Comparisons of war poems Essay Example for Free

Comparisons of war poems Essay In exploring the portrayal of war in the poetry of Wilfred Owen and Shakespeare one can see the contrasting attitudes and realities of war. In before Agincourt set in 1415 composed by Shakespeare, he portrays the glory and honour in war, whilst Anthem for doomed youth composed by Wilford Own set in 1914 is expressing the meaningless and realistic thoughts of view. In the first stanza which Shakespeare has composed in the poem before Agincourt. He uses manipulating concepts that convey the message that war is a great adventure and that you should die for your country. Whilst Anthem for Doomed youth is doing the exact opposite and tries to convince the reader that war is a horrific ordeal. As the two poems where written in an interval of five hundred years it shows us very clearly the different point of few people had in their perspective time about war. Before Agincourt is a very patriotic and heroic poem. In the first stanza Shakespeare uses a courageous tone. He uses emotional adjectives and verbs to make the reader feel the same as he does. He also uses a lot of positive nouns to create this affect e.g. greater share of honour Gods will. There is not much alliteration or any form of onomatopoeia in the first stanza. The second stanza uses a lot of emphasised words and longer pauses before the next line he also uses repetition of words starting with M. In the last stanza of the poem he does not use any assonance, onomatopoeia and alliteration technics to emphasize his poem. He only uses strong punctuation and pauses to create a very positive approach on war. This poem could be used as a propaganda device. Anthem for Doomed Youth composed by Wilford Owen. In the title of this poem Wilford is expressing that war is negative. Doom is a simile to convey inevitability of death, Doom also uses assonance with the double Os. It has an affect of being scary and threatening. The first stanza uses repetition to add rhythm and onomatopoeias to create a more realistic approach on war. The second stanza uses a lot of repetition and emphasised words. e.g. No mockeries, no prayers nor bells. No mockeries is implying no more joy and that they cant be mocked any more because they have perished. The No is also emphasised to give the poem more rhythm. No prayers nor bells. Is repetition, it also has a sad motive. The tone goes up to give the poem more negativity and sadness by elongating some words. The third stanza uses a rhetorical question to start off with. The mood is a lot softer. This is created by the poet using a softer tone to shorten the Ss, Ps and Rs. He uses repetition to try and enhances the readers sadness and visual imagery. There are also a lot of similes and metaphors used. E.g. pallor, paleness, brows, forehead. In the last stanza there is a vast amount of imagery of death. There is an ethical custom to conclude his poem. Drawing down of blind this is what people at home did when a close relative died. Comparing these two poems reveals that Shakespeares before Agincourt uses a lot less alliteration and repetition making the poem more joyful and honourable for war. In conclusion Shakespeare is totally glorifying war while Wilford more realistically looking at war as a horrifying killer concept. Style wise I prefer Shakespeare poem having a nice ring to its rhythm but the content of his poem is out dated and modern man would find it hard to agree with his idealistic point of views. Personally I can understand Wilfords Owens point of view better then Shakespears. War is a horrifying non justifiable matter and should not be promoted.

Religion :: essays research papers

In 1886 the Catholic bishops of the United States published a pastoral letter entitled Economic Justice for All. There were two main reasons for this letter: first of all they wanted to illustrate an understanding of the nature and reason for economic activity from the view of the Catholic and theological thought; furthermore they also wanted to evaluate the workings of the American economy, both from a national and international point of view. As the letter states, â€Å"Every perspective on economic life that is human, moral, and Christian must be shaped be three questions: What does the economy do for people? What does the economy do to people? And how do people participate in it?† This pastoral letter symbolizes the most aspiring effort of the Catholic bishops of the United States. The bishops also put forth another aspiring effort to make the ideas and insights of people throughout the United States a reality. Even though the bishops of the United States were trying their best to make this a lasting and historical document, it unfortunately found a way to generate considerable controversy. There were critics who said that the bishops were going into an economic battlefield where they have little experience. However, this is a chance for the American people to help out and give their support to not only the bishops but the poor people too. The bishops were hoping that the Economic Justice for All will eventually have an impact, both on the political perspective and also the economic realities of the United States citizens. The Catholics in the United States hope that the social justice will set the stage for reflection and action for the future. Because of the many Catholics here in the United States the dioceses started to put forth their efforts in doing what was needed to get this program on its feet. This is what started the beginning of a new awareness of the relationship between the struggle for economic justice and the mission of th e church. Even though there were many people working hard the question still remains: When hard times start to arise will the American people create the opportunity for the poor to find a job in this economic and socialistically dominated world. If indeed the American economy is willing to accept, the pastoral can provide a powerful building block of the policies and programs which are necessary to create a society that will be for the justice for all.

