Dickinson’s poems have been embraced by society as different in their perception of the world during her life period. It can be concluded that her poems simply record thoughts and feelings experienced naturally over the course of a lifetime devoted to reflection and creativity. They not only sought to describe the society and its then gnomes, but also to a larger extent the lifestyle as well as the environment surrounding the poet. In this particular poem, the poet outlines society and its perception of women. This particular poem outlines the role of woman as ‘wife’ for this is how society perceived her. In her observation of married women, the poet saw the failing health, the unmet demands, the absenting of self that was part of the then husband-wife relationship as etched by society. The whole poem can then be concluded to have been a big criticism of the life that a woman would live as a wife rather than as a woman (Noble et.al, p.181).
By observing the poem’s language, tone as well as structure, one can conclude that the poet indeed knew a lot on poetry writing. She has been able in this poem to create not only a perfect rhyme scheme, but also perfect sentence patterns that are able to reinforce the whole poem into three perfect stanzas (White et.al, p. 27). She also applies poetic styles such as alliterations in the case of wife and woman and assonance as was the case in eclipse and earth to highlight her points.
Based on her bibliography, it is evident that the poem greatly touched on her life considering the fact that she was not married yet has a great gender activist. This poem could also have spun from the fact that her brother’s own miserable marriage may have left a ‘bad taste’, thus the poem. Despite this fact, the poem does offer the reader a glimpse into that particular society by clearly outlining that while the role did not satisfy most radicalized women such as the poet, it was greatly valued as revered by the women in that particular society (Grabheret.al, p. 98). Thus those with extremely radical ideas such as the poet did not stand a chance in marriage. In fact, it can be correctly assumed that the publication of this particular poem must have been very scandalous to the women of that particular society.
Given the position of the woman in that particular setting, it would be no small wonder that the poet outlines that that there is a ‘Czar’ (Gischler, p. 3). A person who is domineering and commanding and one she wishes would be. Through this point, the poet sees the world as a power struggle between the powerful and controlling and the meek and helpless who then have to follower meekly those in power or face the wrath.
Throughout the whole poem, it would seem that there is a struggle with the woman and the role she has been relegated to as a wife as well as the dominance of her husband in the relationship. Yet at the conclusion of the poem there is a sense of helplessness that is observed. The poet finishes by stating that ‘But why compare? I'm "Wife"! Stop there!’ (Kuribayashi et.al, p. 104) This can be interpreted in two ways, the fact is that the poet is resigned to her fate as a wife and the second could be that she is being commanded to desist from her ranting by either her husband or society.
Thus, the poem concludes that a girl's life is intended from the start to be "behind this soft eclipse"(Gischler, p. 5), which can be interpreted as wicked societal enforcements masquerading as a false sense of safety. This particular poem shows us a woman who dared defy the society in which she was living in by boldly outlining its doings making the themes of the poem to be suffering and loneliness for the woman in that society whichever her status.
Works Cited
Gischler, Katrin. Gender Identities in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson and in the Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH, 2007. Internet resource.
Grabher, Gudrun, Roland Hagenbüchle, and Cristanne Miller. The Emily Dickinson Handbook. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1998. Print.
Kuribayashi, Tomoko, and Julie A. Tharp. Creating Safe Space: Violence and Women's Writing. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998. Print.
Noble, Marianne, Jed Deppman, and Gary L. Stonum. Emily Dickinson and Philosophy. , 2013. Print.
White, Fred D. Approaching Emily Dickinson: Critical Currents and Crosscurrents Since 1960. Rochester, N.Y: Camden House, 2008. Print.
Milan Kundera's novel "Unbearable Lightness of Being" is a novel that paints a protagonist with a complicated life. The author, throughout the whole novel attempts to analyze philosophical questions that the author feels relate to the existence of her protagonist, Tomas, during his 1968 spring period in Prague. This period is particularly important and the focus of the novel because it was the period that followed Tomas being left behind in Switzerland without Tereza. Milan felt that the period would be perfect because after Tereza’s departure, Tomas feels that the moral restrictions as well as sense of responsibility that had been placed on him had been removed. For the first time, Tomas feels a sense of freedom and unbearable lightness of being. What follows is that he gives up the guaranteed job and the immigrant opportunity in Switzerland heading back to his homeland, Prague, where Russian tanks and kitsch were everywhere. It is due to these choices and he ones made latter as well as in this setting that “Unbearable Lightness of Being" is written. The choices that the protagonist makes ultimately lead to pressures that arise from both the political and social environment making him make one after the other crucial decisions in his life.
In his article "Music Education as Liberatory Practice: Exploring the Ideas of Milan Kundera", Randall Everett Allsup, a music professor from Columbia University, criticized Tomas of him being too light in his life. Allsup not only unfairly criticizes Tomas' actions but also his lack of actions. Allsup fails to consider the big picture of the political and social environments in which Tomas is living that causes him to make the choices he makes. The decisions that Tomas makes are meant to enable him survive that environment at that particular time.
Allsup feels that Tomas is a coward and thus a bad example to society. In page 4 of his article, he states that "if Tomas were a symbol of a certain world-view, can we link his acquiescence, his withdrawal to, say, the everyday feelings of cynicism or laissez-faire attitudes around us?” in fact, he believes that his move to Switzerland in the first place was to look for shelter and an easy life. I am of the opinion that this move was to showcase his bravery. The choice he makes is in order to safeguard his autonomy and exercise his human right of freedom. Tomas is an explorer; he finds his existence through exploring and challenging the power of god and finds excitements through secrets. In Switzerland, he could at least save himself, practice medicine freely, and once again find his passions in life. Kundera state in the book that "a person who longs to leave the place where he lives is an unhappy person." This indicates that Tomas was not happy in Prague at first. This unhappiness was brought about by the fact that he felt that his country deprived his profession the freedom of speech which translated to depriving him of this freedom. This unhappiness forces him to leave his country which may be concluded as going into exile rather than escaping. The novel brings out Tomas’s love and loyalty to his profession through an anecdote that he has with a former patient of his. Through the anecdote we are able to glimpse Tomas as a very warmhearted and conscientious surgeon with a huge passion for his job. The novel depicts him as a caring, hardworking and passionate surgeon. His love for the profession ensures that when he is not allowed by the government to give prescriptions but rather can only offer suggestions, he is frustrated enough to leave the country.
Biasness can be seen as that Allsup displays when referring to Toma’s music in his article (page 4). Allsup worships Beethoven's "Es muss sein" in his music, meanwhile, he prejudices Tomas' "Es muss sein" as being too passive and too light. Allsup, in the article, admires "Beethoven's compositional choices which he believes illustrate a dialectical relationship between the protean and the fixed--between transcendence and what existentialists call 'facticity'. In essence, his Quartet achieves the kind of balance that Kundera's protagonist Tomas does not…" (page 4). Undoubted, Beethoven perfectly masters his music between light and weight, and subtly negotiates with the challenges in his life. Allsup neglects the fact that there are no balanced choices between lightness and weight in front of Tomas; both of those are heavy. Most of the choices placed before Tomas were not choices he could juggle but rather had to face in order to move on to the next challenge. In this case, the choices brought before Tomas do not have any sense of lightness but are rather hard for him. For example, his love for Teresa demands that he goes back to Prague to get her; however, he fled the country due to political turmoil in the first place. Life does not even give him a chance to negotiate between lighter and heavier options, not even to speak of an optimal decision. No matter what Tomas' final decision is, he is going to lose either important half of his life. In the book, when Tomas helplessly mourns out the words "Es muss sein" Allsup expects him to make a quick decision. This is as if Allsup assumes that if Tomas was to utter the phrase a number of times more, then the solution to his problem would come as quickly. The mourning of Beethoven’s song in fact outlines the helplessness in which Tomas was in. he is helpless not only to save himself, but also to save his woman as well as his country. Through his mourn, the author, shows us an adult man who is capable of taking care of himself, but who has reached his wits end. He is helpless and whishes his life would be as simple as that of Beethoven. In this case, his problems are not as easy as his having to toss a coin to be able to determine the choices that he had to make. The choices he makes ultimately affect even his carrier. In his home country, he is a renowned surgeon who is proud of his job. However, political turmoil and his will to live a free life makes him decide to go to Switzerland where he can achieve all that. However, there he can no longer practice the profession he likes and has to settle for being a window washer, a job that he did not enjoy.
Regardless of what Allsup’s article says, the author depicts Tomas as a very responsible man. He is a man that takes his social responsibilities very serious and takes steps in ensuring that they are fulfilled. In the article, page 4, Allsup indicates that Sabina and Tomas' pursuit for a "tension-free world" is a frivolous excuse of their irresponsibility. He also points out that they are being "self-deceived” and lying to themselves in order to not take responsibility. The novel however outlines him as a man who will do anything to safeguard the things closest to his heart. He flees his country to protect his professions oath as well as to protect his family, dream, and freedom. Furthermore, once in Switzerland, he does not insist on being a doctor like his profession but takes on the job of being a window washer so that he can take care of the needs of his family. His sense of responsibility to his family forces him to go back to the country he had fled from in the first place.
