Reading of the modernists involved such a process of disturbance Essay Example for Free

Reading of the modernists involved such a process of disturbance Essay Modernist writers disturbed their readers by adopting complex and difficult new forms and styles. To what extent has your reading of the modernists involved such a process of disturbance? Modernist literature flaunts difficult, often aggressive or disruptive, forms and styles; it frequently challenges traditional realistic style and is characterised by a rejection of 19th century traditions. Literary modernism focuses on breaking away from rules and conventions, searching for new perspectives and points of view, experimenting in form and style. It breaks up and disturbs the settled state of literature and emphasises a re-structuring of literature and the experience of reality it represents. Although art always attempts to imitate or represent reality, what changed was the understanding of what constitutes reality, and how that reality could best be represented. Modernist literature is marked by a break with the sequential, developmental, cause-and-effect presentation of the reality of realist fiction, towards a presentation of experience as layered, allusive, and discontinuous: using, to these ends, fragmentation and juxtaposition, motif, symbol, allusion. From time to time there occurs some revolution, or sudden mutation of form and content in literature. Then, some way of writing which has been practiced for a generation or more, is found by a few people to be out of date, and no longer to respond to contemporary modes of thought, feeling and speechtradition has been flouted, and chaos has come.1 This process of disturbance can be seen in the experimentation in form in order to present differently the structure, the connections, and the experience of life. The tightening of form puts an emphasis on cohesion, interrelatedness and depth in the structure of the novel. This is accomplished in part through the use of various devices such as symbolism, narrative perspectives, shifts and overlays in time and place and perspective. Woolf uses these methods to explore what lies outside the specification of the real. Woolf draws on an interior and symbolic landscape: the world is moved inside, structured symbolically and metaphorically, as opposed to the realist representations of the exterior world as a physical and historical, site of experience. The painter Jacques Raverat wrote in a correspondence to Woolf: The problem with writing is that it is essentially linear; it is almost impossible, in a sequential narrative, to express the way ones mind responds to an idea, a word or an experience, where, like a pebble being thrown in to a pond, splashes in the outer air are accompanied under the surface by waves that follow one another into dark and forgotten corners2 Woolf felt it was precisely the task of the writer to go beyond a linear representation of reality in order to show how people think and dream. Rather than take her characters from point A to point B, Woolf gives the impression of simultaneous connections: a form patterned like waves in a pond. She reveals what is important about her characters by exploring their minds and the thoughts of those surrounding them. Such explorations lead to complex connections between people, between past and present, and between interior and exterior experience. Woolf establishes these connections through metaphors and imagery, and structures the novel using alternating images of beauty and despair, exhilaration and melancholy. These juxtapositions suggest both the impulse towards life and the impulse towards death, which makes the process of reading disconcerting and recondite. Woolf dispensed with conventional beginnings and endings, and the traditional structure of events in time, for example, Mrs Dalloway tells about one days experiences for two characters whose lives are not connected with each other, except by the slightest coincidence at the end. Woolf uses perceived time interwoven with clock time to create a simultaneous experience of past and present. The scene is London after the war, but also Bourton thirty years ago. In this commingling of time, the past exists on its own and in its relations to the present. Time is moved into the interior as well: it becomes psychological time, time as an innerly experienced or symbolic time, or time as it accommodates a symbolic rather than a chronological reality. Examining the intersection of time and timelessness, Woolf creates a new and disturbing novelistic structure in Mrs. Dalloway wherein her prose has blurred the distinction between dream and reality, between the past and present. An authentic human being functions in this manner, simultaneously flowing from the conscious to