Can We Speak of a ‘Classless Society’

Can we speak of a ‘classless society’? Stratification is a concept we are faced with on a daily basis, whether it is a conscious or subconscious element of our lives. Class has been a dominant form of stratification in traditional views of society, but man’s evolution in thought, behaviour, outlook, organization and culture has led to critical criticism questioning the very existence of class itself: Does class still exist? Can we speak of a ‘classless society’? Analysing the role that class does or doesn’t play in modern society is interesting because we are our very own sources.Through first hand experiences of class we can determine the role it plays in our everyday lives. Class can be viewed both subjectively depending on how we think of ourselves, or objectively dealing with how we are structurally located in society. (Milner, 1999) Therefore, combining our subjective, micro-level understanding of class with a macro-level, objective analys is of class, we can determine the degree to which class persists in modern society. The idea of stratification and class will continuously persist as it provides a foundation for organization and identity in society.Although the word ‘class’ will never die, the traditional role class plays in society has certainly died. ‘Social Class’ is the class of today; it has followed the death of the rigid, traditional and intolerant class of yesterday. Today people are more empowered and can take control of their social standing, an idea supported with the current social mobility and emergence of the middle class. ‘Social class’ classifies people in terms of gender, ethnicity, race, age, culture etc. Naturally, economic class continues to play its role in society, but it does so in harmony with other aspects of ‘social class. Class is disintegrating because people are becoming more individualistic. What matters today is how people see themselves, a s opposed to how they are viewed by society. (Pakulski, et al. , 1996). Traditionally, society consisted of inherited classifications between masters and slaves, and lords and peasants etc. , which constituted the ‘natural’ way of association. There are certain parts of the world where people still live by their inherited class. In India for example there is a Caste System, in which every individual is categorized into divisions (colour, ancestors, rank).There are four main castes with various sub-castes and each have a large amount sub castes within them, furthermore outside the caste system are the ‘Untouchables’ who are oppressed and viewed as impure all the time. The four main castes: Brahmins–priests Kshatryas–warriors Vaishyas–traders Shudras–laborers A significant classical view of class is that of Marx. His traditional view of class contained two distinct classes: Bourgeoisie or the capitalist class, who own their own mea ns of production, and the Proletariat or working class, who own their own labour. Marx, et al. , 1848) Exploitation between these two social groupings in the capitalist production process defined Marxist class (Pakulski, et al. , 1996). The Marxist view is ‘real’ and ‘objective, furthermore its concerned with the different strata as a whole rather than the individuals within them (Saunders, P. 1990). For Marx, social power was achieved purely through economic class. He viewed class as a rigid and positional aspect of society. Hence, his interpretations of class failed to account for the fluidity of modern class.Conversely, Weber’s view of class is much more synonymous with the role class plays in modern society. He looks at class in terms of the cultural and social roles it plays in society and focuses more on stratification through consumption rather than production. (Pakulski, et al. , 1996) He juxtaposes class as an economic relation with class as a soci al relation, unlike Marx who predominantly focused on economic class. Weber analysed class in terms of status and stratification in the light of: property, ownership, occupational skills, religion, legal rights, lifestyle and consumption.This view of class is still relevant in today’s society and therefore Weber’s view of class is not wholly classified under the ‘dead’ or dated outlook on class. Weber did also look at class in terms of economic relations and the possessions of economic goods, as well as market position. He believed that life chances are determined by how one is positioned in the market. (Weber, 1922) This relates to the Indian Caste systems where members of a high caste (Brahmans) enjoy more wealth and opportunities; members of a low caste (untouchables) perform unwanted menial jobs.The ‘Untouchables’ being the lowest stratum are regarded as underprivileged, demoralized and ‘backward’, hence given the jobs such as sweeping, garbage collector and regarded as impure individuals- the idea that once they touch another individual there needs to be a cleansing as the ‘untouchables’ are ‘dirty’. Individuals were relatively powerless, as they could not acquire wealth or status through changing position in a market place. Today, however, hard work and merit allows for social mobility and people have a stronger influence over their position in society. Milner, 1999) Having said that, some individuals do not get the opportunity of social mobility- due to the fact that they