Comparing Themes in The Return of the Native and Great Expectations :: comparison compare contrast essays

Themes in The Return of the Native and Great Expectations      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Classic novels usually share in the aspect of universal themes which touch people through out the ages. All types of audiences can relate to and understand these underlying ideas. Victorian novels such as Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native and Charles Dickens' Great Expectations are examples of literary classics that have universal themes. Hardy's tale illustrates the role of chance in his characters lives. Through the story we encounter events of pure coincidence and their effects. Dickens, considered to be more of a reformer (Literature Online), tries to portray a social theme in his novel. The basic theme of Great Expectations is that good does not come from ones social standing but rather comes from their inner value. These novels are considered classics because of their timeless themes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native displays a theme of chance. Book First, chapter 8 contains a perfect example. Eustacia persuades young Johnny Nunsuch into helping her feed a fire. She dismisses him and begins to walk home. Before reaching home, he is frightened by the light coming from the heath and returns to discover Wildeve meeting with Eustacia. By pure chance, Venn discovers the boy and quizzes him.    "Then I came down here, and I was afeard, and   I went back; but I didn't like to speak to her, because of the gentleman, and I came on here again" [Johnny Nunsuch]    " A gentleman--ah! What did she say to him, my man?"  Ã‚   [Diggory Venn]    "Told him she supposed he had not married the other woman because he liked his old sweetheart best; and things like that"  Ã‚   [Johnny Nunsuch]    [Book First, chapter 8, pp. 82]    This chance exchange reveals that Wildeve is meeting with Eustacia. Venn uses this to his advance by announcing himself to Mrs. Yeobright as a suitor for Thomasin. This backfires because Mrs. Yeobright tries to use the second suitor to force Wildeve to marry Thomasin. These events all occur from the chance meeting between Venn and Johnny Nunsuch. Another example of chance and coincidence can be seen in the famous gambling scene of Book Third, chapter VII. This is perhaps one of the most critically examined parts of the book.    " "Very well," said Wildeve, rising.

IOS 7 vs. IOS 6

IOS 7 vs. IOS 6 When Apple announced it's new OS back in March, many people were very excited at a change to the old IOS 6. As beta testing for the OS began and bugs began to intoxicate the new OS many consumers were left wondering if the need to switch at the final release was the best move and if so, what were the advantages or changes to the new OS. IOS 7 has changed many of the features of IOS 6, but many of the core elements of IOS 6 are ever-present.The First and most noticeable difference in IOS 7 is its new color scheme and lock screen. IOS 6 had a round design and color scheme that was reminiscent of factory gears, and its lock screen was a simple picture with a slider at the bottom. But in the new OS, the color scheme is neon and bright colors, flat design in the sense that none of the home screen apps seem 3d, but also the lock screen is a full screen picture with the date, time, and also a slide to unlock slider.Those few improvements o the overall OS were nice, but the s lide to unlock from the original OS 6 was still there and so were the large digital clock at the top. Another difference is the addition of Control Center. Control Center is a slider at the bottom of the screen that you slide up to use specific features of IOS 7, that in the older OS 6 you would have had to go to the settings menu. The features of Control Center include a slider for brightness, Wi-Fi control, Bluetooth control, and also one of IOS 7's new features, Airdrop.Once again, the new features are great, even though many of the uses of them were in IOS 6. All in all IOS 7 is a step forward in features and still stays true to its predecessor. The new color scheme and lock screen got a complete overhaul, while keeping the same features and core elements of OS 6. Also the addition of Control Center now uses the toggles that could have been found in the settings menu of 10s 6. So once again, apple has made a step up in its Operating System while still staying true to its predece asing one.

