Factors Making Small Communities in Pakistan More Vulnerable to Disasters Essay Example for Free

Factors Making Small Communities in Pakistan More Vulnerable to Disasters Essay There is no single definition or explanation of a disaster, as a matter of fact in this modern age of science and technology one could predict the time and place and estimate the damage when a disaster would hit a certain area however only an estimate could be made about the outcome of the dreadful event still all the disasters could not be forecasted. This prediction also has difference in opinion when it comes to interpret the disaster; economists may measure it by calculating the loss of assets, health workers might talk of diseases that might spread after the event, political view might be setting institutions to deal with the event and social view might involve the effects on the society. Pakistan has been at risk to many natural and manmade disasters in the past. History states various events when cyclones, flooding, drought, landslides and earth quakes have hit the country. The country is also believed to be one of the most flood prone terrains in South Asia. The floods of 1950, 1992 and 1998 and 2011 have taken various lives and made severe damage to property and assets. Pakistan is also located at seismically active zone making the area vulnerable to extreme consequences. This vulnerability was proven on October 2005 when an earthquake measuring 7. 6 on the rector scale had hit 9 districts in Kheyber Pakhtunkhuwa and Azad Jammu Kashmir killing over 72,000 people and destroying over 4,00,000 houses. Pakistan being an agriculture based country also has fear of droughts. The droughts of 2002 had cost an estimated amount of 2. 5 billion $. Pakistan does not have a lot of reported cyclone hit incidents to stat yet till now roughly fourteen cyclones have been recorded since 1971-2012 which also had damages in a notable amount. When a disaster strikes some area it does not spare any in its way but the most prone and effected people are the ones who belong to small communities. Their segregation and exclusion in to small communities might be due to the false and holistic systems present in our social circles bases on ethnic, religious or class based values in the current society. Further on these segregated segments are marked as poor or minorities. However these small communities are most vulnerable when a disaster strikes. The level of their vulnerability increases in the post disaster scenario. There are many factors behind the vulnerability which have horrific outcomes for these small communities as a result. I would like to discuss on a few factors which in my view point are the important factors and causes of the increased vulnerability of these small communities. Poverty is one of the most fundamental causes which results in increased level of vulnerability of small communities. Their lack of access to resources leads to the lack of capacity in dealing with a disaster. An estimate made in 2005 states that around 22. 6% of the total population lives under the poverty line in the country, further on 40% of the total urban population lives in slums. The economic situation in the country is not very stable and due to this inflation is widespread in the country leading to income volatility. In circumstances where poverty is present in the society at such a high scale, it gets difficult to make ends meet, fighting against a disaster is a question that does not even comes in to the context. Poor construction practices also result in the increase in the vulnerability of the small communities. Due to poverty still in many villages people build their houses out of mud. This is not a strong structure. At the time of a disastrous event such structures can prove not to be very resistant. Similarly in urban areas as mentioned above a large number of people live in slums which are again not a very resilient structure in case of disasters. There are no proper code and conducts devised by the government authorities to tackle with this issue. Such conditions increase the vulnerability of the small groups present in Pakistan. Weak early warning system is a problem present in many developing countries. Pakistan being a developing country also has this problem where due to the lack of resources and technology many disasters cannot be predicted on time. Due to this it gets hard to estimate the damage level and the intensity of the disaster beforehand. It also gets hard to make a relief plan or mitigation strategies to minimize the effects of the disaster. Remoteness and isolation is another factor which is caused by the cultural and social barriers due to which majority of the small communities are effected as they are segregated and isolated from the society. Remoteness can be taken in to two different means one is the social exclusion factor the other can be the nature of their inhabitant area which might geographically be landlocked by nature. In either ways their isolation can be a factor that can lead small communities in to a more vulnerable situation. Infrastructure can also play a role in increasing the vulnerability of small communities. If we take the area of Southern Punjab as in example the area consists of the rural side of the country and agriculture is their main source of employment, the place also has a history of floods related disasters in the past. Due to lack of proper roads etc it might get hard for people to evacuate even if the disaster as been predicted beforehand. The people from strong communities have means of transportation by which they can get to safety with ease