The author brings out Toma’s character as that of an honest and true man who would bravely stand up for his beliefs. The book depicts Tomas as one of the few sober people among the majority kitsch people in the society who were being loyal their principles of integrity and authenticity. When the police attempts to force Tomas to sign on the paper that "contained words of love for the Soviet Union, vows of fidelity to the Communist Party," Tomas rejects to sign for the words that fabricated his true belief. Furthermore, when his son and the big-chinned former editor tried to persuade Tomas to sign on the rebel proposal, he bravely refuses that particular proposal and stands with his believes. Regardless of the social considerations and the potential harmful examination from others, Tomas bravely chooses to be "authentic" and "genuine," and he holds strong will of being non-kitsch. Allsup fails to examine the social environment in which Tomas was in at the time that forced him into fleeing the country and instead brands him as a coward who fled his country in such of ‘freedom’.
Conclusion
Allsup failed to look at the big picture in his criticism of the character Tomas. He chose not to examine the political and social environment that greatly influenced the choices that Tomas made all the way. By examining these factors and the roles each played in influencing the decisions that that Tomas made in each step of the journey, Allsup would have realized that in the end the choices that Tomas made were actually brave and wise ones. In the end, he was able to not only save himself but to protect the thing most dear to him which was his wife. Thus, Allsup should be able to show a bit of empathy toward Tomas rather than judge him harshly and expecting him to be principled and conscientious. Given the environment of in which the author had based the story; one can help but wonder why Allsup’s expectations were very high and what would have been his reaction if he were to be placed in a similar situation. It should be noted that that had been a communist period since the Prague spring had just been dismantled. This meant that the period was one riddled with a lot of confusion for any person present at that period and it meant that the choices being made were those of survival. Begging the question, why was Allsup too harsh on the character of Tomas and the decisions he made?
Works Cited
Kundera, M., & Heim, M. H. (2008). The unbearable lightness of being. New York: Harper Perennial.
Allsup, R. E. (2001). Music education as liberatory practice: Exploring the ideas of Milan Kundera. Philosophy of Music Education Review, 9(2), 3-10.
Antigone, from the Greek mythology, Antigone was the daughter of Oedipus born out of an incestuous relationship with Jocasta. Throughout Antigone`s lifetime, there were judgment and decisions made that inevitably lead to own destruction. However, various acts such as reclaiming the individuality of Polynices as one who died defending the right to rule Thebes depicted Antigone`s heroic nature thus termed as a tragic hero (Chanter 104). Honig believed that Antigone being a mythic figure and a character in history airs suffering and casts about for the right frame in which the story is told (122). Therefore, this paper will portray various historical events that justified Antigone`s acts being heroic.
Antigone`s violation of Creon`s edict against Polynices burial. The law stated that there would be no lamentation and burial as a punishment for Polynices` treason. However, Antigone went ahead and specified the importance of burying Polynices not only as a brother but also as the only remaining family member. Throughout this event it is seen that Antigone (Chanter 104) is working so hard to distinguish the brother from a potential marriage partner, thus reclaiming Polynices` individuality. Antigone does all these to prove that the brother died as one who was defending their right to rule Thebes. From the scenario, we can learn the heroic nature of Antigone depicting itself vividly.
The attempt to bury Polynices leads to Antigone`s suicide. Even after getting several orders such as death penalty from Creon Antigone is very adamant and chooses to rebel against them. Moreover, Owen and Alonso believed that Antigone makes an effort of citing the ancient unwritten laws of the gods to justify Polynices` burial (214). However, Creon carries on with the sentence and buries Antigone alive in the tomb despite Haemon`s plea which is hopelessly in love with Antigone (“The Italian Law Journal” 168). Creon’s brutal verdict eventually leads to (Owen and Alonso 214) Antigone`s suicide and ends childless thus fulfilling the laid curse upon the incestuously begotten children of Oedipus and Jocasta. Antigone`s heroic nature shown in this event deliberately marks the end of the cursed lineage of Oedipus.
Antigone`s suicide causes Haemon`s death. After Creon was told about divine vendetta by Tiresias, in the end, Creon gave in. However, it was too late since Antigone had already committed suicide. Subsequently, Haemon got furious with his father Creon, upon reaching Antigone`s tomb, Haemon stabbed and threw himself on the beloved`s body (“The Italian Law Journal” 168).
In conclusion, it is true to say that throughout Antigone`s lifetime various acts depicted ones heroic nature. Following the events that unfolded after Polynices` death, Antigone`s bravery and courageous character portrayed themselves right in front of Creon`s pride. Therefore, one can learn that for some changes to occur there have to be some sacrifices made for achievement.
Works Cited
Chanter, Tina. Whose Antigone? The Tragic Marginalization of Slavery. New York: SUNY Press, 2011. Print.
Honig, Bonnie. Antigone, Interrupted. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Print
The elephant in Orwell’s essay represents Burmese people. The elephant also may double up as representing the Burmese economy. Here are a number of reasons as to why the elephant represents the Burmese people as well as the economy, which the essay outlines.
In the first instance, the elephant is described as tame and not wild. However, at some point the author points out that the while most elephants are chained up during ‘must’ this particular elephant had escaped. He emphasizes on the fact that the elephant was tame and therefore was less likely to be harmful. This state symbolizes the way the Burmese people have been oppressed that they cannot even openly speak out against the imperialist. The degree of their domestication is also seen in the way the officer was the only one in a crowd of close to two thousand and none with a gun to defend themselves from the elephant. Finally, the reaction of the elephant, that it only attacked when it felt cornered and was harmless when left alone, could be likened to the reactive dislike of the imperialists by the Burmese who openly showed their dislike reacting like they were on the offensive against the imperialists.
The elephant is also a symbolism of the strength and determination of the Burmese people. When the elephant is shot, the elephant stands its ground and refuses to fall. The fact that ‘At the second shot he did not collapse but climbed with desperate slowness to his feet and stood weakly upright, with legs sagging and head drooping’ shows the resilience of the people. This symbolism showcases that despite the fact that the imperialists had imprisoned, flogged and even killed the Burmese, their spirit was still strong. This is also seen when Orwell writes that ‘The thick blood welled out of him like red velvet, but still he did not die.’ The pride as well as stubborn nature of the people is further seen in the way the elephant ‘But in falling he seemed for a moment to rise, for as his hind legs collapsed beneath him he seemed to tower upward like a huge rock toppling, his trunk reaching skyward like a tree. He trumpeted, for the first and only time’
The second thing that the elephant symbolizes is the Burmese Economy. In more that one part the importance of the elephant is highlighted in the essay. In the first instance, the inspector is reluctant to shoot the elephant because of its value when alive. Orwell points out the fact that ‘Alive, the elephant was worth at least a hundred pounds; dead, he would only be worth the value of his tusks, five pounds, possibly.’ This meant that the economy of Burma was thriving only when it was alive and only then would the imperialists gain anything from that particular economy. This meant that if that economy suffered any set-backs, it would be in effect of little, if no value to the imperialist. Furthermore, symbolism of the elephant as the Burma economy shows how the imperialists had tamed the economy and how it had been thriving. The fact that the Burmese people were interested in the elephant’s meat and that it was over by the afternoon symbolizes the yearning that the Burmese people. These people were interested in having their share of the fruits of their economy.
The world keeps on changing as each day passes. These changes have been able affect the way the people relate on different levels of their daily activity. With the discovery of ground breaking innovations such as fire, the wheel, penicillin, to mention but a few, man has been able to looks for a way to survive his existence. On top of etching for his continued existence, man has been able to come up with ways that would in effect transform the vast world into a global village. Thanks to technology, different persons as well as cultures are able to merge into one big community. However, whist technology, through its different venues has been able to connect billions of diverse humans across the globe; language has and remains a large barrier. Thus while the meeting of different cultures is inevitable and successful, language possess a challenge to a greater majority of the world people with a smaller percentage having to learn foreign languages for the purpose of communication (Jurin, 2007). Predicaments are often created in such cases where few individuals are able to muster as many different languages as possible and even so, no single individual is able to muster all languages in the world (van den Born & Peltokorpi, 2010).
Thanks to the internet, one of technologies best innovation, not only can people communicate across the globe, but also opportunities have been created across the globe. One of these opportunities is in the business fraternity where business owners get the opportunity to market and sell their products all over the world with the click of the button. However, while this is a grant idea, language still poses a great threat as is the case with the WOW organizers and their website. The site, being monolingual in nature means that only those able to read and understand English are able to access the services offered by the site. On the other language people that do not understand English would be in a fix.
