Past Madrassah Reform: a History

Past Madrassah Reform: a History The 1962 Reforms Since its inception, Pakistan has tried three times to undertake major renovations in the madrassah school system. The first reforms occurred in 1962 under General Ayub Khan. In 1961, a committee was formed to analyze the current curriculum and make recommendations concerning how best to reform the system so that graduates would be more employable. The resulting report was released in 1962. Notable alterations included: introducing courses like mathematics into the curriculum, instructing in Urdu at the primary levels and Arabic and/or English at the higher levels of study, and testing graduates in five exams including Euclidean mathematics.27 The second part of the reform strategy was to control the level of funding madrassahs received. Khan sought to strengthen the role of state institutions at the expense of traditional community leaders like the ulama, who he thought opposed his regime and thus limited his power. One way he limited religious scholars influence was to restrict who could fund madrassahs.28 The funding portion of reform was moderately successful, but the recommended changes to the curriculum exposed a core conflict that would derail the 1962 reforms and all the reforms that followed. To alter the madrassah curriculum meant, in a way, reforming the nations practice of Islam, which is sacred to the vast majority of Pakistanis. Since madrassahs produce the next generation of religious scholars, government changes to the schools that contradicted what the ulamas viewed as instrumental in training their successors had social implications far beyond making  modifications to a curriculum. Many disagreed with the governments interpretation of  Islam, and, as a result, rejected the proposals of the 1962 report.29 The 1979 Reforms The second round of attempted reforms occurred in 1979 under the regime of General Zia-ul Huq, and were far more extensive than the 1962 reforms. As previously noted, Zia was responsible for the Islamization of Pakistan. Under his regime, the nation became far more sectarian and Islam infiltrated more aspects of life than it had under past rulers. Unsurprisingly, Zia was very interested in the countrys madrassahs. The reason for the 1979 reform was almost identical to the one in 1962: the madrassahs were failing to provide adequately employment opportunities outside of the  religious sect, and thus it was decided the system should undergo modernization. The recommendations were very similar, as well-again reinforcing the necessity of introducing more modern subjects into the curriculum, including: . . . Urdu, arithmetic, and general science at the primary level; English, general mathematics, and Pakistan studies at the secondary levels; political science, political economy, and English as optional subjects at the baccalaureate and masters level; and comparative religious sciences as a mandatory subject at the masters level. The committee proposed an autonomous National Institute of Madrassahs to compile and revise madrassah curricula, supervise these institutions, administer standardized tests, and award diplomas to the students. The proposed national institute, the committee recommended, was to have an equal number of members from all four subsects within the madrasah education system, and representatives from the government.30 The Report of 1979 sought to create a curriculum that all the different sects of Islam would accept. That being said, the boards ultimately saw the compromise of their beliefs as a loss, because their students would no longer be ideal representatives of their branch after being taught a hybrid faith. 31 Though the results of the 1962 and 1979 reports were similar, there was a significant difference in the composition of the 1979 committee that authored the later report. This committee included numerous ulamas, who worked alongside government officials in constructing the proposed reform. The 1962 committee, however, did not include ulamas nor did it consult with them about which reforms they would support. As a result, the ulamas were originally more open to the 1979 report, as they felt they had significant input in the process. However, while they were invited to participate in the committee, they were not a majority voice on the committee and the committee was led by a government official, so some ulamas still resented the governments authority in dictating the final report.32 It didnt take long after the release of the report for many ulamas to issue reservations about the proposed reforms; others boycotted it completely. The 1979 reforms occurred at the same time as the Iranian Revolution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The fact that Irans mullahs were successful in overthrowing the Iranian shah, and thus inserting religious figures in powerful political roles in a nearby country, convinced many Pakistani madrassahs that their schools did not need to modernize to be influential in the region.33 Many completely disregarded implementing the reforms, convinced, more than ever, that religious education was more important to Pakistan than the curriculum endorsed in the 1979 reforms. Such  tumultuous regional events had a profound impact on Pakistan, and complicated the madrassah reform process greatly. In fact, these events led to the expansion of a more extreme curriculum in madrassah, making the schools more threatening to development just as the state sought to reform them. During this time Pakistan became the battleground for an international Sunni versus Shia war. Iran was helping the countrys Shias generate support, while countries like Saudi A rabia were funding Sunni militant groups, often through madrassahs. In competition for the funding being offered by Saudi Arabia, some schools attempted to increase their focus on Wahhabism to ensure they would receive more funding than other madrassahs.34 Slowly, schools evolved from being primarily intellectual and religious institutions to political ones, as