The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe and Confessions found In a Prison by Charles Dicken Essay Example for Free

The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe and Confessions found In a Prison by Charles Dicken Essay My essay will consist of the themes of the two short stories and background information on the authors who were living at the Victorian time, now seen as classical writers. Edgar Allen Poe was born January 19th 1809 in Boston. He was an American short story writer, poet, critic, and editor. He is famous in all of these traits for his cultivation of mystery and macabre writing. The atmosphere is his tales of horror is unrivalled in American fiction. After his mother died in Richmond, in 1811, he was taken into the home of John Allan, a Richmond merchant (presumably his godfather), and his childless wife. He was later taken to Scotland and England (1815-20), where he was given a classical education that was continued in Richmond. His gambling losses at the university incensed his guardian that he refused to let him continue, and Poe returned to Richmond to find his sweetheart, (Sarah) Elmira Royster, engaged. Poe made a name as a critical reviewer and married his young cousin Virginia Clemm, who was only 13. Poe seems to have been an affectionate husband and son-in-law. Poe was dismissed from his job in Richmond, apparently for drinking, and went to New York City. Drinking was in fact to be the bane of his life. To talk well in large company he needed a slight stimulant, but a glass of sherry might start him on a spree; and, although he rarely succumbed to intoxication, he was often seen in public when he did. This gave rise to the conjecture that he was a drug addict, but according to medical testimony he had a brain lesion. His wife Virginia died in 1847. Charles Dickens is generally considered as one of the greatest writers of the Victorian Era. His work is characterised by attacks on the social evils, injustices and hypocrisy. In his early teen years he was forced to end school and work in the factory. Dickens characters such as Scrooge, David Copperfield and Mr Pickwick have fascinated generations of readers. The author was born in Hampshire during the industrial age his father was a well-paid clerk but often ended up in financial problems. Dickens wrote for several newspapers. In 1836 he married Catherine Hogart. They had 10 children. Both short stories contain the theme of GOTHIC LITERATURE. The Goths were said, by history, to be barbarians who destroyed the classical Roman civilisation and plunged the civilised world into the centuries of ignorance called the Dark Ages. Hence the word Goth originally came from the name of the German tribe at odds with the Roman Empire, later a generic term for all German tribes- came to stand for Barbarous; and later, what was said to be barbarous, came to be known as gothic. The term gothic also came to represent the medieval culture of the long years of the Dark Ages. In Edgar Allan Poes story The Tell Tale Heart, the narrator cannot see that she/he is crazy and rather maniacally tries to convince that she/he is not. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. You should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded. He gleefully recounts the skilled way he kills an old man and buries him under the floorboards. When two policemen came to the residence to investigate, the narrator believes that he can hear the old mans heart still beating, and it drives the narrator to confess the crime: Villains! (Narrator shrieked), dissemble no more! -Here, here! It is the beating of the hideous heart. Both authors have one obvious thing in common they are both male writers. They were very popular in their short story writing and became very famous. The two stories have the narrator as the insane murderers. Those killers talk in great detail about why, how, when and where they committed their evil actions. In both stories the victims were vulnerable. A young child was atrociously killed in Confessions found In a Prison and a powerless old man was killed fiercely in The Tell Tale Heart. Both victims were vulnerable because of their age. The murder plots were both designed intelligently methodically thought out what was being undertaken in days or weeks before the episode occurred. Both authors added a great twist in the end and left the readers stunned. The police officers in The Tell Tale Heart were shocked by the killers confession while viewing where the body was hidden; he was revealing his madness in a dramatic breakdown. The army officers in Confessions in a Prison found out where the decaying body of the child lay simply by observing the unknown crime scene. Last of all, both murderers confessed to their compulsive, inhumane actions and paid for taking the life of an innocent person. The killers in both stories believably insane in the way they had the most ridiculous reasons to take another human life but they still had killers motives. There are many differences that make the both stories unique, such as the murderers Motives to kill. In The Tell Tale