on the other hand the poor and small communities don’t get a chance to evacuate from the danger zone. Awareness programs and education about strategies to counter disasters is a phenomenon which is not present in the current society. The floods of 2012 could be held in account as evidence of this acquisition as many of the rural poor were displaced as majority of their assets were destroyed and many lives lost. If people were given proper education about strategies to deal with the disaster as it was an area with high risk the amount of loss might have been reduced. Lack of community participation is also an important factor as due to exclusion, factions are produced in the society due to barriers they do not tend to interact with the weaker segments of the society. Their lack of communication and participation creates a divide and due to which the vulnerability is increased in the smaller communities at the time of crisis. Limited capacity and coordination between various governmental and nongovernmental agencies. This might occur due to the meager means of resistance available or mismanagement on behalf of the agencies. Corruption also has a role to play in this situation where the rights of the small communities are usurped by the larger or more power full factions of the society. This corruption could give rise to mistrust between the state and non state actors trying to fight against the disaster. As they don’t unite therefore their power is also diminished. Religious/Ethnic biases can also lead to disasters as small minorities are at stake. Due to quarrels and other means of violence threat to their assets and lives increases their vulnerability. Similarly in civil conflicts the small and less powerful communities are the ones which are at the high risk level due to their openness to danger. Rapid Urbanization as societies become more and more modern day by day the process of urbanization also increases. In search of reaching to an industrial society as it brings more and more recourses to increase the level and quality of life it also brings along some negative aspects out of which greed is most prominent. Today man has become so greedy that it does not care that what effects his voyage to success might have on others. Rapid Industrialization is also having its negative effects on the environment which will eventually lead to severe consequences as global warming. At the same time rapid urbanization means the extinction of forests and other natural resources. As majority of the small communities cannot afford to live at the core hence the are pushed to the outer circle of the area where there might be a non availability of basic necessities of lives leading to various epidemics for example due to lack of sanitation facilities or making them live in to disaster prone areas due to deforestation leading to earth quakes, landslides and floods. To conclude I would state that the above mentioned factors are some of many which evolve in our social system. What so ever is the cause of the disaster event either it is manmade, natural in nature it is the small communities which are affected the most. Social, political, armed conflicts, hazards all in total increase the vulnerability of small communities. Steps are to be taken in to account to eradicate this in justice from our society as this may lead to social unrest or may have even more bizarre outcomes on the community as a whole.

Functionalism In Families And Societies

Functionalism In Families And Societies Functionalists view the family as a nuclear family structure, i.e. a mother, father and 1 or 2 children. Murdock surveyed 250 societies from the small hunting tribes to the large industrialised societies. He found that in every society there was some form of a nuclear family, he concluded from this study that the nuclear family was universal. Murdocks definition of a nuclear family is Within the framework of the nuclear family, Murdock identified with four family functions which if were ignored, society would not exist. Sexual, Reproduction, Economic and Education were the four functions. Similar to Murdock, Tallcott Parsons another functionalist had his own views of what functions the nuclear family should contribute to society. He believed that there were two important roles within the family Expressive and Instrumental. The womens role was the Expressive role as she was the one who raised, nurtured and taught the children the norms and values within the home. The mans role was the Instrumental role because he went out to work to provide financial security for his family. Parsons also identified the family as being the primary agent of socialisation and came up with the warm bath theory primary socialisation (norms and values) and stabilisation of adult personalities (support and love for the adults within the family. Criticisms Functionalists view of the family is similar to a fairy tale, because they ignore the family dynamics and in some families the darker side i.e. abuse, neglect and violence through male domination. Marxism A Marxist perspective of the family saw the family as a means of production and cheap labour whereby they are influenced by capitalism in a capitalist society. Marxists identified three main functions which they saw as a way for the family to fulfil for capitalism. Inheritance of Property means that in order for property to be handed down to a legitimate heir, sexual relationships need to be restricted to one person, thus the offspring would be blood related. For this to happen, The monogamous nuclear family developed with the emergence of private property, in particular the private ownership of the forces of production, and the advent of the state, (cited in Haralambos, M. 1985. 