more students became involved in the religious revolutions occurring outside their borders. The Iranian Revolution served as a huge inspiration to Pakistans minority Shia population, who, seeing the successful Shia revolution in Iran, grew emboldened in their aspiration for political power. The number of Shias in the country began to increase, as many moderates in the country shifted their allegiance to Shia due to its opposition to Zias aggressive Islamization campaign.35 Zia, a Sunni, saw the rise in Shia activism as a threat to his regime, especially following the 5 July 1980 demonstration in Islamabad where 25,000 Shias v iolently protested the zakat36 law put in place as part of Zias lamization campaign.37 The zakat funds allowed the government to increase funding to schools like madrassahs since they often cater to the underprivileged. In 1984 alone over nine percent of the zakat fund was distributed to 2,273 madrassahs.38 Zias hope was that through these donations the madrassahs would become dependent on the state for their finances and, upon graduation, employment. While some madrassahs eagerly accepted the contributions to their struggling schools, other resented the government oversight and the obligations to the Zia regime that accompanied the zakat funds. They no longer wanted to be dependent on the government for what they viewed as bribes to expand government oversight of religious schools. The reliance on zakat funds, others believed,  had caused voluntary contributions to madrassahs to sharply decline, resulting in an overall loss of income for schools.39 The Shias decided to actively reject the zakat funds, which they believed were contradictory to their faith. Despite wa nting to limit the Shias influence, Zia had to relent to the 1980 protests of the Shia, as they effectively shut down Pakistans capital city. The victory of being exempt from paying zakat to the government inspired many independents in the country to declare themselves Shias. In retribution, Zia funneled more zakat funds into the nations Sunni-controlled madrassahs. The madrassahs became a venue in which Zia could resist the Shia influence, and thus these madrassahs became increasingly anti-Shia. Since Zia actively encouraged this behavior in order to resist the rise in Shias, it is no wonder that the school system became a place in which students grew intolerant of Shias, which led to a more sectarian and aggressive society. For the short-term goal of limiting Shia influence, Zia created a school system that, even   today, remains entrenched in perpetuating an exclusionary worldview, rather than an  accepting and tolerant environment for students. As previously reported, Z ia, in an attempt to recruit the support of the nations ulamas, decided some madrassah degrees would be considered equal to degrees from government schools. This movement correlated to the 1979 reforms, for though Zia wanted to increase employability for madrassah graduates, he wanted to make sure that as professionals the graduates had skills useful in the workplace. Under the assumption they could study Islam and still graduate qualified to work in the government, the number of madrassah graduates skyrocketed. Between 1960 and 1980, over 5,000 ulamas had been trained; following the equivalency certificates in 1981-1985, over 6,000 ulamas graduated-thats 1,000 more graduates in a quarter of the time.40 Though this initiative was intended to provide madrassah graduates with more authority, many new ulama graduates became less interested in the traditional study of Islam, and more concentrated on religious ideology as a means to influence the government. As such, some opened their own madrassahs so that they could funnel more graduates into the government or increasingly powerful political parties.41 In the late 1980s, the country began its decade of democracy. However, rather than economic prosperity and social equality, the decade produced poorer economic conditions and economic stagnation. The recession reduced employment opportunities, and many madrassah graduates who assumed they would secure a job within the government went unemployed. The curriculum many of the new madrassahs implemented left their students unqualified to beat out top students from government or private schools for the few positions available in the government, and it also left them unqualified for traditional ulama positions, which they theoretically could have secured if  they had followed traditional madrassah curricula. Rather than making students qualified for both religious and government work, the 1979 reforms had made students unqualified for either. With no opportunities in government or in religious posts, many new madrassah graduates focused their efforts on pursing their political agendas.42 They abandoned established political parties to form more extreme, militant ones. They also opened their own, more ideologically-minded madrassahs at an accelerated rate, thanks in part to the ncrease in zakat funds given to some madrassahs. While the more established madrassahs largely maintained their traditional curriculums, the madrassahs that were built during this time-especially those close to Afghanistan-were overseen by low ranking ulama who replaced traditional curricula with those that endorsed militarization. The goal of these madrassahs was to train students to become political activists, which they saw as more influential than a traditional ulama Post September 11th, it is clear how this radical momentum leading into the 1990s produced in Pakistan an environment similar to that in Afghanistan which provided Osama bin Laden p rotection and opportunity in planning the September 11th attacks. Why I Chose to Be an Accountant: A Reflection Why I Chose to Be an Accountant: A Reflection Accounting is an information and measurement system that we use for the purpose of identifying, recording, measuring, and communicating relevant and reliable information about an entity to those with an interest in the entity. Accounting is a very