Heart the killer was haunted by the evil eye of vulture, although he still liked the man he had to get rid of the eye. In Confessions Found In a Prison the motives were all about greed because the killers wife loved his nephew as her own child and was haunted by the childs face and eyes, which reminded him of his mother, who he believed didnt like him very much. The two victims who were killed had a major contrast in age, old verses young. I think I felt more sympathy for the child being killed rather than the old man because the young child had his whole life ahead to see and experience the world, compared to the old man who had already lived his life. I also think the killing of a child was more horrific in the Confessions found In a Prison compared to the aged man in The Tell Tale Heart. The helpless young child was innocent, little and fragile who even attempted to escape outside in the garden by himself. The poor child didnt have the best of childhood. Both his parents had died, and he had been put into the care of his uncle. The murder in The Tell Tale Heart was left unidentified as to whether it was a male or a female. There were no clues or hints referring to his or her sex, which gives the story more suspense and more mystery. As a reader I felt the narrator could only have been a man due to the horrific style of the murder. I understand that these extreme actions could have been committed by a woman, but I believe it is more likely to be a man. The assassin in the story Confession found In a Prison had a blood relationship with his victim. The killer was an uncle of the child who was his BLOOD nephew. The murderer in the story of the The Tell Tale Heart was a neighbour to the old man who we didnt really know anything about. The Tell Tale Heart takes place in the region of 7-8 days mainly during the hours of darkness at the residence of the old man. The motives of the two murderers were different and similar in particular ways. In The Tell Tale Heart the assassin was disturbed by the evil eyes of the old man that was an image of a vulture. In Confessions found In a Prison the murderer was greedy and jealous because his wife seemed to love his nephew as her own child, the memory of his brothers wifes eyes lived in the little boys eye in particular, which he inherited. I think there is a lot of evidence as to why the murderer was completely mad in The Tell Tale Heart The narrator was simply trying so hard to convince the reader that he/she was not mad, for example but why will you say that I am mad or the line would a mad man have been so wise as this? this clearly shows that the narrator is trying to convince the reader of his sanity. The repetitiveness and the use of phrases of how a mad man should be keeps relating to themes of madness. The narrator also uses speech, involving the readers by asking questions, e.g. Would a mad man have been so wise as this? The killer says in the first paragraph that he/she loved the old man. The killer didnt have any grudges against him, and he had never wronged the narrator. The only thing that came in the way of all of these opinions was that the narrator was haunted by the old mans eye. Such stupid, mad and negative thoughts took the life of an innocent man. The killer in Confessions Found In a Prison was a blood relative of the victim, the uncle of the child. The killer didnt really think twice about his relationship towards the boy and about the deep, deep consequences. Both murderers had plainly confessed to their repulsive deeds at the end of the short stories. Both confessed dramatically. Both murderers sat on top of their victims lifeless corpses just before they were found out. In The Tell Tale Heart the narrator was sitting on top of the floorboards just above where the body had been placed. In Confessions found in a Prison the murderer sat outside in his own garden with his own officers sitting on the soil that his nephew lay beneath. Both killers ended at the site of the manic crimes. In Confessions Found In A Prison when the narrator did not move his chair or himself, the army officers guessed that he was hiding something. Both narrators have probably flashes in their mind of what they did and what their consequences were going to be if they got caught for murdering an innocent and helpless. For example in Confessions Found In A Prison although the narrator his all the evidence and covered up the crime scene, he lived in fear of being found out that he killed his own nephew. He suffers terrible nightmares and needs to keep a constant watch over his nephews early grave. Both authors are sending significant messages in their short stories, who ever takes a wrong turning life or has done something very wrong against the law will be caught and punished to pay in debt for their crime. If you murder, later your actions turn into regrets and pure nightmares, it drives you insane because you cant simply cope with a guilty conscious. The authors try to convey to their readers that by taking a life of a human, the punishment given to the killer will never be enough to pay for the death of an innocent person