The pros and cons of using Google translate
The ultimate advantage of using Google translate is the fact that not only is the translation fast but is will also be cost efficient to the WOW organizers. This is because it will charge them nothing for the service. The other main advantage is that Google Translate uses a statistical learning approach unlike a rules-based approach. The result is that many, but not all, translations are called from human translations already online. However, Google translates makes a lot of mistakes. This has been attributed to the fact that the engine runs on the data that is available on Google. This means that the more the language is used on the search engine the more likely one is to find the proper translation. Currently it is estimated that since its inception in 2006, Google translate supports over 60 languages, including several dialects, with about 12 alpha languages. And more research is being done every day to perfect the system and add more languages. The creators of the system believe that it is all in the data and the frequent use of languages in the system. With more examples of the language to analyze, the program will be able to produce better results, including common phrases and idioms, which are often the hardest to translate. Furthermore, due to the commonality of the work published in particular languages Google Translate’s quality varies from language pair to language pair (Aiken & Balan, 2011). In this case, while the system can find a usable gist for a say Spanish/English translation, the same would not be applicable for a Romanian or Danish translation. Google Translate doesn’t offer the user any form of quality control. The search giant’s massive market dominance leads user to implicitly trust its offerings. This means that the user has to trust that the word being translated is the right one. In fact, unless there is a person to correct the translation, then it may end; he massage may end up coming out all wrong. In this case while adopting the Tamaki website strategy may be disadvantageous for they will have to blindly trust the translation being provided by Google translate. This may work or backfire on their faces (Hu et al., 2010).
Thus, the WOW organizers cannot simply rely on the Google translate mechanism to translate their websites into all the languages that they need for their website for while the translation may work out for some of the commonly translated language whose data is plenty in the system, the same may not be applicable for minority used languages.
The pros and cons of hiring professional translators
The organizers decided to engage professional translators. Unlike the previous idea, this may end up being on the higher end when it comes to costing. This is because the company would have to look for a specific translator for the different languages. The greatest advantage of utilizing a translator instead of Google is the accuracy part of the translation. While this translation will not be 100% accurate it will be closest to the meaning that Google. This is because the translator has been able to interact with that particular language and is able to place a larger percentage of the words thus Human translators have the specialty of translating important documents in native language which is a plentiful advantage for business entities to cope up language barrier. Professional human translators easily adopt the proper native phrasing of sentences, specific style of a particular language (Steiner, 2013). A good case example is when Korean airlines used the term ‘primitive energy’ in a promotional ad campaign for their flights to Kenya which caused uproar of massive proportions. This very trait allows the document to be presented as a well written document rather than just a translation page.
Human translators are also advantageous as they have complete understanding of the subject thus a translation from them would necessitate that they word the work according to the subject matter. Thus the human will make sure that result is a document that is not only readable but also makes sense. This can be observed in the Patagonia Turística website where the massage seems to be passed across regardless of whether the translation is in English, Chinese or Portuguese.
Google translate will in most cases translate the document or in this case the website in a strict literal meaning. This would mean that the result would lack creativity if not confuse the reader. If possible a professional human translator would in essence sometimes with hold the whole word or sentence and replace it with a word that would not only make more sense but would also be creative enough (Cole et.al,1995).
However, there is are disadvantages that comes with using Google translate that is not with human translators. One of the major disadvantages is duplicity. Google can easily read a translated page, compare it in English, and find that it's a mirrored duplicate. On the other hand, humans may reduce the chances of duplicity but not completely eradicate them. Also, when it comes to design and layout of the content, most translators won't consider usability of that page to the target languages market. It's not their fault though; translators prefer that one provides them the translatable material in text format. Rarely do they ever see the URL of the site, and even if they did, it would be for translation reference only.
Conclusion
Human translators and Google translate both have their strong and weak points. In this case, the website would have a better advantage if they engaged both mechanisms in the betterment of their website. This would ensure that the accuracy of the specific translations is better placed than if they were to use one and leave the other. This is referred to as the human technical translation.
In this case, the company would bring in the human translators whom though costly would bring in real meaning to the translation given the fact that they would properly interpret the needs of their clients. The advantage would be in the fact that this translators would be allowed to use Google translates where possible. Given the fact that Google translate is free, the only cost spend would be in paying the human translators. To be able to save on other costs, the company could only hire human translators for languages whose translation is harder for Google translate to deduce. While this type of translation will not be faster than the machine translation it will be efficient and reliable. With this type of translation, even cultural aspects of particular languages are not lost in the translation due to the combination of the two.
Thus, using the human technical translation method for the WOW website, though time constraining will end up saving the company in ensuring that the languages produced for the site are not only professional but also accurate ensuring the web-sites provides maximum exposure for the company.
References
Aiken, M., & Balan, S. (2011). An analysis of Google Translate accuracy. Translation Journal, 16(2).
Hu, C., Bederson, B. B., & Resnik, P. (2010, May). Translation by iterative collaboration between monolingual users. In Proceedings of Graphics Interface 2010 (pp. 39-46). Canadian Information Processing Society.
Steiner, G. (2013). After Babel: Aspects of language and translation. Open Road Media.
Cole, R. A., Mariani, J., Uszkoreit, H., Zaenen, A., Varile, G., Zampolli, A., ... & Zue, V. (1995). Survey of the state of the art in human language technology.
Jurin, S. (2007). The Future of Languages for Special Purposes in the Era of Progressing Management. Tourism And Hospitality Management, 13(3), 711-724.
van den Born, F., & Peltokorpi, V. (2010). LANGUAGE POLICIES AND COMMUNICATION IN MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES. Journal Of Business Communication, 47(2), 97-118.
Taken from thence, flesh, which death's force may try.
Ere by the spheres time was created, thou
Wast in his mind, who is thy Son, and Brother,
Whom thou conceivest, conceived; yea thou art now
Thy maker's maker, and thy Father's mother,
Thou hast light in dark; and shutt’st in little room,
Immensity cloistered in thy dear womb[1] (Donne, 1839)
Introduction
The Renaissance[2] period, was marked by sequences of historical happenings influencing points of view concerning religious formation and expansion. During this period, most perceived European thinkers express interests to recover the purity from Roman Catholic Church which they thought that at the time had become too corrupt. These ‘thinkers’[3] were ready to reconstruct the new face of the church[4]. Bartlett (2011) argues that the modern concepts of humanism developed in the midst of a Christian setting, more particularly in the Northern Renaissance[5]. The changes effected by this radical thinkers on the church and its views during that special period, has changed religion to what we now know it to be today. This thesis serves to unearth the new development witnessed in religion over the years by creating a deeper understanding in relation to the alteration in religious principles over the years that developed during the renaissance period. The paper will examine the encouraging factors that led to the shift from traditional ecclesiastic beliefs to an age of religious inquiry and reason. The thesis will embrace a hypothetical and research oriented approach in its examination of literature written by distinguished scholars in the field of religious renaissance.
The literature will seek to reveal how the writers, thinkers and poets of the period struggled to have their messages heard through their works. The thesis will use John Donne’s work to illustrate Religious Renaissance by using Historicism to interpret John Donne’s second sonnet ‘Annunciation’ from his ‘La Corona’ (Dunne, 1839) work, in order to get the meaning and impacts of Religious Renaissance as portrayed by the poet. The theories discussed below present changes that affected human nature and perceptions concerning religions. This dissertation seeks to explain the religious and historical significance of Renaissance progress and its impact in modern religion.
Historicism
Historicism is a phenomenon that that is used to explain the placing of significant importance on any precise situation (Foucault, 2002). Contrary to nonconformist theories of understanding such as rationalism and empiricism[6], Historicism, tends to be interpretative, by giving great significance to careful, thorough and background understanding of particular information[7]. Historicism compared to relativist for this research is better, since the latter discards concepts of universal, basic and unchallengeable interpretations. When historicism is applied to any studies in the religious field, this is known as religion historicism[8]. By using Historicism the research will be able to interpret the work by John Donne called ‘La Corona’ which involves seven sonnets that are said to represent the life of Jesus Christ from his coming to earth to his Ascension. My theses will however only analyze the second sonnet, ‘Annunciation’ due to the expansiveness of the topic.
Historicism in fact started in Europe then spread to American colonies in the seventeenth century. The aim was to change the society by applying reason to challenging ideas based on tradition and belief. This move opened the intellectual eye of people as to the abuse of power by the church which in turn created skepticism in the minds of individuals who had in the past followed church edicts blindly. The position of the then catholic church was why Religion was major contributor of Renaissance literary disapproval whether directed into the old historicism of rational and ecclesiastical history, or the “newer” channels of artistic and materialist strategies, where religion occupies its position after gender, class and race, as a determinant group of artistic identity (Kahan, 1997). In essence, Studies such as those on “religious circle” conducted through historicism, whether old or new, are but a tip of the ice burg in Renaissance research. There is need for research to delve deeper so as to further understand why teachings on elements such as humanism were very popular during the renaissance period, More so with respect to religion.