challenging and rewarding career with a wide variety of career paths that one can venture in. Accounting is more of a communicating language in the world of business and as a result, the demand for accountants are constantly increasing, making accounting an extremely marketable career path. An accountant, like a majority of other jobs, has the ability to work as an independent accountant or work in a corporate atmosphere. I decided to make a career into the field of accounting in the corporate market, working for a firm and then a private company. My goal is to achieve a position of a CFO or venturing into my own business. When I first heard about accounting I thought it was a generic degree that had only one specific work area inside of a business. However, after speaking to accountants and learning more about the career I learned of several opportunities that are available to an accountant with a Bachelors degree. This can include auditing, bookkeeping, budget analyst, financial accounting, management accounting, tax, and much more. Inside each of these careers, accountants could also find a specific niche that they particularly like. For example, I spoke with a lady who works as a tax consultant but has never done a tax statement in her life because all she does is work with international markets for her company as it pertains to the budgeting for the tax aspect. Auditing is one of the most common areas that accountants have chosen to build their careers in. I believe in this era that we are in today, the work of an auditor is extremely important to ensure that the numbers reported by an entity are accurate and as a result, we, as citizens, are able to invest in companies accordingly. Also, having the ability to audit a company requires in-depth knowledge into the market, legal environment, and the entity. Although I am interested in audit, I would like to start my career in tax. This is because taxation is an extremely important to a company and is extremely limited in regards to acceptance and turnover of employees. I believe to be a qualified tax accountant, an individual must have good knowledge of the necessary kind of government regulations and generally accepted accounting principles. As a tax accountant, I will be first be placed on a team in a tax department, where my duties can include reviewing files and company financial records, preparing ledgers, filling out tax forms, maintaining contact with tax agencies and holding meetings that are related to taxation and strategy (Admin, n.d.). My backup plan is to venture in becoming a forensic accountant with the FBI. I believe with my degree, as well as my military background in the U.S. Marines, I will be a qualified candidate. However, I dont believe in pursuing that as my primary career goal because the government funding is fi ckle as well as the pay, compared to the corporate market. Although tax in many firms, have a low acceptance rate and many companies require you to have at least 2-3 years work experience in the field as well as at least a bachelors degree, I believe I will excel when given the opportunity. This is because not only do I have a passion for it but I also excel in the quantitative areas. As far as the work experience that is required, I will be trying to go through an internship to full-time offer with one of the local firms in Miami, which doesnt require the work experience. With every accounting career field, you are required to work a lot of hours during busy seasons. At times I have heard of accountants working up to 7 days a week for 13-14 hours a day. I believe every qualified accountant expects a salary that is higher than or on par with other undergraduates from a number of business schools. Unfortunately, these expectations are rarely met in the current society. Currently the broad career field of Accountants and Auditors has an average hourly wage is $36.19 with an average annual salary of $75,280 (Labor, 2016).   However, as an entry-level tax accountant, I can realistically expect to earn between $47,568-$59,269 (salary.com, n.d.). Quite a number of students have joined the big accounting firms that pay higher salaries but its usually an average of around $50,000-$60,000. In other words, a lot of qualified accountants will be forced into sectors that dont pay as well. I believe in order to make the most in the beginning of my career, I should try not to fall victim to this lower market of accounts by realizing the dilemma and work and figure out ways to avoid it. One way I hope to avoid this is by completing my Master s in Accounting as well as my CPA. I also believe by doing programs like VITA and internships, will make me a key candidate that will be viewed as having the ability to succeed in any turmoil the company might face. The type of internships I will be looking to acquire internships that will give me experience with software solutions such as Inuit QuickBooks, Sage 50 Accounting, ATX Total Tax Office, CCH ProSystem fx TAX, Delphi Technology, and Oracle E-Business Suite Financial ls (Development, n.d.). Hopefully the internship I will be offered a full-time position in which I believe can help progress my career in one of the corporate offices because of a majority of their corporate promotion structure. I believe this will help mold me into an accountant that will be incredibly marketable in the corporate market. In conclusion, I would say that accounting is the very diverse career path that will forever be in demand. As our world moves more towards global transactions I also believe that we accountants will be in more demand. This is because accountants are a necessity to determine how successful a business entity is, that can be detrimental in determining if a business segment can survive in a new international market, costs needed to allocating, etc. For a successful career in accounting, I should always look for opportunities to mold myself as a capable accountant as well as adapt the new technology advances and learn how to adapt to the changing government regulations and generally accepted accounting principles. References Admin, W. (n.d.). What does a Tax Accountant Do? Retrieved March 27, 2016, from http://www.topaccountingdegrees.org/: http://www.topaccountingdegrees.org/faq/what-does-a-tax-accountant-do/ Development, N. C. (n.d.). Accountants. Retrieved March 22, 2017, from My Next Move: https://www.mynextmove.org/profile/summary/13-2011.01 Labor, U. S. (2016, March 30). www.bls.gov. Retrieved March 22, 2017, from Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.mynextmove.org/profile/ext/oesmaps/13-2011.01 salary.com. (n.d.). Tax Accountant | Salaries. Retrieved from salary.com: http://www1.salary.com/Tax-Accountant-I-Salaries.html