who will never get another chance to live in this world. I believe the authors are disapproving of MURDER, in the way they ended their short stories with both killers getting caught and arrested for operating a murder offence. Edgar Allen Poe uses noise to create atmosphere in the short story and to build up suspense, for example, the hinges creaked. The reader instantly wants to discover who is behind the door. This creates more suspense and mystery with the intension of making the readers more engaged, and wanting to read further, and it leaves the reader clinging to the edge of their seats. The Tell Tale Heart is very quiet, calm and peaceful, until the twist at the end of the story, when death was inflicted upon the victim. A silence is always followed by action; again the reader is kept entertained, interested and literally addicted to the suspense and the build up of the tension. Edgar Allan Poe also mentions time in The Tell Tale Heart. It helps many writers in building suspense and creating atmosphere based of the theme of the story. Time makes the story more interesting and gives a sense of repetition if certain words involving time are used atmosphere, suspense and tension are built. For example, For the whole hour I didnt move a muscle this portrays how slowly the time passed. For a minute, the heart went on with a muffled sound. The writer here engages his readers by making TIME a way of creating more atmosphere and tension the short story. Out of the two murderers I really do not think either of them deserved any sympathy, seeing as their reasons for murder were both so meaningless. I feel a tiny bit of pity for the murderer in Confessions found in a Prison because he had had the hatred growing inside him for a long time, waiting to explode. From an early age he seemed to resent his brother and this hatred was later transferred to his innocent nephew. The killer in Confessions found in a Prison wasnt completely mad at the beginning of the story, but became so when the nephew took a role as part of his everyday life, his madness simply stretched from the point when the child was put under his care, the memory of the childs parents was there to remind him everyday of his past hatred and jealousy. The murderer in The Tell Tale Heart didnt appear to have a particular link with the victim, as we know it. The victim did him no wrong. I believe the narrator was mad, and beyond any sense of logical thought. I think he was in need of great medical help from the beginning of the story. I favoured The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe rather than the short story Confessions found in a Prison by Charles Dickens, even though both stories stunned me completely. The author Edgar Allan Poe writes in such anger and irritation about the evil eye, which was compared to a vultures eye. The account of the heart of the old man drumming in the killers mind, driving him to breakdown, gives the reader a shaky feeling while imagining the event. I think the repetition of words helped build up the suspense and tension, this also guides the reader to read further into the passage. The word mad appears in The Tell Tale Heart many times referring to the narrators insanity, this implies to the reader that the narrator is crazy, as he/she brings up this subject on many occasions and obsessively denying their own accusations, e.g. I am not mad. There are many short sentences, usually a device to build up atmosphere and suspense. Edgar Allan Poe writes in such detail about each topic, for example the Evil Eye, we as readers could feel the hate growing inside the narrator, which became very realistic. The twist at the end of this story fascinated me, and gave effectiveness to the whole story. It was intelligently written. The ending wasnt obvious, and kept you guessing to the very end. I didnt expect the killer in The Tell Tale Heart to rip up the floor boards because of all of the hard work and preparation that the killer went through to cover up the crime scene. I took a great interest In the way the narrator was portrayed at the end, when the police inspectors arrived. The killer put on an innocent and relaxed facial expression, just in-case suspicion occurred with the officers. His or her voice tones were transformed into calm, relaxing tones, and the body language is conveyed greatly by the description from the author. The body language was altered depending on the situation to avoid suspicion. The reaction at the end was unexpected, but I could sense a twist building up in the writing. The coincidental visit from the police, and the dramatic confession of the killer was very amusing for me to read. In conclusion, Although I believe that neither of the murderers deserve sympathy, I feel remote pity for both murderers, in the fact that they were mentally unstable, and the knowledge of their crime tore at them until it drove them to confess all. I believe that this does equate for a slight sympathetic vote to go to the killer who showed the most emotion, and regret. I therefore would say I felt the most sympathy for the killer in The Tell Tale Heart.