Historicism is not just a type or cluster of ideas for interpreting human reality. It also assigns a movement or perception that arose at a particular moment and context in history and that was as a reaction to a particular motivation during that period and backdrop. For instance, historicism rose, in its European form, out of a decisive response to the age of enquiry and reason and signified both a continuance of early modern suppositions, for instance a desire for particular knowledge and an apparent divergence from them. Richard Sugg argues that of Donne’s conviction that it is ‘a relentlessly rational one,’ (Sugg, 2007) and in his work La Corona faith is tested against inconsistent propositions apparently adversative to reason[9].
First Donne ponders in The Annunciation on the mission and nature of Christ: ‘Which cannot sin, and yet all sins must bear or which cannot die, yet cannot choose but die.’ goes ahead to reflect on the story of the Virgin Mary and her affiliation to Christ. Virgin Mary was conceived by God thus the Immaculate Conception which in fact explained the actuality of Mary who will give birth to God: ‘Thy maker’s maker and thy father’s mother’ (Donne 12). The sonnet concludes in the final inconsistency of ‘immensity cloistered in thy dear womb’ at the point where Donne present us the ineffable idea of the universe bonded into Mary’s womb. This goes to show that much as Dunne showed his Christianity in the poem, inside, he kept on questioning and applying reality which ended up bringing out plenty of paradox in the sonnet.
Additionally, paradox sets apart Christianity and reality even for Dunne, and La Corona look at this subject matter through the logical context of the poem[10]. According to Baumlin (1991), Donne tries to reflect through the paradoxes at the center of religion, and by so doing made the religion available for everyone. Donne’s La Corona seeks to get ready both him and others for the Christian’s action of faith[11]. In La Corona Donne observes and asserts the Christian narrative and its accounts, inviting the audience to participate in its magnificence, and gesture at the last and undying day. The annunciation of the real Christ, as narrated by Dunne made it possible for his audience to establish some form of emotional human link with him.
Finally, in its common orientation toward historical research, New Historicism center on the stature of the late Michel Foucault who advocated for use of reason to analyze issues. From his work the audience is able to analyze the poem by Donne and relate it to real annunciation as announced by Angel Gabriel. The influence Foucault had is a comprehensive and contentious one: it infuses the New Historicist idea of history as a sequence of thought that shape everything within religion.
Doctrine of ecclesiastic
The effects of renaissance on religion analyzed based on the ecclesiastical record and in the history which both consists of the truth about the past. Pope Pius XII[12] revealed some truth as the fact that historicists may have succeeded one another in relation to various opinions and teachings that have emerged during the centuries. Therefore historicism can be used to dissect some truth about the life of Jesus Christ from John Donne’s ‘La Corona’. La Corona is a poem, containing seven connected sonnets, with each celebrating not so much incidences in the life of Jesus Christ as secrecy of faith. The focus on the start and end of the Christ life is evidenced in medieval art where different artists tried to depict their understanding of the life of Christ. It was stated by the need to display with simplicity the Christian system of man's salvation. The nature of the prayer similar to early habits, can endure Renaissance of a man's logical capacity[13]. It is uncertain if Donne felt there was something especially Catholic in focusing on the Mysteries of the Faith, or in tackling his second sonnets to the Blessed Virgin, but it is also uncertain if anybody who had lived as a Protestant was willing to do so (Richard, 2007).
The Annunciation
The Annunciation, which is the second sonnet, is full of paradox. Initially, Donne ponders on the mission and nature of Christ: ‘Which cannot sin, and yet all sins must bear/which cannot die, yet cannot choose but die.’ Then Donne carries on reflecting on the account of the Virgin Mary and her connection to Christ. Virgin Mary was conceived by God, just like us, and yet now, by means of the mystery of Immaculate Conception, it is actually Mary who is going to conceive God: ‘Thy maker’s maker, and thy father’s mother.’ The sonnet concludes in the final paradox of ‘immensity confined in thy dear womb’ where Donne offers the inexpressible idea of the universe that portrays the belly of Mary (Baumlin, 1991). The subject matter of Christian paradox is expressed all through the series which gives the sonnet a new life of intellect. The religion perspective of the speaker in La Corona is conservative and respectful to the ordinary tropes and traditions[14]. While William Blake[15] fundamentally streamlined the Christian account to develop a distinctive religion, Donne is committed to Christian traditions, and faithful to its point.
This is shown in the poem ‘La Corona’ by the concept Christocentrism. Whereas the verses are supposedly talk about the Virgin Mary, the work focuses on the life of Christ. In the second sonnet, ‘Annunciation’, Mary is just actor in a place characterized by the existence of the Christ. The sonnet addresses Mary, though also keen on the “immensity of persons confined in the womb” Christ appear as the main actor in the literary work, and the speaker is forced to make known the main figure in the religious poem is Christ. Richard (2007) explores that the sonnet is an expression for the life of Christ, and is ‘anticipated to intensify’ both the narrator’s and the audience’s knowledge of Christ and the Christian narrative in order to expand and build up their faith: Richard goes on to state in his work ‘John Donne: Critical Issues’ that ‘the noticeable impersonality of several of the succession is actually a essential part of the narrator’s journey towards discovery himself, which relies for the Christian on the past awareness of the personality of Christ’.
Annunciation as a symbol of Renaissance
Biblically, the Annunciation, as well as the Crucifixion and Resurrection are commonly portrayed as the Renaissance. All these three events, only the Annunciation are fascinating on the basis of the space it portrays. The primary meaning to Christianity is the divine meeting of human in the image of Christ, which can be regarded as the ‘meeting’ between God and man . This event is foreshadowed by the Annunciation, where the divinity (Gabriel) and the being (Mary) team up in a common space. The Annunciation holds the Christian meaning within it resembling a seed, as certainly it is. To be conceived in flesh involves that Christ has to suffer and finally die; therefore this time has within it everything that Christ signifies on the basis of man’s salvation. The Annunciation offers a chance for artists of religion like John Donne to examine these concepts through their works of the incarcerations of the dwelling of Mary. Annunciation stands out as one of the often topics of the Christian art. The illustrations of the Annunciation revisit the early religions or Christianity, such as, the Priscilla catacomb of Rome as well as Annunciation fresco that date back to the 4th century. In particular famous in Renaissance and the Middle Ages, it looks in the work of nearly every great master. Lupton (2006) says that the image of Archangel Gabriel and Virgin Mary were ,at that time, preferred subjects in Roman Catholic art. Looking at the poet work, John Donne, it shows some consistency with the vent where Gabriel usually but not all the times standing left facing Virgin Mary, who is normally seated, save for later portrayals (Guibbory, 2006). She at least is normally depicted doors, or in a balcony of some nature, where Gabriel case may be outside structure wholly. ‘The house, at times, clears from the virgin’s home’, in the annunciation sonnet also frequently meant to represent Jerusalem temple as placed there by legendary accounts. Late medieval observers differentiated many phases of Virgins response to Gabriel’s appearance from initial news at the unexpected vision, followed by unwillingness to meet the responsibilities, the ultimate acceptance. These are revealed in poem ‘La Corona’ by John Done. In early Religious Renaissance and late medieval the God’s impregnation of the Virgin Mary could be shown by rays reflecting on her, usually through the window which is a metaphor for conception of Jesus.
Transformation of church from traditional ecclesiastics’ belief to an age of enquiry and reason
Experts in religious matters contend that there are certain similarities between religious social constructs and religious institution at any phase of social progress. Societal change is related to religious Renaissance. These sorts of changes were an interest center of classical researchers. Emil Durkheim (1902). In debating these issues, he singled out the religious individualization. This period was manifested by Enlightenment Age. This was the age of reason founded on faith, and not the age of faith anchored in reason. Therefore according to Emil (1902) ‘The Enlightenment manifested the belief of religious power, humanized theological mechanisms, and liberated people from physical oppression. It should be noted that during Enlightenment, and not the Renaissance or the Reformation that extricated the ecclesiastical foundation from central authority of intellectual and cultural life’.
By unshackling knowledge from the restrains of religious tradition the Enlightenment provided the independent development of modern culture. The major subject of the Enlightenment has always been and still is the effort to improve religion (Baumlin 1991). All theorists rebuffed the original sin. With the Religious Renaissance, reformation predestined testifying or fulfilling the religion based on the logic.
Today’s contemporary world is completely different from the period of Renaissance. In the past, Individuals used to have unsighted faith in their religion, which is different from the current situation. This reality also justifies the complexities that were experianced by reformers. The reformation of religion was not received well by individuals; instead they regarded it as a danger to the divinity of religious factors. The piece of John Donne has been manifested with religious concepts. He puts interests on raising the spirit by being close to God. The effect of Renaissance is clear in the poem ‘La Corona’ by John Donne. Baumlin (1991) thinks the sonnets are rooted in spiritual beliefs; however, he does not attempt to unravel the rational facet from the religion. In the second sonnet from, poem ‘Annunciation’, John Donne has explained the amazing birth of Jesus Christ by Virgin Mary. He has cited the whole event by depicting himself as the angel Gabriel.
