The play A Doll House Essay Example for Free

The play A Doll House Essay A Doll House Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From the play, A doll house, it is clear that there is imbalance of power between Nora and her husband Helmer. The husband goes to work and earns for the family while the wife is left at home to do the chores. This brings about the theme of gender inequality. It is also clear that the writer puts more emphasis on the looks of Nora than those of her husband; this shows how the society views men and women differently. The husband is also displayed as being questionable about how the wife is spending the money on gifts even without considering that its Christmas time and they can now afford it from the salary he is getting. If Nora had not been that beautiful, may be Helmer would not have married her.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The writer of this book emphasizes much on gender inequality, there is also the aspect of the very many lies that couple keep in their marriages in order to keep them alive which in most of the cases end up being the reason for the separation. There is also the aspect of man eat man society, Krogstad uses Nora in order to retain his job threatening her for a favor he had done a long time ago. At the end of the play, Nora feels her husband had taken her like a doll only to be admired for its beauty and that he did not trust her and therefore she left.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The economic factors have really affected the society in a doll house especially the women to an extent of their ideas and choices about their marriages.  Nora illegally borrowed money for the trip that she and Torvald took to Italy; she told Torvald that the money had come from her father. For years, Nora reveals, she has worked and saved in secret, slowly repaying the debt, and soon it will be fully repaid. This money was borrowed through Krogstad’s help and when Helmer wanted to sack him,he asks Nora to use her influence to ensure that his position remains secure. When she refuses, Krogstad points out that he has in his possession a contract that contains Nora’s forgery of her father’s signature. Their conversation reveals that the two had been once deeply in love, but Mrs. Linde left Krogstad for a wealthier man who would enable her to support her family. She tells Krogstad that now that she is free of her own fa milial obligations and wishes to be with Krogstad and care for his children. References Ibsen, Henrik, Rolf Fjelde, CalistaFlockhart, Tony Abatemarco, Tim DeKay, Jeannie Elias, Gregory Itzin, JoBeth Williams, Rosalind Ayres, and Susan A. Loewenberg.  A Doll House. Venice, Calif.: L.A. Theatre Works, 2012. Internet resource. Source document