340) The second function is the Ideological Functions which families need to fulfil by socialising children with the ideas that there will always be bosses and workers within a capitalist society. The last function looks at the Unit of Consumption whereby families work to produce goods, which are bought by the families to enable them to be fed and clothed, which bring greater profit for the capitalists. Criticisms Marxists ignore the different structures of families which are found in todays society and with this the different roles within the family. Feminism Feministic views of the family are split into 3 groups, similar to that of the key perspectives. Liberal feminists believe that both the male and the females have equal roles within the family when it comes to the household chores and childcare. Marxist feminists view the women as the producer of future workers and womens oppression stems from capitalism and not the family. Radical feminists view of the family structure is one of patriarchal and that men are seen as the enemy. This type of family within society is also seen by feminists as the key institution in its contribution to maintaining social control Criticisms All three branches of feminism view the nuclear family as the most dominant unit within society, as well as believing that all members of the family serve society, performing different functions. Post Modernist A post modernistic view of the family is at the opposite ends of the scale to functionalism. Post modernists believe that in most societies there are diverse and multi-cultural types of families where members within these units are free to make their own life choices as to how, what and where they live, work and socialise within society. Post modernists also believe that everyone is entitled to the same opportunities in education, healthcare and family support as in their view, there are no class divisions (working and ruling classes), in most societies. Zietlin et al summarises this view of the world, The post modern world is shaped by pluralism, democracy, religious freedom, consumerism, mobility and increasing access to news and entertainment, (Zietlin class handout 2009. 92) Criticisms Because of their views of equal opportunities and freedom of speech and choices they ignore the fact that some people can and do make wrong choices with regards to ignoring the norms and values which are passed down the generations which inevitably upsets the social control aspects in some societies. How the roles and relationships of the family have change over time. Sociologists view childhood as Social Construction because they are biologically distinct from adults, (Harris, M. 2008.44) For this reason I will explain the question in two parts. Children The role of the child within a pre-industrial family (pre 1750), was one of equal standing. As soon as the child could walk and talk they were taught the family trade and were expected to carry on the family tradition. After the industrial revolution came the emergence of the industrial family (1800-1900), when children as young as 6 or 7 were sent to work in factories and down coal mines to bring money into the family home, however this brought about higher mortality rates because children werent as strong as adults. The mortality rates went into decline when the modern industrial family emerged (1900-2000), this is because children were starting to be seen as children and not as cheap labour. Experiences of childhood began to emerge for the majority of children within families, however there are still some societies today that still send their children out to work, but this is now not the norm in todays world. Gender roles and relationships During the pre-industrial years both men and women worked together with other family members. However this all changed between 1750 and 1900 when women were expected to stay at home and be responsible for household chores, childcare and producing the future workforce. This type of family structure was very patriarchal the men had the power so they were the dominators in the family. However this started to change when the modern industrial family emerged between 1900 and 2000, as more women were given the opportunity to become educated, this led to more women in the workforce. This led the family to share the household chores and the childcare and sometimes swap roles within the family if the man became unemployed. Diversity of the contemporary family structure What is a family? This question has been raised by many sociologists and the majority of these have all had different opinion. However in answer to this question, a family can be the nuclear or extended type of family, which are 2 or 3 generations living under one roof. This type of family was more common pre-1750 when families worked with and supported each other, and which still does happen in some cultures and societies i.e. Asian families. Other types of family structures which are more common in Britain today are the one parent families, the step families, the divorced families and the gay and lesbian families who have children. Families today are extremely diverse and multi-cultural through social influences from the media, education and global improvements. Conclusion Throughout this assignment I have paid particular attention to the different views of Functionalism, Marxism, Feminism and Post Modernism. I have given an evaluation of each perspective and have briefly described the changes in roles, relationships and structures within families. I have concluded in my evaluation that my opinion of families and households is one that in todays society of choice, freedom, diversity and multi-cultural structures that post modernism is by far the best view and explanation of society today.