He communicates the revelation to Mary that, as the chosen one by God to delivery a miraculous baby. In the whole sonnet, Donne has attempted to disclose realities like creation and birth of Christ. His sonnet clarifies that even though Christ was born by Virgin Mary however this was not a normal birth. In the second sonnet Donne maintains that Christ opt for Virgin Mary’s womb which acted as a Christ container (Guibbory, 2006). He attempts to assist individuals understand regarding this extraordinary event. In the same sonnet, Donne acting as Gabriel conveys to Mary that even though Christ is ‘in all places’ but he will only lie in her womb prior delivery to this public. This defends the Mary’s virginity and purity.
Annunciation illustrates that though Christ was dissimilar from other normal children and Mary was not similar to any other mothers. This sonnet does not refute the conceiving of Christ who remained within the womb similar to other children. La Corona’s dependence on the intellect to struggle with the secrecies of religion is suggestive of Donne because for him, the intellect and reason supported faith (Guibbory, 2006). Just like Soren Kierkegaard, who praises Christian belief partly since it involves great suffering at the time of Renaissance, Donne is inclined to associate sadness with spiritual salvation. Reason puts the strategies of reasons that comprehend the connection between God and conception. Donne frequently elucidates euphoric religious practice with the similar metaphors of earthly volatility and material metamorphosis he applies to catalogue his dejectedness, self-destructive linings. Contemporary thinkers focusing in depression have frequently talked with regard to circular religious despair nature. Julia Kristeva argues that "the obliqueness of love and as a result of reconciliation and mercy completely changes the nature of Christian initiation by offering it a sensation of glory and firm hope for the believers" (John & Maria, 2005).
Christian faith looks, therefore, as a remedy to depression and hiatus. Additionally, Donne set hurdles with the relationship he conceives between sadness and religious belief; make difficult it in such a manner as to go beyond Kristeva's concept of what it implies to be narcissistically saddened. Whilst he is careful that his excessive self- centeredness sometimes incites and adds to his sadness, dejection is not Donne's sole objective He is overwhelmed by other issues, other challenges, even other agonize: religious, proficient, and ecclesiastical. In this poem, it is claimed that Donne's scholarly sadness stimulated particularly by learned attempts which forms an integral division of his religious misery. Donne's, melancholic nature thus marked itself in his strategy to learning including in his pronunciations of his understandings as a Christian. In the background of Reformation theology, whether one can count himself among the elect is difficult to predict. La Corona is possibly no more than religious practices, although it is an achieved one. The sonnets are arranged with significance, with outstanding and excellent expressions of the reflecting on religious beliefs.
The change from traditional ecclesiastics’ beliefs to an age of enquiry and reason
The paper argues that the link between the relationship of early religion and the current status of religion is the growing in estrangement and discontent with founded institutionalized and hierarchical religious bodies. Several modern religious groups seek out in place of finding God via individual searching as opposed to via the institutional meditation. They also concentrate on the responsibility of societies in creating positive transformation in members’ livelihood by means of group effort. With regard to this, the paper claims that religion’s relations with religious issues contain a significant message of societal Renaissance and renewal, which can challenge the religious authority and other elites. It also offers an indication of the connection between religion and renewal. It reviews the conflicting impacts of Renaissance on morals values in various cultural and religious backgrounds (Bellah, 1964).
The relationship between religion and humanity has normally been very close, provided with uneven effects of Renaissance in developing nations. Beckford (2003) affirms that traditional beliefs are strengthened by religious practices and beliefs while traditional issues permeate to the core of the religious platform as a result. Efforts in several countries to disconnect traditions from religion have mostly been fruitless; particularly as various crisis and church restructuring weaken past arrangements for enhancing social and religious cohesion. As much as Renaissance has been manifested in the Annunciation sonnet, in real life religion faces a lot of challenges in transforming from traditional beliefs to modern age of reason. There are groups that opposed church a leading course for failure of social welfare. Such groups are either culturalist, syncretistic and fundamentalist whose concepts are still rooted in the traditional teachings. These threats from external forces try to derail the religion from embracing change in this informed age. The philosophers of Enlightenment age accounts that religion in the past was marred by superstition attack, intolerance and religious extremism. These issues were regarded as the biggest hurdles in the growth and free think of the religion (Lupton, 2006).
As a result, the Enlightenment impacted every sector of the community. With several changes happening in religion, Enlightenment contributed to civilization of religion, economy, politics and society. Enlightenment marked the transformation of people’s reasoning with regards to religious beliefs. In the past years, theological doctrine and church organization questions was the major focus of the researcher interests. The moment challenges about the religion change, the Enlightenment theorists shifted their focus from religious issues to the more general view of the society and the roles which people play.
Kahan, (1997) maintains that the opponent of the Enlightenments firmness in the religious reforms resulted to the condemnation of both Protestantism and Catholicism. The religion condemned mostly because it applied excess authority in the society. For example, the peasants were to give their taxes to the church whilst denomination such as the Catholic Church agreed on the principle of indulgence in response to the forgiveness of sin. The most powerful individuals regarded religion as the foundation of an outstanding society and social construct. Before the age of enquiry and reason most Europeans believed in God, however, after, individuals began to use reason to arrive at conclusions concerning different ideas in life[16]. However, it must be noted that enquiry age also led to emerging of various groups like atheists and deists (Beckford, 2003).As much as annunciation made human to believe in the connection between God and man through conception of Christ, it has also made rulers to begin being tolerant to other forthcoming religious which did not practice Catholicism.
Theorists such as Rousseau took on the philosophers for disregarding these components of life that conflicted the power of reason. The religious renewals emerged in 1740s and 1750s because of romanticism. However, the Protestant denominations went through the renewal from 1740s. Christianity is a manifested religion, enclosed in the religious books and the practice of Christian hearts; the religious poet cannot travel alone. The realities of Donne's religious poetry are realities of the thoughts, which freely transform individual experience.
Conclusion
There is no persuasive testimony on the position of the Enlightenment in determining the contemporary world except for the massive difference there is between the current world and the renaissance one. Some individuals might take the successes of Enlightenment lightly due to the society they exist in, but the changes that rose with an age of enquiry were perfect for the people who existed in that era. Even though the conception of Christ with a normal human being is extremely unbelievable several poets and writers like Donne validate this miracle with numerous spiritual explanations. The Religious Renaissance has put forth of literary work that ponders on Virgin Mary and the birth of Christ. People finally began to use reason to reorganize all the religions in the society. With an age of enquiry; church leaders turned more religious liberal, people's zeal for knowledge grown, administrations became more accountable to their nationals, and industrialization took a center stage. Essentially, all things transform. Activists who were entitled to in this age emerged due to the age of enquiry and reason. Reasoning raised expectation and ambition to the individuals across the world now understanding that renaissance was possible.
References
Anidjar, Gil, (2002). Jacques Derrida: Acts of Religion. NY: Routledge
Bartlett, Kenneth, ed. (2011), “The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance”, A Sourcebook
Beckford, J. A. (2003), “Social Theory and Religion”, Cambridge University Press.
Baumlin S. J. (1991), “John Donne and the Rhetorics of Renaissance Discourse,” University of Missouri Press. Pp. 245-246
Bellah, R. (1964), “Religious Evolution”, American Sociological Review 29:358-374
Dunne, J (1839), ‘The works of John Donne: With a memoir of his life’, Parker.
Richard Sugg, (2007), John Donne: Critical Issues, Palgrave Macmillan,
Foucault, Michel (2002), “The Archaeology of Knowledge”, trans. A. M. Sheridan Smith.
London: Routledge.
Gallagher, Catherine and Greenblatt, Stephen (2000), Practicing New Historicism, Chicago, IL and London: University of Chicago Press
Guibbory, A. (2006), The Cambridge Companion to John Donne, Published By University Press Cambridge. P. 151.
John Lechte, Maria Margaroni, (2005), “Julia Kristeva: Live Theory “, Continuum International
Publishing Group Ltd.
Kahan, Jeffrey. (1997), "Historicism: Renaissance Quarterly, p. 1202
Lupton, J.R. (2006), “The Religious Turn (to Theory) in Shakespeare Studies”, English Language Notes 44.1.
[1] Quoted from john Dunne’s , ‘The works of John Donne: With a memoir of his life’
[2] The term RENAISSANCE sprung from the French word renaissance which means re-birth and the Italian word Rinascimento which also roughly translates to ‘to be reborn’. It was a term coined to define a cultural movement between the 14th and the 17th century that began in Italy and spread through out Europe.
[3] Most of whom were philosophers, religious authors and poet, and who strongly believed in religion thus extremely valued it.
[4] Thus the whole aspect of religious renaissance during this period occurred due to the change that was intended to be effected on the Catholic Church.
[5] The northern renaissance occurred in the northern part of Europe. It affected the Germans, French, English, Netherlands, and the Polish.
