Travel as Experience in Jane Eyre :: Jane Eyre Essays

Travel as Experience in Jane Eyre In his essay "The Progress of Error" William Cowper writes: Returning he proclaims by many a grace, By shrugs and strange contortions of his face, How much a dunce, that has been sent to roam, Excels a dunce, that has been kept at home. (Buzard 99) In the novel, we are presented with the tale of Jane Eyre and her travels around the English countryside. What she has seen and done are not considered extraordinary but rather common to a woman of her social standing. On the other hand, Rochester as a man of wealth and land has traveled the world and seen the sights of many nations. He has been to the new world and has also completed the Grand Tour of Europe that so many aristocrats before him have done. Yet when he returns home jaded, he finds in the plainest of women something that he had not found in his countless expeditions. When Jane is betrayed by Rochester, she leaves on her own tour with only a hope of survival without him. She eventually returns from her trek and has learned what she truly desires is to be with Rochester. Rochester’s advantageous trip abroad does not deliver the hope and satisfaction that the Grand Tour promises. On the other hand, Jane’s inconvenient journey around her homeland proves reveal ing to her independent nature. These details closely mirror the questions that arise when the value of travel as a learning experience is considered. Ultimately, Jane learns that where one goes is less important than how one spends the time. We see both sides of this argument in their first real conversation. While trying to explain why he finds her so interesting and at the same time must condescend to her, Rochester tells Jane that "†¦I have battled through a varied experience wit+h many men of many nations, and roamed over half the globe, while you have lived quietly with one set of people in one house" (140; ch. 14). Rochester believes this view of conquering more of the world makes him a stronger, better person. Jane retaliates that Rochester shouldn’t feel superior just because "†¦you have seen more of the world than I have – your claim to superiority depends on the use you have made of your time and experience" (140; ch. 14). Rochester responds by admitting he has "made an indifferent, not to say a bad use of both advantages" (140; ch.

completing college the easy way :: essays research papers

Completing our education is a goal many of us share. Finding the time to juggle classes, family life and a job seems to be the hard part. In today’s growing corporate world, more and more people are expanding their education. Searching to obtain a higher level of education, online classes seem to be the wave of the future. The growths in the technology field make achieving our goals seem almost too easy to be true.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Traditional schools offer many learning opportunities, not only to the young, but also to the adults looking to move forward with their careers. Many adults head off to college, hoping to reach personal goals by obtaining a higher level of education. With this goal in mind, many are looking for job opportunities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Higher levels of learning bring an achievement of not only personal goals, but also many gain financial opportunities that come with having a degree. Organizations are hiring individuals with educational backgrounds, to benefit their company. Having a high school degree in these changing times is not a big enough asset anymore.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Online learning is quickly becoming the wave of the future. Many traditional colleges are quickly adding online courses to keep in demand. Modern technology enables us to receive our education with out leaving our home or jobs. Today’s computers are holding large amounts of information making, those days of lugging books back and forth to the library a thing of the past.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Completing our jobs, taking care of families and now attending classes via the Internet makes college more acceptable to many individuals. Attending a class when it is convenient to ones schedule is creating an environment of educated adults who are benefiting the companies they work for.

