The Welcome Table Essay Example for Free

The Welcome Table Essay We as humans have learned to be considerate of people and their differences, we have also encouraged the development of all human beings. But many years ago people were not considerate of people of other ethnicities. The possibilities for everyone have become more equal during modern times. I have been intrigued by the racial and ethical dilemmas that most of our ancestors had to endure. The short story that I have chosen to discuss is â€Å"The Welcome Table† By Alice Walker. The human race has come so far since we have had such severe racial discrimination, although it has not disappeared completely. The Welcome Table, along with many other new age stories really have shown the importance of acceptance of many ethnicities. Point of View The theme of a story is a representation of the idea behind the story. (Clugston 2010). â€Å"The Welcome Table† written by Alice Walker, is about an old African American woman who attends a white community church. This story is told in omniscient third person point of view. Third person point of view occurs when the speaker is not the participant in the story. (Clugston 2010). On her way to church, she received looks of horrible disgust. People felt sorry for her, and they feared her. She walked into the church, and she was immediately the center of attention by the congregation. It was made clear to this elderly lady that she was not welcome to worship with this church. She wanted to be in the house of God, she also needed her time with a higher power, and those rights were stripped from her for being from an African American background. She left without a fight; God immediately approached the old lady as she left this church and they walked off together. Walker shows us how important skin color was to people back in this time in history. Not only were they segregated, it was not considered wrong to decline services to those of a different ethnic background. Walker uses a third person point of view in telling the story. She switches points of view throughout the story and really emphasizing the theme of the story. As she walks into to the church Walker is speaking from the congregations point of view, then to the ushers, then to the white congregation. Character She was angular and lean and the color of poor gray. Walker 2003). She was dressed in her Sunday meeting clothes. She wore a long mildewed rusted black dress with missing buttons and a grease-stained scarf covering her pigtails. She has blue-brown eyes, is ashen in appearance and very wrinkled. She is sweating from her walk and is shivering from the cold. She enters the white church and sits, singing in her head. She is physically thrown out of the church. She sees Jesus walking down the highway and is giddy with joy. Jesus tells her to follow him and she does, walking alongside him. He looks just like she thought he would, and he listens to her sing and talk to him. He was wearing immaculate white, long dress trimmed in gold around the neck and hem, and a red, a bright red cape. (Walker 2003) Over his left arm he carried a brilliant blue blanket. He is wearing sandals and a beard and long hair parted on the side. (Walker 2003). She feels great beside him and can walk as long as he wants. She tells him about her hardship works for whites and the injustices that have taken place . She feels his kindness and instantly feels better. The old elderly woman saw Jesus wave to her. He told her to follow him. She broke her silence to tell Jesus how glad she was that he had come, how she had often looked at his picture. They continue to walk together. The ground began to look like clouds. They continued to walk looking straight ahead, she had a smile on her face. Conclusion The Welcome Table is told in omniscient third person and shifts the point of view from which the story is told. The beginning of the story is told from the point of view of the white congregation. They view the elderly black woman as being beneath them. She receives evil stares as she enters the church to seek Jesus. She feels her time on earth is coming to an end. She is treated badly because of her ethnic background. The usher then asks the elderly woman to leave the church. The women in church feel threatened by the aging woman because of the color of her skin view switches to the usher who tells the elderly African American woman to leave. The men in the church carry the elderly woman out of the church. The woman then sees Jesus walking down the highway. She walks along with him and she is never seen again.

Gallipoli :: essays research papers

Gallipoli Gallipoli, a favorite war movie of mine, is an Australian movie of the fateful First World War battle of Gallipoli. Directed and co-written by the talented Australian native Peter Weir; Gallipoli is a wonderfully written drama about two best friends, Archy Hamilton and Frank Dunne, who put aside their hopes and dreams when they join the war effort. The first half of the film is devoted to their lives and their strong friendship. The second half details the doomed war efforts of the Aussies, who are no match for the powerful and aggressive Turkish army.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The story begins in Australia during the early stages of the War in 1915 where two young men become friends and decide to enlist together. They pursue their goal, go through training in Egypt, and wind up in Turkey at Gallipoli, one of the early and important engagements of the conflict. The first main character is country boy rancher named Archy Hamilton played by Mark Lee, who is being trained by his uncle as a world-class runner, but Archy who dreams of romance and excitement is eager to run away from the center of nowhere and become a soldier.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Archy meets the city kid Frank Dunne, who is played by Mel Gibson, when he beats him in a track meet. Archy convinces Frank of the advantages of enlisting for God and and the country, and they decide upon joining the Light Horse Cavalry. The only trouble is that Archy is not old enough to enlist and Frank can't ride a horse. Overcoming these obstacles, Archy finally signs up against the wishes of his family. The second half of the film recounts their exploits just before and during the fateful battle of Gallipoli. In Egypt, Frank and his friends are camped near the Pyramids and spend their free time in the city of Cairo, drinking, getting ripped off by merchants and visiting brothels. During a chaotic training exercise, Frank and Archy meet once again and Frank is able to transfer to the light horse because they are now being sent to the Gallipoli peninsula as infantry and not have to ride the horses. Frank and Archy arrived at Anzac Cove and endure the hardship and boredom of trench warfare that went on for much of the campaign. Frank's infantry friends fought in the evening battle of Lone Pine, which was talked about but not shown.