the unconscious, from the fantastic to the real, and from memory to the moment. Throughout Mrs Dalloway the focus continually shifts from the external world to the characters consciousness and how they perceive it. This has the disquieting effect of back grounding observable reality so the details emerge more slowly than when they are presented by an omniscient narrator. However, the London setting is established immediately, the streets and landmarks are real, this verisimilitude of setting seems to give the characters a solidity which is juxtaposed with the fluidity of the depiction of the characters thought processes. Mrs Dalloway supposes that somehow in the streets of London, on the ebb and flow of things, here, there, she survived3 The fact that the narrative takes place on a specific date is disclosed more gradually than the setting is, for example, Clarissa thinks For it was the middle of June. The war was over4 and then the narrator tells us it is Wednesday on page fifteen. Later still Peter Walshs thoughts reveal that it is 19235. There are also references to Gold cup day at Ascot so by naming a specific year Woolf turns what could have been a fictional fact in to a real one. Woolf implies a concept of time as a series of life conjunctures rather than impersonal. These are established by the presence of sensory phenomena in different contexts such as the sound of Big Ben, the common perceptions among unrelated observers, for instance, the prime ministers car. Also, by convergences at occasions of group activities as in Clarissas party. Time seems relativistic in the sense it depends on systems of measurement. The clocks divide the day into quarter hours. The loud voice of Big Ben is associated with the masculine. It is described as a young man, strong, indifferent, inconsiderate, were swinging dumb-bells this way and that6. It marks the movements of the two doctors, Peter Walsh and Sir Richard as they move through their day, making pronouncements. St Margarets on the other hand is the feminine. It follows Big Bens booming leaden circles with ring after ring of sound that glides into the heart like a hostess, like Clarissa herself7 thinks Peter Walsh as he hears St Margarets peeling sound. Furthermore, The clocks divide time into a pattern, Shredding and slicing, dividing and subdividing, the clocks of Harley Street nibbled at the June day, counselled submission, upheld authority, and pointed out in chorus the supreme advantages of a sense of proportion8 The ringing of the clock bells radiates from the centre of the city. The sound creates a design in the texture of the narrative, slicing through the characters subjective experience of time and contrasting this with objective, exterior time. In To The Lighthouse many of the characters are preoccupied with time. Mr. Ramsay worries about how his philosophical work will stand the test of time, just as Lily expects her painting to be rolled up and forgotten. The very style of the novel brings time into question as Woolf infuses even a brief moment in an everyday event, such as reading a story to a child, with an infinitude of thought and memory 9 Meanwhile days, tides, and seasons keep up their rhythms regardless of human events, while historical time brings cataclysmic change in the form of war. In addition, time brings loss as well as renewal. Mrs. Ramsay dies, while the children she has left behind continue to grow. In To the Lighthouse Woolf depicts two contrasting kinds of time, the linear and regular plodding of clock or objective time, and the reiterative, non-linear time of human experience. Her depiction of subjective time, layered and complex was, critics have observed, not unlike that of the philosopher Henri Bergson, though there is no evidence of any direct influence. It is in the Time Passes section of the novel that Woolfs interest in the contrasting forms of temporality is most evident. The narrative style of this part is very unusual and is unlike that of Parts I and III. Its effort to narrate from what Woolf called an eyeless point of view is strange, it is as if she is thinking of the philosophical problem, the problem with which Mr Ramsay grapples in the novel, of how to think of the world when there is no one there. This is translated into an artistic problem, of how to narrate the passage of time when there is no one there to witness it. The scale of events in Time Passes is much grander than the scale in The Window, thus throughout this section Woolf employs a different method and uses parenthetical asides to impart important news. Instead of focusing on the thoughts of her characters, she keeps a tight focus on the house itself. Dramatic events such as Mrs. Ramsays death could not have been confronted in the style of The Window. as the