Karl Marx Essay

Karl Marx is one of the most reputed philosophers of the 19th Century. Born in 1818 in a middle class family, Marx studied law in Bonn and Berlin and later plunged deeper into the ideas of Hegel and Feurbach (Wheen, 2007). It is after receiving his doctorate in philosophy in 1841 from the University of Jena that he moved with his family to Paris where he became a radical revolutionary communist and teamed up with Friedrich Engels, another radical philosopher of his time. They collectively authored the pamphlet â€Å"The Communist Manifesto† which was later published in 1848. In this pamphlet, Marx passionately asserted that all human history was dominated by class struggles. Furthermore, he predicted that they would culminate into the fall of capitalism and rise of communism (Wheen, 2007). Karl Marx later moved to London in 1849 where he broke his political and religious isolation to author Das Kapital, sometimes referred to as the â€Å"Bible of the working class† (Wheen, 2007). In this book, Marx developed very philosophical ideas related to the crises of the working class and the implicit struggles between laborers and owners of industries. The works and ideas of Karl Marx in his book Das Kapital were later edited by Engels after his death in 1833 in London (Wheen, 2007). The ideas of Karl Marx established a school of thought known as Marxism, or what later came to be popularly known as the Marxist doctrine. His writings consummated the main ideological currents of 19th century. These included the classical English political economy, French socialism and the French revolutionary doctrines of the time. Marx, throughout his writing, had envisaged a social revolution that would see the fall of capitalism and the rise of socialism as a dominant ideology. These predictions later became evident after the death of Karl Marx in what was considered to be a process of socialization of labor. Wheen (2007) contends that this transformation would be possible to accomplish by the proletariat in sustained struggles with the bourgeoisie. This led to the development of ideas evident in Marxism and the conflict theory that form the bedrock of Marx’s works. Karl Marx’s Conflict Theory. Conflict theory is a Marxist perspective and  conceptualization of the way in which society is structured. This perspective depicts society as characteristically dominated by conflicts (Collins & Sanderson, 2008). Conflict is the determinant of how resources are allocated and who benefits the most from such allocations. Power is also acquired through conflict, and once such power is acquired, it is used to dominate the less-powerful and to benefit a few people. Collins and Sanderson (2008) cited that the basic form of interaction in the human society is not consensus but competition, which culminates into persistent conflicts. Each party or individual competes against perceived rivals with the goal of gaining advantage and dominating the other. The theory presented by Karl Marx underscores the fact that conflict, and not consensus, dominates designed mechanisms through different classes in the stratified society, interacts and relates to each other (Collins & Sanderson, 2008). The rich and the powerful use conflict to threaten their poor subjects and to maintain the status-quo. The poor on the other hand, organize and use conflicts to push for a revolution that will overthrow the powerful that are enjoying the privileges of capitalist structures. These tensions are thus sustained by the need of each group to have its interests dominate the structures and operations of the society. Karl Marx contends that the society is stratified into two main social groups. These are the proletariat and the bourgeoisies. The conflict between these two large social groups results in what Marx considered as revolutionary change. The probable source of conflict between the proletariat and the bourgeoisies are the desire of the proletariat to have ownership of means of production, such as factories, power, land and other valuable resources (Collins & Sanderson, 2008). The bourgeoisies, on the other hand, are not willing to relinquish these resources and give up their privileged positions of power and overwhelming riches and investments. Karl Marx on Class and Class Conflict. According to Karl Marx, society is stratified into classes. The classes comprise the bourgeoisies, land-owners and the proletariat. The propertied-upper-class is the minority, while the proletariats are the majority. Wood (2004) notes Marx’s dissection of the  dominant features of each of these classes in most of his works. For example, the bourgeoisies own the means of production. This is due to the huge investments they have made into factories and machines in the industries. The land owners have rent as their primary source of income. The proletariats are owners of cheap labor which they offer in exchange for wages that they use for their basic subsistence (Collins & Sanderson, 2008). Investment gives the bourgeoisies a lot of profit. Marx conceptualized the structure of the society in relation to the two major classes. He is focused on the inherent