Preserve Toothbrushes Essay Example for Free

Preserve Toothbrushes Essay Strategic planning is an important aspect for any business or corporation. Without it, an organization has no way to achieve a stated goal. They have no way to march towards their vision. In the case of Eric Hudson, an entrepreneur with a vision, he successfully created a business with a goal in mind and implemented a strategic plan to make it happen. Every small business startup has to have some edge in order to compete; otherwise they will be forced out by larger, pre-existing competitors. For Preserve, this meant identifying and filling a niche in an industry largely consisting of multinational conglomerates. For Eric Hudson, this meant thinking critically, having a plan, and implementing it in order to carry out his vision. Preserve found its niche in environmentally friendly toothbrushes. Preserve created an environmentally friendly toothbrush manufactured from recycled plastic. Further enhancing the product was a unique 45 degree angled head designed by Hudson’s father, an industrial engineer. At the time, the â€Å"green† movement was largely a niche in itself. While not a first-mover, others were already in the â€Å"green† products industry; Preserve had a modified approach of the second-mover strategy. It did not create the â€Å"green† industry, but it did create a new product. It was often a small market for â€Å"green† products, and the products that existed were often less effective and of poor quality. However, for Eric Hudson, he made it his vision to provide an environmentally friendly product without sacrificing quality or performance. Initially, Preserve’s toothbrush was marketed through grassroots movements and sampling. However, it was at one of the sampling events, that an employee from Stonyfield Yogurt, an organic yogurt company, approached Preserve and relayed the information that they consistently had leftover plastic from producing yogurt containers. With this bit of information, Preserve had a new strategic alliance that provided them with the raw materials to produce its product, and Stonyfield had the ability to promote tself as an environmentally friendly corporation as a result of its efforts. Preserve is a small, niche brand, and like most other small niche brands, their marketing budget pales in comparison to its larger competitors. In Preserve’s case, they focus on generating publicity to promote and advertise their brand. The best advertisement is free advertisement, and Preserve tends to generate a lot of magazine articles and television appearances. This in turn generates word of m outh testimonials, the most effective form of advertising. Businesses in general should continually strive to enhance their business model and update their strategic plan. A SWOT analysis is a useful tool for examining a business and how it is meeting its basic mission. By comparing the firm’s strengths and weaknesses with external opportunities and threats, a SWOT analysis provides managers with a view of the organization’s internal and external environments. In turn, this analysis can be used to determine if the firm is meeting expectations or if it is on track to meet expectations. Preserve’s director of marketing, C. A. Webb, admits that she doesn’t actually perform SWOT analysis’s, but certainly uses that form of thinking consistently when implementing new products, distribution channels, designs, or other decisions. In fact, it was this style of thinking that led to Preserve to focus its effort on packaging its unknown product in order to appeal to a more sophisticated market and consumer. It was crucial to target a specific audience because retailers could not devote large amounts of shelf space to a small brand such as Preserve. So Preserve made it their mission to go up against their large competitors in the only way possible—out marketing them. Business strategy and strategic plans are crucial for any business, small, medium, or large. Preserve certainly provides an excellent example of the necessity of a strategic plan and how following one can lead to success, provided the organization has the necessary strengths and environment as can be determined by a SWOT analysis. Preserve’s success can certainly be attributed to a successful business plan, as well as careful planning. Both are important lessons to be taken away from Preserve’s market presence.

