The Colour Purple essay Essay Example for Free

The Colour Purple essay Essay 1) What do you learn about Celies attitudes to life in these letters?  2) Write about Walkers method of telling the story in letter 90.  3) Some readers see the ending of the novel as a triumph of the human spirit. Some see it as sickly and sentimental. What do you think about the novels ending?  1) By letters 89 and 90 Celies attitudes to life have changed considerably from the early letters of the novel. Celies attitude is extremely positive and she appears to have triumphed over her oppression, through her human spirit, attitude to life and bonds of sisterhood. This is shown in letter 89 by the way her and Shug respond to each other: She look at me funny for a minute, I look at her. Then us laugh.  This shows her sense of contentment and an almost carefree and happy attitude towards life. Laughter being a symbol of healing and regeneration suggests that despite Celies horrendous past experiences her psyche has been healed and she is content in her life.  In letter 89 Alice Walker portrays Celie with an air of confidence and defiance, Celie is finally prepared to not be passive in her response to discrimination and oppression she is prepared to question authority. Walker shows Celie to be proud of Sofias authority over a white man: she scare that white man. Anybody else colored he try to call em auntie or something. First time he try that with Sofia she ast him which colored man his mama sister marry. There is a lot of symbolism used in letter 89 which imply aspects of Celies attitudes to life. She shows her room to Shug:  Well here it is, I say, standing in the door. Everything in my room purple and red cept the floor,  The colours purple and red symbolise bruises on a beaten womans skin and in painting her room these colours her attitudes towards life are revealed, it suggests that Celie accepts her past life of abuse. However purple also symbolises beauty, royalty, it is a color Celie associates with vivacious women such as Shug and a color she feels was put on earth by God. By surrounding herself with purple it represents Celies new found confident attitude to life and contentment that her future life will be beautiful. Letter 90 shows Celies changed attitudes to spirituality within her life, opening the letter Dear God. Dear stars, dear treesDear everything. Dear God Celies changing outlook upon religion with the rejection of a patriarchal God and new belief that God is within everything, as well as the return of both Shug in letter 89 and Celies family in letter 90 has led to Celies sense of calm and inner peace, which is portrayed within these letters. This is expressed in her final sentences:  But I dont think us feel old at all. And us so happy. Matter of fact, I think this is the youngest us ever felt. These final sentences also depict Celies final self-acceptance and philosophical reflection upon her life. It concludes her journey to freedom from oppression, which the book has charted.  2) Just as Celies attitudes to life have changed, by letter 90 there is a noticeable change in Celies language style, she has a more sophisticated lexis and syntax which contrasts significantly to her early letters to God. Whereas Walkers use of language for Celies character in the early letters expresses her lack of education, Walkers change in Celies language shows Celies life education. It depicts the change from Celie being a naive innocent narrator to a confident woman, educated through life and others such as Nettie. The change in Celies vocabulary and grammatical style suggests she has learnt from Netties carefully composed letters. However, letter 90 also shows how Walker does not abandon Celies mimetic style and her use of the colloquial black American dialect:  This Shug and Albert, I say. Everybody say pleased to Meetcha  Celie continues to include phonetical spellings such as Meetcha and to use the present tense for past events such as I say instead of I said. Both of these are features of the dialect of the Deep South and show that Walker has continued to express aspects of black American cultural identity through Celies language throughout the novel. Often throughout history the voices of this community have not been heard and in her method of telling the story Walker allows them to have a voice through Celies vernacular.

Malcolm X Richard Rodriguez essay --

Richard Rodriguez in â€Å"The Achievement of Desire† by Richard Rodriguez, displayed his early thoughts on education, how he learned from them as he grew older and how he ultimately alienated his parents do-to the way he went about getting his education. Malcolm X’s path toward education is explained in â€Å"Learning to Read† by Malcolm X. His influences, his beliefs and the actual process of what it actually took for X to become educated is explained in great detail. Malcolm X’s reasoning for wanting to be educated was to be able to reach out to Elijah Muhammad, -leader of The Nation of Islam and present himself as an educated person so Muhammad would be able to take notice. Moreover, Richard Rodrà ­guez wanted to become more educated was due to his parent’s lack of education. In addition, education was Rodriguez’s way of distancing himself from his parents and isolating himself into the world of books. There are some similarities between Malcolm X and Richard Rodriguez, like the fact that they both wanted to overcome their past and make something better of their respective situations through education. For example Rodriguez clearly states that when he was younger and would need help with his homework his parent’s absence of an education limited their abilities to help him and he had to find a way to do it himself. Moreover Rodriguez’s parent’s inability to help him was something that he learned from and later indicated that he changed his process of dealing with his schoolwork and his parents. X similarly to Rodriguez had an experience in his past that he worked to change. The work of X reveals that when X attempted to write a letter to Elijah Muhammad, he could not find the words to write that would accurately express his thoughts witho... ... educated so he decided to bury himself into his studies and leave his family life as an afterthought. Rodrà ­guezes parents were always supportive of him and his academic success but he did not embrace them as he should have. Next, Rodriguez rightly points out that at his graduation ceremonies throughout life his parents would attend and someone would always say that â€Å"your parents must be proud.† and those words always registered with him. Rodriguez’s influences were his teachers during his school years. Rodriguez wanted to obtain the same knowledge that his teachers possessed so he would be able to concentrate on the benefits his education could bring him. Later he realized that he alienated himself from his parents. Rodriguez indicates the time he was in the closet reading a book and his Mother finding him was something he looked back on as one of his regrets.

