The Pardoner And The Brothers Essays (540 words) -

The Pardoner and the 'brothers' The Pardoner and the 'brothers' Throughout literature, relationships can often be found between the author of a story and the story that he writes. In Geoffrey Chaucer's frame story, Canterbury Tales, many of the characters make this idea evident with the tales that they tell. A distinct relationship can be made between the character of the Pardoner and the tale that he tells. Through the Prologue to the Pardoner's tale, the character of the Pardoner is revealed. Although the Pardoner displays many important traits, the most prevalent is his greed. Throughout the prologue, the Pardoner displays his greed and even admits that the only thing he cares about is money: "I preach nothing except for gain" ("Pardoner's Tale", Line 105). This avarice is seen strongly in the Pardoner's tale as well. In the Pardoner's tale, three friends begin a journey in order to murder Death. On their journey, though, an old man leads them to a great deal of treasure. At this point, all three of the friends in the tale display a greed similar to the Pardoner's. The three friends decide that someone should bring bread and wine for a celebration. As the youngest of the friends leaves to go buy wine, the other two greedily plot to kill him so they can split the treasure only two ways. Even the youngest decides to "put it in his mind to buy poison / With which he might kill his two companions" (383, 384). The greed, which is evident in the character of the Pardoner, is also clearly seen in the tale. Another trait that is displayed by the Pardoner and a character in his tale is hypocrisy. Although the Pardoner is extremely greedy, he continues to try and teach that "Avarice is the root of all evil" (6). The characters in his tale display great hypocrisy as well. As the tale begins, the friends all act very trustworthy and faithful towards all of their friends. They nobly make a decision to risk their lives while trying to slay their friend's murderer. As they talk about their challenge, they pledge "to live and die each of them for the other, / As if he were his own blood brother" (241-242). At the end of the tale, the "brothers" begin to reveal their true nature. They all turn on each other in an attempt to steal the treasure for themselves. All of the loyalty, which they had pledged, was simply a lie and no faithfulness remained. While the two older "brother" plotted to kill the younger, the younger"brother" plotted "to kill them both and never to repent" (388). Thus, these so-called faithful "brothers" display their true ruthlessness and reveal their hypocrisy in relation to the Pardoner's character. The characters in the "Pardoner's Tale" match the unctuous nature of the Pardoner in a great deal of ways. All of these traits and ideas that are seen in both the Pardoner and the tale that he tells show a strong relationship in the two. Chaucer used this technique in all of the tales that are recorded in Canterbury Tales. This technique gives a greater insight into the mind of the teller. By analyzing the tales, it is possible to learn much about the teller of the tale. Using this method, Chaucer focuses on the characteristics of each of the people involved in Canterbury Tales, but also keeps the poem interesting.

Analysis For The Picture Example

Analysis For The Picture Example Analysis For The Picture – Coursework Example Analysis for the picture Speaking of formal visual elements of the painting, one might point out that it features soft lines with no sharp angles, dark colors dominate the canvas, the texture is perceived as elastic; the shapes of the objects depicted are primarily round. As for the way each of the elements is connected to another, one might argue that the painting is certainly balanced. On the one hand, there is an easily observed symmetry: face, eyes, nose, mouth and torso can be easily divided in two by a vertical line. On the other hand, there are objects which are placed chaotically; however, they are aligned and balance each other.I believe that the most essential component of the painting is the goggles that are worn by the main character. The reason why it is so important is that it contributes to the formation of a particular meaning of the painting and can be interpreted more or less in one way while any other element is quite ambiguous. There is no doubt that one can obser ve a working visual system in general: the colors are dark, a character is shown wearing protective elements such as goggles or a suit. All this results in a particular meaning: this person lives in a hostile environment. In addition to that, some parts of the meaning are conveyed through formal language. For example, his nose is painted red which is a bright color that reflect danger or pain; the background is dark which makes is dangerous as well.