Living At The Crossroads Book Review Religion Essay

Living At The Crossroads Book Review Religion Essay The book Living at the Crossroads, by Michael W. Goheen and Craig B. Bartholomew, provides insight into how to live a Christian life at a time in which the Christian worldview has been challenged by the tenets of what is called post-modernism. In this book, the term worldview is used to describe a belief system. That is, what an individual or group of individuals believes as to how and why the world functions, and what the goals of the worlds existence should be. In this way, the worldview of a social community is the way in which this group of people characteristically look outward upon the universe. Worldview is linked especially to the way people in a particular society, such as Christian society; see themselves in relation to God, humanity and the rest of the universe. Although there are different worldviews in our society today, the Christian worldview has come under increasing social pressure to change. This book provides Christians with a path towards understanding their role in society and to help us live faithfully as Christians at the crossroads. Despite our place at the crossroads, Goheen and Bartholomew also demonstrate that Christians need to be able to remember their roots in faith. The role of the Lord Jesus Christ is to reclaim the whole world as His kingdom. This means that our faith in salvation can result in the restoration of the whole of Gods good creation on earth, and His works in Heaven. Goheen and Bartholomew tell their readers that the Gospel as it is recorded in Scripture can been seen to be as broad as creation. Since the gospel is about Gods rule over all of creation, all nations, and all of human life, therefore the mission of Jesus followers is also as wide as creation itself. We as Christians have therefore been engaged as witnesses to the gospel in all of public life business, economics, scholarship, politics, family, criminal justice, art, media and every corner of human experience throughout the world. The challenge, however, is that there are forces working against this role for Christians in our society today. Post-modernism, according to Goheen and Bartholomew, is a term used often in our society today. It is linked to the idea that relative truth is the prevailing issue of the day. Post-modernism says that moral and religions truth do not exist in any objective sense, that individual persons are the product of their cultures, and that we must, as a global society, reject any overarching explanation of what constitutes truth and reality. This means that the Bible should no longer be used as a guide for living our lives as Christians because of the fact that there are other people and cultures which prove that God could mean something different than what we believe. Because of this threat, God has commanded His people to organize themselves into distinct visible communities. The purpose is for giving visibility to His great Kingdom, making known the Gospel of that kingdom, and of gathering all His elect subjects. Each one of these distinctive organized communities are faithful to God represents an integral part of the visible church, and all together constitutes the universal visible church. As a whole, we need to understand our mission. To achieve this goal, we also need to become aware of our own assumptions as Christians by reflecting on three parts of knowing the Bible, namely (1) giving summary expression to the grand story; (2) lifting out the fundamental beliefs of that story; (3) articulating and explicating those beliefs. This is what worldview reflection is concerned to do (Goheen and Bartholomew 26). By doing so, Goheen and Bartholomew state that this formula can be applied to their two narratives, the Biblical story and the Western story. This means that by looking at the story of humanity seen through the eyes of Christianity, and also seen through the eyes of Western culture, we can begin to understand what is happening at the crossroads. In understanding the differences between these two points of view, we can act to protect the Christian faith from a hostile worldview over the long term. Goheen and Bartholomew make three distinctions between the Christian and the Western worldviews. The first distinction is that the Christian worldview is at first religious, while the Western worldview is linked to what is called rational thought. The idea of rationalism is linked to systems theory, in that there is a focus on evolution and the ways in which human society has changed over time. The Renaissances secular humanism and the shift to a focus on science during the Enlightenment period acted to split apart the connection between the gospel and humanism. Over time, this led to a conversion of Western society from a faith in the church to a faith in reason, in that Western society believed that the world would be bettered through science and reason. The second distinction between the Christian and the Western worldviews is that the Christian worldview is first a story, not a system. A Christian worldview demonstrates that there is a deeper meaning that can be reached through faith. As Goheen and Bartholomew write, It certainly is true that Jesus death is for us, but this is too narrow a version of the truth.  