subtle, everyday quality of the interactions between events and thoughts would have been disturbed by the introduction of the tumultuous news imparted here. The airs in this section of the novel are like times fingers. The constant, regular beam of the Lighthouse is closely allied with time, too, like an all-seeing and immortal eye. Puffs of air detached from the body of the wind10 pull at the loose wallpaper and the things in the house, the light from the Lighthouse guiding them through the house. Natural time is seen as objective and inhuman, it is destructive and violent in the sense that it has no concern for human purposes. Woolfs solution to this problem is to invent a poetic style that, ironically, relies heavily upon the devices of personification and animism. The shadows of the trees made obeisance on the wall, loveliness and stillness clasped hands in the bedroom, light bent to its own image in adoration on the bedroom wall and in the heat of the summer the wind sent its spies about the house again11. It can be questioned whether these devices are successful. It is as if Woolf wishes to fill the emptiness of inhuman nature with primitive animistic entities and malign agencies. The solution can seem oddly childlike, personification and animism being, as Freud pointed out, typical of infantile thought12. The problem illustrates, perhaps, the difficulty of avoiding images of human agency even when they are least necessary. In Mrs Dalloway during sections of mind-time, Woolf sets various time streams loose at once, either in the mind of one character, who retreats into internal soliloquy, collapsing past, present and future, or in the simultaneous perspectives given by several characters recording a single moment. The result of either technique is that plot time stands still.13 Time is not entirely subjective and elastic in this text, however. The novel does take place within a prescribed temporal context marked ominously by the booming of Big Ben: First a warning, musical; then the hour, irrevocable. The leaden circles dissolved in the air. Throughout the novel this chronology is inescapable, cutting through the characters thoughts of the past to bring them back to the present moment Auerbach points out that To the Lighthouse marks the end of the Western tradition of realism. He argues that the novel employs a new fashion of temporality. It is the gap between the brief span of time occupied by exterior events, about two days in The Window, and the rich, dreamlike realm of consciousness. The exterior events actually lost the hegemony over subjectivity14. The novel proves the insignificance of exterior events by holding to minor, unimpressive things like stockings, while keeping in minimum the descriptions of such great events as death and marriage. To the Lighthouse is thus a disturbing turning point in literature because it discarded any claim to the organic completeness of exterior events and the chronological order. To The lighthouse employs a non-linearity and thus counteracts narratives usual form of depicting events in a continuous succession. Synchronicity, evident in the coexistence of multiple perspectives at the same temporal moment, disturbs the narratives attempt to render the story world as events in succession. And elision, evident in the stories within the story whose endings are invariably left dangling and incomplete, dissolves the narratives attempt to achieve completion. Together, these discordant methods undermine the conventional unfolding of narrative. Woolfs novel employs these techniques of disruption in order to portray narrative continuity as an inescapable yet unattainable illusion. Plot is generated by the inner lives of the characters. Psychological effects are achieved through the use of imagery, symbol, and metaphor. Character unfolds by means of the ebb and flow of personal impressions, feelings, and thoughts. Thus, the inner lives of human beings and the ordinary events in their lives are made to seem extraordinary. These complex and new methods that attempt to depict the chaotic interior life appear more jumbled and perplexing than the classical realist novel and so seem disturbing. However, Woolf is attempting to create a realistic account of the inner processes of the individuals mind and an expression of the continuous flow of sense perceptions, thoughts and feelings. Woolf also employs the symbolic apprehension and comprehension of reality as a structural approach to experience. It marked a turning away from writing by observation to transforming fact into a symbol of inner experience. In her diary Woolf wrote What interests me in the last stage was the freedom and boldness with which my imagination picked up, used and tossed aside all the images, symbols which I had prepared. I am sure