Edna’s final decision

Edna’s final decision 1) Justify Ednas final decision in The Awakening.   Ã‚  Ednas final decision of committing suicide in The Awakening is inevitably linked to freedom. She grew up in a conservative society where marriage and motherhood provided a satisfying future for the young women, no matter what their true desires in life were. Having believed this all through out her life, Edna eventually got married and had children, only to find that she wasnt suited for either lifestyle. The years that are gone seem like dreams-if one might go on sleeping and dreaming-but to wake up and find-oh! well! Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions all ones life (Chopin 624). Edna fully understands that she really wants nothing to do with her children when she clearly understands what she had meant long ago when she said to Adele Ratignolle that she would give up the unessentials, but she would never sacrifice herself for her children (Chopin 626). Though Edna didnt like her lifestyle, as she had made it, if any women in her society were to give up marriage and motherhood to follow their own path, she would be condemned. Therefore, she felt her only way to freedom and independence from her life was to go against nature and commit suicide, which she did so by swimming out in the ocean and not returning to shore. 2) What is meant by Roman Fever? How does it influence Alida and Grace? Roman Fever is meant to portray pregnancy in the story. People in that time period seemed to think that Roman Fever was only caught at night by women, since shortly after their night out, the signs and symptoms of pregnancy could have already been occurring. So every night when Roman fever stalked the streets the mothers would gather in the girls at the danger hour (Wharton 782). If any women came done with the illness it was assumed she was rebellious and stayed out all night long, probably chasing after boys. Roman Fever influences Alida and Grace, since Grace was assumed to have caught the Roman Fever the one night she was out with Alidas fiancà ©. No one knew she was out with him that night, since it was supposed to be a prank date planned by Alida, so no one could have questioned her about being pregnant. Only Grace knew her secret of being pregnant and it was clear that Alida didnt, especially when she says I remember how ill you were that winter. As a girl you had a very deli cate throat, hadnt you, (Wharton 783). This clearly indicates morning sickness, which is usually associated with the early signs of pregnancy. 3) Why does Crane refer to the characters (except one, late in the story) by their professions, instead of names? Crane identifies the characters by their occupations (besides one), instead of names, because he wanted to pin point the one person in the story with a name, as a threat to nature. The only one in the story who had a name titled to them was the oiler, Billie. The oilers job represents contamination and pollution to the ocean, where as the other characters jobs like the captain, cook, and correspondent did not. In the quote The black waves were silent and hard to be seen in the darkness, it seems as if it is referring to dirty black water, such as an oil spill (Crane 757). Since an oilers job is usually associated with machines and dirt, the occupation in the story is represented as darkness toward nature. Though Billie was the most hard working crew member on the life boat he was unwanted by nature due to his occupation. When the boat began to sink all the men attempted to swim ashore to the island. All but one man, Billie, made it. Even though the oiler was the strongest and fastest swimmer of the men, the waves seem to want to take him down by drowning him with the strong currents. After the oilers death, Crane made everything at the end of the story to sound peaceful. When it came night, the white waves paced to and fro in the moonlight and the wind brought the sound of the great seas voice to the men on the shore (Crane 763). 4) What is the determinist element in The Second Choice, how does it affect the characters and the situations that unfold, where is the influence of the element most keenly seen?   