Comparison on Computation Cost of the Cloud

Comparison on Computation Cost of the Cloud In this chapter, we list the comparison on computation cost of the cloud for file upload between †¦ and our scheme. Computational Cost Data access issues in the field of the cloud computing provide a good measurement-based performance as mentioned along this research, and hence, the security features can be improved using the new proposed model as well as a suitable computational cost. However, the proposed protocol provides these advantages and evaluates the performance based on computational cost and security requirements. The performance of our proposed scheme is evaluated using the existing experimental in [33] [34] [35] for a variety of cryptographic operations using MIRACLE [36] in PIV 3 GHZ processor with Windows XP operating system and 512 MB memory. From [33] [34] [35] the relative running time for the operations we adopted in our proposed scheme and we define some terms for the running time calculations: Tp= Pairing operation= 20.01 ms Th= Hash function= 3.04 ms Tpm= Pairing-based scalar multiplication= 6.38 ms Tec= ECC-based scalar multiplication= 0.83 ms Other operations: omitted The following tables illustrates the performance efficiency based on running time which is focus on user side including data owner: Table 1: Computational Cost-based Performance Efficiency Phases↓ Operations Running time (ms) Key Generation Tec+2Th 6.91 Upload Tp+Th 23.05 Download (Transformation Key) Tpm 6.38 Total Tp+ Tpm+Tec+3Th 36.34 The following table shows comparison between [37] [38] and our scheme in the major process which is file upload/download, with file in any size (not affected) and for one user: Table 2: Comparison of Computational Cost-based Performance Efficiency References→ Ref [37] Ref [38] Our scheme Upload 872.09 33.24 23.05 Download 400.21 39.25 6.38 Total 1272.30 72.49 29.43 From the above tables we clearly can observe that our proposed model is more efficient and has low running time indeed. The following figure can simplify this comparison: Figure 1: Comparison of performance efficiency-based running time Security requirement In the security aspects of our proposed model, we can notice that this model can achieve AC, FR, DC, IG, security requirements. Furthermore, this model not only provide a cost-based efficient scheme, but also provide a high secure and robust model against attacks such as Anti-collusion, Replay, MITM, and DoS attacks as follows: Anti-collusion attack  Ã‚   Some unauthorized users or members whose attributes do not satisfy the access policy, they may also try to access the data by colluding together with other users or even the service provider to compromise some data owners privacy. Our scheme is considered it to be secure against this attack due when a user is revoked, the group manager updates the revocation list (RL) stored in the cloud with a new. In addition, the group manager adds a time stamp to the data files and signs, to make sure that the cloud updates the data files.   New DF = sign ts (à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ¸Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‹Å" =(à ¢Ã… ¸Ã‚ ¨Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¢,à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ†â€™(à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¢)à ¢Ã… ¸Ã‚ © ∀à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¢-∈à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¿), group id, CT ) Replay attack Replay attacks are network attacks in which the attacker spies the conversation between the sender and receiver and takes the authenticated information e.g. sharing key and then contact to the receiver with that key. Moreover, our scheme is considered it to be secure against this attack due to temporary session by using timestamp for encrypted data. Man-in-the-Middle Attack (MITM) Man-in-the-middle attack has become quite popular in the SaaS environment. Here the attacker intercepts the communication channel established between legitimate users and modifies the communication between client and server without their knowledge. Moreover, our scheme is considered it to be secure against this attack due to encrypted identities and the hash function used in the term of key generation: Denial of Service Attack (DOS): Most of the serious attacks in cloud computing.   In   Denial   of   service   attack   an   attacker   prevent   legitimate   users   of   service   from   using   the desired resources by flood a network or by consuming bandwidth .So authentication is need to distinguish legitimated   clients   from   malicious   clients,   which   can   be   performed   through   strong   cryptographic verification. Moreover, our scheme is considered it to be secure against this attack due to the client creates a unique HMAC, or hash, per request to the cloud by combing the request data and hashing that data, along with his id and sending it as part of a request. The cloud receives the request and regenerates its own unique HMAC. The cloud compares the two HMACs, and, if theyre equal, the client is trusted and the request is executed. Request | | tk+ H(id)   For convince, we define the following terms: AC: Access control FR: Flexible revocation DC: Data confidentiality IG: Integrity Sym: Symmetric Algorithm CT: Computational cost TS: Timestamp ODBE: RBE: Role based encryption LGS: leveraging group signature DBE: dynamic broadcast encryption Table 3 Security requirement comparison References→ Ref [ 38] Ref [39] Ref [40] Our scheme Techniques Sym DBE RBE ABE Features AC, DC AC, DC AC AC, FR, DC, IG Comments High CT, No TS High CT, No TS High CT, No TS Low CT,TS Anti-collusion attack √ Replay attack √ MITM attack √ DoS attack √ √  Ã‚   means the scheme can achieve the corresponding goal. In general and from the above comparisons, our scheme can achieve data confidentiality, secure  Ã‚   access control, integrity and  Ã‚   flexible revocation.   For clearly seeing the advantages of security of our proposed scheme, as explain in table 3, we list a table compared with ref [38], ref [39] and ref [40].