this is the right way of using them-not in set piecesbut simply as images, never making them work out; only suggest 15 To The Lighthouse assumes a structure similar to that found in the fictional scene of the painting. In a letter Woolf acknowledges the structure and its unifying symbol as enacted at the end. I meant nothing by The Lighthouse. One has to have a central line down the middle of the book to hold the design together.16 In To The Lighthouse the Lighthouse has a prominent but fluid symbolic place in the novel. It does not seem to be the key to some hidden allegory since it does not stand for just one thing, each character that contemplates the Lighthouse gives it a special meaning, its significance in the novel evolves as the sum of different parts. For the teenaged James, the Lighthouse is a stark symbol of masculinity, a phallic symbol. For Mrs. Ramsay, the Lighthouse is a watching eye sweeping through her thoughts with a regular rhythm. To Woolf, the Lighthouse seems to serve as an anchor, a unifying image that ties together the layers of time and thought she explores. Like the clock striking the hours in Mrs. Dalloway, images of the Lighthouse act as the bolts of iron17 holding the different strands of the novel together. The focus of the planned excursion is not named until page eight and from then onwards the Lighthouse always appears with a capital letter. It is conventional to capitalize words referring to abstractions, particularly in philosophical writing. This feature has the effect of elevating the significance of the place, as if Lighthouse were an abstract concept like Truth or Death. The Lighthouse makes its first appearance in the text in very lyrical terms. The domestic metaphors used to describe the scene, which are perhaps Mrs. Ramsays associations; the island is in a plateful of blue water, and the dunes are arranged in pleats18. The first influence of the lighthouse is the description of Jamess excitement The wonder to which he had looked forward, for years and years19 The lighthouse already seems to have gained a greater significance than its mere physical existence. It is an object of desire to James. However, his reaction to Mrs Ramseys promise shows that there is a separation between his dream of happiness (going to the lighthouse) and his dull, everyday experience of life. Prosaically, the lighthouse is a real thing, yet James has made it into an unattainable dream, which he does not expect to come true. James seems to be in a crisis because there is a prospect that his ideal world and real world will become the same and he will go to the lighthouse. Therefore, the wondrous aura of the lighthouse is attached to mundane things. James endows a picture of a refrigerator with a heavenly bliss. It was filled with joy20 this implies that fantasies bring relief from the dullness of everyday life, as long as there is the prospect that they will come true. However, James is one of that great clan21 who live for the future but if future ideals cloud the view of reality then there is an implicit suggestion that achieving ones desire presents a danger in that there would be nothing left to live for. Conversely, people must have some hope of achieving their ideal, or life would become futile. Woolfs symbol of the lighthouse expresses this paradoxical idea in that it represents both an idealised fantasy while also being a real lighthouse. It becomes a trigger, provoking the reader to think about the human tendency to live for a future fantasy, together with all the paradoxical emotions Woolf conveys as associated with that tendency. James looked at the Lighthouse. He could see the white-washed rocks; the tower, stark and straight; he could see that it was barred with black and white; he could see windows in it; he could even see washing spread on the rocks to dry. So that was the Lighthouse, was it? No, the other was also the Lighthouse. For nothing was simply one thing. The other Lighthouse was true too22 James compares the real and the ideal and decides that the Lighthouse can be both. He provides a useful key for deciphering the symbol of the Lighthouse, for nothing was simply one thing23. The Lighthouse is the object of striving, some mystical, distant entity with an all-seeing eye. At the same time it is the embodiment of isolation and sadness, linked with Jamess desolate image of himself and his father as lonely and apart from other people The fact that the Lighthouse is a frequent subject for artists adds to its symbolic import. The tightening of form puts an emphasis on cohesion, interrelatedness and depth in the structure, Woolf engages both the subject of art, Lily Briscoes painting, for example and the aim of philosophy, in Mr. Ramsays work. The Lighthouse was then a silvery, misty-looking