Feminist Themes in Silkos Yellow Woman and Choplins Story of an Hour :: comparison compare contrast essays

Comparing Feminist Themes in Silko's Yellow Woman and Choplin's Story of an Hour Yellow Woman and the story of an hour by Kate Choplin have some feminist themes in common. Silko and Mrs. Mallard exhibited Characteristics that conflicted with their natural roles in life. They seemed to be confined by their marriage. With prospects of not being married again, they exhibited feelings of freedom and exhilaration instead of unhappiness. When Silko was left alone in the morning, she had a chance to go home to her family but she did not go. This shows that she was not being held against her will. At the death of Mrs. Mallard's husband, she felt a deep sorrow but she also felt free. As Choplin puts it, "She said it over and over again; free, free, free!"(200). She felt that her husband's death had liberated her fro a kind of prison and she was free to assert herself and do things she wanted to do. Silko did not seem to be very disturbed at being away from home. She did not even consider her presence important for the baby. Silko conveyed this impression when she said, "My mother and grandmother will raise the baby. Al will find someone else and they will go on like before" (191). This shows that women might not always be satisfied in the roles they are playing in society. The society expects them to fit into this moulds and be a perfectly happy mother or wife as they case maybe. They act the roles out but they might be interested in some other things. The Structures of male dominance pervade every aspect of the society. Instead of asserting themselves, most women bend to there husband's will. Contemplating her freedom after her husband's death, Mrs. Mallard said " there will be powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature" (200). This contributed to her sense of being free when her husband died. The same male dominance is shown in Yellow Woman when Silver told Silko "You don't understand, do you, little yellow woman? You will do what I want" (190). It was as if Silko was not a person and could not have a will of her own. Silko's sense of her own unimportance is also reflected in her assumption that she will be easily replaced by her husband.