Recollection in Platos Phaedo and Meno Essay -- Philosophy Religion E

Recollection in Plato's Phaedo and Meno As the earliest philosopher from whom we have written texts, Plato is often misrepresented as merely reproducing Socratic rhetoric. In Meno, one of the first Platonic dialogues, Plato offers his own unique philosophical theory, infused with his mentor's brilliant sophistry. Amidst discussing whether or not virtue can be taught, Meno poses a difficult paradox: How can one be virtuous, or seek virtue, when one cannot know what it is? "How will you aim to search for something you do not know at all?" (Plato, Meno, 80d). From this question, Plato purposes a solution, that knowledge must be recollected from the soul. When the soul enters the world of space and time, Plato suggests, it carries some prior knowledge of forms; that is to say, the soul "remembers" its knowledge of unchangeable truths. (Meno, 81c-d). Thus follows the conclusion that education cannot teach knowledge, but rather aids a student to recall what the soul already knows. Plato notes, however, that although the body is capable of recollecting knowledge (of forms), it is... Recollection in Plato's Phaedo and Meno Essay -- Philosophy Religion E Recollection in Plato's Phaedo and Meno As the earliest philosopher from whom we have written texts, Plato is often misrepresented as merely reproducing Socratic rhetoric. In Meno, one of the first Platonic dialogues, Plato offers his own unique philosophical theory, infused with his mentor's brilliant sophistry. Amidst discussing whether or not virtue can be taught, Meno poses a difficult paradox: How can one be virtuous, or seek virtue, when one cannot know what it is? "How will you aim to search for something you do not know at all?" (Plato, Meno, 80d). From this question, Plato purposes a solution, that knowledge must be recollected from the soul. When the soul enters the world of space and time, Plato suggests, it carries some prior knowledge of forms; that is to say, the soul "remembers" its knowledge of unchangeable truths. (Meno, 81c-d). Thus follows the conclusion that education cannot teach knowledge, but rather aids a student to recall what the soul already knows. Plato notes, however, that although the body is capable of recollecting knowledge (of forms), it is...

Elaine Showalters Representing Ophelia :: GCSE Coursework Shakespeare Hamlet

Elaine Showalter's Representing Ophelia  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Elaine Showalter defines Ophelia in many typical ways in her essay "Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism." She discusses her significance in reference to how she reveals Hamlet's characteristics. Showalter touches upon the idea that Ophelia's character is one that is symbolic of the psychiatric theories of Freud. Showalter also attributes the characterization of Ophelia to not only the audience, but also to the actress that plays the part. Never does she suggest that Ophelia could be just that, "Ophelia." Her entire article is devoted to individual interpretation of the play in its entirety, focusing primarily on Ophelia. Showalter presents her own ideas by bringing together the ideas of many others such as Jacques Lacan, Susan Mountfort, Ellen Terry, and more. Showalter provides suffice evidence in addressing each argument, but in doing so, she never takes into account the possibilities of Shakespeare's reasoning. In the discussion of Ophelia's character, her madness is almost always at the center of controversy. Showalter recognizes and explains many interpretations of her madness. Ophelia's madness is, by some, attributed to "a predictable outcome of erotomania" (225). This term "erotomania" was what the Elizabethans referred to as "female love-melancholy." Yet another interpretation is that of the "Romantic Ophelia," in which she is referred to as "a young girl passionately and visibly driven to picturesque madness" (228). Later, it is explained what is meant by this definition when Showalter writes about how people viewed Ophelia as a woman who "felt" too much and somehow allowed these feelings to overcome her. This type of action would drive a person to madness, just as Ophelia is driven into her madness. This conclusion would seem to suggest that her madness stemmed from some sort of erotic passion between herself and Hamlet. This is the type of interpretation that is given to the audien ce in many movie versioesult of erotomania. Elaine Showalter creates an argument that is predominantly based on the idea that Ophelia's madness is one that comes from her "female love-melancholy." Showalter cites many actresses, critics, doctors, and such that completely support this idea, and have actually expressed this idea to others in many ways. If it is not true that Hamlet and Ophelia had sexual encounters, then this interpretation of the character and its effect on the entire play can be understood on a completely different level.