tower with a yellow eye, that opened suddenly, and softly in the evening.24 Mrs. Ramsay incorporates the Lighthouses regularly appearing light into the pattern of her thoughts. She recognizes that she is doing this, that she is making the things she sees part of herself, as if the Lighthouse was an eye looking at her. The light strokes also serve to highlight certain cadences in her thought, heightening their meaning by repetition The parallels developing in this section between Lilys actions and reflections and the impending trip to the Lighthouse suggest that Lilys revelation, her moment of clarity and stability, is her own version of the Lighthouse, the thing toward which she has been striving 25. Woolf builds upon the same metaphors and imagery through repetition and association to give them symbolic value of their own. There are repetitions of key images: water, waves, and sea; webs, ties, and threads; and trees through the novels. In Mrs Dalloway words are used in very certain terms in relation to life. They are used repeatedly throughout the rest of the novel, and built upon as metaphors until they stand alone to symbolize life. The sense of being absorbed in the process of action is inseparable from the fear of being excluded from it and from the dread that the process is going to be interrupted. The metaphor of the interrupter and the solemn pause, indicating a fear of being interrupted, are developed throughout the novel. Clarissas sewing is depicted in a rhythmic wave of building, creating, and making. These images recur throughout the novel as they gain symbolic significance. Sewing is a metaphor often used to denote womens creative capacity and symbolizes both artistry and the creation of life. The wave provides both a sense of calm and fulfillment, yet maintains a suspenseful pause before a crash or interruption Mrs. Dalloway has an unpleasant feeling she cannot place. After taking a moment to think, she realizes this feeling is attached to something Peter had said, combined with her own depression26. She realizes it is her parties. Her unpleasant feeling is attached to the criticism she receives from both Richard and Peter about her parties. Clarissa privately defends her parties. She sees them as an offering, a term she is able to recognize as vague and goes on to define. She is offering a connection. She gives meaning to life by feeling the existence of others and offering a way to bring them together, offering them a chance of connection. While sitting on the couch, Septimus notices a shadow on the wall. Fear no more the heat o the sun. This phrase, which acts as a calming device, enters his head. Suddenly, he is not afraid. He sits up and takes an interest in what Lucrezia is doing. She is making a hat. More significantly, she is creating and building Rezias creation of the hat, like Clarissas sewing, symbolizes not only the creation of life, but also more specifically, the female ability to create life But this hat now. And then (it was getting late) Sir William Bradshaw27 Woolf uses this one symbolic line as a metaphor for the transition from life, represented in the making of the hat and death, suggested by Bradshaw, the symbol of the souls containment and the character who ultimately provides Septimus with the impetus to kill himself. Woolf uses a great deal of imagery; her similes often begin as a straightforward comparison, which is then elaborated. This moves the ideas away from the physical reality of the narrative and towards mental events, emotions and ideas providing a bridge between the plot and the interior consciousness of the characters. The reader is shown the dilemma of how to create a meaningful sequence and the impossibility of essentially finding an explicit formal system of how to represent objects and concepts, that are assumed to exist, and the relationships between them. The cumulative effect of such repeated notions and images is to establish a systematic network of social elements, such as, human time, space, shared symbols, personal relationships, so as to arrive at a vision of modern life on a national scale. This collective existence is apprehended internally, as its participants experience it. It is both the content and the form used to portray that content which makes reading a disturbing process. The question of the reality of experience itself; the critique of the traditional values of the culture; the loss of meaning and hope in the modern world and the exploration of how this loss may be faced are all themes within Woolfs novels. Subject matter and writing style are the two features that characterise Modernism and this applies to Mrs Dalloway. The themes of Woolfs novels express the angst of Modernism in a precise way and Mrs Dalloway exemplifies the conflict felt in