Causes of Reality TV Popularity

There are several reasons that reality television has become popular today. The three that I will focus on are the concepts of money, instant fame, and the guilty pleasure phenomenon. The first catalyst for reality television being popular today is money. Today’s shows offer huge sums of money to people who do not necessarily possess the career skills that would make them a productive enough member of society to amass such wealth through honest work. Simplified, dumb people get lots of cash. Now, some shows do in fact have, at least at first, a pseudo-intellectual premise. Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, for example, offered up to a million dollars to people answering a set of questions. The questions, however, differed from related shows in that they were usually trivia oriented. Also, the audience was involved, as well as calling a friend and so on, which added to the drama aspect. The lighting, music, and editing all were contrived to produce the maximum possible suspense surrounding rather innocuous pop culture subjects one might find in any game of Trivial Pursuit for Children. The promise of money and the vicarious joy at someone winning lots of money, or more commonly spectacularly losing said money, is what draws millions of viewers. The second reason I believe reality television has become popular today is that of instant fame. Reality television takes ordinary people, sets them up in extraordinary situations on a world stage with other similarly commonplace individuals, and makes them the focus of a nation’s attention on, for example, an hour every Tuesday. Obviously the majority of the population has no chance of ever being picked as a participant for the show itself, but again the concept of vicarious living kicks in and the audience is hooked. The members of the show are satisfactorily every-day individuals for fans to willfully suspend their disbelief. That’s what keeps 35,000 twenty year olds auditioning every year for a chance to participate in MTV’s The Real World, which offers no monetary reward save the endorsements from being an instant celebrity. The third reason that reality television is popular today is what I like to call guilty pleasure syndrome. Sociology professor Mark Fishman of Brooklyn College, The City University of New York, has made a study of reality TV. â€Å"The Germans have a word for it, the appeal of some of these shows,† he says. â€Å"It's called ‘schadenfreude. ‘ It means taking delight in the misfortunes of others. It's a guilty pleasure. You feel you shouldn't be watching. It's always been in good taste not to look at these things†¦. It's a moral envelope that's being pushed†¦. We seem to be in a new age of making public what [we used to think] shouldn't be seen. † In today’s society, with the massive technological revolution of home computing and the internet, and with the renewed interest in free speech and the protection of the arts, more and more people are finding premises entertaining that 30 years ago would have been considered obscene.

Behavior problems in children and adolescents

Studies regarding substance abuse (alcohol included) yielded results that clearly associate self esteem closely to it. Those who are engaged in alcohol use in later or older age do so because they have learned the use of it in their early and moldable years (11 years old or 5th & 6th grade). Consequently, attempts have been made to deal with the area of self-esteem in hopes that when this psychological problem among teens is addressed properly, substance abuse might somehow be curbed.There are programs that cater to this need and they are actually placed side by side with the traditional curriculums of some schools. Experts and researchers believe that this quandary of alcohol abuse among teens may be helped by treating it in a stage where it is less obvious – that is, when the youngster is not yet manifesting or is obviously using alcohol, but on the brink of experimenting on it (Donnelly, 2007). The line of attack of this particular method is directed towards factors that ar e crucial to the make up of adolescents’ life experiences.Understanding the transitions that teenagers most likely will go through is the underlying principle that facilitated the study that eventually led to the formation of this program. Hence, the high hopes that the proponents of this program maintain. In this paper, the author tries to explore and explain the rubric of the particular synopsis mentioned above and to finally (in the process) convince its readers of its viability in decreasing the problem of alcoholism among teens and young adults in the coming years.It explains the rationale behind the effectiveness of the curriculum since the whole program is aimed at the core level of the perpetual potential problem of alcohol addiction. ~What you learned. The National Association for Self-Esteem (NASE), as the very name of the association clearly implies, believe that the self-esteem of the individual plays a major role why or why not that particular person is using/abu sing or not using/abusing alcohol. The observation is that teenagers with low self esteem have higher likelihood to experiment not only with alcohol but with other harmful psychoactive substances than those with high self-esteem.Furthermore, their studies yield evidences that point to the fact that individuals with positive self-esteem show not only little serious involvement with addictive substances but lesser tendency to risk trying the pleasures of these drugs. Convinced of this observation, self-esteem proponents constantly research and write articles that speak to the issue. They support a prevention program which has within it as crucial part â€Å"self-esteem enhancement. † Not any prevention program or traditional approach to the problem will achieve a longer-lasting effect.Overwhelming data available have proven that traditional school programs are not sufficient to address the issue; in order to be really effective in curbing alcoholism among teenagers, it is very important that as researches yield additional information, new strategies should be incorporated and employed as well. Important factors along with self-esteem that must be tackled include: personal efficacy, ability to decide wisely for oneself, and communication skills, etc. These areas must be developed since they influence and affect the behavior of an individual.It is believed that when these basic skills are taught and cultivated, rather than concentrating on the harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs, the benefits will be much more than the reduction of the likelihood of teenagers and young adults to use and abuse drugs. Involvement with other behavioral correlates like unsafe sexual encounters, and teenage pregnancy, will also diminish. The timing of the implementation of this kind of preventive program in schools for it to really achieve its goal among teenagers is also emphasized. It has to be implemented early, or else, its efficacy will lessen.Dr. Joseph Donnelly (self-esteem proponent) said: â€Å"It is much easier to prevent adolescents from ever engaging in the use of substances than it is to deter that use once it has begun. † ~One question you have. Self-esteem is indeed all important aspect that influences other facets of an adolescent’s life. Question remains especially to one who had had enormous experiences in psychotherapy and in dealing with myriad problems and situations/scenarios besetting the youth experimenting with alcohol: cynics question the simplistic apprehension and approach.What about the role of modeling by parents hardly making breakthroughs in these adolescents who make alcohol their refuge but also as a way of life like their parents did? Reference: Donnelly, Joseph. Self-Esteem and it's Relationship to Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention in Adolescents. Dept. of Health Professions/PERLS National Association for Self-esteem. Accessed January 2008.