Scarlet Critique Essay -- essays research papers fc

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written in 1850. It was based on the Puritans of the 1600's, which were revived in Hawthorne's era. Hawthorne descended from Puritan heritage and harbored a sense of guilt and hatred for their way of life. He used many themes and literary techniques in The Scarlet Letter including symbolism and irony. He emphasized the individual's role in the community and the role of women in society. Hawthorne used romanticism as opposed to the classical correctness of writing. Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in the 18th Century and stressed strong emotion and imagination. Puritanism was the belief that all humans are sinful and that it is only though God and the bible that one can find redemption. Hawthorne did not agree with their philosophy. "The tendency of that Hawthorne had for calling unpleasant things 'Puritanic' is an indication that he rejected Puritanism†¦" (Gerber, p.41) He felt they were hypocrites and protrayed them as stuffy and disillusioned. They lived their lives atoning or sins they were born with. Ironically, Hawthorne's writings seemed just that- atonement for his would-be sin, the puritan heritage that he was born with. Even thought The Scarlet Letter set in 1642 in New England, it was written in 1850 at the revival of Puritanism. It focused the role of women in society. Hawthorne had a strong love for women and never portrayed them weak...

Analyze Curriculum Foundations Essay

Choose one of the four foundations of curriculum (philosophical, historical, psychological, or social), and contrast its importance with the other three foundations. How does your selected foundation apply to your place of work/study? Charles Darwin; the father of speciation, stated in his book â€Å"On the Origin of Species† that the intelligence of mankind is merely the result of higher evolution. This theory is now being challenged by Marc Hauser, who is currently the director of cognitive evolution at Harvard University. In a recent article published in Scientific American, Hauser stated that humans possess four abilities that are not found in other species which are the essence of humaningueness. Those abilities are Generative Computation (the ability to generate limitless words and concepts), Promiscuous Combinations of ideas (the ability to merge different domains of knowledge), Mental Symbols (ways to encode sensory experiences), and Abstract Thought (the comprehension of things beyond what we can see). Each of these abilities are directly influenced by philosophical attributes, historical experiences, psychological behaviors, and social impacts (Wolchover). The purpose of this research is to examine and compare the importance of these influences in our educational system. Society has always been the driving force behind persuading Individuals behavior. When talking about curriculum it is the social factors of family, peers, idols, and teachers that possess the greatest ability of manipulating our young people today. The family will infuse its beliefs or morals onto its members. For example; if the parents of a family are uneducated and working low income jobs, education may not be their primary concern. Instead their interest may shift to basic needs, such as bringing more income into the house as soon as possible. That usually reflects a negative outlook on education. In turn the student will be unable to receive adequate help form their parents on school work. In hindsight; if both parents are highly educated, they will place greater infuses on academics. Their expectation in their children’s education becomes much higher. Peers and Idols have a hypnotic like hold on our young people and harness the power to undermine even the most stable of families. The desire to be accepted can be overwhelming to most. Some teenagers turn to idolizing rappers, TV stars, or sport figures in hopes of being recognized. The artist that are choosing; usually defies the law and express little to no morals towards women, society, and puts no value on education. We can see this today in our young people, with the sagging paints, rebelling attitudes, belittling female, fathering multiple children from as many women as possible and leaving the mothers to take care of the children. This type of behavior has become very desirable. There is no doubt that society has a hold on forming the behavior of our young people, but it is the psychological need to bradding or concepts of life. This concept may go by many names such as self-actualization or individuation. No matter what you call it, it is a natural drive within the human psychic to behave in a manner that is coherent to one self. Educational Psychology focuses on how children learn. A lot of research has gone into this field of study. It tries to answer questions like how effective is intervention, how should a room be set up for opium learning, how should lessons be taught, and how students learn and develop overall. As you can see this this discipline is concerned with the mindset of the students; what they are feeling, how they see or perceive situations. This is an attempt to put the students at ease by feeling safe and understood. To succeed this field of study must incorporate the social factors of the