Othello Character Essay

Othello Character Essay In the play, Othello, by William Shakespeare, Othello is a general in the Venetian army, who also happens to be black and of Muslim descent, although he is a converted Christian. From the beginning of the play, Othello is victimized and characterized as an outcast in Venetian society. Throughout the play, Othello is mistreated and betrayed, despite his vast amount of love and trust for his friends or supposed friends. Othello is obviously the most repeatedly and most brutally victimized in the play by Iago, among others. Right from the first scene of the play he is not given the dignity of a name, rather called by racial slurs such as â€Å"The Moor† (1. i. 63), â€Å"The Thick Lips† (1. i. 72) â€Å"Black Ram† (1. i. 97) and a â€Å"Barbary Horse† (1. i. 125). These blatantly disrespectful terms are used by both Roderigo and Iago, who is considered one of Othello’s close acquaintances. This shows the obvious lack of honor and respect shown by his so-called ‘friends’. Another example of Iago’s and other’s mistreatment of Othello comes in Act 2 Scene 3 between lines 235 to 261 where Iago lies straight to Othello’s face about what had transpired. This shows that Iago can and will completely disregard Othello’s superiority and honesty and lie about what had happened and about his direct involvement in the fight. This leads to another example of Iago’s disregard for Othello’s authority and lack of trust in Othello’s decisionmaking as he tries to get Cassio to lose his lieutenancy. Another example of Iago victimizing Othello occurs in the very beginning of ‘The Temptation Scene’, Act 3, Scene 3. It happens in lines 40-47. Iago subtly plants a seed of doubt in Othello’s mind about Desdemona and Cassio’s relationship, and Cassio’s attitude towards Othello. This is a very interesting part of the play because it is one of Iago’s most obvious observations intended to prod Othello’s jealousy. It also shows his ability to intentionally take advantage of his friends weaknesses, in this instance, Othello’s deep trust in Iago’s word and his jealousy surrounding Desdemona. A different example of Othello’s misguided jealousy and mistrust, placed in his head by Iago is the majority of Act 3, Scene 4, wherein Othello pressures Desdemona about his handkerchief. This is important because Desdemona unknowingly played right into Iago’s plan by semi-ignoring Othello’s unrest to try to talk to him about Cassio, which angers Othello even more and adds to the envious thoughts already brewing in his head. All of these examples are instances of Iago’s ability to play on Othello’s emotions and feelings, leading to Othello becoming blinded by his own jealousy and rage. Othello is easily the most victimized in the play, tricked and beguiled away from his true thoughts by Iago’s lies and deception.