struggles between the proletariat and bourgeoisies which is the engine that pushes the occurrence of social change through revolutionary movements. In the understanding of Marxists, class is defined by the level of wealth and power that one possesses (Wood, 2004). This power is used to sideline other classes from property and positions of power. Bourgeoisies use their power to serve their personal interests and amass more wealth at the expense of the proletariat. These three different classes, in the understanding of Karl Marx, have different interests which pit them against each other (Wood, 2004). For example, the bourgeoisie are interested in safeguarding their investment in the industries, maximizing profits and minimizing costs. This makes them engage the proletariats as laborers in the farms to achieve this objec tive at relatively minimal wages. The proletariats on the other hand, organize and mobilize themselves to collectively push for better wages, conditions of work and strive to overcome the repressive and exploitative forces of their masters in the industries and factories. Thus, they struggle to join hands and, through revolutionary movements, overthrow the bourgeoisies and control the industries and factories (Wood, 2004). These conflicting interests are what pit the social classes against each other. Conflicts, and not consensus, therefore, characterize the society as noted by Marx who had envisaged such a society founded on constant conflicts. The struggle between the classes is likely to widen with time as the conditions of the laborers deteriorate further. This is likely leads to disintegration of the social structure. Collins and Sanderson (2008)  asserted that conflicts between proletariats and bourgeoisies would translate into an industrial revolution. This would mark the triumph of the proletariats over the bourgeoisies, leading to increased access to capital and means of production by proletariats. This, according to Marxists, would mark the end of capitalism and the onset of socialism characterized by public ownership of the means of production. The fall of capitalism and bourgeoisies will, therefore, create a classless society as political power withers away due to industrial revolution led by the proletariat (Wood, 2004). Thus, according to Marxists, class and class conflict are the forces behind societal transformation and not any other evolutionary processes. Radical revolutionary movements are likely to create a new social order in the society in which capitalism gives way to socialism as witnessed by the industrial revolutions that altered the social order in Russia in the 19th century. Karl Marx on Alienation. The philosophical ideas of Karl Marx on alienation were relevant in his radical reformation periods that saw the fall of capitalism (Otteson, 2011). Although these ideas were mainly considered to be philosophical in the 19th century, alienation, as was espoused by Marx, since then has become a real social phenomenon in the 21st century discourses that are propagated by contemporary social science scholars. The most outstanding aspect that Marx wrote about was economic alienation or alienated labor. According to the writings of Karl Marx, one of the front forces behind conflict between bourgeoisies and proletariat is the fact laborers felt separated from the products of their own labor (Me%u0301sza%u0301ros, 2006). Marx asserted that in a capitalist society, workers were forced to remain on the job and work extra hard in order to earn and sustain themselves (Me%u0301sza%u0301ros, 2006). He was against alienation which is caused by strong forces of capitalism and predicted the rise of communism in which laborers will no longer work to live but live to work. With the fall of capitalism and alienation, wage earning slaves will be free men who will work and enjoy the value of their labor. In a capitalist society dominated  by bourgeoisies, the production capacity of an employee is 100%. However, the employee does not benefit directly from these products. He only earns 10% of the proceeds of his work, which he only uses for daily subsistence. In communism, one would directly benefit from 90% of the proceeds of his labor and only lose 10% which will be spent in other production processes. Marx contended that in a capitalist society, workers are alienated even from the products that they produce (Me%u0301sza%u0301ros, 2006). A laborer working in an industry that manufactures oil becomes so much alienated from the product that he or she produces to an extent that even in his or her own household he cannot afford the oil, yet he needs it and contributes significantly to its production. The ideas of Karl Marx on alienation were very accurate considering that many labor union movements advocated for the welfare of workers in the modern society (Otteson, 2011). There are employees who work in a milk processing plant, when ironically back at home they do not take the milk, not because they do not need it but because they cannot afford the milk. Alienation as presented by Karl Marx in his conflict theory is an explanation of a situation in which man is separated from