Ã‚  The determinist element in the short story The Second Choice is definitely Shirley. She grew up in a town where everything was pretty much the same everywhere she turned, especially in her own neighborhood. Bethune street, with its common place front yards and houses nearly alike, and this house, so like the others, room for room and porch for porch, and her parents, too, really like all the others (Dreiser 790). She seemed to think that the life style she was raised with is the only life style she could ever have, no matter how much she wanted to be different from everyone. Ever since she met Arthur her whole view of life changed. He lived on the wild side of life while she lived in a bubble. Since Arthurs life style seemed to fascinate her more than her own, she dropped everything that she had going for her to be with him. Shirleys changing ways really affected her fiancà © Barton, especially by the way she was sneaking around and dating both of them at the same time. Bart on seemed to have a clue that she was having an affair, but she never confessed to her behavior, since she didnt want to risk losing Barton if Arthur were to leave her. She had not mentioned Barton to Arthur because-because-well, because Arthur was so much better, and somehow (She admitted it to herself now) she had not been sure that Arthur would care for her long (Dreiser 792). Her changing ways also affected her parents. They were used to the old fashion way of life where everyone lived the same everyday life style, so they looked down on Shirleys behavior, especially her mother. After Arthur had left Shirley and Barton stopped coming around to see her, Shirley felt that she must act her position as a deserted girl was too much. She could not stand it any longer really- the eyes of her mother, for one (Dreiser 796). Shirley had no choice but to stick with her second choice of life, which was living the everyday way of life just as her parents had done. 5) Identify and discuss what you believe to be the central symbol in To Build a Fire. The central symbol in To Build a Fire is the man that is hiking through the Yukon. He is nameless to symbolize the everyday human being and so that the reader can vision anybody they want to associate with the character. The man is also symbolic of humans in their attitudes of superiority to most things in the world, such as him thinking that he has nothing to fear from the weather and his intelligence is far greater than that of nature. When an older man experienced with the climate of the Yukon attempted to give the hiker advice that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below, the hiker just ignored every bit of it completely , though it was currently seventy-five below zero: (London 811-815). The hikers cockiness even goes as far as calling the older man womanish and said to himself all a man has to do was to keep his head and he was all right (London 815). Not only does the man completely ignore the older mans advice, he also ignores the signs of his own body tell ing him that the extreme cold temperatures are just to much for the human body to handle. The mans big ego eventually leads him to death since he refused to take advice from experienced residents and even hints from his dog, who attempts to lead him to his main destination. The overall main meaning of the story is that nature is the one thing on earth that no man will ever be able to change, control, or manipulate. The man is the central symbol in the story to show human kind that no matter how invincible we think we are, inevitable things do happen.

Being materialistic Essay

being maThey say that money makes the world go round. And indeed it does as without money, life would be very difficult as in today’s society, nothing is free. The side effect however is that people are becoming more materialistic; more concerned with making money and what money can buy. But how much money is enough? Is it ever enough? To some, it will never be enough. In my opinion, I truly believe that this statement is true and that people are becoming more materialistic in nature. In this essay, I will discuss how materialism has affected modern society’s way of life on an individual level, the country’s economy as well as our spiritual and moral beliefs. First and foremost, each individual is affected by materialism to some extent in this day and age because hedonism is becoming an uprising trend. This is because today’s generation are geared towards making more and more money so that they can enjoy the carefree lifestyle that is so popular these days. Moreover, people now are striving to earn more income in order to afford things that are more expensive and branded. For example, people spend their hard earned money on material objects like genuine LV and Coach handbags, expensive gadgets like Iphones and Tablet pcs and so on which in my opinion is a waste of money when regular goods may prove to be good enough. Therefore, while individuals become more focussed on their pursuit of material wealth and improving their standard of living, they may forget that what matters most in life is quality time spent with family and friends and not the quantity of their material goods.