are either uneducated or the fact that they do not have the right social networks.Gandhi named the Untouchables â€Å"Harijians† (Children of God)- by doing this he tried upward mobility by trying to elevate their status through different means (befriending and eating with the impure). ‘Underclass’ in general tend to suffer multiple deprevisation, as they are dependent on state welfare (i f given) and have low levels of education hence making it harder for upward mobility (Saunders, P. 990) Social mobility and individual control over social standing has been greatly strengthened through the modern preoccupation with education. The increased priority given to exposing larger proportions of society to education has empowered individuals, allowing them to use their educations as a tool to overcome ‘class’ barriers. Overall, the ability to move up and down the social ladder in present day society makes class that is classified purely in an economic sense irrelevant. Economic’ class is no longer a steady, inherited, and ‘life-long’, concrete concept, as people can change their economic standing within their own life span or across generations. The concept of the ‘middle class’ has also arisen through the idea of social mobility and empowerment through education, and does not concur with Marx’s traditional view of class. Today, the ‘proletariat’ of traditional Marxism is being replaced by machinery as the advancement in technology has made some manual work redundant.Furthermore, the idea that many modern companies do not solely rely on legal ownership of a company, but instead hire people due to technical competence, gives people the opportunity to hold managerial positions that have a lot of power. This is the idea of recruitment via ‘meritocrality’ and hints at the death of classical conventions of class. Therefore, the idea of objective class being defined as the relationship between the ownership and non-ownership of productive resources has greatly dissolved (Lee, et al. , 1996).Having said that in India the opportunity of mobility is limited it all comes down to the status, power or class of the individual- this is due to the fact that India is still developing and full of politics, an individual would have to have the right connections in order to do or acquire anyt hing but most important factor in accomplishing anything in India would be money. Furthermore if an individual is a Shudras they would have less capital compared to the Brahmans, hence decreasing their chance of opportunities they can take.Within the Indian caste system most people remain in one caste their entire life and marry within their caste. Although class is viewed differently today, it does not necessarily mean that modern views of class are more ‘equitable. ’ In fact, there is still a strong lack of equity within the different classifications of gender, ethnicity, sexuality etc; furthermore there are parts of the world where class is a vital aspect in their everyday life and interaction. The difference being that in contemporary society people are more attached to individualist and consumerist forms of discrimination and inequality.It can be said that today consumption is more important than production, class is no longer a ‘lifetime experience’, but instead thought about as an ‘individual biography’, and exclusion from the labour market is the more appropriate way to think about poverty. Although the concept of class is ever-present, the objective and subjective role it plays in society has been greatly transformed within the western society, thereby accounting for the death of classical class theories.Having said that India could never be a classless society as people are not acting constructively to escape class divisions, this is due to the fact that most ‘underclass’ cannot undergo upward mobility, as they do not have the opportunity or resources. Class is a social relationship that invades each individual’s lives. There has been a death of traditional class within the western society as individuals are acting constructively to escape class divisions and go towards a classless society, however an evolved definition of class continues to dominate the 21st century.Bibliography Saunders, P. 1990. Social Class and Stratification, USA, Rutledge. Pakulski J and Malcolm W. (1996) The Death of Class. London: Sage. Milner, A. (1999) Class. London: Sage. Weber, M. [1922] ‘Class, Status and Party. ’ Extract from Economy and Society in W. G. Runciman [ed. ] (1978) Max Weber: Selections in Translation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 43-56. Giddens, A. (1994) Beyond Left and Right. Cambridge: Polity. Pp. 139-48 Marx, K. and Engels, F. [1848] ‘Bourgeois and proletarians’, section 1 of The Communist Manifesto, in D. McLellan [ed. ] (1977) Karl Marx: Selected Writings. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 222-231. Prandy, K. 2002. Ideal Types, Stereotypes and Class. The British Journal of Sociology, Volume 53 number 4, page14. Brahman. (2010). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved October 06, 2010, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/77093/Brahman â€Å"Harijans. † The Columbia Encyclopedia, S ixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved October 06, 2010 from Encyclopedia. com: http://www. encyclopedia. com/doc/1E1-Harijans. html