A Guide to Masters and Doctoral Comprehensive Exams

A Guide to Masters and Doctoral Comprehensive Exams Graduate students take two sets of comprehensive exams, both masters and doctoral. Yes, it sounds scary. Comprehensive examinations, known as comps, are a source of anxiety for most graduate students. What Is a Comprehensive Examination? A comprehensive examination is just what it sounds like. It is a test that covers a broad base of material. It assesses the students knowledge and capacities to earn a given graduate degree. The exact content varies by graduate program and by degree: masters and doctoral comprehensive exams have similarities but differ in detail, depth, and expectations. Depending on the graduate program and degree, comps could test course knowledge, knowledge of your proposed research area, and general knowledge in the field. This is especially true of doctoral students, who must be prepared to discuss the field at a professional level, citing material from coursework but also classic and current references. When Do You Take Comps? Comps are generally given toward the end of coursework or afterward as a way to determine how well a student is able to synthesize the material, solve problems, and think like a professional. Passing a comprehensive exam lets you move to the next level of study. What Is the Format? Masters and doctoral exams often are written exams, sometimes oral, and sometimes both written and oral. Exams are usually administered in one or more long test periods. For example, in one program written doctoral comprehensive exams are given in two blocks that are each eight hours long on consecutive days. Another program administers a written comp exam to masters students in one period that lasts five hours. Oral exams are more common in doctoral comps, but there are no hard and fast rules. What Is the Masters Comp Exam? Not all masters programs offer or require that students complete comprehensive exams. Some programs require a passing score on a comprehensive exam for entry to the thesis. Other programs use comprehensive exams in place of a thesis. Some programs give students a choice of completing either a comprehensive exam or a thesis. In most cases, masters students are given guidance on what to study. It might be specific lists of readings or sample questions from previous exams. Masters comprehensive exams are generally given to an entire class at once. What Is the Doctoral Comp Exam? Virtually all doctoral programs require that students complete doctoral comps. The exam is the gateway to the dissertation. After passing the comprehensive exam a student can use the title doctoral candidate, which is a label for students who have entered the dissertation phase of doctoral work, the final hurdle to the doctoral degree. Doctoral students often receive much less guidance on how to prepare for comps as compared with masters students. They might get long reading lists, some sample questions from previous exams, and instructions to be familiar with articles published over the past few years in the prominent journals in their field. What If You Dont Pass Your Comps? Graduate students who are unable to pass a programs comprehensive exam are weeded from the graduate program and cannot complete the degree. Graduate programs often allow a student who fails the comprehensive exam another chance to pass. However, most programs send students packing after two failing grades.

Research paper proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Research paper proposal - Essay Example The two research questions to be explored are: "What is the impact of management style on productivity?† and "How does a reward system influence executive function?" The link between management style and productivity is well recognized (Dorgan, Dowdy, and Pippin, 2006; Michael, 2002). What is more interesting to this researcher is the link between reward systems that managers choose to satisfy their organizational expectations and the impact of these reward systems on productivity. These reward systems grew out of a need to give workers an incentive to complete work satisfactorily. Incentives like bonuses, early time-off, and so forth, motivated workers to produce better results much more quickly than when there were no incentives (Camp and Lambert, 2005; Somaya, 2001; Schraeder and Becton, 2008). Beyond incentives, management and leadership style have been seen to also bring about productivity. There is a relationship between management style and the types of incentives they use that also has a bearing on productivity. There are several management styles that include the authoritarian, the participative and the autocratic and the permissive to name a few. This research seeks to measure the efficacy of the participative management style, both in terms of organizational output and worker satisfaction. In analyzing participative management style, it has been found that this type of leadership is also open to certain reward systems more so than other management styles. It is the hope of this research that a correlation will be found between participative management style, incentives and worker productivity. How these systems impact one another will also be explored. Exploring the relationship between management style and productivity is impossible without having a clear definition of what participative management style is and how managers use reward systems. Generally, authors define participative management as a

Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 28

Journal - Essay Example In this quote, Mama realizes that her daughter’s ambitions are totally different from hers. She feels that her daughter wants to complement her looks with that of a â€Å"white† woman, and by doing so, she feels she is deviating from â€Å"real life†. In this passage, Mama notices that she is not living in accordance to her daughter’s expectations, in spite of the pride she takes from her hard work. This is something that even bothers her so much. Unlike her daughter â€Å"Dee†, who can always look into anyone’s eyes, Mama feels that she cannot. At the begging of the second paragraph, Maggie comes out wearing a red blouse and a pink skirt and asks her mother how she looks. It is obvious that she looks presentable before her mother, but when she walks the mother compares her to a dog. This passage presents a change in the Mama’s perspective about â€Å"real life†. She now feels that Maggie has a better figure than her sister, Dee. Implying that she will perhaps have a better future than her and Dee. In this paragraph, Mama is trying to recall how she thought Dee used to hate Maggie and their house. Although she managed to take Dee to school with the help of her church and the a few money she had, she felt that Dee did not appreciate, but turned to hate her house and small daughter. Dee realized the importance of education and wanted to share the knowledge gained with her mother and sister who only felt that they did not necessarily need such knowledge. This paragraph, therefore, indicates different perceptions about education between the educated and uneducated as well as rural and sophisticated population. At this point, Mama was narrating how Dee used to like nice things, which she always worked hard to achieve. She was quite unlike her mother, who always believed she is a big-boned woman who is conditioned to work. She even says Maggie’s lack of style will finally make her marry John Thomas who has â€Å"mossy teeth† (Walker 317). This

Suki Kims Facing Poverty with a Rich Girls Habits Essay Example for Free

Suki Kims Facing Poverty with a Rich Girls Habits Essay This woman named Suki Kims life changed instantly. In the beginning she talks about Queens, New York in 1983 where she lived at, at the time. She describe their first home as â€Å"the upstairs of a two-family brownstone in Woodside†(Kim, page 92 ). She also said â€Å"the place was crammed, ugly place† and compared that to where she use to live in South Korea (Kim, Page 92). When she entered seventh grade her father’s company went bankrupt overnight and he was a millionaire shipping company, mining business and hotels. However, when the bankruptcy happen jail time was required because that was the punishment for her father. So without any money at all they flew to America into the state of New York. Sense Suki Kim came from South Korea, she couldnt speak any English at all. In fact the only first English word she knew was F. O. B (â€Å"Fresh off the boat†) because in junior high school all the teens was saying that about her. Miss Kim had transportation from a chauffeur when she used to live in South Korea and now that she lives in Queens, New York she has to ride on the public school bus with all the other teens. Another thing that changed in her life traumatically was that she had never done homework without a governess helping Miss Kim. She also noticed that a house can get really messy when she dont have a maid around anymore to clean up after her. Suki was even humiliated about bringing her dirty laundry to the laundry mat! Miss Kim had many life changes and she wasnt happy about it at all, she just wanted to go back to how her life was before. At the time when Miss Kim went to junior high she noticed how American schools are so different from Korean schools. Miss Kim also observed how people treat each other in America different from how Koreans treat each other in South Korea. Suki mentioned how Koreans in schools wore slippers to keep the schools floors clean as she compares to Queens, New York school has graffiti on the walls and has guards at the school doors searching the teenagers before they enter the school. When Miss Kim entered a English class with other Koreans she thought that she would fit in more but soon realized that she was still standing out from them. She knew that their was a difference between her and other Koreans. She said, â€Å"The wealthier Korean immigrants had settled in Westchester or Manhattan, where their children attend private schools† (Kim, Page 93). She was in a public school where all the other poor immigrant teens went to. After awhile her family had earned enough money to move out of that neighborhood to get better housing and education. Suki had volunteered at a family assistant center as a interpreter and she got on her feet-finally adjusting to society. I think this memoir is to good read because I can understand how Suki feels. I was interested in how a rich person life changed to being a middle class or poor person. I liked this memoir of Sukis story because she put all of her opinions and what she disliked into her essay. To me it seemed like she wanted to fit in into the American school society. I think she should just be herself and to always have faith that everything is going to be alright. She should take it one day at a time and make friends that can be true to her. I think this memoir teaches people never to regret what you have and always appreciate what you have. Never to be ashamed of where you came from and to always have pride that better days will come. I wondered what kind of friends she used to have when she used to live in South Korea? I also wondered how Sukis family learned how to survive in America without any money? I could imagine her having that fantasy life that she used to have when she used to live in South Korea. I felt that she didnt show any emotion about the big move her family made to America. It seem like she was brave and didnt think that America was a hard place to survive. I liked how Suki talked about the hip hop culture being known by other fellow Koreans. Seems as though to me that she was growing to be like an ordinary American teen that wants her ears pierced. My opinion on the memoir is that it made me feel bad but I was glad that some one in the world experience the hard times like other poor and middle class Americans. Yes its harsh, but all people have their down falls and I think rich people should imagine being in other poor or middle class people shoes. I also think that Immigrants have it hard also when they cant afford to be in their own countries and come to America to make things right. They believe that they would be free to do what they want because they have better opportunity to make more money. Which is true but some immigrants think that its easy to get money when there is always a struggle to get what we want. I enjoyed this memoir of Suki Kims story because it made me appreciate what I have now. Yes I would love to have what she used to have but I know money doesnt bring happiness because its only the ones you love would. Changes in Sukis life made her change her attitude of being a rich girl into a girl being more well rounded about everything she use to know. I wondered what kind of jobs did her dad and mom get while in Queens, New York? I wondered how did her parents take to poverty because she never mentioned how her parents felt? I also think she could have made more friend if she would have reach out to other races in her school. I know she couldnt speak very good English but she could have at lease get a Korean girl that speak English to help her. Suki can reach out in her community to go see others that are in her situation and talk to people. She can also be with good friends at a community center and be with them to help her get through her situation.

