The Great Divorce Essay Example for Free

The Great Divorce Essay The Great Divorce, the narrator suddenly, and inexplicably, finds himself in a grim and joyless city (the grey town, representative of hell). He eventually finds a bus for those who desire an excursion to some other place (and which eventually turns out to be the foothills of heaven). He enters the bus and converses with his fellow passengers as they travel. When the bus reaches its destination, the people on the bus — including the narrator — gradually realize that they are ghosts. Although the country is the most beautiful they have ever seen, every feature of the landscape (including streams of water and blades of grass) is unbearably solid compared to themselves: it causes them immense pain to walk on the grass, and even a single leaf is far too heavy for any of them to lift. Shining figures, men and women whom they have known on earth, come to meet them, and to persuade them to repent and enter heaven proper. They promise that as the ghosts travel onward and upward, they will become acclimated to the country and will feel no discomfort. These figures, called spirits to distinguish them from the ghosts, offer to assist them in the journey toward the mountains and the sunrise. Almost all of the ghosts choose to return instead to the grey town, giving various reasons and excuses. Much of the interest of the book lies in the recognition it awakens of the plausibility and familiarity, along with the thinness and self-deception, of the excuses that the ghosts refuse to abandon, even though to do so would bring them to reality and joy forevermore. The narrator is met by the writer George MacDonald, whom he hails as his mentor, just as Dante did when encountering Virgil in the Divine Comedy; and MacDonald becomes the narrators guide in his journey, just as Virgil became Dantes. MacDonald explains that it is possible for a soul to choose to remain in heaven despite having been in the grey town; for such souls, their time in hell has been a period of testing, and the goodness of heaven will work backwards into their lives, turning even their worst sorrows into joy, and changing their experience on earth to an extension of heaven. Conversely, the evil of hell works backwards also, so that if a soul remains in, or returns to, the grey town, even its happiness on earth will lose its meaning, and its experience on earth would have been hell. None of the ghosts realize that the grey town is, in fact, hell. Indeed it is not that much different from the life they led on earth: joyless, friendless, and uncomfortable. It just goes on forever, and gets worse and worse, with some characters whispering their fear of the night that is to eventually come. According to MacDonald, heaven and hell cannot coexist in a single soul, and while it is possible to leave hell and enter heaven, doing so implies turning away (repentance); or as depicted by Lewis, giving up paltry worldly pleasures and self-indulgences — which have become impossible for the dead anyway — and embracing ultimate and unceasing joy itself. In answer to the narrators question MacDonald confirms that what is going on is a dream. The use of the chess game imagery as well as the correspondence of dream elements to elements in the narrators waking life are reminiscent of Lewis Carrolls Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. The narrator discovers that the vast grey town and its ghostly inhabitants are minuscule to the point of being invisible compared with the immensity of heaven and reality. This is illustrated in the encounter of the blessed woman and her husband: she is surrounded by gleaming attendants while he shrinks down to invisibility as he uses a collared tragedian to speak for him. Toward the end of the narrative the terror of the dreaming narrator of remaining a ghost in the advent of full daybreak in heaven is that of the man with his dream of judgment day in the House of the Interpreter of The Pilgrims Progress. The book ends with the narrator awakening from his dream of heaven into the unpleasant reality of wartime Britain, in conscious imitation of The Pilgrims Progress, the last sentence of the First Part of which is: So I awoke, and behold, it was a Dream. Main Characters The Narrator (it is implied that this is Lewis himself) — main focus of the narrative George MacDonald — the writer, who acts as guide to the narrator. And also many other small characters that play some pretty important roles in explaining Lewis ideas. Allusions/references to other works Lewis consciously draws elements of the plot from Dante (The Divine Comedy) and Bunyan; for example, comparing his meeting with MacDonald to the first sight of Beatrice. He also credits the idea that hell exists within heaven but is smaller than one atom of it to his scientifiction readings; travel by shrinking or enlargement is a common theme in speculative fiction, and the narrator alludes to its presence in Alice in Wonderland. In the preface, Lewis explains the origin of his idea that heaven is immutable to the ghosts from hell, referencing an unnamed science fiction work which gave him the notion of a character being unable to affect matter around him because he ha d traveled back in time to the unchangeable past.