Language of Robinson Crusoe Essay

Daniel Dafoe’s popular novel, originally titled The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an uninhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, wherein all the Men perished but himself. With an Account how he was at last as strangely deliver’d by Pyrates (iii), like most classics underwent many editions through the years. However nothing but the first edition, which is the basis of this essay, can give us the look and feel of the time as intended to be shown by the author. Early Modern English According to Volume 14 of The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes, Early Modern English period marked the expansion of the use of the English language outside England. But since English was spread at various times it has been subjected to different influences and additional variations caused by attempts at etymological spelling (Ward et al ch 15 sec 3 par 1). These were evident in the novel in two aspects of language: grammar and vocabulary (Ward et al ch 15 sec 1 par 1-2). Among the inflectional changes during the early modern English was the dropping of the weak vowel in verbs ending in –ed (Ward et al. ch 15 sec 4 par. 7). Examples of these manifested not only in the title (the word deliver’d) but within the text itself such as call’d, fill’d, encreas’d, and fatigu’d. Spelling also appeared to be phonetically defective (Ward et al. ch 15 sec 3 par. 1) with words like perswasions, lyon, lye, and prophetick. Compounding of words were also used in the novel by examples of free-school, hand-maids, ground-tackle and fellow-slave. However, the change in the verbs as well as the defects in spelling was not applied to the entire novel which makes us consider the reasons for such use. Towards a Purity in Style Daniel Defoe, in his book An Essay upon Projects, emphasized that it was the responsibility of the society to polish and refine the English tongue and to purge it from all the irregular additions that ignorance and affectation have introduced as befitted the noblest and most comprehensive of all the vulgar languages in the world (8). The spread of the English language was depicted in the novel when Robinson Crusoe teaches his servant Friday the English language. We may notice from an excerpt of their discourse below that although essentially Crusoe and Friday came to communicate effectively with each other, Friday’s English differs much from Crusoe’s parallel to their difference in status and origin: Friday, My Nation beat much, for all that. Master, How beat; if your Nation beat them, how come you to be taken? Friday, They more many than my Nation in the Place where me was; they take one, two, three, and me; my Nation over beat them in the yonder Place, where me no was; there my Nation take one, two, great Thousand. Master, But why did not your Side recover you from the Hands of your Enemies then? Friday, They run one, two, three, and me, and make go in the Canoe; my Nation have no Canoe that time. (Defoe, â€Å"Robinson Crusoe† 254) Much is the same circumstance that brought about the variations and additions to the English language in which Defoe is clamoring for purity (â€Å"An Essay upon Projects† 8). Shoar and Shore. Aside from the defective spelling mentioned earlier is the variation in the spelling (Ward et al. ch 15 sec 3 par. 1). An example if this is the word shore, spelled shore and shoar, in different context of the novel. It may be noted that shoar was only used in the part of Robinson Crusoe’s mishaps. That is to say, from the part of his captivity at Sallee until before his wreck on the island. These mishaps, Crusoe later reflected on, were results of his ignorance in the Providence of God and malcontent thus the use of the spelling shoar. While his solitary life in the island described the learning process he underwent to survive and finally live harmoniously with his surroundings; hence the renewed use of the spelling shore. In this regard, one may interpret that the use of the word was intentional to show the need and difficulty in creating a standard for the English language. viz. and (viz.). The use of foreign language in novels is quite common throughout the ages. As such, we came to attention on the use of the Latin word viz. Oxford English Dictionary defines viz. as the abbreviation of videlicet which generally means namely or that is to say (1033). Although Defoe used viz. without parenthesis and viz. in parenthesis based on the same definition, its participation in the statement are quite different. The viz. without parenthesis was used in identifying and qualifying statements such as the â€Å"All the rest of that Day I spent in afflicting my self at the dismal Circumstances I was brought to, viz. I had neither Food, House, Clothes, Weapon, or Place to fly to†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (â€Å"Robinson Crusoe† 82). On the other hand, viz. in parenthesis, which appeared in lines like â€Å"This was what I wish’d for; so I took them up, and serv’d them as we serve notorious Thieves in England, (viz.) Hang’d them in Chains for a Terror to others†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (â€Å"Robinson Crusoe† 138), was used as such in order to explain earlier statement. The use of parenthesis to differentiate the use of the same word in the novel further reflects Defoe’s quest for refinement of the English language as mentioned previously. Conclusion Indeed, regardless of the plot of the story which categorized it to fiction, the culture and language of the time is unmistakable. Robinson Crusoe, in its original version, allows us the indulgence to peek and appreciate not only the early modern English language but the period as well. The flexibility of the language then reflected the society of that time as it has always been for any period or era. At the same time, the novel provided additional venue for the author to disseminate his ideas and further his individual attempt towards the transition to the modern English language and insertions to the importance of learning across the spectrum of the society. Such power language has to influence its readers, whether consciously or unconsciously. And the duality that the novel showed made it a favorite among children and adults alike. Fulfilling its objectives to entertain and propagate (however subtle it may be). Works Cited Defoe, Daniel. An Essay Upon Projects. New York: Adamant Media Corporation, 2005. Print. —. The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an uninhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, wherein all the Men perished but himself. With an Account how he was at last as strangely deliver’d by Pyrates. London: printed for W. Taylor, 1719. Print. Oxford English Dictionary. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print. Ward, Aldolphus William, Sir, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907-21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000 (Web) April 1, 2009.