After you my dear Alphonse by Shirley Jackson

After you my dear Alphonse by Shirley Jackson Essay In this short story Shirley Jackson portrays how harmful Racism can be, even though theres no violence or murder involved. But it also shows how a white boy and a black boy can have a relationship to each other with no prejudices; they consider each other equal persons. The game the boys are playing where they are saying after you my dear Alphonse to each other, is one of the ways Jackson tells us that they are equal. Mrs Wilson on the other hand, does not consider Boyd as an equal person to herself and her son. Mrs Wilson is trying to hide her Prejudices by being polite and generous to Boyd. She cant stop asking questions to (About) Boyds background and his family. She assumes that Boyds family are poor in spite of the fact that she doesnt have any acquaintance (knowledge)of Boyds background and his familys social status. Even when her own son Johnny tells her that Boyds father is the foreman of the factory; she ignores it and continues her questioning of Boyd. She stigmatizes Boyds family as poor because they are black; witch (which) was normal at this time. And she thinks she is right about her vision on Boyd, because a lot of black people were poor in the 40s where (when) the story takes place. When the boys are served stewed tomatoes, Johnny replies to his mother that Boyd does not eat tomatoes, But Mrs Wilson replies back with extreme condescension Boyd will eat anything to point out that Boyds family is poor. She thinks that Boyd is grateful for anything he can get to eat, but when B oyd doesnt want to eat the tomatoes, Mrs Wilson realises that Boyds family might be just as successful as her own family is. Her last try to prof that she is better than Boyd and his family. She offers Boyd second-hand clothing to (for) his family. Boyd explains politely to her that they have plenty of clothes themselves and that his family can buy him anything he needs. Mrs Wilson lifted the plate of gingerbread off the table as Boyd was about to take another piece she gets angry over the fact Boyd is not grateful for the clothes she is offering him. She is thinking that she is doing something good. But she suddenly realises that she cant help Boyd, and then she want (wants) nothing to do with him, and she is not as polite and generous as before Boyd told her about his background. Johnny doesnt share his mothers views. He is completely unbiased. He acts naturally about Boyds presence, like he would probably do to his other friends; he has no prejudices about black people. Johnny is a good example of childrens innocence. He doesnt understand his mothers comments and the racism that is hidden behind them. He is wondering about his mothers strange statements. But he cant connect it to Boyd being black. It is a perfect example of how children have no prejudices. The title of the text is used to support this. Its a symbol of Boyd and Johnnys great friendship. It shows us how unaffected the boys are by Mrs Wilsons racist behaviour. The phrase After you my dear Alphonse is normally used in a situation where two people are so polite to each other that they cant agree who shall do it. It originally comes from a french (French) comic strip where Alphonse and Gaston cant (cant) agree who should go trough a door first, so they are stuck in the moment. The boys say the phrase when they enter the home, but they repeat it when they are leaving the house again. This tells us that the boys are not affected by Mrs Wilsons Biased opinions. The short story is written in 1949. I think Jacksons message with writing this story is to show that America does not live up to some of the fundamental principles that build the nation. READ: Blood brothers wasn't it EssayStatements like all men are considered equal and every man has the right to pursue Happiness is questioned by Jackson in this Short story. Mrs Wilson represents the average American citizen at this time despite the Declaration of Independence. Mrs Wilson attitude to Boyd also shows that it was very unlikely for a black family to be wealthy at this time. Mrs Wilsons prejudices towards black people are the main theme of this short story. Mrs Wilson will not believe that Boyds family Is wealthy, because she stigmatizes Black people as poor people.