[6] …which tend to desert the responsibility of traditions
[7] It is believed that during the Enlightenment Age often referred to as Reasoning Age, that the intellectuals used Historicism to interpret their work in order to reflect on the Renaissance.
[8] Christian historicism refers to the method of interpretation in Christian theology that mostly associates biblical prophesies with actual events that occurred in history and trying to identify symbols with people or societies.
[9] This means that Donne was at a constant ‘crossroad’ in his work. While he tried to conform to the traditional norms set by the then church, there was the urge to question this traditions set up by the church and religion as a whole that he felt needed to be addressed the topic using intellect rather that blindly following the churches edicts created the constant state of paradox in his particular work.
[10] In his sonnet, Dunne outlines phenomenon in religion that traditionally were blindly believed by outlining them such as the fact that Mary conceived by immaculate conception which was not logical given the fact that she had not had any sexual activity that would have warranted the conception of her baby.
[11] Which involved blindly following the Christian doctrine without questioning it I,e having blind faith.
[12] Who reigned as pope of the Catholic Church from 1939- 1958
[13]This putting into consideration the fact that man was trying to now logically understand religion rather than following blindly
[14] This meant that even a Christian strong in faith could read the sonnet without feeling that they are offended by the nature of sonnet.
[16] Such an example is the emergence of alchemists who believed in science who believed that power was known from antiquity. During the renaissance period alchemy was coupled up with magic, astrology, and Christian cabala. In response the enlightenment and the extreme dependence of power of human reason, a new artistic group known as romanticism were formed. This group focused on personal deep emotion, mastermind and pleasure of nature.
Shakespeare’s Macbeth was a character whose sad ending was attributed to the bad decisions he made due to one major misinterpretation of a prophesy by the three witches. At the beginning of he play Macbeth is introduced as a brave soldier who has gone to war against his kings’ enemy and has won. He seems to be a brave and capable worrier who can stand up to everyone and answer to no one. However, the three witches who meet the two worriers after their successful battle show us a different side of Macbeth. The witches display Macbeths all consuming ambition and tendency to self doubt.
The prophesy
The three witches that met both Macbeth and Banquo after their battle inform both men of two prophesies, to Macbeth, the witches prophesized the fact that he would be granted the title of Thane of Crowdor and that he would be king ‘hereafter’. The witches went ahead and prophesized to Banquo that he would father a line of kings but he would not ruler himself. The first parts of the witches prophesy comes into fulfillment when Macbeth is informed that he has been granted the title of thane of Crowder, he then believes that all that remains is for him to be king over Scotland (Vivo 2). Macbeth’s interpretations to the three witches prophesy only served as fuel to funnel the Macbeths already growing greedy ambition to rule Scotland.
Results of the misinterpretation
Murder as a means to an end
Once Macbeth realizes the passing of the first part of the first part of the prophesy, he immediately shares his conviction with his wife who is equally power hungry but more ruthless in her pursuit of power. His wife offers him a solution that would easily catapult him to power. She suggests that Macbeth kill King Duncan and goes ahead to challenge his ‘manhood’ when he falters in plan. However, despite his self doubt tenancies his misinterpretation of the witches’ words coupled with greed and ambition eventually led Macbeth into murdering the king. After this murder, Macbeth is to shaken that his wife has to take charge of the murder and frame someone else for the murder (Knight 52). He goes ahead ad also kills the guards who discover Duncan’s body under pretext while all he wants to do is tie up all loose ends of the murder. After this ordeal Macbeth is made king due to the fact that he was the closest kin to the king and the fact that the kings heir had fled for fears of their lives. As a result of his misinterpretation, Macbeth turns from a celebrated hero to a cold blooded killer for the throne of Scotland.
Even after successfully securing the crown of Scotland, Macbeth is still fully aware of another prophecy made by the witches about his best friend and the fact that his friends descendants’ would rise to the throne. Macbeth misinterpreted this to mean that his best friend or his descendant would challenge his throne, he therefore ordered for his friend and his friends’ sons’ murder.
Further prophesy from the three witches summoned by Macbeth to interpret Banquos’ frequent ghostly visits to Macbeth spelt more murders from Macbeth. The prophesy from the witches that warn him against Macduff makes him go on a killing spree. He orders the execution of Macduffs’ family and seizes his property. By the time Macbeth had finished with this murders he was no longer a hero but a villain who killed any person he thought was a hindrance to the fulfillment of his misinterpreted prophesy (Bloom 69).
The end results of Macbeths misinterpretations
There were no positive results that come as a result of Macbeths misinterpretation of the prophesies by the witches. In the end not only was Macbeth left alone by his wife who killed herself due to guilt, but it led to an uprising against him led by the very people he had tried to eliminate in his quest to fulfill the prophesy. He ended up being killed by the very person whom he had been warned about in the prophesy while he had been assured of invincibility (Ziles 73). In time, some of the prophesies made by the three witches came to pass, however not all of them were fulfilled.
Conclusion
In the end, Macbeth, once a respected hero of Scotland, turned into an evil murderer not only due to his ambition, but also because of the power of spoken words. His misinterpretation of the witches prophesies pressured him into doing all things possible to ensure that the prophesies came to pass. In the end his greed for power, ambition and lack of proper judgment led to his demise.
Works Cited
Bloom, Harold. Macbeth. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2004. Print.
De, Vivo A. William Shakespeare: an Analysis of Macbeth's Character. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH, 2009. Internet resource.
Knights, Ben, and Chris Thurgar-Dawson. Active Reading: Transformative Writing in Literary Studies. London: Continuum, 2006. Print.
Zilles, Sebastian. The Evil within-A motif analysis on Shakespeare ́s' Macbeth'. GRIN Verlag, 2008.
Similarities and differences between first language and second language literacy development
Introduction
Based on theories developed by linguistic experts, the similarities and differences of bilingual literacy development may be explained in two different positions: the Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis and the Linguistic Threshold Hypothesis. These two theories are mainly used to describe the factors that influence the development of second language literacy.
Under the linguistic interdependence hypothesis (Cummins 1981, 1991), the first language literacy develops a good foundation for the second languages reading development. This hypothesis believes that there are fundamental similarities between L1 and L2 and that these two language developments are interdependent (Lanauze & Snow, 1989). It further focuses that the reading performance of L2 is largely mutual with that of L2. In this hypothesis, if one acquires basic reading and writing skills (language operations) in L1 then these should easily be transferable to L2.( Peregoy & Boyle, 2000 )
The linguistics threshold hypothesis however denotes that a reader will have to develop a certain level of proficiency or threshold in L2 before they can apply L1 literacy skills in further developing their L2 skills. It should be noted however, that both of these theories acknowledge that indeed there is a certain close relationship between the literacy development of both L1 and L2.
The main differences between the first and second language acquisition under the inter-language theory stipulates that second language acquisition is self-motivated and characterized by a series of intermediary stages, from early to advanced, that reflect influences from the L1 and from developmental processes associated with L2. These include patterns that may be in L2 that are similar to those in L1.
The summation of all these theories into point form would in essence indicate that among other things, for the efficient acquisition of a second language one has to be self-motivated, unlike the first language, which comes naturally. Furthermore, L1 literacy is paramount and always affects L2 literacy directly or indirectly.
How L1 literacy influences L2 literacy development in ELLs
Oral proficiency
This is mainly drawn from the students’ social-cultural experience and their pre-existing knowledge about reading and writing (Maguire & Graves, 2001). This are the skill mainly taught in school. The same argument has been made for students who are trying to learn the second language. What these mean is that a student will try to translate what they know in L1 to what they perceive to be in L2 or rather they will draw on L1 experiences and abilities to the benefit of their performance of L2 tasks.
However, studies has shown that with some exceptions, measures of general L1 language proficiency or usage outside of school have not been found to relate constantly to the L2 literacy development of ELLs in school. Furthermore, it would appear that more specific measures of L1 oral language proficiency or usage, especially those that are related to literacy can have a more significant and positive developmental relationship with L2 literacy than do general oral language proficiency measures. In fact, ELLs with early L1 literacy experiences have the ability to be able to utilize these experiences in the continued development of literacy abilities in the L2. ELLs are also able to draw on existing L1 oral skills, either in the absence of similar levels of proficiency in the L2 or in addition to similar levels of proficiency, in the completion of their L2 literacy tasks.
Literacy development
Studies done concerning the relationship between oral proficiency and L2 literacy have also explored the effect of L1 literacy on the development of L2 literacy (Reese et al., 2000). These studies found that the relationship between literacy in the L1 and the L2 is at least as significant as, if not more significant than, that between L2 oral development and L2 literacy. These findings, argue that developing literacy in the first language does not detract from literacy development in the L2, but rather supports it. Studies further found that ELLs who were identified as the best L1 readers were deemed able to transition to English reading instruction earlier than other students were, and that early L1 reading ability was a significant predictor of English reading abilities. It was also found that ELLs their L1 proficiencies into their L2 tasks.