Farewell the Tranquil Mind! :: essays research papers

Shakespeare might very well have made the decision to name his play â€Å"Iago† and not â€Å"Othello,† but I suppose he had a knack for catchy titles. Since it is Othello’s tragedy, even if it is Iago’s play, â€Å"Iago† would be an inappropriate title, especially since it is not Iago’s life that is ruined, and although he takes part in most—if not all—of the action in the play, it still revolves around Othello. That notion aside, one might take the time to raise more important or deeper points of discussion surrounding and filling the play. Notice that Iago’s reason for driving Othello to ruin is jealousy. Iago was passed up for a promotion, and became jealous. So what did he do? He made Othello so crazy that he passed out in epileptic seizures, and so jealous that he killed his one true love, Desdemona. The most basic â€Å"eye for an eye,† it is quite probable that this is Shakespeare’s way of commenting on human nature. Every character that speaks of Iago calls him honest. Perhaps he was at one point, but it is obvious that he has always been a rascal. During the storm, when Desdemona, Iago, and the others are waiting for Othello to arrive, Iago jokes about women being fair and wise or fair and foolish, etc., and the others are entertained by his crassness. It is certain that they are all familiar with and fond of each other, and in their closeness, regard Iago as a sharp-witted, and even sharper tongued, shameless rascal. This combined with the fact that they all consider him honest, they hold him dear and, to their detriment, trust him. It is important to note Iago’s relationships with the other characters, and to see exactly how it is that he plays them like pawns. He pretends to be the one true friend, feigning concern and jumping at every opportunity to manipulate. He uses the trust of Othello to drive him crazy, and the trust of Cassio to lead him into a trap, for if he had not done as Iago advised, then Othello never would have had reason for his initial suspicion. His wife Emilia and good friend Roderigo are simply his ignorant accomplices that, even though some suspicion may arise in their minds of his motives, still do as he says and believe his lies. But no such suspicion could have foretold what Iago had planned in his head.

