could distinguish it from the others... I feared I understood his language, which was not human," (Erdrich 26). Also, there is irony in this stanza when her captor saves her from the cold waters of the stream (Wilson and Jason 2715). In the second stanza, the tribe is pursued by white men who have "guns loaded with swan shot," (Erdrich 26). However, the tribe is put in danger because of her child's cries, which are from starvation. In my interpretation of the poem, she cannot "suckle" her own child because she is so nervous and confused (Erdrich 26). Luckily for the tribe and captives, there is a woman who feeds the child "milk of acorns," (Erdrich 26). In the third stanza, the narrator is to the point of starvation as she tells herself not to take food from his hands. "I told myself that I would starve/ Before I took food from his hands," (Erdrich 26). I believe that Louise is trying to reflect the quote used before the poem taken from Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, trying to give the reader a sense of hidden desire. However, going against her will to not give in to her captor, she eats the fetus of a deer that her captor gave to her. "He had killed a deer with a young one in her/ And gave it to me to eat of the fawn," (Erdrich 26). The way that the narrator describes her meal is delicate, however Erdrich tells us that it is a fetus; that paints a distasteful picture for the mind of the reader. At the end of the stanza, Erdrich is very vague about what happens and leaves it up to the reader to decide the outcome. I felt that the narrator was tentative when she said, "That I followed where he took me./ ... He cut the cord that bound me to the tree," (Erdrich 27). In my interpretation, this is where Erdrich uses the literary element of submissiveness. I personally think that she slept with her captor because the next and last stanzas of the poem she feels guilty. In the fourth stanza, the narrator is frightened and hides herself in fear from God because she knows in her heart that she has sinned. "After that the birds mocked./ Shadows gaped and roared/... He did not notice God's wrath./ God blasted fire from half buried stumps./ I hid my face... fearing that he would burn us all," (Erdrich 27). Perhaps she is in a bad lighting or thunderstorm in this stanza. She also notices "her captor neither notices or fears God's wrath," (Wilson and Jason 2715). The last two stanzas take place at her house later in her life after being held captive. This indicates that the climax of the poem

space program essays

space program essays Should Money be spent on the Space Program? I think that tax dollars as well as government money should go to the space program. I feel this way because the more we learn about space in general, the more technological advancements we will acquire in the years to come. If you think about everything we have learned as a result of space travel in the past 40 years alone, than just to think of what we could learn in the next 40 years to come. One result of space travel, and the learning of earths orbit, has given us such things as pagers, cell phones, and global positioning devices that some people dont think they could live without. Money that went to the space program has given us, for example, satellites. Satellites are a very valuable source of information for the people down on earth. The Hubble Space Telescope alone has allowed us to learn a great deal about our own galaxy as well as other galaxies in the universe. Also, the Hubble Space Telescope can identify comets, meteors or huge asteroids that could be a major threat to the planet earth. In conclusion, spending money on the space program is something that should not be overlooked. Another thing that people dont realize is that NASA does everything in its power to save as much money as possible. When they realized how costly the Apollo missions were, they developed a spacecraft that was reusable many times over again. This saved a ton of money and allowed us to keep learning about space and still maintain a reasonable budget. I feel that in the long run, we will be able to look back on everything the research and exploration of space has given us. ...

Mexicans Temporary Residents in the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mexicans Temporary Residents in the USA - Essay Example So, it is a seasonal migration – coming and going back and coming again, making them temporary residents in America and Canada. However, this is not a completely true picture. One reason for labeling Mexicans, as temporary residents might be political in nature. The larger community intends to get political benefit by proclaiming Mexicans as temporary residents to argue in support of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Thus, there are other arguments against the notion that need to be discussed. In fact, certain findings on period of stay, family formation, network development and work status prove the statement wrong that Mexicans are temporary residents. Let’s analyze those findings. There are a number of factors that support the inclination of Mexicans to have permanent settlements like the duration of stay, family formation, network development and work. The desire to settle permanently by Mexicans has not been given due coverage and recognition. A large nu mber of Mexican children go to American schools, which shows they want to settle down forever in America. After a long period of stay in America, undocumented Mexicans like Central Americans don’t want to return back because they have become a customized to the changes with the passing of time. The argument that stable economic and political environment at home is prompting them to go back to their original place, particularly after signing of NAFTA is devoid of substance. It is also politically misleading as a segment of politicians in America want the Mexicans to return to their homeland to lessen the weight on American resources. Definitely, there is a role played by the economic and social forces in the occurrence of Los Angeles riots and in initiating a trend amongst Mexicans to migrate back to their homeland. Rousseau idea of labeling Mexicans as â€Å"homing pigeons† does not hold ground as in reality ‘their experiences in the new  communities’ (Chavez) hold them back to America.

