Neglect and Decay in Joyce Carol Oates Haunted Essay -- Joyce Carol O

Neglect and Decay in Joyce Carol Oates' "Haunted" â€Å"Things in the world even those built by man are so quiet left to themselves†¦Ã¢â‚¬  People futilely fight the decay of life and relationships in an attempt to find beauty and goodness in the world. Joyce Carol Oates masterfully illustrates this theme in her short story â€Å"Haunted.† Oates reveals the protagonist Melissa’s desperate struggle with looming forces like the physical environment, her twisted relationship with her best friend, and even the insanity in her own mind. Oates utilizes imagery, symbols, and metaphors to show the downtrodden state of the countryside in which Melissa and Mary Lou live. Mentioning it several times throughout the story, Oates uses glass as a major symbol signifying the once beautiful structures which become ugly and useless in neglect. In all of the houses Melissa and Mary Lou explore, there is broken glass underfoot and windows which have been smashed. â€Å"Slippery like water,† the glass foreshadows the danger of Melissa’s mind finally shattering. Oates also describes Mary Lou’s eyes as blue â€Å"lik...

“A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift Essay

The essay, â€Å"A Modest Proposal† by Jonathan Swift is a satirical piece that discussed, in great detail, the issues surrounding 18th century society as it pushed forward development as society progressed, both technologically and socially. The essay contained a ‘modest,’ albeit radical, proposal from Swift, wherein he tried to provide a rational solution to the problem of increasing population, scarcity, and poverty in his society under the British rule. Among Swift’s ‘modest proposals’ were the imposition of polygamy among humans, wherein â€Å"one Male [sic] will be sufficient to serve four Females,† and the practice of bearing children as Food, which he identified to be â€Å"very proper for Landlords. † These propositions provided a glimpse into the social problems Swift’s society experienced during his time, wherein poor governance, in order to be alleviated, was resolved through what Swift considered to be deviant and inhumane practices. Proposing these deviant and inhumane practices was a demonstration of the increased demoralization among the citizens of Swift’s society, a state which the author deemed to be too outrageous to be true but is actually occurring. Hence, in order to address these outrageous yet unconfronted social problems and issues, Swift’s essay generated the attention it deserved and warranted, therefore making the readers and the essay’s target audience aware of the social state at which their country found itself in. Swift’s essay, in effect, drove home the fact that in the midst of social progress and development, moral demoralization occurred as a consequence, defeating the purpose of development and progress in the society. A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift Essay How does Swift attempt to make his readers aware of the problems in Ireland with his pamphlet? To what extent do you think he succeeds? Satire; a mode of writing that exposes the failings of individuals, institutions, or societies to ridicule and scorn. The modest proposal was considered one of the finest pieces of satire in world literature and was published as a pamphlet in 1729 in Ireland aimed at mainly the middle/ upper class of Ireland. The reasons for Swift’s outlandish and shocking pamphlet were to argue that the problem of poverty in Ireland can be best remedied by selling the babies of the less fortunate as food for the wealthy. He put forward his ideas in a pamphlet as this was a common method to publish an argument or in the public treatise arena. There was an issue of too many Protestants becoming quarrelsome over the Irish religious issues and something had to be done to resolve the complaints. This is where Swift’s proposal came into action as it addressed the issue and played on people’s prejudices and stereotypes of the Catholics and the Irish being inhumane savages. The proposal can be perceived as barbaric, cannibalistic and outrageous whereas some will see the logic behind it and how it will actually work. In the whole pamphlet he uses irony constantly to show satire and to horrify the public but sometimes you cannot always see the serious behind the writing. Swift sets up the proposal by giving the reader an insight into what someone might see as they walk through a town in Ireland in 1729. He describes the town (Dublin) as ‘great’ in the first paragraph but then carries on by saying that the streets are ‘crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four or six children’. He is putting the country down by writing about the streets swarmed with beggars. This tells the reader that he doesn’t like where the country is going as in poverty and homeless people. He is very blasi when mentioning the beggar’s children as if they don’t care about them and can’t even keep track of their offspring. He is describing a place where there is a problem and it needs to be fixed. When mentioning the women with several hungry and poor children, he wants the reader to feel sorry for them. If he can engage the reader with poignant images then they will be keen to agree with the proposal. When talking about the amount of children the women are having he doesn’t want to make people feel sympathetic or even think that they are stupid