In the biblical drama Jesus dies for the whole world, for every part of human life, for the whole nonhuman creation. The cross is an event whereby the course of cosmic history is settled (56).  This means that instead of focusing on the structure of society and the possibility of whether or not there is a God, like the Western worldview, the Christian worldview allows the faithful to discover meaning in life through the narrative of the Bible and its teachings. The third distinction between the Christian and the Western worldviews is that the Christian worldview is first embodied, and then articulated, according to Goheen and Bartholomew. What this means is that we, as Christians, must first live a life of God before moving towards ministry. On an individual level in our walk with Christ, there really is only one goal: to be Christ-like. Ministry is only born out of our love for Christ and our desire to be transformed into His image. If there were no love for Christ, we would have nothing to give and would not have the staying power to finish the race. God is the Creator and Maker of all things and he so desires to manifest Himself and demonstrate how much he really loves us. As well, He is revealing Himself in new, fresh and exciting ways in these days we live in where we are presented with the challenges of living at the crossroads. It is only after understanding these ideas, however, that we as Christians can come together to articulate the work of God as a community. Overall, this means that, as Goheen and Bartholomew note, the very core of human life is religious. This means that not only is we as human beings dependent on and related to God, but that our lives should incorporate a constant response to God and His will for humanity. It is not difficult to figure out how to accomplish this task. Goheen and Bartholomew write that the Gospel is the message of the kingdomà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The good news that Jesus announces and enacts, and that the church is commissioned to embody and make known, is the Gospel of the kingdom. We make a grave mistake if we ignore this, the central image of Jesus proclamation and ministry (2). Through the Gospel, we can work our way towards salvation, which is the way that God will be able to reclaim His creation, namely the community of Christian faithful. In this way, Goheen and Bartholomew demonstrate that those who do not serve God are in fact idolatrous. Western culture, with its focus on consumerism and post-structuralism, suffers from idolatry because of the fact that these people serve a leader other than God. Over the last fifty years, the development of consumerism via new methods of advertising, media, and cultural shifts has had an increasing impact on our society, and especially on those most vulnerable to influence, children. We are bombarded with images throughout the day, from television and Internet advertising to billboards and radio spots. We are encouraged to association consumption with cultural events and holidays that were formerly Christian holy days of prayer and contemplation. This intersection of consumer media in our lives has changed the ways in which we see the world, but it has also had a definitive impact on our personal habits and our spiritual health, which is why it is important to show the difference between the Western culture focus on consumer goods and the Christian focus on Gods law. These changes in our global society have led to a shift towards an unhealthy move away from the message of God. This means that we, as Christians, cannot allow those living under the Western culture have the final say on the agenda and interests of Christians today. Because of the fact that we are called to be faithful to God, we need to focus on Gods word rather than that of those who live outside of the Christian faith. At the same time, Goheen and Bartholomew write that faithfulness to the Gospel can be very costly and that suffering can come to be the result of a missionary encounter with the idolatrous powers of society as whole. The move towards what is known as secular and rationalistic humanism in Europe and other northern regions of the world has only led to the dilution and destruction of Christianity. For this reason, the only way to ensure that Christianity is maintained is through faithfulness to the Gospel. One of the most significant things that is pointed out by Goheen and Bartholomew is that the shift towards post-modernism and idolatry within traditionally Christian communities in Europe and other northern regions of the world has allowed for the rise of Islam. Part of the reason for this shift is due to the fact that Islam offers people a deep sense of community where religion and way of life are connected. Law is fundamentally important to the Muslim people and their community governance because it is treated as a way of being, rather than a legal or religious structure that is separate from other aspects of life and the Quran is its defining symbol of identity. As such, evaluation of and adherence to Islamic law has shaped the political, economic and social standards of Islamic Empires throughout history. The scope of Islam has changed because of the necessity of protecting its followers right to practice the religion, and therefore the concept of uniting and increasing Muslim te rritory through Jihad, which is mentioned as the only acceptable form of warfare. In doing so, the Islamic world forced the home of Christianity to Rome, thus essentially Europeanizing the Christian faith. This was a massive social shift, and signalled a new face of power within Europe and Asia. At the present day, this shift is beginning to be felt on a larger scale. In order for Islamic communities to thrive and get along, they follow common rules by which they have agreed to operate, based on religious tradition alone. As noted by Goheen and Bartholomew, the Islamic political and legal system is seen as inseparable from other aspects of life, and it gives a world-view, a vision, and a set of values, and leaves enough