Poverty in Third World Countries - 1654 Words

Helping poor people is ethical behavior and everyone should do it in order to continue our lives. Every year, there are millions of people at risk of going hungry. There are ways people can end poverty all around the world. People can eliminate poverty if we work together to fight it and avoid selfishness. Rich countries often give financial aid to poor countries, but it does not solve poverty. People always say they feel sorry for poor people and the rich love them, but they never do their part. People do not prevent themselves from buying things that are not necessary to them. That money could be donated to people who are in need of it. There are many people in rich countries living a luxurious life, while others in poor countries are†¦show more content†¦The reason is they are trouble to acquire a job without a home address. Furthermore, most of businessmen think that the homeless are untrustworthy people, which become another obstacle, for them to change their life situ ations. Also, their lack of education becomes a main reason of their problems to find a job. The homeless have been dubbed the outcasts of society. On the other hand, many of the homeless could obtain jobs, but they chose not to. The reason is they always find help from some organizations and individuals, which makes them lazier. The best thing organizations could do with the homeless, organizations give them money and foods and likewise make them contribute in organizations, which gives the homeless opportunities to live normal lives. Indeed, the public should do something, because the homeless are a large part of our society. The public must work together to end their suffering as much as possible. In the essay â€Å"The Singer Solution to World Poverty,† by Peter Singer illustrates that the main idea of how we can end the homeless problems by saying that American people spend almost one third of their income on things not important to them. 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The Brief History of Smartphones

In 1926, during an interview for Collier magazine, legendary scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla described a piece of technology that would revolutionize the lives of its users. Here’s the quote: When wireless is perfectly applied, the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain, which in fact it is, all things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole. We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance. Not only this, but through television and telephony we shall see and hear one another as perfectly as though we were face to face, despite intervening distances of thousands of miles; and the instruments through which we shall be able to do his will be amazingly simple compared with our present telephone. A man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket. While Tesla might not have chosen to call this instrument a smartphone, his foresight was spot on. These future phones  have, in essence, reprogrammed how we interact with and experience the world. But they didn’t appear overnight. There were many technologies that progressed, competed, converged, and evolved toward the fairly sophisticated pocket companions we have come to rely on. The Modern Smartphone So who invented the smartphone? First, lets make it clear that the smartphone didn’t start with Apple — though the company and its charismatic co-founder Steve Jobs deserve much credit for perfecting a model that has made the technology just about indispensable among the masses. In fact, there were phones capable of transmitting data, as well as featured applications such as email, in use prior to the arrival of early popular devices, such as the Blackberry. Since then, the definition of the smartphone has essentially become arbitrary. For example, is a phone still smart if it doesn’t have a touchscreen? At one time, the Sidekick, a popular phone from carrier T-Mobile, was considered cutting edge. It had a swiveling full-qwerty keyboard that allowed for rapid-fire text messaging, LCD screen, and stereo speakers. In modern times, few people would find a phone remotely acceptable that cannot run third-party apps. The lack of consensus is muddied even further by the concept of a â€Å"feature phone,† which shares some of the smartphones abilities. But is it smart enough? A solid textbook definition comes from the Oxford dictionary, which describes a smartphone as â€Å"a mobile phone that performs many of the functions of a computer, typically having a touchscreen interface, internet access, and an operating system capable of running downloaded apps.† So for the purpose of being as comprehensive as possible, let’s begin with the very minimal threshold of what constitutes â€Å"smart† features: computing. Who Invented Smartphones? The first device that technically qualifies as a smartphone was simply a highly-sophisticated (for its time) brick phone. You know one of those bulky, but fairly exclusive status-symbol toys flashed in 80s movies like Wall Street? The IBM Simon Personal Communicator, released in 1994, was a sleeker, more advanced, and premium brick that sold for $1,100. Sure, a lot of smartphones today cost about as much, but remember that $1,100 in the 1990s was nothing to sneeze at. IBM had conceived of the idea for a computer-style phone  as early as the 70s, but it wasn’t until 1992 that the company unveiled a prototype at the COMDEX computer and technology trade show in Las Vegas. Besides placing and receiving calls, the Simon prototype could also send facsimiles, emails, and cellular pages. It even had a nifty touchscreen for dialing numbers. Extra features included apps for a calendar, address book, calculator, scheduler, and notepad. IBM also demonstrated that the phone was capable of displaying maps, stocks, news, and other third-party applications, with certain modifications. Tragically,  the Simon ended up in the heap pile of being too ahead of its time. Despite all the snazzy features, it was cost-prohibitive for most and was only useful for a very niche clientele. The distributor, BellSouth Cellular, would later reduce the price of the phone to $599 with a two-year contract. And even