Alcoholism Issue Within College Society

Do you remember graduating high school? Remember all the questions you had to ask yourself. What are you going to do now? Do you want to work? Do you want to go to school again for another four years? These questions are eventually answered and some choose to find a job, and others figure out that going to college is probably a good thing. Now you have realized that you want to get a taste of college life and you†re back to where you started. Where do you get the money? Where do you want to go? What are you really going to get out of this? Finally you make your decisions and you now find yourself away from home in a new environment, living the college life. College is a time where tough decisions are to be made and these choices can change the direction of your life. It is a time where in most cases students get a taste of the real world by being away from home for the first time with a new found freedom to live as they please. College life is a new experience and the pressures that come along with it have an effect on a student†s path to success. Unfortunately, alcohol is one of these pressures. Alcohol abuse is a major problem that many young men and women encounter throughout their college experience. Drinking on college campuses is a problem that affects everyone. Let†s first begin by understanding what alcoholism is and what it does to us. Alcoholism can be defined as an illness or a chronic disorder that comes from constant drinking. It obviously has serious physical and mental effects on a person. According to Louis Joylon West, M. D. a professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the UCLA School of Medicine, the attributes that define an addiction, in this case alcohol, include craving, tolerance and withdrawal phenomena (West, 28). This is a problem that exists among men and women of all ages. Alcohol addiction has no barriers to race, religion or sex; anyone can have this addiction. Is alcoholism a disease? The American Medical Association and the World Health Organization officially acknowledged alcoholism as a disease in the 1950†³s. It is very apparent that alcohol abuse has major effects on major organs of the body. Ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, causes severe damage to excretory organs including the liver and kidneys. Yet the major organ affected the most by outcomes of ethanol is the brain. Long-lasting effects of impairment of normal brain functions and damage of brain tissue are results of constant drinking. These outcomes eventually lead to other diseases of the body such as cirrhosis of the liver and mental disorders including depression and anxiety. However, addiction to alcohol has side effects not only to a person†s body but effects to those who surround them. Stewart G. Wolf, a professor at the Temple University School of Medicine, states, It should be emphasized that alcoholism is more than a disease of an individual. It disrupts the equilibrium of the family structure and, in one way or another, affects every family member. New equilibriums must be established when the alcoholic stops drinking, and there are adjustment to be made throughout both the drinker†s period of recovery and after the establishment of long-term sobriety (28). College drinking among university and college campuses across the United States is very prominent. According to studies conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, heavy drinking by college students has gone up since the beginning of the 1990†³s to the present. The study conducted in 1993 included a survey of 15,103 students to learn of student drinking habits. Results of the study showed that 39 percent of surveyed students consumed alcohol until they felt drunk. The same study was conducted in 1997 among 14,521 students and showed that 52 percent â€Å"drank to get drunk†, an increase of 13 percent. However binge drinking, defined as consumption of five drinks in a row by men and at least four drinks in a row by women in the past two weeks, has gone down according to the study (American Medical News, 39). This landmark study of college drinking has changed the thoughts and ideas of college administrators. It has been proven that this is a major problem, and it is worsening among the young men and women who attend our colleges. College drinking has an effect on not only the drinkers, but on their friends and classmates as well. How are non-drinking students affected by the presence of alcohol? Many are pressured to drink in order to fit in with a crowd. Many students feel that it is cool to be seen with a beverage in your hand at a party or a function. The need for acceptance among their peers is a big deal to many first-year students and therefore many give in to these pressures. Yet there are many students that come to college to study and not to party. It has been proven that drinking on campus has consequences for those who choose not drink as well. According to the Brown University Digest of Addiction Theory and Application, students who drink cause problems that effect other students who do not drink. Non-drinking students, at schools where drinking was common, reported having sleeping and study difficulties (68%) as well as having to console drunken students regularly (54%). Also, the study showed that students reported being degraded and harassed by students that were intoxicated (34%) and having been sexually provoked by drunken students (26%). Students attending other schools where excessive drinking took place reported similar results (5). How does the presence of alcohol affect first-year college students? Many students that are going to college for the first time are looking for new friends and buddies to hang out with. Fraternities and sororities at our colleges in the United States help freshmen students in finding a new home. This in turn introduces them to the social functions that exist within a college campus. The Greek society within our colleges and universities has for years been known to contribute in student drinking on campus. In the November 1, 1998 edition of the Oregonian, writer Spencer Heinz reported that four out of five people associated with college fraternities or sororities were binge drinkers (A2). Fraternity and sorority life is considered a brotherhood and sisterhood. They encourage a family-like relationship between members and promote partying together. Unfortunately, many functions created by these fraternities and sororities do not prohibit the use of alcohol. Members are therefore allowed to drink at these parties, which exposes new students to alcohol. Many of these freshmen are not mature enough to know where to draw a line and when this occurs, problems begin. There are far too many examples of how drinking among college fraternities and sororities have led to severe consequences. Heavy consumption of alcohol has been the cause of an increased number of assaults and unintentional injuries on campuses across the United States. Alcohol related deaths have gone up as well. A direct example is the case of Benjamin Wynne, an undergraduate student that attended Louisiana State University. Upon gaining acceptance into the fraternity, Alpha Sigma Epsilon, the fraternity had a party where alcoholic drinks were served. Wynne died the next morning with a blood alcohol level of . 588. The fraternity eventually was charged with purchasing alcohol for eighty-six underage drinkers and pleaded no contest. This is an unfortunate freak accident but who is to say that it will not happen again? The fraternity that he wanted to become a part of caused his death. Yes, Benjamin Wynne's case was very extreme in its nature but heavy drinking is very much a part of the life that exists within fraternities and sororities. We cannot say that fraternities and sororities are the cause of all drinking-related problems on campus. The truth is that these organizations benefit a lot of students. Many colleges do not have fraternities and sororities but this does not make them different from any other school. They still have the same problems with alcohol and students are affected in the same ways. Take for instance Southwestern Oregon Community College, a college without fraternities and sororities. Many students at this college see alcohol at their parties and just like any other college, there are students cannot handle the problems that their drinking creates. Unfortunately, it can change their lives. A student at Southwestern Oregon Community College, who we will call Haley to protect her identity, is a prime example of this. How do we begin to solve this problem? There is obviously no one single person, no single cause that can be put to blame for this problem that exists at our colleges. Yet it must be realized that unfortunately, as wrong as it may be, alcohol becomes a part of many students' lives. Many American-College students go to parties where alcohol is present. But the majority of these students are underage, illegal drinkers according to our laws. The point being that trying to tell students not to drink and hoping that they will listen does not work very well. Richard P. Keeling, author of an article titled â€Å"Drinking in College: the Politics of Research and Prevention†, writes The very nature of the academy is to encourage exploration, discovery and the testing of new ideas and experiences. Besides, many college and university students are of, or achieve, legal drinking age while they are enrolled. Higher education, therefore, cannot have a credible policy the simple option available to secondary schools: â€Å"just say no. † It is not enough for institutions of higher learning to advocate (or â€Å"teach†) abstinence (51). Preventing alcohol abuse among students should be through education of the problems that come about from alcohol, not by just simply saying that drinking is wrong. Saying that it is wrong to drink before reaching the legal age will not prevent our young adults from abusing alcohol. The only outcome of this is that we will have young adults abusing alcohol legally, as soon as they reach the age of twenty-one. Abstinence does not educate our college students of the dangers that are caused by the use of alcohol; it only makes them ignorant to what can happen. Education can be in the form of health forums, increasing alcohol awareness on campus and the creation of prevention programs. These are all far superior alternatives to promoting abstinence from alcohol because it teaches students in a mature way. It provides them with knowledge and understanding instead of trying to tell them what to do. The fact is that there is no way to eliminate the use of alcohol thus our only prevention is to educate kids at our colleges and universities properly and maturely. Programs must be installed in every school in the United States to lead our future in the right direction. We must teach our youth that alcohol is a very habit-forming, addictive drug that has severe aftermaths. Students must understand what the risks are and what measures can be used to inform others of this problem. Clifford R. Browell, Chairman of the Department of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation at the Teachers College of Columbia University states, Education about alcohol deserves a prominent place in the school curriculum. Education is viewed as a process for the development of proper attitudes, habits, knowledges and skills that involve experiences of greatest value now, and to prepare youth for later happiness and success- â€Å"to live most and serve best. Emphasis on academic achievement seems to be running far too ahead of subject matter designed to make human beings better able to cope with problems associated with wholesome personal and family living and responsible citizenry. (168) Our education systems have placed an emphasis on learning in a classroom. Yet learning how to add numbers and how to write papers are not the only things we must learn to become mature. The point is that there are other things we must learn in a classroom. This includes the understanding of how alcohol can effect our futures. Alcoholism affects those around them. It is important to understand that alcohol can take over a person†s ability to function in a normal manner and that traditional habits can be broken with ease. Again it can be emphasized that there is not one student that is immune to this problem, it affects everyone. We, as a society, do not want our future generations to experience these problems. Our prospective lawyers, doctors, engineers and scientists lie within the youth that attend our colleges and universities. It has been shown that there definitely is a problem that lies within our systems of higher education and things must be done in order to stop this problem. Our future is within our young men and women and for many of them, their success starts with a proper education in order for them to achieve their goals and aspirations. As a society, we need to assist them in their path to prosperity and therefore recognizing the problems that can harm them. Alcohol will probably never disappear on our colleges and universities. Consequently, our primary concern should be to educate our students of the dangers that can affect them. Without this the problem will only get worse.