room to work out details for different situations under the guidance of its religious leaders. The challenge is that Islam is becoming stronger because it has developed a culturalist reaction against Western cultural values. The Muslim viewpoint of the West is that it is against its own collectivist worldview, because in Western culture, individuals care nothing for those around them, and seek only for self-gratification. At the same time, Western culture is also perceived to be imposing its worldview on other societies, such as Islamic countries. The West is , in this way, linked to the idea of protecting the survival of the fittest, while Islam is linked to the idea of protecting the interests of its internal religious community. For these reasons, Goheen and Bartholomew note that there needs to be a Christian empathy for the way in which Islam is responding to the individualist approach of Western communities. Islamic regions of the world are turning to fundamentalist practices as a way in which to balance out economic and social challenges between themselves and Western culture, and in this way restore order and justice to their communities. The fundamental challenge in the conflict between Muslim and Western thought is therefore not so much who people are and what they believe in, but what they are perceived to be and what they represent for each other on a cultural basis. In this way, Goheen and Bartholomew suggest that Christians need to be aware of these social dynamics on a global basis, and find our own way of challenging the force of secularism which is damaging our culture. In this way, the resurgence of Islam becomes a prophetic challenge to Christians to recover the full dimensions of their faith (Goheen and Bartholomew 124). In the end, we, as Christians, need to follow the recommendations of Goheen and Bartholomew in order to develop a comprehensive approach to cultural engagement. First, we need to be able to recognize that because Jesus Christ is Creator and Redeemer of all things, our collective Christian approach to salvation can be both restorative and comprehensive. In moving toward a kingdom of God, the Church is called to witness to this comprehensive salvation. The Gospel is, in this way, the only means of transforming human life for the better. If we do not work towards these goals in this way, Goheen and Bartholomew warn Christians that we will become a minority community in the world. Although, in remaining faithful, we may experience some degree of conflict and suffering as a community, we must understand that this will allow for restoration though Gods love. Our mission is linked to that of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Goheen and Bartholomew demonstrate that in order to complete this mission, we also need to make its goals clear to our young people who want to profess their faith through education. We must also incorporate our faith into every act or work that we do, through our professions. This may be challenging because of the fact that, in the Western culture in which we live, the word of God may call forth opposition, conflict, and rejection. At the same time, this approach will ensure that God and his faithful will be able to work towards on the final day when the Lord returns in glory to help us all realize our eternal life with Him.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn Essay -- revenge, chillingwort

Revenger consumes the soul of the extractor, and leaves him a shell of his former self. Revenge often leads him down an irreversible path that ultimately proves to be detrimental to him. Such acts are especially grave according to Puritan belief, which holds that vengeance belonged only to God. As a Puritan, Nathaniel Hawthorn knew about such believes, and as a master of words, a literary genius who had a deep understanding of human emotions and boundaries, he develops a story whose central theme was revenge. Hawthorne uses The Scarlet Letter to reprimand revenge as a detrimental act never allows a person to be satisfied and in the end, destroys him. He uses Chillingworth’s conversations with others to characterize Chillingworth’s radical transformation from a scholarly person to a devil whose sole purpose was to torment Dimmesdale as retribution for committing adultery with Hester. In his exposition, Chillingworth, a learned man justly demanded that his wife’s fellow sinner speak up and identify himself. This was no doubt a perfectly normal response for a man, who after being in the company of Native Americans for over three years, happens to come to the right place at the right moment to see his wife on the scaffold, humiliated by the overbearing sin of adultery. In his conversation with Hester in jail, Chillingworth made it clear that he did not intend to harm neither Hester nor Pearl. He contended that had he been a more open caring husband, and not devoted his youth to books and the pursuit of wisdom, such an incident would had never occurred. In admitting partial responsibility for Hester’s sins, Chillingworth is characterized as a humble and sagacious man, which Hawthorne employs as the peak from which he strips away Chil... ...intellectual force – seemed at once to desert him† (254). As a man whose sole purpose thereof was to extract revenge, when death moved one-step ahead of him, he had no more purpose in life, and thus too died within the year. Through an analysis of his dialogue with other characters, the reader can witness Chillingworth’s transformation from a leaned man to a vengeful demon. Hawthorne reveals the detriment of revenge, which ultimately drove Dimmesdale and Chillingworth himself to their unintended death, and condemns it as an act that only God can execute. Only Hawthorne could have conjured such an elaborate love story whose central theme is the devastating effects of revenge. This novel serves to remind people of the harmful consequences of extracting revenge without constraint, and how once a person embarked on the path of vengeance, his demise is set in stone.