Variables that facilitate ELLs’ L2 literacy development in English
Socio-cultural, political and psychological variables
Literacy development in a bilingual context is affected by many factors. Some of these factors include political social and cultural variables that affect how an individual masters another language. The social cultural context is involved mostly how the student is brought up. Some researchers have discussed that home experiences play an important role in developing language skills, and through them, literacy skills ( Dickinson & Snow, 1987) .Through their experiences with both oral and written language in their homes or communities, children become familiar with the characteristics of their language and develop an understanding of the functions of literacy.
Schooling on the other hand provides the next layer of literacy interactions for children, and is especially important for those who have not been exposed to the kinds of literacy interactions known to promote early literacy development at home. Schooling provides the L1 basis needed to grasp L2.
Economic and political factors such as the status of the two languages in the larger society are also often considered. The economic strength of the language minority group, among others shape policy decisions. English is the universal business language thus the need for more people to learn it as a second language
These social factors operate at the family and community levels. They include factors such as group cohesiveness, links within the home language communities, and cultural identity. Also relevant are concerns about the utility of language and literacy in one or both languages, for example, the economic benefits of becoming literate in English. These factors influence parental attitudes and, through them, the nature and language of literacy practices at home, affecting children’s literacy development.
Phonological Awareness
Studies reviewed have indicated that phonological awareness is a common underlying ability that is linked to oral language development and is likely shared cross-linguistically; this is to say, phonological awareness in one language such as LI supports phonological awareness in an additional language such as L2 of the ELL, which, in turn affects the reading acquisition in English. These studies also suggest that phonological awareness in the L2 can be developed through direct intervention, even if L2 oral development is itself somewhat limited. It is important to note that L2 phonological awareness is extensively connected to L2 reading development, as L1 phonological awareness is linked to L1 reading development as was found (Carlisle, et al., (1999).
Orthographic Knowledge
This involves sound-letter correspondences and spelling report evidence for both language-specific and common developmental influences. Studies have shown that differences in sound-letter correspondence in the L1 and L2 can result in negative transfer from the L1. Studies show that students whose L1 is not English are more prone to introducing phonological and orthographic rules when asked to write selected words with contrastive spelling patterns unlike there counterparts whose L1 was English.
Cognate Vocabulary
Research on ELLs’ recognition and use of the similar relationship between L1 and L2 vocabulary has shown that ELLs can make use of L1 vocabulary knowledge to determine the meaning of cognate vocabulary in an L2 passage. All of the research on this issue has examined ELLs of Hispanic background. More specifically, found that more successful L2 readers were better able than less successful L2 readers to explicitly recognize Spanish-English cognates and to make use of their knowledge of cognates during reading (Nagy, et al., (1993) . These researchers also found that the ability to translate cognates from L2 to L1 was linked to individual students’ preference to speak L1 and their level of bilingualism and, in particular, their knowledge of L1 vocabulary, arguing, that ELLs’ L1 need not be a distracting but rather a facilitating factor in L2 literacy development.
Finally, it was found that some L1 ELLs are better able to make use of spelling than morphological similarities to recognize cognates, although use of morphological similarities increased with grade level. Thus, instruction in specific morphological similarities between cognates might contribute to the L2 literacy development of ELLs by enhancing their knowledge of these otherwise underused cognate relationships.
.
References
Cummins, J. (1991). Interdependence of first and second-language proficiency in bilingual children. In E. Bialystok (Ed.), Language Processing in Bilingual Children. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dickinson, D. & Snow, C. E. (1987). Interrelationships among pre-reading and oral language skills in kindergartners from two social classes. Early Childhood Quarterly, 2,
Lanauze, M., & Snow, C. (1989). The relation between first- and second-language writing skills: Evidence from Puerto Rican elementary school children in bilingual programs. Linguistics and Education, 1(4).
Maguire, M. H. & Graves, B. (2001). Speaking personalities in primary school children’s writing.TESOL Quarterly, 35.
Nagy, W.E., García, G.E., Durgunoglu, A.Y., & Hancin-Bhatt, B.J. (1993). Cross-language transfer of lexical knowledge: Bilingual students' use of cognates. Journal of Reading Behavior.
Peregoy , S. F., & Boyle, O. F. (2000). English learners reading English: What we know, what we need to know. Theory into Practice.
Peregoy, S. (1989). Relationship between second language oral proficiency and reading comprehension of bilingual fifth grade students. NABE Journal, 13(3).
Reese, L., Garnier, H., Gallimore, R., & Goldenberg, C. (2000). Longitudinal analysis of the antecedents of emergent Spanish literacy and middle-school English reading achievement of Spanish-speaking students. American Educational Research Journal, 37(3)
Verhoeven, L. (1994). Functional literacy: Theoretical issues and educational implications. Amsterdam
Research is a field that involves digging deep in search of information and knowledge by going through the materials as well as looking keenly into the information in order to come up with credible reports on the topic being discussed. An investigation has been done in order to come up with a specific conclusion on the matter being discussed by a certain researcher. When one is conducting a research, he/ she may make some mistake which ought to tamper with the results. This shows that one cannot relay on a certain research because a research is a trial full of errors. At times some of the research are said to be real but not that perfect because they may have made some mistakes while conducting the research.
In our present life research has became part of general human life (Antony & Swinson, 2008). This has been enhanced by increase in knowledge which has led to advancements of technology and other innovations. It is however important to note that the main goal of carrying out a research is to bring out the hidden truth about the topic being researched on. This means that after the initial research has been done and the truth has been found then it is needless to another research which would then dispute the original research. This further means that the research that was conducted earlier was not perfect and even if it is not disputed, it would leave room for the next research (King & Wincup, 2007). In addition, one can look at it in different ways; first human beings are always different in terms of thinking. This implies that their results will also be different from one another. Every researcher brings his or her own individual mind into the research findings and therefore the results are researcher bias.
From the above point of view, it implies that human beings will always leave something out to be discovered by another researcher in their line of research making the research process imperfect. The process of doing research has since been based on the notion that the previous research by the previous researcher on the particular topic of research, no matter how detailed or informed it was, still it will lack perfection, hence research is done to perfect it. Nevertheless, we still see research being done to perfect those that are already perfect. Errors done during research also push towards further research.
In conclusion, the continuing nature of research where whenever a specific research is done, it results to further research resulting to viscous cycle of research. This is an indication that previous research has failed to some extent to be classified as perfect hence the need for newer research. Therefore, it is true that there is no hope for ever doing perfect research.
References
Antony, M. M., & Swinson, R. P. (2008). When perfect isn't good enough: Strategies for
Coping with perfectionism. Oakland, Calif: New Harbinger
King, R. D., & Wincup, E. (2007). Doing research on crime and justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bell Hooks is a writer who is well known for explaining the fundamentals of love. Her work has imprinted a lot of significance in the society and is related to events which have taken part in the past. For instance, Occupy Wall Street is an event which has taken place in many countries whereby citizens express their concerns on the distribution of the country’s wealth or resources. Occupy Wall Street comprises of some characteristics or aspects addressed by Bell Hooks in her book All About Love: New Visions. The aspects discussed by Bell include love ethics, greed, spirituality, honesty, justice and commitment among others which are conceptualized in Occupy Street Wall. The essay therefore addresses these aspects considering the writings of Bell Hooks and in relevance to Occupy Wall Street.
Self-actualization
The self-actualized people usually have realistic perception about themselves and everything around them. In addition, most of the self-actualized people are problem centered. This implies that most of these people will to be innovative in trying to find solution to the various problems that they may face. Most importantly these people will also tend to be involved in the finding of solution of the problems that other people face. Another important point to note about the self-actualized people is that they tend to tend to be happy with themselves. This implies that self-actualized people are also happy with what other people do. In addition, it is also evident that these of people have a sense of continued freshness of appreciation (Hooks, 2001). In relation to this it is therefore important to note that these types of people are also tend to view the world with a sense of appreciation.
However analyzing the people and the agenda in the Occupy Wall Street movement it is evident that some of these people are not self-actualized. This is because most of the people in the movement view on the negative side of the world since them only believe that the entire world wealth is only owned by 1% of the world population. In addition most of these people are not self actualized since they do not believe that they have the solution to their own problems. This implies that these people do not believe that they can be able to solve their own problem without necessary blaming other people for their own problems. Analyzing this movement it is also evident that these people do not appreciate the other especially the rich people since the movement aims at convincing the rich to share their wealth with other people.
Honesty
Honesty is one of the most important qualities that all the human beings need to have. Honesty refers to the act of being truthful, refraining from lies hypocrisy and cheating (Hooks, 2001). In addition a person who is honest usually adheres to facts only. This implies that such people only give fact of what has happened or what they know. Most importantly a person who is honest does give any excuse or give any lengthy explanation when asked to give the truth of certain issue.