Deception in Macbeth - 762 Words

Throughout Macbeth things are not always as they seem. Deception is always present with Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the three witches. The three weird sisters set up the theme of deception with their opening lines â€Å"fair is foul, and foul is fair†. They told Macbeth that he d be safe from all men born of women. They said that he needed to fear only the man that wasn t born of a woman. They also told him that he needed to beware of Macduff. But they didn t link the two predictions. So Macbeth had a false sense of security. He never once considered the man not born of woman to be Macduff, who was delivered by Caesarean section from a dead mother. After the weird sisters finished talking to Macbeth and Banquo they vanished without saying a†¦show more content†¦She knows that the process of making her husband believe what she wants may not be easy. Lady Macbeth has to be cunning, and she is up for the challenge. The thought of being in power - the King and Queen of Scot land - drives her and she cannot be stopped. Lady Macbeth often has to reinforce her immoral beliefs to her husband. She decides to use deception to push her husband s ambition to be king. ...Hie thee hither, that I may pour my spirits in thine ear, and chastise with the valour of my tongue all that impedes thee from the golden round... This leads us on to act 2 where lady Macbeth deceives the king and acts very two sided towards him. The king is murdered by Macbeth while at Dunsinane , his own castle. They frame the kings guards and Macbeth feels guilty but with this lady Macbeth says â€Å" things without all remedy should be without regard : whats done is done. But after this murder Macbeth realises he wants more power so in act 3 he is deceptive towards his best friend Banquo. He acts to be loyal to him but on the other side he plans to have him and his son Fleance murdered. Oone again the witches come back giving 3 more predictions to Macbeth in Act 4 and tell him to beware of Macduff. Before vanishing Macbeth asks for a fourth prophecy but the refuse. When Lady macduff hears that her husband is leaving she is very disappointing and states that the whole world is evil. MacbethShow MoreRelatedMacbeth Deception2997 Words   |  12 PagesTheme of Deception/Deceit in Macbeth Throughout Macbeth things are not always as they seem. Deception in the play is always present, with Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the three witches being the chief instigators of deception. From the very first scene, the deception within Macbeth’s world is clearly defined. â€Å"Fair is foul and foul is fair†, say the witches at the beginning of Macbeth. This language of contradiction that Shakespeare uses adds to the play’s sense of moral confusion and quickly introducesRead MoreSelf-Deception in Macbeth1011 Words   |  5 Pagesto be true.† Self deception is a human weakness. 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