The Nature of Ghosts in The Woman Warrior Essay -- Maxine Hong Kingsto

The Nature of Ghosts in The Woman Warrior "Ghost." What images does this word conjure up in the average American mind? Perhaps you think of little kids draped in white sheets begging for candy on Halloween. Perhaps you imagine transparent versions of dead people wandering the earth for eternity. Perhaps you are reminded of a person who just saw something especially scary; they are "pale as a ghost". So the word "ghost" - a word with many meanings - calls forth these images. What do they have in common? There's the idea of paleness - when was the last time you ever saw a black ghost? Silence - ghosts don't say much, except maybe they go "Boo!" once in a while. And, just maybe, there's a hint of unfamiliarity in the idea - it's always a stranger's soul wandering the earth, not someone you know, and somehow - maybe with a white sheet - the ghost's identity is hidden from the world. Perhaps these have something in common with the "Chinese" idea of the ghost as it is played out in Kingston's The Woman Warrior. I have placed "Chinese" in quotes to acknowled...

A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams :: A Streetcar Named Desire Essays

Tennessee Williams is known for his powerfully written psychological dramas. Most of his works are set in the southern United States and they usually portray neurotic people who are victims of their own passions, frustrations, and loneliness. The play represents the conflict between the sensitive, neurotic Blanche DuBois and the crude, animalistic Stanley Kowalski. Blanche visits the home of her sister, Stella, in New Orleans and that is when Stanley started picking at her, almost testing her. Before she had met Stanley, she told her sister of how their plantation had been lost due to the costs of paying for the funerals of many family members. There was not enough money for her to keep the plantation. While Blanche bathed after her arrival, Stanley came home. Stella had told him what had happened and he immediately insisted that Blanche was swindling them. He hinted that Blanche had sold the plantation in order to buy beautiful furs and jewelry. He went through Blanche's trunk while she bathed, Stella insisted he stop. He was looking for sale papers from the plantation. After Blanche was finished bathing, Stella was outside, so Stanley started questioning Blanche. She insisted that she had nothing to hide from him and let him go through all historical papers from Belle Reve, the plantation. While living with Stella and Stanley, Blanche had met a man named Mitch, who she started dating. She liked him a lot but she hid many things from him. Firstly, she hid secrets of her first lover, her husband Allan Grey. Every time she thought of him, she thought of how he killed himself and she heard the polka which played in the background. She did not want to speak of this to Mitch. After Allan's death, Blanche used to go to the Tarantula Arms hotel where she would have intimacies with strangers. She did it because she felt it would fill her empty heart. She did not want to tell Mitch because she wanted him to respect her.Blanche was very careful to hide her looks too. She felt that she was old looking and tried to avoid bright lights from glaring down on her. She covered a light in Stella's house with a Chinese paper lamp to keep it from being so bright she hid her looks from Mitch, he never saw her in the day. Finally, one day, Stanley tried to find out many of Blanche's secrets and told them to Mitch so he would not fall for her, even though he was considering marrying her.