The Benefits of My Fantasy Football League Essay Example for Free

The Benefits of My Fantasy Football League Essay The difference between knowledge and intellect is remarkable, yet many times these words are used interchangeably. Knowledge refers to facts on a given subject; intellect refers to a person’s perspective, how they view, analyze, and interpret their environment . Unlike I.Q., intellect can and should be taught to our students, but instead our current schooling system is focused on ensuring students memorize the facts required to pass an exam. In his essay, â€Å"Hidden Intellectualism†, Gerald Graff explores the limits current education standards impose on our youth’s development. Graff presents the idea that perhaps the subjects that we normally associate with â€Å"anti-intellectualism† are just as capable of being subject of critical thought as Shakespeare’s plays. â€Å"Real intellectuals turn any subject, however lightweight it may seem, into grist for their mill through the thoughtful questions they bring to it† (Graff, 381). This idea is central to understanding the rest of Graff’s argument. If no subject is more deserving than another, then every subject—sports to science—should be utilized in the classroom as learning tools. Young students are motivated in complicated ways. The things that interest them are normally not academic texts of Plato or George Orwell. The author himself identified himself as a person who â€Å"hated books and cared only for sports† (Graff, 381). The only readings that interested him were sports novels and magazines. Over time, Graff developed the idea that his love for sports was not actually anti-intellectual as he had previously assumed, but was as intellectual as his university studies. He claims that had his teachers utilized his love for the workings of the sports world as an outlet to spark academic discussion and thought, he would have earned a stronger education. While Graff was postponing his English homework to have a debate with his best friend about who was the best pitcher in the 50s, he was practicing the skills that would later allow him to become a successful professor at the University of Illinois. Engaging in heated debates about baseball gave Graff opportunities to practice forming coherent arguments supported with evidence he had to collect and analyze while at the same time perfecting his conversation skills and logical thought patterns. What is the goal of elementary education if not to teach one how to learn and think? Sure, one needs to know their multiplication tables and Presidents, but the curriculum should be designed to teach students how to educate themselves in order to think critically about their world. The first step in education, according to Graff, should be providing the pupil with a topic they are interested in. Doing so gives students a bridge from their social life into the academic world and will yield students that are more interested and involved in their studies. Graff acknowledges that there are limits to this approach just like any other. A quote from his peer, Ned Laff, summarizes the challenge in education. â€Å"[The challenge] is not simply to exploit students’ nonacademic interests, but to get them to see those interests through academic eyes† (Graff, 385). Being a cognoscenti on the top songs of the decade is not enough, one should be able draw relationships between the trends of the songs in order to come to a general conclusion or theory that is applicable to other areas of life. Graff is careful to not belittle the classic academic texts and subjects. He claims that educators should use the topics their students are interested in as a gateway to more challenging topics. If one can teach a student to think critically about the implications of performance enhancing drugs in today’s athletes, then the hard part in education is complete. Once a student knows how to think critically, they can apply that technique to whatever subject they want to study for the rest of their life. It gives the power and responsibility of teaching to the student themselves. Graff ends his argument by appealing to the readers logic. Suppose he is wrong, and allowing trending topics in the classroom does not in fact motivate the student to become a student of the world. What does the educator stand to lose in trying? Even if all they ever are interested in studying are the current stats of the Baltimore Ravens, â€Å"they are more literate and reflective than they would be otherwise† (Graff, 386). I believe Graff presented a strong and valid argument worthy of discussion. I am able to relate on many levels with Graff. Often I find myself more interested in my fantasy football team than my college courses. Previously, I had assumed time spent on fantasy football was time wasted, but this essay has allowed me to develop a different perspective. In order to have a successful team, I had to decide what players would complement each other; this required close analysis of their strengths and weaknesses. Memorizing and studying stats has allowed me to develop my statistical analysis skills, a skill that otherwise would be left unrefined. After each season, game, play, I have to reevaluate my thoughts on a player in order to take into account the new information. It has taught me that the greatest players make the same amount of novel mistakes as the worst players but repeat their errors only a fraction as often. If more of my teachers had exploited my love of sports earlier in my education, I might have a more accurate idea of my academic capabilities. Although I agree with the central tenets of Graff’s argument, I think he is overly critical and general of today’s educators. There are teachers who exploit every opportunity to intrigue their students, and they deserve to be acknowledged in any argument critiquing the current education system. These are teachers who go beyond the status quo of â€Å"teaching to the exam.† They are the educators who attempt to instill in their students a passion to learn, explore, and test the boundaries of their mind. It is also important to elaborate on my use of the word â€Å"teacher.† A teacher is not restricted to the classroom, but I have extended the term to encompass all one’s advisors, especially a child’s parents. I believe Graff would agree with my statement that a child’s parent plays a vital and irreplaceable role in the education of a child. Rather than discourage discussion of the popular topics, parents can facilitate classroom learning through critical discussion of subjects directly related to the youth’s life. â€Å"Hidden Intellectualism† details a not so unique argument in a way that is easy for the general public to sympathize with. It provides people with a justification for their â€Å"guilty pleasures† and encourages a more critical mindset no matter what you are doing. I would recommend the article to my peers, teachers, and teammates alike. Works Cited Graff, Gerald. â€Å"Hidden Intellectualism.† They say I say. Eds. Graff, G., Birkenstein, C., and Durst, R.. New York City: W. W. Norton Company, 2012. 380-386.