Anosmia Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Senses Essays

Anosmia Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you did not have one of your five senses? At some point in our lives we have all seen a blind or deaf person but how often do we wonder what it would be like if we were in their shoes? Many people take their senses for granted, not giving much thought to the fact that something as simple as bumping your head the wrong way or getting a cold could take away your sense of smell forever. Anosmia is the total loss of the sense of smell and affects approximately two million Americans (Wuensch, 2001). Of all the five senses, smell seems to be the least appreciated due to our society's beliefs that sight and hearing are more important for survival (Gillyatt, 1997). For most people, once they start to notice a decrease in their hearing or sight they go to the doctor almost immediately to fix the problem. However, because the sense of taste and smell are so closely related, many people attribute the problem to a lack of taste and do not se e their doctor until the damage is irreversible (Thomson, 2001). Anosmia is a condition in which although there are mild cases, more serious cases do exist which may jeopardize the victim's life. This disorder not only affects the person's life and safety, but also has psychological effects as well . In any case, anosmia should not only be taken seriously, but research should be continued in the hopes of finding better treatments. Lacking a sense of smell has similar psychological effects as those related to losing one's sight or hearing. For example, many blind people feel cut off from the world and isolated. This case is also seen in many people with anosmia. Some people with anosmia feel physically and socially vulnerable as well a... ...ed, Suckling, Suzuki, Swift, & Williams (2001). Functional magnetic resonance imaging of odor indentification: The effect of aging. Journals of Gerontology, 56A(12), M756-760. Gillyatt, P., (1997). Loss of smell: when the nose doesn't know. Harvard Health Letter, 22, 6-8. Morgan (2000). Olfactory event-related potentials in Alzheimer's disease. Dissertation Abstracts International, 61(5-B), 2773. Ogawa & Rutka (1999). Olfactory dysfunction in head ingured workers. Acta Oto-Laryngologica, 119(540), 50-57. Thomson, Corp. (2001). Senses- Loss of Smell: How it happens and what it means. Harvard College. Toller, Van (1999). Assessing the impact of anosmia: review of a questionnaire's findings. Chemical Senses, 24(6), 705-712. Wuensch, L. (2001, November 10). How frequent is anosmia? [Online]. Available: http://www.personal.ecu.edu/wuenschk/anos-freq.htm

Asian American Identity Essay -- Culture Race

Silence as Beauty, Silence as Self: The Asian American Identity The label â€Å"American† encompasses many different cultures and races. However, American society is often guilty of assuming there is only one true, certainly white, â€Å"American† face, voice, and behavior. Associate Professor of Sociology, Minako Maykovich, states that â€Å"the criteria for physical characteristics are generally determined by the dominant group in society,† thus â€Å"racial difference is the greatest obstacle to the process of assimilation† (68). In Traise Yamamoto’s nonfiction narrative, â€Å"Different Silences,† and Janice Mirikitani’s poem, â€Å"Breaking Silence,† the authors explore their Asian American identities as defined by American culture. The quest to eliminate stereotypes and expectations through visible behavior coincides with an Asian custom that â€Å"value[s] silence more highly then North Americans† (Donahue 265). Mirikitani’s poem, â€Å"Breaking Silence,† focuses on her mother’s experience testifying to the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Japanese American Civilians in 1981. Yamamoto, who is also a poet, takes a more assertive and personal stance in her autobiographical narrative, â€Å"Different Silences.† These Japanese American authors seek to reclaim their heritage by aggressively confronting their white American audience, while retaining an empowered, wise attitude that uplifts the seemingly invisible and silent Asian American community. Yamamoto’s â€Å"Different Silences† and Mirikitani’s â€Å"Breaking Silence† both recognize how Asian Americans in the past and present have used, or use, silence for protection. As Japanese Americans of the third generation, or Sanseis, Yamamoto and Mirikitani both reflect on their ethnic herita... ...icans; some are shameful silences that need to be â€Å"broken,† as Mirikitani observes, but the healthy silences are inherently part of the Asian American identity. Works Cited Donahue, Ray T. Japanese Culture and Communication: Critical Cultural Analysis. New York: University Press of American, Inc., 1998. Espiritu, Yen Le. Asian American Women and Men: Labor, Laws, and Love. London: Sage Publications, 1997. Leitner-Rudolph, Miryam. Janice Mirikitani and Her Work. Austria: Braumueller, 2001. Maykovich, Minako K. Japanese American Identity Dilemma. Tokyo: Wayside University Press: 1972. Mirikitani, Janice. â€Å"Breaking Silence.† Shedding Silence. Berkeley: Celestial Arts, 1987. 33-36. Yamamoto, Traise. â€Å"Different Silences.† Asian American Literature: A Brief Introduction and Anthology. Ed. Shawn Wong. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers, 1996. 45-50.