However analyzing the community the Occupy Wall Street movement it is evident that most of the people in the movement are not honest. This is because most of the people are advocating on some issue, which they do not really understand. In relation to this some of the people in this movement are accusing the rich people of corruption however; if they are told to give evident they may not be having any to support their argument. This therefore implies that these people fail to adhere to fact about various issues. In addition, some of the issues raised by this group are shows that the group is not sincere. This is because, the group only raises the negative issues that the government and the rich people have done to the economy. However, the group fails to recognize any good deed that the government and the rich people have done to the economy.
Justice
Justice is an important aspect in the society since it helps to stand for the truth of the various issues that affect the society. According to Bell Hook it is evident that justice demands for one t have integrity in his or her deeds (Hooks, 2001). Moreover, she also advocates that justice also entail one to have moral universe. This implies that one need to ensure that he or she not only understand what is right or wrong but also able to put things into perspective and weigh the options. Most importantly according to her justice require one to have a complex accounting of various issues.
Analyzing some of the issue raised by the Occupy Wall Street movement it is evident that the movement is against social injustices. In relation to this the movement is accusing the government of promoting inequality. The movement is also accusing the rich people of corruption and the use of the public funds. However critically analyzing these issues raised by this movement it is evident that the movement does not adhere to the principles of justice. This is because instead of articulating their issues in the street they ought to go to the courts in order to seek justices. One can therefore argue that by going to the street the movement at the same time denying other people justice since they are interfering with their businesses.
Commitment
Commitment is one of most important fundamental concept that each individual needs to have in his or her life. According to Bell hook commitment is very powerful since it influences how one thinks and acts (Hooks, 2001). In addition being committed also entails working hard to ensure that one is able to look for solution for the various problems that one may be facing. Commitment also helps one to know how to handle things when times get tough. In order for any relationship to succeed it is therefore important for all the parties involved in the relationship to become actively committed in ensuring that it is sustained. Analyzing the Occupy Wall Street movement it is evident that these people are committed in their course of ensuring that fight against social inequality and greed corruptions. One of clear indication of the fact that the people in this movement were committed towards their course is the fact that some people some in the movement were to spend more than seven hour in a day in the street.
Community
The communities play an important role in sustains life in society. According to the Bell Hook there is no better place one can able to learn the art of loving than in the community( Hooks, 2001). This implies that the people in the community need to learn how to be honest with each other and show commitment towards ensuring that they continue to build relationships. This can therefore help to ensure that love is sustained among all the member of the society. Critically analyzing the issues raised by the Occupy Wall Street movement it is evident this movement feel that love does not exist in the community.
Spirituality
Spirituality is one of the aspects that Bell Hooks explains about in her book. Spiritually, human love entails the first response in reference to the explanation by Hooks (Hooks, 2001). Basing from her writings it is predominantly clear that re-evaluation of spirituality has posed some benefits in the post modern era. The conceptualization of eternal essence as per the writings of Bell Hooks bases on the foundation of reality in her work. Nevertheless, this is replicated in the occupy Wall Street event whereby the participants would demonstrate to ensure that equality in wealth is observed. Hooks emphasizes on love for each other. Moreover, Bell Hooks explains spirituality as a private view. However, the spiritual conceptualization explained by Hooks is met with some critics in that her attempts in practicing spirit justice do not deliver justice to human beings and that if people love themselves more, they will also develop more love towards the others as well. According to Hooks (2001) people fail to recognize the brokenness in reality because they have broken relationships with God, whereby this is characterized by their unwillingness in observing justice towards God as well as admitting their comprehensive dependence. On contrast to the occupy Wall Street, the followers had spiritual believe which united them. Therefore, it is evident that Bell Hood conceptualizes love in a spiritual manner, relating to values of a religious person and their relationship with God. In addition, Bell Hooks reveals that people need to love one another since it is a spiritual requirement. The explanation of love by Hooks reveal that once a person realizes the love offered to them by his/her neighbor, it is then that this person will recognize spiritually that they have needs. This is when the person realizes that spiritually they are incapable of satisfying his/her wants and needs. In this case, Hooks explains that a person like the one described will respond to the God who initially showed him/her love. On contrary, this person will hate the God who has always deemed withholding as per the explanation by Hooks. The response of hatred or love to God is also imprinted towards the other people in that, if a person treats his or her neighbor with truelove he or she is eligible for receiving wrath from the neighbor.
Values
Hooks expresses different values pertaining to love. The same values are also implicated in the occupy Wall Street. The values of an individual contribute a lot towards expressing their love to the others. Hooks explains that a person has to practice love towards themselves so that that they can express better love towards the other people. Therefore, love accompanied or led by personal values. Hooks explains that here physical tendency which in this case would be personal values have granted her much than a neighbor would grant or give (Hooks, 2001). This reveals that she has great support towards values and especially personal values. Considering the case of occupancy Wall Street, the participants want all people to be treated equally and with the same love. For example, the demonstrations which have taken place in some of regions in America and other countries have implicated that people would like others to have positive values and mind about the welfare of others as well. Compassion is a value which Bell Hooks also talks about in her writings which relate to occupy Wall Street whereby the demonstrators think that the wealthy lack compassion.
Greed
The conceptualization of greed by Bell Hooks relates to occupy street wall in the case that in both stories some people are seen to love themselves and do not bother to care about their neighbors. For instance, in the occupy Wall Street the demonstrators imply that only 1% of the people in America are wealth and the 99% are poor. Therefore, wealth is not evenly distributed and only a few people benefit from this wealth. According to Hooks (2001), greed subsumes love and compassion; living simply makes room for them. Bell Hooks explains that greed is something that everyone or anyone can resist everyday. People have started realizing the significance of sharing the available resources equally an aspect which Hooks pinpointed and which is replicated in Occupy Wall Street whereby people are fighting to eliminate greed. Greed as viewed by Hooks is a temptation which people need to learn on how to eradicate it and that they should work in unison to bring changes in the public policy thus electing progressive and honest leaders. This same aspect is imprinted in Occupy Wall Street where the citizens are demonstrating, a sign of unison in working towards changing the values of the leaders and eliminates greed as well as restoring fair policies in the public sectors. Eliminating love as per the explanation by Hooks is a way of expressing respect to love and one major factor which will facilitate measures of saving our planet.
Love ethics
Bell Hooks has explained how people should love one another. Love ethics is implicated in Occupy Street Wall whereby the public policy lacks love ethics. Bell Hooks explains ethics of love as having compassion towards one another and that people should mind caring for their neighbors specially when they are in need (Hooks, 2001). On contrary, Hooks relates ethics of love to acknowledging the help which one offers for his/her neighbor and that this should not be met with wrath or hatred. Love ethics is valuing the presence, help and efforts of each person and treating people equally. This includes equal distribution of resources as the aspect which the demonstrators of Occupy Street Wall are fighting to restore. In reference to Hooks writing, the morals of a person contribute much towards practicing love ethics. People need to recognize that without love and failure of practicing love ethics leads to hatred, separation and disagreement. The political leaders being criticized in Occupy Wall Street do not practice love ethics and are governed by greed, hatred and selfishness since they do not recognize fellow citizens.
Conclusion
From the above it is evident that the people in the Occupy Wall Street movement need to learn some of the principle that help to sustain love in the community. In addition, it important for the members of the movement to ensure that they advocate their issues in the best way possible through seeking justice in the court of the law rather than going to the street. Most importantly these people must learn to be self-actualized. This can help to ensure that they are able to solve their own problems without necessarily blaming other. Finally, it is also important for the members in the Occupy Wall Street movement to ensure that they are also committed in ensuring that they build strong united community.
References
Hooks, B. (2001). All about love: New visions. New York: Perennial
Research refers to the act of gathering and accumulating knowledge to find meaning or discover new phenomena or to give light on some life problems. A perfect research refers to research without errors. Caring out research involves such of knowledge and since, knowledge not quantified; therefore, a research can never be 100% accurate (Goldener, 58). This paper trying to argue that no matter how one does the research it can never be perfect. The point is illustrated by use of two examples where the research done, and it was possible to critic the result obtained.
E.B Sledge in his account as one of the soldier who fought against the Japanese in the second world war faced different situation and moments, some stunning and other annoying. Sledge as a soldier in this war reflects the moments that he and the other comrades faced during the war and explains that although fighting or own country proves worthy, the enemy was not always a bad one, and that he comprehended that the war sought to enslave the Japanese.
Heidegger apparently presents a distinct interpretation of death far from its normally perceived conceptualization. The explanation of death not simply provides the rational picture in the society but he tried to implicate something beyond the normal understanding. He remarked that death to him was futural, since it will always come out the future, and his conceptualization of death made him be ahead. The manner in which Heidegger remarked his position to death was that he was thrown to his own death. Following his interpretation of death therefore, Heidegger did not perceive death as pure nothingness but absolutely a possibility.
This website is owned and operated by PFS Limited.
Company Registration office is at:
2875 NE 194st St 404, Miami, FL 33180
Edudorm.com provides writing and research services for limited use only. All the materials from our website should be used with proper references and in accordance with Terms & Conditions