Exclusion clause Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Exclusion clause - Essay Example Exclusion clauses are guided by statutory provision and case law (Barker, 2007). In English Law, Simon (1981) noted the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (UCTA) seeks to regulate exclusion clauses in contracts by limiting their applicability to cases where they are absolutely necessary. The Act regulates all contracts (Beale, 2012). One of the statute’s primary roles is to restrict the legality of disclaimers of liability to reasonableness, depending on the kind of the duty which is claimed to be exempted and whether the offerer who intended to benefit from such clauses harmed the consumer’s interests (Brawn, 2012). The UCTA is usually applied in combination with the Sale of Goods Act 1979, the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Firstly, under the UCTA, a party cannot excuse himself or herself from negligence under section 2(1) of UCTA 1977 when the breach of duty results in death or personal injury (Hughes-Jennett and Anslow, 2009). Secondly, under section 5(a), a company cannot exempt itself from liability caused by faulty goods or distributor negligence, particularly where commodities are meant for consumption (Stone, 2013). The doctrine that cushions the consumer is referred to as manufacturer liability. Thirdly, in light of the need to protect the consumer, sections 12-15 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 outlaw the exclusion of implied terms or terms which provide details of value or sample of goods (Walsh, 2009). In addition, the Consumer Protection Act 1987, and the Occupiers Liability Act 1984 are also vital pieces of legislation whose enactment contributes to the regulation of exclusion clauses (Page, 1994). Despite the enactment of these rafts of legislation to regulate a relatively small area of law, the fundamental reason behind them is to protect unsuspecting consumers from death, personal injury or material losses

Performance in a Business Environment Essay Example for Free

Performance in a Business Environment Essay The purpose and benefits of continuously improving my own performance at work is to move one step forward and exceed my limitations, achieve further goals, self-motivation, not to be the same person and on the same position after a certain of time, to exceed my performance at work and doing work, improving my own performance helps me to progress on my career and give me a job satisfaction. However this leads me to evaluate my own work by looking at the work that takes the most time, and what actions can I take to do this task in a less time, however at the same time I look at the best part of the job that I do and also look for areas where I can improve. I normally speak to my colleagues that are more experience than me regarding this and take advice as well as guidance to do so. It is so important for me to get feedback and to accept it from others as this will help me to learn from my mistakes and be more confident in the work I am doing. Receiving feedback also helps me see myself from the perspective of others and how other people see me I always accept feedback whether positive or negative, as positive will help me to work harder and keep the good work I’m doing, as well as negative will help me to learn from my past failures and mistakes so I can correct them. In every organisation it is so important to provide a Good quality piece of work, as a very challenging person I always try new ways, different ways to do my work with a good quality and within less time scale. I always learn new things either in the office as my day to day tasks or at home for my long term career goals. My own learning and development does not only improve my work and productivity, it improves and benefits the team I work with as well as the whole organisation. The more I learn, the more I can do. This benefits the organisation by increasing productivity. It helps me to identify gaps between my job requirements or future work roles and the existing knowledge, understanding and skills. This is one of the reasons that we have in our organisation a private website that provides different short courses for self-development. The progression route from my current role will be towards a Management Information Analysts role, and then eventually a Business Analyst role as my long term role. This will also help me work towards my career I wish to pursue in the educational field, where I will have to also demonstrate data management tasks on my day to day tasks at work. After completing my Apprenticeship in Business and Admin L3, I am looking forward to starting an Apprenticeship L4 with a hard working to  develop my career to the next level as Management Information Analysts towards my long term career as a Business Analysts. I already have experie nce working in education, retail and IT. I will be working harder to meet my above career development with a good salary package and job description, where I can best use my skills, talents and capabilities. So by developing my skills I can look at possible interesting careers and sectors that I might be interested in and develop my opportunities in securing a good job. A learning plan is a way for everyone to set personal targets and record achievements. It helps me as a person to keep on track towards where I want to be in my life and my work. The reason for making a plan is, it simply helps me to take more control of my future, by reminding me what I have learned, achieved and enjoyed. Creating my plan can help me develop more confidence in my ability to tackle new things, become more employable, and get more out of life.