Is Abortion Murder? Essay examples -- essays research papers

Many people believe that morals or ethics should not have any persuasion at all in our laws. Do you believe that slavery is immoral? Is the issue of slavery a moral position? Is the legislation on that moral position appropriate? Then what you have most likely said is that it is appropriate to legislate moral issues that you are in favor of. Should slavery be enforced purely as a moral issue? This is an important point because many people say that we should not force a particular morality on the issue of abortion. Slavery was brought up because it involves human rights, as abortion does also. The question is whether an unborn child is a human being that has the same inalienable rights that a black human being has. This stems the question, â€Å"Is abortion murder?† If so then there has been a legal genocide going on in the United States since 1973 with over 40 million victims. â€Å"Life, biologically speaking, begins at fertilization. We all begin with the same raw materials: an egg and a sperm. We are fully human when these gametes unite at fertilization, as nothing else is added to us- only nourishment and time to grow.† (Earll, 2003) According to Carrie that means that we are human at the moment of conception. At this controversial point is where Carrie with the pro-lifers and the pro-abortionists butt heads. Pro-abortionists like Henry Morgentaler say that, â€Å"I believe that an early embryo may be called a potential human being. But remember that every woman has the potential to create twenty-five human beings in her lifetime. The idea that any woman who becomes pregnant as a result of non-procreative sexual intercourse must continue with her pregnancy does not take into consideration the fact that there is a tremendous discrepancy between the enormous potential of human fertility and the real-life ability of women and couples to provide al l that is necessary to bring up children properly.† (Morgentaler, 1996) This summarizes most pro-abortionists views that abortion is not about the child but about the mother and what she wants. Others do not see an unborn child as being a human being. Stephen Currie agrees with this when he wrote â€Å"It is a mistake, however, to see this as evidence that the smallest fertilized egg is somehow already a person. Perhaps "life" does begin at conception in some way, but fully human life does not.† (Currie, 2000) This shows t... ...torials that promoted abortion were unimpressive and seemed written out of anger and never mentioned what most girls who have had an abortion felt like after the fact. I found the pro-life editorials very hopeful and full with a sense of love for the innocent children. Unlike the pro-abortion editorials they took slanderous stab at those who oppose them which helped me to respect what they were saying more. People like Hank Hanegraaff are showing others who are not educated about unborn children that, â€Å"They deserve protection, not capital punishment.† We now have a president that also believes in the sanctity of life and has shown it by proclaiming Sunday, January 18, 2004, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. References Earll, C. (2003) The Sanctity of Human Life. Retrieved February 10, 2005 from http://www.family.org/cforum/pdfs/fosi/bioethics/sanctity_of_human_life.pdf Morgentaler, H. The Moral Case for Abortion. Free Inquiry, Free Inquiry, Summer 1996 Currie, S. Abortion. Opposing Viewpoints Digests ® Series. Greenhaven Press, 2000 Hanegraaff, H. Practical Apologetics, Annihilating, Abortion Arguments. Retrieved February 11, 2005 from http://www.equip.org/free/DA375.pdf

Century Prose : Short Stories Essay

Choose two of the pre-20th century short stories that you have studied. Compare and contrast the ways in which they make use of character, plot and language to create tension. The two chosen short stories to be compared and contrasted in such a way as to examine the tension created are â€Å"Hop-Frog† -otherwise known as â€Å"The Eight Chained Ourang-Outangs†- and â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†, both written by the same author: Edgar Allan Poe. Poe was considered as the best known American writer of the nineteenth century, mostly writing stories that could be found under headings such as ‘Horror’ or ‘Supernatural’. Taking a look at his background, one can note that his childhood was a very troubled one, and the tension in all his stories is possibly due to this significant fact. Young Edgar Poe’s unsettled childhood initiated with the death of his mother when he was only 2 years old, and not long after he was taken in by another family, the ‘Allan’ family, hence his two surnames. His teenage years were no better, for after enrolling at the University of Virginia, he was quickly expelled for drunkenness and debt. He soon joined the Army, taking a teaching post at the West Point military academy, only to have it taken away from him again after being court martialled in 1832 for gambling and, again, drunkenness. This scandal pursued him during the rest of his life, until in 1836 when he married Virginia; the 13 year old daughter of his favourite aunt. When she died in ‘suspicious circumstances’ eleven years later, Poe undertook a series of semi-public love affairs until his early death in 1829. We will first consider the way in which the characters in the two stories create tension, and we can observe that in both, the way they are presented is very important. It may be a coincidence, but it is unnerving to note that both are disabled. In â€Å"Hop-Frog†, the main character is described in great detail, and we find out that he is physically disabled, being a cripple and a dwarf, and this in itself brings about tension for Hop-Frog is someone clearly conscious, but troubled by his disabilities, for since he is a jester in court he is constantly