Drunk Driving Essay examples - 863 Words

Nowadays, we can easily purchase alcohol everywhere. There are a lot of retail shops, bars, restaurants for us to buy alcohol. In the developing countries as Vietnam and China, people can purchase alcohol at any age. That’s the opportunity for the industry of alcohol develops and contribute the nation’s income. However, the negative effect of alcohol to security very seriously and it kills the young generations if the government doesn’t offer tough measures . While I was in Vietnam, I often went to restaurants for lunch with colleagues. I saw the youths about fifteen or sixteen years old drank beer very naturally without the intervention of government or the responsible people. I read a lot of document about the influence of alcohol to†¦show more content†¦Very few people realize the effect a drink or two can only have on their systems. For example, young males with a blood alcohol level of 0.05 – 0.10 figures (below what most states consider the legal alcohol limit) is a staggering eighteen times more likely to be a single vehicle accident than non-drinking counterparts. Teenage girls are at the same level is an incredible fifty-four times more likely to crash. I agree with how America government has done to decrease the percent of accidents from teenager related alcohol. Many states have lower blood alcohol limit legally 0.08 from 0.10. in addition, in recent years, each state has raised drinking age to twenty one years old. The Nation Highway Traffic Safety Administration Report in 1995 showed that most recent researches show that raising the drinking age to reduce the traffic accident death for all ages. Also the researches showed that the refuse alcohol to teenagers caused a decrease in the consumption of other drugs. Clearly, there is the correlation between teen drinking (and smoking) and the use of harder drugs. It’s not a popularity statistics for many, but nonetheless, it was proven. According to Teenager dr ug and alcohol solution by John Zaremba: all teen drug and alcohol abuse, no matter how they are doing in school or how healthy of the relationship with their parents. While finding that a teen was drinking use can lead their parentsShow MoreRelatedThe Death Of Drunk Driving1221 Words   |  5 PagesDrinking and Driving has been around just as long as drugs have, yet drunk driving takes more lives than drugs do per year. Last year in 2014, 9967 people were killed in car crashes. There was 3464 cocaine related deaths during the same period. Stricter drinking and driving laws were only put into law after the Carollton bus disaster happened. In 1988 a drunk driver driving the wrong way in Kentucky hit a school bus where 27 people died and dozens more were injured. In the aftermath, Mothers AgainstRead MorePreventing Drunk Driving Essay example999 Words   |  4 Pagesalcohol-related driving accidents, although they make up only 14% of the U.S. population. On any given weekend evening , one in 10 drivers on Americas roads has been drinking and according to the latest statistics, in a family of five the prospect of you or someone in your family being involved in an alcohol-related motor vehicle accident in their lifetime, is an astounding 200 percent. Thats a lot of tragic, meaningless deaths that could actually have been avoided. Drunk driving is a serious problemRead MoreBuzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving1403 Words   |  6 PagesSocial Issue Campaign: â€Å"Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving† In the United States approximately every 52 minutes there is a fatality caused by drinking and driving. This issue has been one of the most talked about social issues in the last 30 years. The Ad Council has been one of the main voices behind the increasing knowledge of this issue. With their campaign â€Å"Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving† they have been able to create a better understand of what â€Å"drunk driving† is. With the Ad Council’s use ofRead MoreDrunk Drivers And Drunk Driving946 Words   |  4 PagesWhile I have never personally been involved in a crash caused by drunk driving, as a firefighter I have approached the aftermath of many. The worst drunk driving accident I have witnessed was a car that had rolled three times. The guy flew out the front window, leaving deep cuts all over his head. Because he was intoxicated, he tried to get up and move around, oblivious to his injuries or pain. He didn’t even realize he had gotten into an acciden t. As I watched the scene unfold, it made me angryRead MoreDrunk Driving And Drunk Drivers2145 Words   |  9 Pageskilled in drunk driving incidents. 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Police can and do arrest people whom they believe are drunk before they get on the road and even whenRead MoreDeath by Driving Drunk930 Words   |  4 Pagesone of the leading causes of death during driving is drunk driving. Drunk driving not only puts you in danger but everyone around you in danger. There are many ways that alcohol affects you that makes you drive very bad. To help stop this, The police have made many laws regarding drunk driving and have made many arrests regarding driving under the influence. There are also many stories out there that make us wonder about the dangers and risks of drunk driving. Theres also many laws and reforms beingRead MoreThe Consequences of Drunk Driving800 Words   |  4 PagesThe Consequenc es of Drunk Driving â€Å"A friend who dies, it’s something of you who dies,† Gustave Flaubert. When someone dies from drunk driving this is something you may be feeling. The consequences of drunk driving are far too high to even think of driving while under the influence. Every year thousands die from drunk driving or are caught drunk driving, and face consequences such as fines and a loss of license. But, it’s easy to avoid or prevent drunk driving by ordering a taxi or setting a designatedRead MoreDriving While Being Drunk And Driving1629 Words   |  7 PagesWhile I was researching about Drinking and Driving, I found a few articles that show the reader complete information about the risk that represent Driving under the influence of the alcohol. Those articles discuss the results of driving while being drunk, some of the results can be going to jail, but I believe that going to jail is one of the softest consequences that an individual can have for drinking and driving. I coul d not found a lot of information that I can use as opposition, in other wordsRead MoreDrunk Driving Vs Texting And Driving789 Words   |  4 Pagesdistracted driving not only affects you, but also those around you. Distracted driving has been a serious concern for many years. This subject has been an issue because of the dangers it brings to the safety of others. One major type of distracted driving includes texting and driving. which is becoming more popular in today’s society because many have cell phones. Another type of distracted driving is drinking and driving, this continues to stay a topic for many years. Although drinking and driving and