the modern society that produces this angst. The conflict is played out between two forces, one that fragments and disperses social order and causes chaos, and a more stable impulse that looks for unity. Multiple voices, fragmented narrative and stream of consciousness are the stylistic devices of Woolf that convey the themes of conflict, despair and escape in the novel. Mrs Dalloway can be seen as an attempt to critique modern life, however, the novel can seem overwhelmed by the chaos of characters struggling to find meaning in life when death is such a large presence. Another aspect of this novel that is Modernist and can be seen to be disturbing is its withdrawal from the epic novel, the larger historical or temporal frame found in the 19th century novel. In Mrs Dalloway, there is no organising logic from which to draw a secure and comfortable resolution to lifes struggles. The action or plot is restricted to a single day, no large epic journey is possible and while the struggle for life is apparent, there is nothing of the 19th century moral structure to contain and manage the outcomes. Death and despair overwhelm life and its purposes, the narrowness of life is suffocating, and lives are fragmented, anxious, disconnected and misrecognised. To The Lighthouse also undermines what were the conventional expectations attached to novels. Woolf speculated that she might be writing something other than a novel. I have an idea that I will invent a new name for my books to supplant novelBut what? Elegy?28 Her work can be seen as more poetry than fiction as it occupies itself with abstract ideas and experimentation more than with plot and character development Woolf throws into disorder readers expectations of how life can be represented within a novel, and she achieves this through seeking a new mode of expression. It is not that she rejects reality, but rather that she sought to develop a higher type of realism, as if more complex forms would allow for the depiction of a more complex and vivid understanding of reality. Bibliograph. Auerbach, Erich, Mimesis: the representation of reality in Western literature / by Erich Auerbach; translated from the German by Willard Trask. New York: Doubleday/Anchor Books, 1957. Bell, Q, Virginia Woolf: A Biography. London: Hogarth Press, 1972. Eliot, T.S, American Literature and American Language in Selected Essays. London: Faber, 1951. Fleishman, Avrom, Virginia Woolf: A Critical Reading. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1975. Lee, Hermione, The Novels of Virginia Woolf. New York: Holmes and Meier Publishers, 1977. Naremore, James, The World Without A Self. London: Yale University Press, 1973. Schulze, Robin. G, Varieties of Mystical Experience in the Writings of Virginia Woolf in Twentieth Century Literature Vol.44. New York: Hofstra University, 1998. Woolf, Virginia. A writers diary: being extracts from the diary of Virginia Woolf edited by Leonard Woolf. London, Hogarth Press, 1953. Woolf. Virginia, Mrs Dalloway. London: Penguin, 1996. Woolf, Virginia, To The Lighthouse. London: Penguin, 1992. 1 Eliot, T.S, American Literature and American Language in Selected Essays. London: Faber, 1951.p. 73. 2 Lee, Hermione, The Novels of Virginia Woolf. New York: Holmes and Meier Publishers, 1977. p.106. 3 Woof, Virginia, Mrs Dalloway. London: Penguin, 1996. p.8. 4 Ibid. p.6. 5 Ibid. p.55. 6 Ibid. p.35. 7 Ibid. p.60. 8 Ibid. p.75. 9 Auerbach, Erich, Mimesis: the representation of reality in Western literature / by Erich Auerbach; translated from the German by Willard Trask. New York: Doubleday/Anchor Books, 1957. p.529. 10 Woolf, Virginia, To The Lighthouse. London: Penguin, 1992, p.190 11 Ibid. pp.137-139. 12 Schulze, Robin. G, Varieties of Mystical Experience in the Writings of Virginia Woolf in Twentieth Century Literature Vol.44. New York: Hofstra University, 1998. p.3 13 Naremore, James, The World Without A Self. London: Yale University Press, 1973. p.71. 14 Auerbach, Erich, Mimesis: the representation of reality in Western literature / by Erich Auerbach; translated from the German by Willard Trask. New York: Doubleday/Anchor Books, 1957. pp. 351-355 15 Woolf, Virginia. A writers diary: being extracts from the diary of Virginia Woolf edited by Leonard Woolf. London, Hogarth Press, 1953. p.169 16 Bell, Q, Virginia Woolf: A Biography. London: Hogarth Press, 1972. p.168. 17 Woolf, Virginia, To The Lighthouse. London: Penguin, 1992. p.5. 18 Ibid. p.23. 19 Ibid. p.7. 20 Ibid. p.7. 21 Ibid. p.7. 22 Ibid. pp.276-277. 23 Ibid. p.277. 24 Ibid. p. 107. 25 Ibid. 270. 26 Woolf. Virginia, Mrs Dalloway. London: Penguin, 1996. p.183. 27 Ibid. p. 178. 28 Woolf, Virginia. A writers diary: being extracts from the diary of Virginia Woolf edited by Leonard Woolf. London, Hogarth Press, 1953. p.78.