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Book Review

Brave New World is one of the novels written by Aldous Huxley and talks much about genetics and soma as a significant scientific issue. The discussion of the novel looks forward to progress in technology advancement that has contributed greatly towards changing today’s society. According to the author of the novel, he believes that the book serves like a satire from the place where he lived. Besides, it serves like a caution and a warning for the upcoming generation once the government is given the control and mandate over the new emerging technologies. Through the use of new technology humans have had changes in the way they lead their lives (Aldous 58). For instance, due to the comfort brought through technology, the society is seen to fully have started relying on the technology, a factor which has made humans lazy. According to the author of the novel, various forms of technologies have contributed towards changing the society. The issue of scientific work and research has been greatly discussed in the book. This has become a big debate especially with cloning. Soma-clonal issues have also been greatly discussed. This factsheet discusses widely on the use of Soma and the legalization of drugs in the book ‘Brave New World’ as one technology mentioned above which are contributing to the society change. Generally, Soma is used in various methods of medication (Aldous 123). Furthermore, it’s also a symbol of science and technology which has powerful influence in the society. For example, it acts like relaxer to muscles through prevention of pain in brain and nerves and farther used in therapies in the treatment of wounds and musculoskeletal situations which are painful. In real senses, relation and application of Soma, the drug serves to be symbolic of the use of immediate fulfillment to manage world’s inhabitants. In the real world social issues, there are various ways through which use of soma drugs relate to the entire society. From the study of the novel, it’s true that Brave New World is comprised of different persons who always keep away from the reality about the entire situations (Aldous 129). Â  For instance, the about worldwide use of soma drug may be the persistent case of stubborn self fantasy. Soma vapors the truth of the current and substitutes them with happy allusions, and therefore the reason it’s used as a tool for encouraging communal constancy. As discussed in the book, the use of soma drugs in the novel as emerging technology relates to social issues in the society which happens to have both negative and positive impacts. Such examples of social issues being faced nowadays which relate to the novel include; the increased rates of crimes, use of drugs without the required prescription, child abuse and increased rates of sexual harassments between the women (Aldous 135). Â  These social issues affecting the society nowadays are the same discussed in the novel hence they are seen to be due to the increased use of soma drugs and other related drugs which are used following the advancement in the emerging technology. Increased misuse of drugs have played great role in the changing of society norms of everyday activities (Aldous 143). Â  This has led to various negative impacts towards the society settings. For instance, in the cases of women, majority get sexually transmitted diseases in the cases where they are raped. Most of these scenes occur following misuse of drugs. Whereby, the drug users are out of their control and senses since at that time, the drugs dominate and take control of their senses. On the other hand, drugs have contributed greatly towards increased crime rates. This is the case where those who use drugs tend to go to the extreme of robbery in the event when they are broke. Furthermore, children have been abused through the new technology and the use of drugs. Many are introduced to drugs even before they know the purpose of the drugs. Here many students end up dropping from schools hence lowering the academic dignity of their state or country which later affects the economy of such states (Aldous 153). The emergence of the new technology has been of significance to some extent, but on other side the society which is taking the advantage fails to manage and use it at the right time. This has led to majority of people becoming lazy and unable to function normally without such drugs. In return, this lowers society development. Although many consumers of medicine do it for the reason to endure the confront and obstacles of life, many don’t understand the sid e effects associated with such drugs. In conclusion, the novel is scrutiny of the technical autocracy which is basically related to the society. With connection to this, the writter of the novel applies his little familiarity relation of humans in comparing the currrent day world with his visionary dream. Hence he examines intimaidatio to civilization, for instance the persuasion of chemicals through the new technology. In this case he clarifies the reasons as to why avoiding them is impossible in one way or the other. Works Cited Aldous, Huxley. Brave new world. Toronto: Random House of Canada, 1998.