then, the company only sold about 50,000 units. The company took the product off the market after six months. The Early Awkward Marriage of PDAs and Cell Phones The initial failure to introduce what was a fairly novel notion of phones having a multiplicity of capabilities didn’t necessarily mean that consumers weren’t keen on incorporating smart devices into their lives. In a way, smart technology was all the rage during the late 90s, as evidenced by the widespread adoption of stand-alone smart gadgets known as Personal Digital Assistants. Before hardware makers and developers figured out ways to successfully merge PDAs with cellular phones, most people simply made due by carrying two devices. The leading name in the business at the time was Sunnyvale-based electronics firm Palm, who jumped to the fore with products such as the Palm Pilot. Throughout the generations of the product line, various models offered a multitude of pre-installed apps, PDA to computer connectivity, email, messaging, and an interactive stylus. Other competitors at the time included Handspring and Apple with the Apple Newton. Things started to come together right before the turn of the new millennium, as device makers began little by little incorporating smart features into cell phones. The first notable effort in this vein was the Nokia 9000 communicator, which the manufacturer introduced in 1996. It came in a clamshell design that was fairly large and bulky but allowed for a qwerty keyboard, along with navigation buttons. This was so that the makers could cram in some of the more sellable smart features, such as faxing, web browsing, email, and word processing. But it was the Ericsson R380, which debuted in 2000, that became the first product to be officially billed and marketed as a smartphone. Unlike the Nokia 9000, it was small and light like most typical cell phones. Remarkably, the phones keypad could be flipped outward to reveal a 3.5-inch black and white touchscreen from which users could access a litany of apps. The phone also allowed for internet access, though no web browser was available and users weren’t able to install third-party apps. The convergence continued as competitors from the PDA side moved into the fray, with Palm introducing the Kyocera 6035 in 2001 and Handspring putting out its own offering, the Treo 180, the following year. The Kyocera 6035 was significant for being the first smartphone to be paired with a major wireless data plan through Verizon, while the Treo 180 provided services via a GSM line and operating system that seamlessly integrated telephone, internet, and text messaging service.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Smartphone Mania Spreads From East to West Meanwhile, as consumers and the tech industry in the west were still tinkering with what many referred to as PDA/cell phone hybrids, an impressive smartphone ecosystem was coming into its own across the way in Japan. In 1999, local upstart telecom NTT DoCoMo launched a series of handsets linked to a high-speed internet network called i-mode. Compared to Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), the network used in the United States for data transfers for mobile devices, Japan’s wireless system allowed for a wider range of internet services such as e-mail, sports results, weather forecasts, games, financial services, and ticket booking — all carried out at faster speeds. Some of these advantages are attributed to the use of â€Å"compact HTML† or â€Å"cHTML,† a modified form of HTML that enables full rendering of web pages. Within two years, the NTT DoCoMo network had an estimated 40 million subscribers. But outside of Japan, the notion of treating your phone as some sort of digital Swiss army knife hadn’t quite taken hold. The major players at the time were Palm, Microsoft, and Research in Motion, a lesser-known Canadian firm. Each had their respective operating systems. You might think that the two more established names in the tech industry would have an advantage in this respect. Yet, there was something more than mildly addictive about RIM’s Blackberry devices that had some users calling their trusty devices Crackberries. RIM’s reputation was built on a product line of two-way pagers that, over time, evolved into full-fledged smartphones. Critical to the company’s success early on was its efforts to position the Blackberry, first and foremost, as a platform for business and enterprise to deliver and receive push email through a secure server. It was this unorthodox approach that fueled its popularity among the more mainstream consumers.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Apple’s iPhone In 2007, at a heavily-hyped press event in San Francisco, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs stood on stage and unveiled a revolutionary product that not only broke the mold but also set an entirely new paradigm for computer-based phones. The look, interface and core functionality of nearly every smartphone to come along since is, in some form or another, derived from the original iPhone’s innovative touchscreen-centric design. Among some of the groundbreaking features was an expansive and responsive display from which to check email, stream video, play audio, and browse the internet with a mobile browser that loaded full websites, much like what’s experienced on personal computers. Apple’s unique iOS operating system allowed for a wide range of intuitive gesture-based commands and eventually, a rapidly-growing warehouse of downloadable third-party applications.  Ã‚   Most importantly, the iPhone reoriented people’s relationship with smartphones. Up to then, they were generally geared toward businesspeople and enthusiasts who saw them as an invaluable tool for staying organized, corresponding over email, and boosting their productivity. Apple’s version took it to a whole other level as a full-blown multimedia powerhouse, enabling users to play games, watch movies, chat, share content, and stay connected to all the possibilities that we’re all still constantly rediscovering. Sources Chong, Celena. The inventor that inspired Elon Musk and Larry Page predicted smartphones nearly 100 years ago. Business Insider, July 6, 2015. Smartphone. Lexico, 2019.