made fun of about his physical appearance, and we learn he is a very secretive character, who keeps his feelings to himself, and seems to have much inner bitterness and rebellion, though he does not show it. He also has troubles walking -hence his name ‘Hop-Frog’- and can only move â€Å"by a sort of interjectional gait† which is not very reassuring. The reader is left quite unsettled as we wonder what is go ing on in the dwarfs mind behind his ‘funny walk’ and his mask of fake placidity. â€Å"The dwarf laughed [†¦] and displayed a set of large, powerful, and very repulsive teeth† We also learn the dwarf has a certain liability to mild insanity upon drinking alcohol, and when forced to drink alcohol before the king’s banquet, the tension is high, and it leaves us apprehensive and fearful of what will come of this act. â€Å"He placed the goblet nervously on the table, and looked upon the company with a half-insane stare† In â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† the main character, who is also the narrator, is mentally disabled, but hardly at all portrayed physically. We only know of his ill state of mind, which he tries with much vigour to deny even with the first few lines of the text where the narrator begins by assuring us that he is not mad and then, through the story he relates, he convinces us beyond any shadow of a doubt that he is as mad as a hatter. â€Å"Why WILL you say that I am mad? [†¦] How then am I mad?† And being very persistent he sets out to prove his sanity by explaining to us how he planed and executed the perfect murder. Although the narrator seems to be blatantly insane, and thinks he has freedom from guilt, the feeling of guilt over the murder is too overwhelming to bear. His nervousness and guilt eventually lead him to the admittance of the murder he accomplished. This story shows Poe’s underlying desires to kill, his true madness, and thoughts of revenge. The plot of is essential to the build up of any story, and to the two studied, to the build up of tension. The plot of â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† is a story of conflict. There is a mental conflict within the narrator himself, and through obvious clues and statements, Poe alerts the reader to the mental state of the narrator, and to his obsessions. The insanity itself is described as an obsession with the old man’s eye, which in turn leads to loss of control and eventually results in violence, ultimately, with the death of the old man. With the appearance of the police, the narrator, who in the beginning attempts to prove his fake innocence, cannot tolerate the guilt any longer and eventually confesses to his â€Å"perfect† crime. â€Å"Villains! [†¦] I admit the deed! — Tear up the planks!† We feel the tension mount throughout the story as we learn what happens, and since it is written in first person, we discover the storyline as the narrator tells it, it is written as a confession, as if the narrator was trying to find a way to ‘pardon his sins’. There is clear tension in the way the story is narrated. Though our main protagonist attempts to tell his story in a calm manner, as he describes various parts he begins to rant with a great deal of passion and enthusiasm, occasionally getting caught up in his own words. â€Å"And they (the officers) had been deputed to search the premises† We also remark that he pays particular attention to emphasize specific parts of his story, for example, he is sure to highlight the fact that he is simply nervous, that he could not possibly be mad because as he says, â€Å"the disease had sharpened my senses† referring to his madness, rather than the disease, it only allows him to hear more clearly the sounds of his imagination, to see what his mind wanted him to see, rather than see the truth Even at the beginning of the story, we are prepared for a tragic ending. As we learn of the plot, more tension builds up around how the narrator prepares, in an insanely obsessive way, the murder he wishes to commit. We sense right from the commencement a sense of tension behind the speaker’s words, and as he narrates the story, his agitation rises, and visibly reaches a peak at the arrival of the officers in the room where he hid the body. In â€Å"Hop-Frog† the tension doesn’t start at the beginning. The initial description is of life in a â€Å"normal† medieval court. With the benefit of hindsight due to the text being written in 3rd person, the narrator gets hints of tension by clues such as the emphasis placed on jokes and the subtle information that this court is not like any other court for its king has a special likeness for practical and verbal jokes. â€Å"I never knew any one so keenly alive to a joke as the king was.† This intrigues the reader though it doesn’t create a lot of apparent tension. Tension starts to build up at the end, when the dwarf starts to drink wine and chains the king and his ministers. At that moment the reader feels that trouble is brewing, the tension is clearly visible as Hop-Frog reveals his plans, and as the end approaches there is transparent madness in the air. In this story the duration of the tension is shorter, but stronger than in â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† for it is unexpected and more powerful. The killing the king and his ministers is much more abrupt and shocking, while in the â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†, the reader is being prepared throughout the whole story for an unexpected end. â€Å"I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever† The ending of hop frog is surprising for the naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve reader. At the beginning of the short story we aren’t prepared for a dramatic end, there is nothing unusual in the way the story starts. The reader is aware that life mustn’t be very pleasant for the dwarf but his is like that of any other