students in that area. Without understanding their social needs or wants any efforts are predetermined to fail. Philosophy on the other hand applies the directions for teachers to follow. It tells parents and students how teacher or school intends to treat them. The schools philosophy might instruct teachers on how to give a lesson or what order to teach their subjects. An example of this might insist that each student must make a passing grade before the teacher is allowed to advance the class to another topic or tell a biology teacher that he or she will have to teach cell functions before teaching Mendel’s genetics. The Schools philosophy statement might read something like this; our school believes that all students are unique individuals that deserve a safe secure place that will nurture them emotionally as well as intellectually. Provide a place that would escalate their potential to new highs and promote respect towards family, school and society, but a teachers philosophy would be more geared for his or her room. Over all the philosophy in curriculum provides guidance, a way of doing things, and opinions on how students should be treated. This type of discipline requires the knowledge of the communities believes, economic status, and the desires of the parents for their children. Like psychological behaviors; it has to take in account the social attributes of its population. Around the nineteenth century public schools were set up to promote reading, writing, and arithmetic. These were the skills needed to hold a job. Subjects like biology, civics, world history or health were unimportant to the public schools and was reserved for private schools whose students were being groomed for universities. The welfare of the student’s character or moral values where of no concern to the schools at this time. Only recently have the schools shifted to developing the entire student’s well-being. Focusing more on what it takes to produce a well-round individual which has the ability to rationalize complex situations and develop into a productive member of society. This is achieved by teaching all core subjects not ju st a select few. To succeed the schools have to put real-world applications to old-world disciplines. Today all public schools would like to see every student attend some kind of institute for higher learning. Today’s institutes of learning will incorporate psychology (a natural drive within the human psychic to behave in a manner that is coherent to one self, set up parameters for teachers curriculum), Philosophy (tells parents and students how teacher or school intends to treat them and what they are willing to provide), historical ( brought about the intergrading of core classes, set a pace on when a student is ready to advance to more complex subjects), and they have to take into consideration the social influences of the families, peers, as well as the community if they are to form a working curriculum. The curriculum should be an organized process that promotes a more student centered approach to learning, by directing the course of study in such a manner that it challenges the student at a constant upgrade in levels of difficulty which allows the student to comprehend a nd utilize pass lessons or experiences and promote individualization within the society. I have been teaching middle school biology for eight years now and we have to follow certain guidelines that make up our curriculum. It all starts with the entrance of the room. It must be inviting and shouts out come see. Once in the room they have to feel safe and comfortable. This room has to become their safe haven, where all the pressures of home and peers become nonexistence. I have to develop all aspects of the student’s life. Not only does this involve the core classes, but it could involve maturity levels, self-confidence, behavior problems, and social interactions. The class subject has to be taught according to the State of Alabama’s Board of Education. I am given a set of standards each year and must cover each one to mastery. My lessons have to meet every students learning style, and treat every student as an individual with different needs and goals. Every lesson has to have three parts a beginning (this must capture the students interest and be a prelude to that days topic), during (this is the meat and potatoes of the lesson, this could range from reading text to given lectures and everything in between. In this section of the lesson the objectives for that day must be met), and finally the after part of the lesson ( this is where the students have to show me that they were able to comprehend that days objectives and it gives me a chance to analyze my delivery of the subject matter). Before the curriculum can have any effect on the students I have to get to know them. I need to understand how they live and what they want out of life. This will allow me to teach in a manner that relates to them. It will give my lessons value and a means to an end. As you can tell all the disciplines are incorporated into every lesson. For this system to work all teachers have to look beyond the course of study and take more interest into the stu dents. References Natalie Wolchover, Life’s Little Mysteries Staff Writer (What Distinguishes Humans from Other Animals?) 03 July 2011 Time: 09:21 AM ET