Comparing and contrasting Bandura’s cognitive theory Essay

Introduction Perhaps there are as many differences as there are similarities between the ideas expressed in Bandura’s Cognitive Theory and Beck’s Cognitive Theory. Many similarities exist between the two theories because they are both based on the study of human behavior and personality. However, the ideas expressed and mechanisms used in analysis confer some discord between the two theories. It is evident that no two persons in the world would have exclusively similar thoughts about a phenomenon; hence, differences are always abound. Since studies in similar fields are usually related in a way, prevalence of similarities should not occur as a surprise. For example, the fact that behavior is affected by, among other things, the environment, is embraced in the detail of both theories. The two theorists are also of common opinion that negative thoughts are likely to trigger negative behavior and dysfunction in many activities. For example, Bandura’s theory highlights that people with high opinions about themselves are usually better performers in many activities than those who weigh themselves on a lower scale. In the same way, Beck’s theory is emphatic of the point that negative thoughts in people lead such people to have low opinion of themselves and evaluate themselves negatively. Bandura’s Cognitive Theory and Beck’s Cognitive Theory both view the environment as a determinant of personality and behavior. While Bandura (1976) used â€Å"environmental factors† in his triad, Beck (1976) showed that the â€Å"world† (in reference to the environment) is one of the factors that shape a person’s behavior, attitudes and perceptions about various phenomena. Both theorists agree that the environment acts together with other factors to shape a person’s character and behavior. For instance, Bandura (1986) observed that aggressive behavior in adolescents is caused by the environment, but the behavior as well creates an environment. Bandura referred to such a relationship as reciprocal determinism. On the other hand, Beck (1976) noted that the world shapes a persons character since a person acts in accordance with what is happening in the general world. Disparities in Bandura’s and Beck’s theories are evident right from the beginning of the model. While there is a similarity of the use of a triad, the constituents of the triads are the source of dissonance. This is in addition to many other instances in the illustration of the applications of the two models. This paper gives an analysis of the similarities and differences in the two theories and the implications or causes of such scenario. Moreover, the paper will highlight the key areas where similarities as well as differences occur between the two theories.

Martin Luther King vs. Malcolm X Essay

Malcolm X Vs. MLK JR Extremist, or peace maker? That is the true difference between the beliefs, and ideals of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Both men were African-American civil rights activists during the 1950’s and 1960’s, and both wanted to be accepted for their race, but they wanted that acceptance in very different ways. The two men had very diverse beliefs, Malcolm being a devout Muslim and King being a Baptist clergyman, their religions played a big part in each of their views and how they went about achieving their goals. This is where their ideas differed, and why they wouldn’t technically be considered same, or â€Å"fighting for the same cause†. Malcolm X was considered an extremist for a few main reasons, one being that he wanted complete segregation from the white race. He believed that African Americans were so mistreated that they should be completely shut off from the white Americans. In his Declaration of Independence (1964), he states that the â€Å"best solution is complete separation, with our people going back home, to our own African homeland†. He wanted himself, and all other blacks to be sent to their ancestor’s land of Africa where they could live among other blacks, where they wouldn’t be thought of as a lower class, but as equals. Although Mr. X wanted equality for blacks and whites, he still believed that there should be segregation; he wanted both races to be â€Å"separate but equal†. In the sense of violence, X didn’t promote the use of violence, yet he did believe that man should be able to â€Å"defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks†. I n the end, Malcolm wanted a place of acceptance, and a place where he could be somewhat at peace with what he considered his own kind. Peace is what brought Martin Luther King power in his speeches to the people of America. Like extremist Malcolm X he wanted acceptance for himself, and all of as he’d put it â€Å"brothers, and sisters†. The King’s speeches were very motivational during their time, and so uplifting that it’s generally believed if not assassinated complete freedoms for African Americans would’ve been accomplished much sooner. King believed he could achieve his dreams and goals of having whites and black living together in harmony and peacefulness through nonviolent protesting and also by educating the public. Martin Luther King wanted acceptance just as Malcolm X did, but they wanted it in two very different ways. King wanted it through peace and unification with his fellow Americans, while Malcolm wanted it through rioting, and force of opposition. It might seem like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X fought for different things for the African American people, but in all reality it comes down to the simplest form of an idea. They wanted acceptance. Without acceptance both causes were completely lost, no matter the arguments made, and the battles fought. Till acceptance was granted, all was lost. That’s why the differences of Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s differences are what united them, giving them their ultimate similarity.