jester of any other king. Though there are numerous indices throughout the text, the reader only becomes truly aware of the extent of the jester’s hatred towards the king and his ministers only at the end, during his last speech and act. Apart from the plot and the description of character, the author also uses language to create tension in the two stories. In â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† the story is written in first person, therefore the reader feels closer to the character and shares the narrator’s thoughts and emotions as he himself experiences them. The story thus seems to evolve in its own time, as the narrator adds information in the order he remembers them in. The result of this is a rather jumbled mixture of feelings, actual happenings and insane ramblings. The abundance of punctuation also plays a big part in the creation of tension. though we notice no abuse of punctuation in the beginning of the tale, it initiates very well structured, but as the story unfolds and the narrator gets more and more excited and nervous, we feel the tension mounting as paragraphs get shorter, punctuation becomes frenzied, and use of capitals becomes much more plentiful. â€Å"No doubt I grew VERY pale [†¦] Yet the sound increased [†¦] It was a LOW, DULL, QUICK SOUND-MUCH SUCH A SOUND AS A WATCH MAKES WHEN ENVELLOPED IN COTTON.† The use of words in â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† clearly indicate the tale was written as a speech, which shows s the spontaneous side behind the writing, how the narrator gets carried away in his own emotions and story telling, proven by the use of words such as: â€Å"oh†, â€Å"Ha!†, â€Å"no, no?† or â€Å"Almighty God!†. The repetition of certain words is used frequently as the tale develops and the tension mounts, for it is used to emphasise the nervousness and instability of the narrator, for example the word ‘mad’ is repeated many times throughout the text, but also other repetitions such as â€Å"nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous†, â€Å"Hark! louder! louder! louder! LOUDER!† â€Å"It grew quicker and quicker and louder and louder, every instant†. The phrases are often short and sharp, with a certain pulsing rhythm to mimic the quickened beating of a nervous or anticipating heart. We also note, especially in the last paragraph of the text where the narrator’s tension overbears him, a certain 3 word repetition, a confirmation of his agitation and anxiety, his unwillingness to give himself up as a criminal, but as his insanity and inner guilt overpower him he is forced him to confess. â€Å"I foamed — I raved — I swore!† â€Å"They heard! — They suspected! — They KNEW!† â€Å"It grew louder — Louder – -louder!† In contrast, the author of â€Å"Hop-Frog† uses a much more Gothic style of writing, which gives a mysterious, secretive aspect to the story. The language in this short story is less charged with emotions for it is from an external neutral point of view. Poe uses the third person to narrate the story, and the role of an observer is given to the reader, and we learn about the plot as it evolves chronologically, though not once do we delve into Hop-Frog’s thoughts. The vacancy of such emotion leaves us uncertain of how the story will end, and we find out at the same time as an observer would the drastic end of the tale. The abundance of punctuation in â€Å"Hop-Frog† is only visible in dialogues. A characteristic of this style is the emphasis of words in italic. â€Å"It was passed about the waist of the kind, and tied†; â€Å"A low harsh and protracted grating sound† This story also has apparent repetition at the beginning of mocking words, words such as â€Å"jokes† and â€Å"fool†: â€Å"a joke†, â€Å"the joke†, â€Å"for joking†, â€Å"as jokers†, â€Å"inimitable jokers†, â€Å"by joking†, â€Å"a lean joker†, â€Å"practical jokes†, â€Å"their fools†, â€Å"his fool†, â€Å"was not only a fool†, â€Å"as fools†. The repetition of these words have a very strong effect upon the reader, who realizes these words must be important, and though we are not sure of the significance of this clear repetition at the beginning, it still brings about uneasiness and tension. In â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† the author uses many metaphors and similies all through the story, for example when he writes about the eye he refers to the â€Å"vulture eye† or the â€Å"Evil Eye†, and when he writes about the heart beat he compared it to the sound that â€Å"a watch makes when enveloped in cotton†. These enrich the text thus emphasizing the impression of tension that the author wants to create. In â€Å"Hop-Frog† there are fewer metaphors and similies, one being the word ‘monster’ used to describe the king, though there are many more descriptions of Hop-Frog, usually referring to animals. He is said to resemble ‘A squirrel, or a small monkey, rather than a frog.† And his gait is to be called â€Å"something between a leap and a wiggle† which also brings us back to the animal connotations, and a bizarre way of describing the jester. In conclusion, we can clearly see that both stories effectively use tension, though in different ways. The tension in â€Å"Hop-Frog† the tension is much more subtle and the end much more unexpected, while the 3rd person point of view doesn’t reveal much about the storyline and the ending, and the reader has to read into the discreet clues that the author gives about the emotional state of the characters. In opposition, the blatant tension of â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† that is shown even in the first two lines of the tale. â€Å"TRUE! Nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am† The tension Poe faced in his life clearly reflects upon the way he writes and the way tension is shown in his prose, through the use of punctuation, language, plot, character description, all indicating tension in his stories.