valued resources, opportunities, processes and decisions in which his input ought to be reflected (Me%u0301sza%u0301ros, 2006). The laborers at the time of Marx’s life did not have opportunity to say a word on the amount of wages they earned as compensation for their work. Yet, their role in the industrial production processes was very significant. The masters determined the wages, number of hours worked, when to grant leaves for recuperation and so on. In fact, Marx was very concerned with how the surplus value of products processed in the industries manned by workers benefited the workers themselves. Marx asserted that in a capitalist society, the surplus value only makes the rich richer as the workers become more impoverished. So worked up were the laborers that they were even alienated from their own families and private lives. They did not have time for recreation, family sessions or other community forums. Marx sadly puts it in his writings of Das Kapital that  leave or absence to workers in a capitalist system was hard to come by (Me%u0301sza%u0301ros, 2006). But when such leaves were finally granted, they were only meant to help the workers recuperate and get extra strength not to benefit themselves but their masters who would then register a rise in surplus value in the industrial production. Alienation, according to the writings of Karl Marx, can be seen to occur in four different ways. Me%u0301sza%u0301ros (2006) contends that workers are alienated against the products that they produce; they do not benefit from them much, the production process especially through specialized division of labor, from the community and from himself. In a capitalist industrialized society, specialized division of labor is used to promote alienation under the disguise of enhancing efficiency and effectiveness in production. Marx argues that an employee, concerned purely with the repair of broken down machines in industry producing oil, may not have enough experience with other production processes in the industry. The owners of the industry alienate them from this knowledge out of fear that such knowledge might empower workers to compete against the factory owners. Karl Marx on Consciousness. Consciousness as defined by philosophers refers to how people or a person defines and understands himself (Wood, 2004). The concept of consciousness as presented in the writings of Karl Marx was basically bent towards understanding and identification with one’s class. It is this consciousness that would push the workers (proletariats) to join other proletariats and put forward a united battle against one common social group, the bourgeoisies. Wood (2004) asserts that consciousness would enable workers gain awareness that they all had shared experiences with other laborers, the bitter experience of alienation, exploitation and oppression by capitalist bourgeoisies (Wood, 2004). This consciousness would push the workers to rise against the bourgeoisies and launch protest and revolutionary movements that would lead to the fall of capitalism and the onset of communist’s ideologies. Marx used the term â€Å"class consciousness† to illustrat e this level of awareness on the part of the workers. There are scholars of Marxism who have argued that the concept of consciousness was used by Karl Marx to depict class as a very subjective dimension in a  capitalist society. The concept of consciousnerss forms the skeleton of Marx conflict theory. The proletariat will only rise to confront the bourgeoisies after realization that all workers had common problems, all originating from the bourgeoisies. Such awareness by itself is inspiring enough to stir up revolution and protests against the bourgeoisies (Wood, 2004). Marx argued that it was false class consciousness that continued to sustain the forces and the influence of capitalist ideologies. The proletariat had misrepresented their identity, position in society and resigned to fate, preferring to remain in subordinate positions as the bourgeoisies took advantage of this and used their positions to exploit and dominate the economy (Wood, 2004). Members of subordinate classes, such as workers and peasants continued to suffer in the hands of the dominant bourgeoisies as a result of false-class-consciousness. The upper class, on the other hand, has their consciousness right as they believe they should remain dominant owners of the means of production. Conclusion Karl Marx’s works have influenced and continue to influence sociological academia and studies in the field of economics. Although some of his ideas, like conflict theory have been criticized by scholars since then in the contemporary sociological theory, conflict perspective remain to be a very popular sociological perspective, while Marx remains in academic records as one of the great scholars that contributed to the growth of sociology and its relevance in understanding human interactions and relationships in the society. Contemporary scholars, including critics of Marxism, continue to draw on his works to develop new concepts and ideas aimed at offering more accurate explanations of various phenomena in the society.