for having so many children and not being able to raise them. He is playing on stereotypes of anti-catholic Protestants because Catholics do not believe in contraception so they will conceive more children than Protestants regardless if they can or cannot support them. Swift is highlighting a problem which he thinks can be resolved. He starts to build up to the proposal by giving hints along the way like in paragraph 3 when he says ‘and shall take in the whole number at a certain age, who are born of parents in effect as little able to support them’. This sentence must make the reader puzzled as to what is going to follow about poor and helpless children who cannot be raised by their parents. Paragraph 4 is where Swift reveals the basic idea of the proposal by talking about how much it is to raise a baby until the age of one year for a poor begging family. He says that it would cost no less than 2 shillings as the baby would feed on its mother’s breast milk. When it does reach that age then the baby can be sold to feed and clothe the ‘many thousand’ Irish rather than the child becoming a burden to its parents as they will not be able to feed them much longer. I think that Swift writes this with a dispassionate tone even though the topic he is proposing is a sensitive area to the people who are reading it. He could have used some emotion rather than becoming so reserved. In paragraph 5 he starts stating the advantages of the scheme like preventing voluntary abortions and ‘that horrid practice of women murdering their bastard children’. For some, this will emphasise the savage animalistic nature of the Irish. This is where Swift becomes aggressive and tries to persuade the reader that his proposal can solve these unfortunate mishaps just because the families these children are born into cannot support them. In paragraph 6, Swift uses statistics to rationalise his argument. In this section he writes very bluntly without any emotion at all. He starts calculating the amount of women who will be used as ‘breeders’ and those who will be able to support their children. He then calculates the amount of breeders in Ireland and minuses the amount of miscarriages. It’s good that he does use statistics because otherwise the reader will not be able to imagine how you can put this plan into action to solve the problem of too many poor Catholics in Ireland. By using statistics he could win the readers over because they are very logical and straightforward ways of thinking. He weighs out the factors that could affect the ‘breeders’. He uses the term ‘breeders’ as substitute names for the wives who will be producing the children. This is harsh and inhumane as you would normally associate ‘breeders’ as animals or cattle. If Swift didn’t use statistics then the readers would not be convinced as to how such a plan would ‘work’. In ‘A modest proposal’ Swift uses a lot of irony in his writing. Some examples of this is when Swift says that 12 year old boys and girls could be sold as an alternative to deer however the reason he changed his mind was because they wouldn’t be worth much money for their meat. This is because they will have to be fed alot more than a one year old baby as they are growing and need to have some fat and meat on them to be used as food. They would be expensive to breed, clothe and feed. He never gives the full proposal in the first paragraphs which builds suspense as you want to know more and ask questions about why he is doing what he is and when will this happen. Swift reveals his proposal in paragraph 9 and 10 by mentioning ‘a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London’ which implies that he is blaming the theory on someone before he even starts. He says that this man told him that a ‘young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food’. This line would have most probably shocked all readers because they would never think of eating babies however Swift would see it as comical because it is a ridiculous idea in the first place. He then adds to the horrific idea of eating children by listing some of the ways to cook them! This is where Swift is being satirical and humorous because he would never cook a child ‘in a fricasie, or a ragout’. It was just to shock the audience. In paragraph 10 he tells you how he would go about ‘reserving’ women for breeding purposes only and how the males will be made to breed and not be allowed to create a bond with the women. It would be like a production line which would be similar to ‘sheep, black cattle, or swine’. He refers to them as ‘savages’ which is very callous and unsympathetic. Swift then talks about how many people one baby will feed and how many it will entertain. He says that a child will make two dishes for friends and for a family meal they can use the fore hind quarter will make a reasonable dish. He talks about the baby as if it is any piece of meat. He wants the audience to feel that he is very blasi about the situation and that he doesn’t care that he is dehumanising the Irish in such a horrific way. I think that the way he is so unloving about the women being used as baby machines is terrible but the only reason he is removing the love is to show the lack of humanity given to the Irish. The objective is to lessen the amounts of ‘papists’ which is an abusive and racist term given which plays on peoples prejudices of the Irish. He takes anti-catholic/Irish sentiment to its logical conclusion.