Scarlet Letter Images

Joseph Gurke 10. 17. 2012 Ms. Boas P. 1 The Scarlet Letter Light, Dark, Sunlight and Shadows Throughout his entire life, Nathaniel Hawthorne had lived in seclusion from people and society, isolating himself and his thoughts behind a mysterious shade. This may explain why the themes of sin, secrecy and guilt are used in Hawthorne’s fiction, exploring hidden human dimensions.The images of sin, secrecy, and guilt are constantly portrayed in Nathaniel Hawthorne's, The Scarlet Letter, through the presence of recurring motifs of light and dark, sunlight and shadows; as these themes aid the reader's depiction of the separation between evil and goodness. Images of light are seen throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter. These images illuminate a character’s true intention and personality, yet at the same time, force a character to hide certain aspects of his personality while under the public eye.The view of Hester on the scaffold, when she is receiving her punishment for adulte ry in front of the public eye, the image of light illuminates her scarlet letter and sin; liberating Hester from public judgment and the pain of concealing sin, â€Å"Those who had before known her, and had expected to behold her dimmed and obscured by a disastrous cloud, were astonished, and even startled, to perceive how here beauty shown out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped. † (49).The fact the Hester’s sin is known to all and that she is stands tall with her baby in her arms and the scarlet letter on her chest shows that she no longer needs to conceal anything from the public eye, â€Å"And never had Hester Prynne appeared more lady-like, in the antique interpretation of the term, than as she issued from the prison. † (49). After being revealed to the public, Hester must now live in isolation with nature, self-reliance and non-conformity being the ethics in her life; yet having the relief of wearing sin on her chest. Sunlight is a naturally occurring light and one that reflects goodness and pureness in characters. It is a positive image, representing cleanliness and lack of sin in this novel. When in the forest with Pearl, the sunlight avoids Hester completely while she carries the scarlet letter on her chest, â€Å"Mother,† said little Pearl, â€Å"the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. . . . It will not flee from me; for I wear nothing on my bosom yet! †(161).When she removes the letter, sunlight flows into the forest, bringing everything to light and removing any shadows present, â€Å"So speaking, she undid the clasps that fastened the scarlet letter, and, taking it from her bosom, through it to a distance among the withered leaves. † (191) â€Å"All at once, as with the sudden smile of heaven, forth burst the sunshine, pouring a very flood into the obscure forest, gladdening each green leaf, trans muting the yellow fallen ones to gold, and gleaming adown the grey trunks of the solemn trees. The objects that had made a shadow hitherto, embodied the brightness now. †(191).The sunlight represents cleanliness; washing sin, secrecy and guilt from characters, allowing them to feel a sense of freedom, â€Å"Her sex, her youth, and the whole richness of her beauty†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (190). With the absence of the scarlet letter, sunlight floods the forest and surrounding area around Hester and Dimmesdale, removing any shadows, which represent evil and bondage, and with this flood of sunshine comes a new feeling of freedom for both, exactly what sunshine represents in the text, â€Å"And as if the gloom of the earth and the sky had been but the effluence of those two mortal hearts, it vanished with their sorrow. (190). Darkness is a constant theme in this novel, representing guilt, sin and secrecy, major themes that Nathaniel Hawthorne incorporates into his literature. Dimmesdale, Hester and Pearl meet on the scaffold, under the darkness of night and shadows, the only time that Dimmesdale can express his sin and evil, â€Å"Mr. Dimmesdale reached the spot where, now so long since, Hester Prynne had lived through her first hours of public ignominy. † (133).The scaffold shows the irony of Hester and Dimmesdale’s situation because Hester, in the daylight reveals her sin to the town and could be freed from the bondage of hiding sin, and now Dimmesdale, after seven years is revealing his sin on the scaffold to only Hester at night, still feeling the pain of bondage and concealment of this sin. It is the only time that Dimmesdale, Hester’s lover and Pearl’s father ever embraces them and can openly reveal his sin, but the darkness does not allow him to be free. The minister felt for the child’s other hand and took it. The moment that he did so, there came what seemed tumultuous rush of new life, other life than his own, pouring lik e a torrent into his heart, and hurrying through his veins, as if the mother and child were communicating their vital warmth to his half-torpid system. The three formed and electrical chain. † (142).This love that the minister feels frees him of his bondage and cleanses his soul for a moment in time, yet this moment is enveloped back by the surrounding darkness that takes all hope of escape from him. Hester experienced this escape on the same scaffold that they are on yet in the light that allowed her to live the rest of her life without this bondage to sin, that under darkness, the minister cannot be free. Light, dark, shadows and sunlight, are all motifs that Nathaniel Hawthorne uses to describe different types of emotions in the text.Light and its more natural form in sunlight reflect the goodness in characters and the ability to be free from bondage with nothing holding you back, no pain of concealing sin. While one the other hand darkness and shadows allow the characters to reflect their emotions and reveal sin, but under darkness these emotions and secrets will not reach anyone else and will keep characters like Dimmesdale in bondage and pain. Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Bantam Books, 1986. Print.