Life Path Of Benjamin Franklin - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 756 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2019/06/14 Category History Essay Level High school Tags: Benjamin Franklin Essay Did you like this example? Most everyone did not like to go to school and learn as a child and some people have never wanted to try for education at all. Many people have asked themselves the question of whether or not to education and gaining knowledge is valuable. However there are some people who always loved to learn and expand their knowledge and Benjamin Franklin is one of those people. Ben demonstrates, through his autobiography, that he places value in learning and always sought to gain knowledge. First off, Franklin loved to write and constantly strived to get better at it. He would spend all of his free time late at night and early morning to expand his writing skills. Ben would accomplish this through different methods such as writing something and then writing it again from memory, or looking at the things he liked about others writing and tried to incorporate it into his own. This is talked about in Franklinrs autobiography when he states I thought the writing excellent and wished, if possible, to imitate it (11). This proves he enjoys the practice of writing because he is constantly trying to improve. More so however, it shows his value in gaining skill and knowledge because he did it all the time. It is this attitude that led Ben to so much success as an individual and it is unfortunate that most dont have it. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Life Path Of Benjamin Franklin" essay for you Create order Secondly, Benjamin also valued seeing others improve their knowledge. He loved to see others enjoying the same thing he did and he wanted to create a place or thing that would allow everyone who pleased to learn as much as possible. Therefore in 1727, he created a club called Junto. As to the reason for the club, Franklin states, I had formd most of my ingenious acquaintance into a club of mutual improvement, which we called Junto (Franklin 45). This proves that, since he does enjoy learning, he will also enjoy others learning with him. As well as the value in coming together for improvement, Franklin realized that they could benefit off each-others works. Therefore he calls it a mutual improvement club. Lastly, Franklin valued education especially of the youth. Benjamin Franklin loved school but he only went for one year as a child because his dad put him to work with his brother. This did not stop Franklin from learning however as proven from the previous points but it also stuck with him for the remainder of his life. Franklin saw that there was a need for education of the youth and so he began to think of ways to accomplish that. He thought no better way than to build a school; therefore, in 1744, Franklin founded the American Philosophical Society to be a place of learning for the youth in Philadelphia. He states his complaint of lack for education when Franklin says, There were however, two things that I regretted, those being no provision for defense, nor for a compleat education of youth (86). If Franklin didnt care for education he would not have talked about it in his autobiography. Furthermore, if he did not care about the youth being learned as was he, he would not have taken the effort to establish a school for them. Both of these things prove perfectly Franklins love for education and his desire for the youth to be learned in the world. In conclusion, it is clear, through Ben Franklinrs autobiography, that he placed value in learning and expanding his knowledge. This is made evident through his love for writing, his club Junto, and his college he established for youth. His writing was something he always wanted to improve and sought more knowledge to do so. His club was created out of his enjoyment of seeing others learn too but also the benefit of mutual improvement. Lastly, the school he created is a testament to not only his appreciation for youth education but also his pleasure of expanding his knowledge in a school setting. All of these things show his wisdom in places so much value in expanding his knowledge; however, most people cannot relate to his excitement in learning. This might be because society doesnt want to work hard and sometimes learning requires work, but it is not the work that is invested to get there that is fun, it is the result after you have achieved something that is. Therefore, you have been challenged to spend the rest of your life not being satisfied in what you do know, but thinking about all the things you could know.