Sweeney Tod Essays - Sweeney Todd, Fiction, Musical Theatre

Sweeney Tod Essays - Sweeney Todd, Fiction, Musical Theatre Sweeney Tod Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Sweeney Todd is based on the 19th century melodrama about a London criminal. Todd is sort of portrayed as a noble figure driven to crime when Judge Turpin takes his wife and child from him. He is unjustly imprisoned and vows revenge not only to the judge, but also to all the people of London. The theater production began with an awesome staging of eeriness to further the mood of the title itself. My attention was captured as soon as the play began. The thick mist gives way to an entire underworld of Londoners. They come out with their gutter costumes and worn-looking faces. In cut-off laconic phrases they sing verses of the Sweeney Todd ballad. The ballad is important to the play. Every time I heard it, it just reminded me of the evil that was on stage. I think this was the purpose of the songto keep the audiences attention focused on the insanity surrounding Sweeneys killing spree. The band of beggars and street people advance toward the audience in rags and in anger. They are very important in showing Sweeneys personality early in the show. To complete the actors purpose, Sweeney Todd himself rises from the pits below. His face has evil and revenge written all over it. Sweeney Todd was very convincing with his role. He has one of the most inspired roles, yet it is filled with dark humor. In on scene where he is proceeding to slit throat after throat, a customer comes in with his family. Sweeney just looks on in irritation and frustration. It is hilarious. Sweeney allows the audience to experience several emotionsfrom horror and disbelief to sympathy and compassion. Although Sweeney is committing murderous acts, he is acting out of the love of his family. His daughter has been stolen from him and his wifes life has been ruined (although he thinks she is dead). Sweeney makes his rage more frightening with the baritone voice, especially in My Friends. This song is a twisted ode to his razors. His pleasure of being reunited with his razors is sort of a weird experience. It is almost as if he is in love with them. Sweeney was very accurate in taking the audience on a thrill ride all the way to the end where he gained the last bit of sympathy in discover ing that he had in deed killed his own wife. Mrs. Lovett was quite the character. She is absolutely wonderful as the cheerful yet lonely bar mistress. She displays her desire to feel wanted and loved bit by bit. However, her plans come to an end when Sweeney discovers her dishonesty about his wife. Susan Boyle plays Mrs. Lovett with a combination of optimism, crafty self-interest, and wit. With the flexibility of the actor-character role, you almost forget about the hideous conduct in which she is involved. Mrs. Lovetts idea is to turn Todds victims into meat pies. It is laughable, but also spine tingling. She has all the qualities of performing a successful Mrs. Lovett. She has the operatic quality and superb comic timing. Boyle pulls off a terrific performance in transforming such an inhumane act into pure comedy. At the end of the first act, as she and Todd sing A Little Priest, Boyle uses her wit to hint at the usefulness of Sweeneys victims. In Act II when Mrs. Lovett sings By the Sea (a song that indicates her longing to be with Sweeney Todd, while he rants on about Judge Turpin) she is very expressive in both manner and voice. You find yourself caring about what happens to Mrs. Lovett in spite of her immoral deeds. Susan Boyle (Mrs. Lovett) has a wonderful voice; and having to sing while doing five or ten other things at once is quite difficult. Nevertheless, she pulls them off remarkably. Her voice is a noticeable one and you can follow it through any confusion. With all honesty I think the play would have been missing comedy, harmony, and wholeness without her. She was definitely the more memorable character. Judge Turpin was more like the shadow of darkness over the play. He was instantly written off as a man of

40 Twitter Hashtags for Writers

40 Twitter Hashtags for Writers 40 Twitter Hashtags for Writers 40 Twitter Hashtags for Writers By Simon Kewin If you use Twitter, you’re probably already familiar with the idea of hashtags. These are simply a way of categorizing particular tweets by including within them a keyword prefixed with the hash or â€Å"pound† (#) symbol. So, for example, tweets containing writing advice will often contain the â€Å"#writetip† tag. The point of this is to make it easier to find all tweets containing writing advice : you just search for â€Å"#writetip†. Similarly, you could find a stream of publication tips by keeping an eye on tweets with â€Å"#pubtip† in them.   Using relevant hashtags in your own tweets also increases the likelihood of others seeing your post and becoming a follower. They’re a great way to engage with a particular community of Twitter users.   The following is a list of some of the hashtags that will be of interest to writers. The list can never be exhaustive because anyone can invent a new tag at any time. Most are self-explanatory, although some need explanation :  Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Ã‚   #amediting  Ã‚  posts from people who are editing #amwriting  Ã‚  posts from people who are writing #askagent  Ã‚  agent questions and answers #author #authors #editing #fictionfriday #fridayflash  Ã‚  flash fiction on a Friday #nanowrimo  Ã‚  national novel writing month #novels #novelists #poem #poet #poets #poetry #pubtip  Ã‚  publication tips #publishing #scifi #selfpublishing #vss  Ã‚  Ã‚  very short story #webfic  Ã‚  web fiction #weblit  Ã‚  Ã‚  web literature #wip  Ã‚  Ã‚  work in progress #wordcount #writegoal #writequote #writer #writers #writetip  Ã‚  writing advice #writing #writingtips  Ã‚  writing advice #wrotetoday  Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Ã‚   Some hashtags are specifically â€Å"chats† – which means they work in the same way as all tags, but are mainly used at certain agreed times :  Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Ã‚   #journchat #kidlitchat #litchat #scifichat #scribechat #storycraft #writechat #yalitchat   Ã‚  young adult literature chat  Ã¢â‚¬ ¨Ã‚   The following spreadsheet is a good place to keep track of the schedules for these Twitter chats if you’re interested in joining in :   http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=ruaz3GZveOsoXUOOt86B3AQ Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Freelance Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Idioms About NumbersBroadcast vs Broadcasted as Past Formâ€Å"Least,† â€Å"Less,† â€Å"More,† and â€Å"Most†