Forms of Disciplining a Child

Child discipline is an issue which has raised a lot of concern in the recent past. Differentiating child discipline and child abuse is becoming more difficult with different sectors and individuals differing in this area. However, despite the different views which have been put forward regarding children discipline, instituting discipline in children is vital since it help in developing a sense of self control, respect and also accountability. While the means of instituting discipline are varied, no single method is effective in itself.Also, different children require different approaches of instituting discipline and as such parents should seek the best method which suits their kids. However, while instituting discipline in kids is vital, it may also lead to devastating effects on the entire life of the children and thus parents should be careful of the methods they use in ensuring that their kids are disciplined. Excessive use of force while disciplining kids may result to child ab use and this should be avoided. IntroductionChild discipline refers to the art of systematically giving instructions to the children to help them relate well with their friends and family, behave in a more agreeable manner and granting a child freedom of learning from his or her mistakes by the consequences of his or her decisions. Child discipline involves helping a child develop self discipline, a sense of accountability and also respect towards other people. Discipline should be separated from task performance. By the fact that a child can perform his or her tasks well should not be taken to mean that he or she is disciplined.Discipline has more to do with the behavior a child exhibits in certain situations rather than the ability to perform tasks. Heated debates have been rising as to whether instituting discipline is a form of child abuse and whether parents have the authority to discipline their kids as they may deem fit or necessary. While discipline is necessary for all chil dren, it should be instituted in a manner that is beneficial to the children. Parents have no explicit authority to discipline their children using excessive force or crude disciplinary measures (Lenton, 1990).The research paper will evaluate the importance of spanking and privileges removal as forms of disciplinary measures. Child discipline As noted earlier, discipline involves helping and guiding the children to develop and exercise self control. However, most people are opposed to the idea that discipline is the key development factor of responsible persons in the future. Some of the children with good disciplinary backgrounds do not live to the standards they are taught in their early stages. Despite this argument, setting limits for the children and correcting any misbehavior is vital in developing a responsible person even in the future.Most of the grown ups today attribute their discipline to the stringent measures which were taken on them when they were young. As such, chil d discipline is vital in ensuring that children grow to be responsible persons in their adult life. Moreover, vices and virtues are learnt and failing to discipline a child would lead to vices being enhanced in them. Discipline helps in development of healthy practices and virtues in the future. Instituting discipline is also very vital since it helps learn to develop health relationships with his or her family and friends.How to deal with different temperaments is an aspect which is learnt and is thus not inborn. Accepting other people’s ideas and way of performing tasks requires deliberate effort which children lack and if not guided, they tend to be disrespectful. Children also believe that they must always have their ideas accepted and followed always. To remove such mentality, removing some privileges when a child does not do as expected is vital. Discipline is thus vital in ensuring thus such important values are learnt and adhered to.Training a child to be disciplined thus helps him or her to learn how to deal with different kinds of personalities and situations. Most of the undisciplined adults in the society are as a result of lack of disciplinary measures while they were children (Telep, 1999). Discipline involves encouraging children by instructing and guiding them to appreciate themselves and influencing the way they regard themselves. Developing a person’s self esteem is essential in ensuring and enhancing the productivity and in determining successfulness of an individual. The future of the children is based on the kind of guidance they receive from their parents.Discipline unlike the highly held believe is does not always negative. It can be instituted in a manner to enhance important characteristics. Commenting about a positive behavior about a child within his or her presence is one way of enhancing a behavior. When children are not disciplined well, they face challenges of self esteem as their behavior is often challenged by the society thus lowering their self esteem. Such individuals have problems while dealing with other people and tend to be insecure about their capabilities as well as those of other people.Positive discipline is thus essential in improving the self esteem of a child and thus should be instituted. However, such credit should not be exaggerated to reduce the effects of overconfidence which may arise (Utay & Utay, 2005). The question of whether child discipline is a form of child abuse has been raising many debates of late. While most people agree that disciplining children is not a form of child abuse, some strongly feel that it is child abuse. Whether discipline is child abuse or not depends on the circumstance surrounding a certain case and the mode of disciplining a child is subjected to by his parents or guardians.Moderate disciplinary actions may not amount to child abuse but extreme physical and psychological abuse may amount to child abuse. Spanking has been on the spot with most people arguing that this amount to a form of child abuse. However, it has its own advantages in instituting discipline (Gootman, n. d). Child abuse occurs when the force exerted when disciplining a child becomes too much. This is however ambiguous as how much force may amount to abuse depends on an individual’s view.Discipline is however different from child abuse in that while discipline is meant to enhance positive behavior, child abuse leads to bodily harm and mental torture. In today’s world, most parents have branded