A Critical Evaluation of a Screening Event (The Kurdish Winter) Essay

A Critical Evaluation of a Screening Event (The Kurdish Winter) - Essay Example Nonetheless, this paper presents a critical evaluation of a screening event involving the documentary â€Å"The Kurdish Winter.† The documentary â€Å"The Kurdish Winter,† bears the story of the Kurdish people. These are considered to be the largest nation in the world, but without a state of their own (Gendercide n.d). Documentaries are one of the major ways of revisiting genocide and its effects, in an effort to prevent such future occurrences (Wilson & Crowder-Taraborrelli 2012). In the 1980’s, and years before, the Kurdish people suffered continuous genocides in Iraq. This therefore, had a negative impact on their life and heritage (Ibrahim & Gurbey 2000). Nonetheless, this documentary aims at collecting evidence from the Kurds that are alive today, and lived in the 1970’s. This will eventually help in shaping the truth about the Kurdish genocide, as witnesses testify in the documentary. Although the Kurdish people during that period suffered a lot of atrocities, the media publicised the events that unfolded, but the world closed its eyes and ears to the situation and cries of the Kur dish people. Being the director of the documentary, I had the responsibility of ensuring that the filming process was successful, and making sure that the content of the documentary was on point and convincing. For filming, I travelled to various parts of the world, identifying the key people that I would include in the documentary. The conditions for these people was that they had to be Kurdish, and must have been alive when the genocides occurred, as well as been affected in one way or another by the detrimental events that made up the genocide. I gained diverse insights into the situation of the Kurdish people from different parties, including political prisoners, politicians, leaders of different calibre, as well as the common Kurdish people that were victims of the genocide. As the director of the documentary, I shared the pains of these people, since I was

Should one be concerned about rising levels of inequality in the Research Paper

Should one be concerned about rising levels of inequality in the global economy - Research Paper Example On contrary, some inequalities are known to promote investments but excessive implication of this global economic inequality results to destructive options. The income inequality can easily obstruct long-term growth and development. It is also famous for increasing the country’s economic growth duration and has a more complicated spell than low government corruption, free trade, foreign investment and any outstanding foreign debt. In a global perspective, the focus on opportunity and income disparities comes as Europe and United States struggle with the increasing economic downfall, which widens the gap between the poor and the rich. This situation has dominated the prime reason on the Americans choice of the presidential election and spurred common European street protests. At the same instance, economic inequality is taking a profound position in developing countries such as India and China. Despite the unscathed escape of global economic recession in these developing nations, a comprehensive study points out that decrease and growth of poverty levels in these nations coincides with inequality rise leading to imperative social tension. The global inequality shrinks in the presence of emerging markets and power shifts. Many nations greatly oppose the widening gap trend hence making the issue of global economic inequality a focal point (Ferreira and Walton 67). Global economic inequality has a tendency to vary in regard to historical periods, societies, economic systems and structures. The term has a direct reference to the cross-sectional distribution of wealth and income at a particular period. There are several numerical indices for economic inequality measurement, but a commonly used one is the Gini coefficient. Many are also the reasons for the emergence of economic inequality within the society. A recent development on the overall income inequality amongst OECD countries has been commonly