The Guest by HwangSukYong, the significance historically, politically Essay

The Guest by HwangSukYong, the significance historically, politically and cutullay - Essay Example Notably, the same time saw the arrival of the American military that expressed its resilient support for the staged anti-communist efforts. Sin-chon was the center of all the horror that transpired, and is a historically significant place as signified by the museum erected in the same place as a memory of the past. The book ‘The Guest’ offers vivid descriptions of the 1950 events, presented through dreams of some characters who witnessed the atrocities. The context of the book thus exhibits a cultural, historical, and political relevance. This paper will highlight the relevance of its context in the three aspects. The author of the book ‘The Guest’ focused on one of the most sensitive subjects to both the south and northern Korea. In his introductory note, the author presents the contextual justification of the title selected for his work. A weighty analogy appears between the issues discussed in the book and small pox. Evidently, when the smallpox pandemic was of critical concern in Korea, the people regarded it as a ‘foreign disease’ and coined the term ‘sonnim’ that translates to guest in its reference. With the novel focusing on the adverse effects of Christianity and communism, the analogy to small pox becomes relevant. The fact that both of these ideologies were not concepts that had not emanated from the Korean people, but rather from foreigners justified them to bear the reference as guests. Moreover, the American army that has received immense criticism as the principal cause of the massacre, was a guest among the Korean (Lee 195). The book offers a salient criticism of the issues that transpired. Contrary to the common belief that the American army bears the ultimate blame for the atrocities that happened, the book offers an expose of the real perpetrators of the extreme violence that was carried out against the people in 50 days that those who witnessed the events would

Iconic building, building underground Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Iconic building, building underground - Essay Example The debates mainly covered topics such as: One of the proposed solutions to future attacks is the underground construction of buildings. For example, there have been proposals to expand the city of Amsterdam with a futuristic and massive underground network of activities. This paper seeks to examine the construction lessons learned from the WTC attacks and the possibility of considering underground construction as a way of avoiding attacks situations similar to the one of the WTC. The twin towers were designed and constructed five decades ago as new way of building skyscrapers in which they were to be very light in weight and involved modular methods of construction meant to reduce costs and accelerate the building schedule. They were constructed using an egg-crate design having extra columns that would hold the building standing in case one or two columns were to be lost (Eager & Musso, 2001). This design made the towers to be some of the most resilient buildings ever constructed and it is no wonder their collapse was that astonishing and generated so much speculations and debates among knowledgeable structural engineers (FEMA, 2002; National Institute of Science and Technology, 2008)). Prior to the WTC attacks, security in design was not all that an important concern to engineers, architects or builders (Bazant and Cedolin, 1991). Security was normally only considered a design priority when designing and constructing specific types of projects such as consulates, government facilities and prisons and State Department embassies. Following the attacks, security has become of absolute importance in virtually all types of construction including educational, healthcare, commercial, residential and institutional. The drastic change in the construction environment, which occurred virtually overnight, makes it important that all suitable technology and security safeguards are incorporated into the initial