Combatting the Rise of Fake News

Combatting the Rise of Fake News Fake news in the recent decade has been propagated by traditional and, more so, social media, with the intention to deceive readers with false information to maximize traffic and profit. Although it is not a new phenomenon, the emergence of social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have eased the dispersion of disinformation, making it nearly impossible to distinguish real and fabricated information at first glance. Fake news has been a strong factor in major events in the world including the recent U.S. Presidential Elections, where it has been linked to influencing the results of the elections. It is also used as a political weapon, used to dismiss any news that goes against the views of the political party as false all without a need for explanation or proof. Canada is not unaffected by this. In January 2017, Nick Kouvalis, the campaign manager for Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch has been fired for posting false information about the Trudeau office claiming on Twitter that the Trudeau office was using billions of taxpayers money to fund terrorist groups rather than to help the homeless and jobless. In the same month, reports began circulating that the shooter of the Quebec mosque was yelling Allahu Akbar though it has been taken down after the Trudeau office took on those false reports. This does not take away from the fact that millions have been exposed to these false news and form opinions based on artificially created information. In an effort to curb fake news and their effects, the federal heritage committee is currently compiling a report about the future of media and journalism in Canada, in which fake news is heavily brought up. The report is to be shown to the Parliament in spring this year. Canada is also in talks with Google and Facebook to identify fake news on their site. However, curbing fake news is hard as doing so would limit the freedom of the press, something which goes against Canadas policies and beliefs. Furthermore, drawing the line in identifying fake news, after outright falsehoods have been removed, is hard due to the multitude of sites with ideological bias and views. In the light of concern about the spread of fake news, Canada is proposing several solutions that should: establish an international cyber board for the intention to tackle fake news; utilization of international cyber board to monitor news and distinguish between fake and real news; collaborate with large multinational social corporations including Facebook and Twitter; increase research and development into tools that can be used by citizens to identify fake news and report it; create a registration system for news sites to register themselves and to be verified by the international cyber board. Canada believes that the fight against fake news will be hard and long but knows that it is necessary to ensure that citizens are able to form opinions from real facts rather than alternative truths. References: Public Policy Forum (2017, January). The Shattered Mirror: News, Democracy and Trust in the Digital Age. Retrieved Feb 25, 2017, from https://shatteredmirror.ca/wpcontent/uploads/theShatteredMirror.pdf. BBC (2016, December 26). Canada MP Probe Ways to Curtail Fake News. Retrieved Feb 25, 2017, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38399892. The Washington Post (2017, February 26). The White Houses Big Fake News Cop-out. Retrieved Feb 25, 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/thefix/wp/2017/02/26/fake-news-is-a-potent-political-strategy-its-also-a-copout/?utm_term=.f509281f95d6. The Canadian Press (2017, Jan 24). Facebook, Google to Tackle Fake News In Canada With New Tools. Retrieved Feb 25, 2017, from https://www.thestar.com/business/2017/01/24/facebook-google-to-tackle-fake-news-incanada-with-new-tools.html. Wood, L.S, Hatch, C (2017, February 2). How Vulnerable is Canada to fake news?. Retrieved Feb 25, 2017, from http://www.nationalobserver.com/2017/02/02/analysis/howvulnerable-canada-fake-news-very.

Female Poets and the Dark Side of Life Essay -- Rossetti Poetry Poems

Female Poets and the Dark Side of Life During the mid-nineteenth century many female poets including Christina Rossetti seemed to lean upon the dark side of life presenting very dark and shadowed emotions within their poetry. Yet this is not to say that they were depressed but in many ways in can be inferred that these dark themes may have been influenced by the era in which they were living. Many historians have suggested that the second half of the nineteenth century was culturally, a rather strange period. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was started in 1848 by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt, as a reaction against what they saw as the stale, formula-driven art produced by the Royal Academy at the time. They aimed to go back to a more genuine art, exemplified as they saw it by the work of the Nazarenes, and rooted in realism and truth to nature. The Pre-Raphaelites, being young, talented, and having many ideas of their own, felt stifled by the rigidity of the Royal Academy's idea of what tasteful, beautiful art should be. ...