Ambiguities Explored in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essays

Ambiguities Explored in Heart of Darkness   Ã‚  Ã‚   Literature is never interpreted in exactly the same way by two different readers. A prime example of a work of literature that is very ambiguous is Joseph Conrad's, "Heart of Darkness". The Ambiguities that exist in this book are Marlow's relationship to colonialism, Marlow's changing feelings toward Kurtz, and Marlow's lie to the Intended at the end of the story.    One interpretation of Marlow's relationship to colonialism is that he does not support it. Conrad writes, "They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now,-nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom" (p. 27-28). Marlow says this and is stressing that the so-called "savages", or Africans, are being treated and punished like they are criminals or enemies when in fact they never did anything. He observes the slow torture of these people and is disgusted with it. Marlow feels sympathy for the black people being slaved around by the Europeans but doesn't do anything to change it because that is the way things are. One can see the sympathy by the way that he gives a starving black man one of his biscuits. "To tear treasure out of the bowels of the land was their desire, with no moral purpose at the back of it than there is in burglars breaking into a safe" (p. 54). This statement by Marlow conveys th at he doesn't believe that the Europeans have a right to be stripping Africa of its riches. He views the Jungles of Africa as almost it's own living, breathing monster.    It is evident that Marlow is one of the few white men on the journey that questions the belief at the time that the natives of Africa are "inhu... ...ch open up the readers mind. Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", raises many questions about society and the human potential for evil.    Works Cited and Consulted:       Conrad, Joseph.   Heart of Darkness 3rd Ed.   Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York:   Norton Critical, 1988.    Edward W. Said, The World, the Text, and the Critic. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1983) 13.    Hillman, James. "Notes on White Supremacy: Essaying an Archetypal Account of Historical Events," Spring (1986): 29-57.    McLynn, Frank. Hearts of Darkness: The European Exploration of Africa. New York: Carol & Gey, 1992.    Meyers, Jeffrey.   Joseph Conrad.   New York:   Charles Scribner's Sons, 1991.    Patrick Brantlinger, "Heart of Darkness: Anti-Imperialism, Racism, or Impressionism?" Criticism (Fall, 1985) 364.