discipline as abuse and that is why most of the children are arrested and are serving in the juvenile jails. Spanking for example has received negative publicity and even children are suing their parents for abuse. Spanking has been one of the most effective disciplinary measures in the past and has helped shape most of the lives of prominent persons.Children fear to be spanked and thus any behavior which may lead to such disciplinary acts are avoide d. Spanking only becomes abuse when it is done in a manner deemed to be harmful to the child’s health and mental state or capability. However, the child should be made to understand the reason behind the punishment prior to its administration. A parent cannot claim to have been disciplining his or her child by injuring him or her. Despite the thin line between abuse and discipline, â€Å"effective† discipline does not amount to child abuse.Disciplining children should not be viewed as punishing them or abusing them unless the effects of such actions are detrimental to the health and future development of a child. Discipline should be instituted on all children to help correct bad behaviors and to help shape their character (Telep, 1999). Discipline as mentioned above may amount to abuse if not carefully handled. However, parents can ensure discipline in their children without actually abusing them. One way to ensure that discipline does not amount to abuse is by using first setting limits for the children on what they can and what they cannot do.Disciplinary measures to be taken should be enlisted thus ensuring the child understands the consequences of his or her behavior. Disciplinary measures which do not amount to abuse include acts like denying the child some rights after doing something wrong. A child may be denied a chance to go and play with other children if he or she does not do his homework. This is a form of disciplinary measure which does not raise issues of abuse (Lenton, 1990). Discipline may also be instituted using more positive means like encouraging a child to behave in a particular manner by rewarding or appreciating him or her.Discipline unlike many parents believes should not always constitute the negative side. Discipline may also be attained through reinforcement of some good behavior. Also by discussing issues with the children may also help institute a sense of responsibility in them. Issuing orders and scolding to childr en passes the message that children are unable to think for themselves and this may lead to low self esteem. Instead, parents should encourage dialogue (Keep Kids Healthy, 2001). Despite the arguments that parents should not discipline their children as they may deem fit, this may apply is some instances.Parents know their children better than anybody else and so they understand the different temperaments exhibited by these children. Different children require different forms of disciplinary action and thus the parent is the best person to decide what form of action is best for his children. Also children respect more what they are told by their parents and any deterrent act to reinforce discipline is bound to be taken seriously by the children. Most of the adults today remember tough measure being taken by their parents to institute discipline which helped in shaping their future lives.Though measures taken by parents may at times seem harsh, they bear better fruits in the future a nd thus parents should have autonomy while instituting discipline on their children (Lenton, 1990). Conclusion Discipline is vital for any child as it helps raise a responsible person in the future and should be instituted by the parents. The question of discipline raises a lot of controversy regarding what constitutes sufficient disciplinary measures and what may amount to child abuse. Parents also face problems in deciding the best way to ensure discipline in their children without affecting their development or mental stability.While spanking was an effective method in the past, it is being ruled out especially by psychological experts arguing that it is not effective in ensuring discipline. More non-physical methods of instituting a sense of responsibility are being advocated today with dialogue and appreciation being highly preferred. However, one method may not be appropriate for all children. A parent should combine different methods and evaluate which one works for his child ren. Scolding, use of abusive language and physical torture should not be used for ensuring discipline as they affects the ego and self esteem of the children in the long run. Reference: Gootman, M. E. (n. d): How to Teach Your Children Discipline. Retrieved on 19th February 2009 from, http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/discipline.3.19.html. Lenton, R. L. (1990): Techniques of Child Discipline and Abuse by Parents. Journal article of Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, Vol. 27 Telep, V. (1999): Discipline for Young Children. Retrieved on 19th February 2009 from, http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/family/350-110/350-110.html. Utay, J. & Utay, C. (2005): Improving Social Skills: A Training Presentation to Parents. Journal article of Education, Vol. 126

Classification Of Strategies Into Grand Strategies Essay

Some of the strategies, formulated (recommended) in the previous tool (tool 14), were formed by combining two or more similar strategies (they required similar process/actions or they had similar or complementary outcomes). These strategies will have multiple, complex, and a different degree of impacts on product, market, and organization. Hence, in some cases, the same strategy may fall under two or more grand strategies. This is natural and a sign of a good strategy in a sense that a defensive strategy also works as an offensive strategy or a reactive strategy will do the job of a proactive strategy when/where a change in market or competitive environment (industry structure) requires the company to change the degree of aggressiveness. Exhibit 31 Classification of Strategies into Grand Strategies Final List of Consolidated Strategies Grand Strategies 1 Extend business in new territories in emerging markets like China, India, and Turkey; and European markets such as Germany, the U.K., Italy, and France through acquisitions (or internal development)/Acquire efficient transportation service providers in markets with high growth-high share (Star). 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