Jenny Lind - Swedish Opera Singer Promoted By P.T. Barnum

Jenny Lind was a European opera star who came to America in 1850 for a tour promoted by the great showman Phineas T. Barnum. When her ship arrived in New York Harbor, the city went crazy. A massive crowd of more than 30,000 New Yorkers greeted her. And what makes that especially astounding is that no one in America had ever heard her voice. Barnum, who relished being known as The Prince of Humbug, had managed to create incredible excitement based purely on Linds reputation as The Swedish Nightinagle. The American tour lasted for about 18 months, with Jenny Lind appearing in more than 90 concerts in American cities. Wherever she went, her public image of a virtuous songbird who dressed modestly and donated money to local charities gained favorable mentions in the newspapers. After about a year, Lind split from Barnums management. But the atmosphere created by Barnum in promoting a singer no one in America had even heard became legendary, and in some ways created a template for show business promotion that endures to the modern era. Early Life of Jenny Lind Jenny Lind was born October 6, 1820 to an impoverished and unmarried mother in Stockholm, Sweden. Her parents were both musicians, and young Jenny began singing at a very early age. As a child she began formal music lessons, and by the age of 21 she was singing in Paris. She returned to Stockholm and performed in a number of operas. Throughout the 1840s her fame grew in Europe. In 1847 she performed in London for Queen Victoria, and her ability to make crowds swoon became legendary. Phineas T. Barnum Heard About, But Had Not Heard, Jenny Lind The American showman Phineas T. Barnum, who operated an extremely popular museum in New York City and was known for exhibiting the diminutive superstar General Tom Thumb, heard about Jenny Lind and sent a representative to make an offer to bring her to America. Jenny Lind drove a hard bargain with Barnum, demanding that he deposit the equivalent of nearly $200,000 in a London bank as an advance payment before she would sail to America. Barnum had to borrow the money, but he arranged for her to come to New York and embark on a concert tour of the United States. Barnum, of course, was taking a considerable risk. In the days before recorded sound, people in America, including Barnum himself, had not even heard Jenny Lind sing. But Barnum knew her reputation for thrilling crowds, and set to work making Americans excited. Lind had acquired a new nickname, â€Å"The Swedish Nightingale,† and Barnum made sure that Americans heard about her. Rather than promote her as a serious musical talent, Barnum made it sound like Jenny Lind was some mystical being blessed with a heavenly voice. 1850 Arrival in New York City Jenny Lind sailed from Liverpool, England, in August 1850 aboard the steamship Atlantic. As the steamer entered New York harbor, signal flags let crowds know that Jenny Lind was arriving. Barnum approached in a small boat, boarded the steamship, and met his star for the first time. As the Atlantic approached its dock at the foot of Canal Street massive crowds began to gather. According to a book published in 1851, Jenny Lind in America, â€Å"some thirty or forty thousand people must have must have been collected together on the adjacent piers and shipping, as well as on all the roofs and in all the windows fronting the water.† The New York police had to push back the enormous crowds so Barnum and Jenny Lind could take a carriage to her hotel, the Irving House on Broadway. As night fell a parade of New York fire companies, carrying torches, escorted a group of local musicians who played serenades to Jenny Lind. Journalists estimated the crowd that night at  more than 20,000 revelers. Barnum had succeeded in drawing enormous crowds to Jenny Lind before she had even sung a single note in America. First Concert in America During her first week in New York, Jenny Lind made excursions to various concert halls with Barnum, to see which might be good enough to hold her concerts. Crowds followed their progress about the city, and anticipation for her concerts kept growing. Barnum finally announced that Jenny Lind would sing at Castle Garden. And as demand for tickets was so great, he announced that the first tickets would be sold by auction. The auction was held, and the first ticket to a Jenny Lind concert in America was sold for $225, an expensive concert ticket by today’s standards and a simply staggering amount in 1850. Most of the tickets to her first concert sold for about six dollars, but the publicity surrounding someone paying more than $200 for a ticket served its purpose. People across America read about it, and it seemed the whole country was curious to hear her. Lind’s first New York City concert was held at Castle Garden on September 11, 1850, before a crowd of about 1,500. She sang selections from operas, and finished with a new song written for her as a salute to the United States. When she had finished, the crowd roared and demanded that Barnum take the stage. The great showman came out and gave a brief speech in which he stated that Jenny Lind was going to donate a portion of the proceeds from her concerts to American charities. The crowd went wild. American Concert Tour Everywhere she went there was a Jenny Lind mania. Crowds greeted her and every concert sold out nearly immediately. She sang in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Richmond, Virginia, and Charleston, South Carolina. Barnum even arranged for her to sail to Havana, Cuba, where she sang several concerts before sailing to New Orleans. After performing concerts in New Orleans, she sailed up the Mississippi on a riverboat. She performed in a church in the town of Natchez to a wildly appreciative rustic audience. Her tour continued to St. Louis, Nashville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and other cities. Crowds flocked to hear her, and those who couldn’t hear get tickets marveled at her generosity, as newspapers ran reports of the charitable contributions she was making along the way. At some point Jenny Lind and Barnum parted ways. She continued performing in America, but without Barnum’s talents at promotion she was not as big a draw. With the magic seemingly gone, she returned to Europe in 1852. Jenny Lind’s Later Life Jenny Lind married a musician and conductor she had met on her American tour, and they settled in Germany. By the late 1850s they moved to England, where she was still quite popular.  She became  ill in the 1880s, and died in 1887, at the age of 67. Her obituary in the Times of London estimated that her American tour had earned her $3 million, with Barnum making several times more.