Live for Today :: Personal Narrative Michael Jordan Essays

Live for Today Tomorrow, the day after today. It is an indefinite time in the future. One question many people have on their minds is, what does tomorrow hold in store for me? What â€Å"if tomorrow never comes†, in the words of a song by the country-artist, Garth Brooks. Could I say I finished everything I started, or did I accomplish everything that I always wanted to do, but never did for fear of it being too risky? No one should feel they did not take the high road in order to enable them to fulfill that one great adventure. Life is full of ups and downs; it could be described as a huge pot of gold with a few dingy stones mixed together. The dingy stones are the few misfortunes one may come across; the gold is what everyone wants, and hopefully attains. To achieve anything, one must take risks and not ask questions regarding tomorrow. I, like many others, could choose to look into a clear, crystal ball and see what the future holds. Instead I decide to look away and be adventurous. This way I get to have the exciting feeling of not knowing what is behind door number three or four. Yes, it is a scary feeling, but also one of hope. Life Experience I had played on the volleyball team all through my junior high days, and was a starter on the â€Å"A† freshman team when I reached high school. As a sophomore, I couldn’t believe it when I got the towel thrown in on me. I was devastated when I was cut from the team. Volleyball was my life; I absolutely loved the sport. How could they do this to me? Everyone told me things would turn out fine, but how did they know? A close friend of mine wrote me a letter stating, â€Å"I know that right now it is hard to accept the paths that God has chosen for us, but I am sure whatever you decide to do with what has been thrown in your way you can surpass everyone else†. I thought about what that really meant, and decided she was right. I had been thrown something I was not sure what to do with or how to handle, but with a little advice from my brother, Chris, I decided to take a risk and try something new. I chose to become a member of our school’s cross-country team.

The Theme of Death in Poetry Essay -- Robert Frost Emily Dickinson Poe

The Theme of Death in Poetry Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson are two Modern American Poets who consistently wrote about the theme of death. While there are some comparisons between the two poets, when it comes to death as a theme, their writing styles were quite different. Robert Frost’s poem, â€Å"Home Burial,† and Emily Dickinson’s poems, â€Å"I felt a Funeral in my Brain,† and â€Å"I died for Beauty,† are three poems concerning death. While the theme is constant there are differences as well as similarities between the poets and their poems. The obvious comparison between the three poems is the theme of death. Both poets, in these works and many others, display a fascination with the death of themselves as well as the death of peers, and loved ones. Both Frost and Dickinson experienced a great deal of death throughout each of their lives. Frost’s greatest loss was the death of his son, which is greatly depicted in his poem â€Å"Home Burial.† Dickinson suffered the loss of many friends and family. She spent a lot of her time in her room looking out upon the headstones of these people. The only strong comparison between the poets, in terms of structure and technique, is that the meaning of their poems run much deeper then the specific words on a page. Even this can come as a contrast when looking at these three poems. â€Å"Home Burial,† by Frost is a fairly straightforward poem, written in dialogue, with the writer working as the narrator. The poem is about a married couple dealing wi...

Data Flow Diagram Explain

4. 3 DATA FLOW DIAGRAM A data flow diagram is a graphical technique that depicts information flow and transforms that are applied as data move from input to output. The DFD is also known as Data Flow Graph or Bubble Chart. The DFD is used to represent increasing information flow and functional details. Also DFD can be stated as the starting point of the design phase that functionally decomposes the requirements specifications down to the lowest level of detail.A Level 0 also called a fundamental system model or a context level DFD that represent the entire software elements as a single bubble with input and output data indicated by incoming and outgoing arrows, respectively. Additional process and information flow parts are represented in the next level, i. e. , level 1 DFD. Each of the processes represented at level 1 are sub functions of overall system depicted in the context model. Any processes that are complex in level 1 will be further represented into sub functions in the next level, i. e. , level 2.Data flow diagram is a means of representing a system at any level of detail with a graphic network of symbols showing data flows, data stores, data processes and data sources. The purpose of data flow diagram is to provide a semantic bridge between users and system developers. The diagram is the basis of structured system analysis. A DFD describes what data flows rather than how they are processed, so it does not depend on hardware, software, data structure or file organization. 4. 3. 1 Components of Data Flow Diagram There are four symbols that are used in the drawing of Data Flow Diagrams: Entities External entities represent the sources of data that enter the system or the recipients of data that leave the system. * Process Processes represent activities in which data is manipulated by being stored or retrieved or transformed in some way. A circle represents it. The process will show the data transformation or change. * Databases Databases represent stora ge of data within the system. * Data Flow A data flow shows the flow of information from its source to its destination. A line represents a data flow, with arrowheads showing the direction of flow.