Down With The Kings :: essays research papers

When someone commits a crime, they are punished for their sin. If someone says, â€Å"go rob that store,† the man robbing the store is persecuted, not usually the instigator. Everyone, regardless of status or wealth is responsible for his actions. No one can whip out a remote control and make them do anything they want them to do. Men can be manipulated, but he is still under his own control. No one can make his decision as to whether or not he is going to be obedient to his manipulator. In the play Macbeth, Macbeth himself is most responsible because each man is responsible for his own actions and the results of those actions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many parts of the play Macbeth that show Macbeth taking charge and having full responsibility of his deeds. Regardless of how much Lady Macbeth seems to push Macbeth, it is in Macbeth’s disposition to take charge and be independent as is shown in this proclamation announced by Macbeth himself, â€Å"Bring me no more reports. Let them fly all! Till Birnam Wood remove to Dunsinane, I cannot taint with fear.† (V.iii.1-3) Macbeth is mot told to ignore all of his military responsibilities by anyone. Lady Macbeth is barely alive at this time therefore there is no way that she could have influenced this decision made solely by Macbeth. Macbeth is completely confident in himself and does not think that anything can keep him from keeping his position on the throne. Macbeth’s greed and the fact that he is incredibly headstrong are also factors of his demise. Macbeth demonstrates this by saying: We will proceed no further in this business. He hath honored me of late, and I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, Not cast aside soon. (I.vii.35-40) Macbeth sees his compliments as actual features of himself that will live with him forever and not just once in a while characteristics being cast off quickly. Although, these people do contribute to his actions by fueling them, he still makes the ultimate choices. He sees people trying to win favor with him as his actually characteristics, and this makes his desire for status stronger. He shows that he is capable of excellent judgment but would rather do deeds that benefit him rather than do what is best for the majority and those he loves.

Motifs in Grendel Essay

Throughout John Gardner’s novel, Grendel, there are many literary tools and compositional risks used to support the overall meaning of the story and to show change in the main character, Grendel. One compositional risk that Gardner uses extremely effectively is motif. A motif is defined as recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the piece’s major themes. The most effective motif Gardner uses over the course of the novel is the recurring references to the signs of the zodiac. Other important motifs referenced in Grendel are the seasons, machinery, and the number twelve. Starting in chapter one, Gardner effectively uses the zodiac signs to reinforce the changes in Grendel and the changes in time. Grendel is split into twelve chapters, each corresponding to a different zodiac sign. In each chapter, one of the twelve zodiac signs is referenced at least once. The zodiac references also appear in the exact order as the calendar, starting with Aries in chapter one and ending with Pisces in chapter twelve. In fact, the very first sentence of the novel is a reference to the first zodiac sign. â€Å"The old ram stands looking down over rockslides, stupidly triumphant. † (Gardner 5) This is a very simple zodiac reference and other simple references occur in chapters two and ten, when Grendel encounters a bull and goat respectively. However, some of the zodiac references are tougher to locate. Chapters five and seven are among the difficult references. Chapter five refers to Leo the Lion, but a lion is never mentioned in the text. Chapter seven refers to Libra the Balance. The reader must infer the peace offering of Wealtheow to represent a force of balance between the Scyldings and the Helmings. Another motif used extremely effectively throughout Grendel is the seasons. Grendel is not a novel written in chronological order. The book begins somewhat at the end, then enters a series of flashbacks, and ends in the present. However, even though the novel skips around chronologically, it is patterned after the passage of a one-year calendar. The novel begins in the spring of Grendel’s last year alive and ends with him dieing the following winter. This is appropriate because spring normally represents growth and new beginnings, so this is an ideal place to start a story. It is also appropriate because winter normally symbolizes death and Grendel is slain by Beowulf during the winter. Machinery is another motif used to perfection by Gardner in Grendel. Many times throughout the course of the novel, Grendel uses metaphors describing animals and humans as â€Å"machine-like† because they mindlessly adhere to set patterns of behavior. Grendel first notices this in the ram, which instinctively responds to the arrival of spring and will not leave no matter what Grendel does because the season is upon us. â€Å"I shake my two hairy fists at the sky and I let out a howl so unspeakable that the water at my feet turns sudden ice and even I myself am left uneasy. But the ram stays; the season is upon us. † (Gardner 5) Later in the book, Grendel describes himself as â€Å"mechanical as anything else† when the warm weather causes him to start his raids on the mead hall. One final motif used throughout Grendel is the significance of the number twelve. To start off, there are twelve months in a year and the narrative is broken into twelve chapters. Next, there are twelve zodiac signs and all twelve zodiac signs are referenced in the book. Finally, there are twelve years in the war between the Danes and Grendel, with Grendel being slain via Beowulf in the twelfth and final year of the war. Obviously the number twelve is a recurring theme throughout the novel making it a very significant motif. A motif is defined as recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the piece’s major themes. John Gardner uses many motifs throughout Grendel to help explain the story and themes in the story. The most effective motif used is the zodiac symbolism in each chapter, but the motifs of the seasons, machinery, and the number twelve are also imperative in helping explain the overall meaning of the story. Motifs should be used whenever possible to help explain a story, plus they provide readers with an interesting topic for debate when discussing a novel.