Sir Gawain: The Ideal Knight Essay -- Canterbury Tales English Litera

Sir Gawain: The Ideal Knight Throughout the Arthurian legends, Sir Gawain seems to be the epitome of a noble knight. He is always putting his king before himself, repeatedly sacrificing his own life in some way for King Arthur. He is an honorable knight that lives up to his word. This is evident in both Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell." In these stories, Gawain lives up to the expectations of a knight belonging to the legendary Round Table. In "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell," King Arthur is accused of unrightfully giving away Gromer Somer Joure's lands to Sir Gawain. Gromer Somer Joure asks Arthur a question, which Arthur must answer if he wants his life to be spared. Arthur, going against the instructions of Gromer Somer Joure, tells Gawain of his predicament. He tells Gawain that he must not speak of the situation to anyone else. Gawain responds by telling Arthur, "I am not that man that wold you dishonour." ("Ragnell" 150) It is apparent that Gawain is an honorable person that keeps his word. Arthur would not confide in him, otherwise. Gawain's commitment to King Arthur is even more evident as the story goes on. Arthur finds an old hag, Dame Ragnell, who knows the answer to the question he has been asked. She asks in return, "Thou must graunt me a knighte to wed--his name is Sir Gawen." ("Ragnell" 280-281) Arthur cannot agree to this without consulting Gawain. When Arthur tells Gawain about his encounter with the hag, Gawain brushes it off as if it is nothing. He does not fear marrying the hag as long as it will spare the life of King Arthur. He says to Arthur with great confidence: Is this alle? I shalle w... ...s given his land to Sir Gawain. Arthur relies on Sir Gawain to get him out of the predicament that he is in. He also relies on Sir Gawain when the Green Knight confronts him in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Gawain offers to take Arthur's place in the Green Knight's Christmas game. Arthur quickly accepts without a second thought. It is obvious that throughout the Arthurian legends that Arthur and Gawain are portrayed differently. One thing that remains the same is that there is a special bond between these two characters. Gawain is always the knight that is ready to defend Arthur at all times. Works Cited Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams et. 7th Edition, Volume 1. New York: Norton, 2000. 156-210 Sands, Donald B. Ed. Middle English Verse Romances. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc., 1966.

Cheating Quotes Essay

Evidence 1. â€Å"There is too much competition between students, which leads to increased pressure to do well. Cheating becomes a way to get the edge over the other students in the class. In addition, the penalties for getting caught are mild.† 2. â€Å"Today there is more pressure placed on students to do well. They are expected to receive good grades, play a sport, and volunteer if they are to be looked at by a good college. With a B tainting your transcript, a college might not look at you.† 3. â€Å"Students who would usually cheat get sucked into believing it is the only way to get ahead in school: If the cheaters are doing better then they are and not getting caught, then they had better try it.† 4. â€Å"Schools are drifting away from emphasizing learning and are emphasizing the grade instead. When the thirst for knowledge is replenished in the students mind, the desire for the grade without the work will dissolve. Only then will cheating decline.† Commentary 1. Wenke is indicating that the competition to get better grades has increased, and the only way for the students to stay in the competition is to cheat. She also says that because of the competition the pressure increased which causes the students stress, which then pushes them towards cheating. The students have no fear of cheating because the penalties will not affect them or there grades in a major way. 2. Wenke is trying to show us that now education is based around getting good grades and doing well and not about getting a good education and learning. She also is saying that colleges are looking for students with better grades and people with more extracurricular activities and with out A grades colleges may not even look at your transcript. 3. Wenke is telling us that cheating is the only way students can achieve success in school. Some students try their hardest to get the best grade they can achieve, but then see that the cheaters that put in less effort and get better grades. This makes more students want to cheat because that way you could focus on other things and not only schoolwork. So Wenke is saying what is stopping the good students from trying to cheat if the cheaters are prospering while they are not. 4. Wenke is indicating that cheating will only decline if knowledge is a greater quality for students rather than getting a better grade. If all the students want only knowledge and the grades do not affect their education then there will not be as much cheating as there is now. So the end of cheating will only occur if students care more about knowledge instead of grades.

Part1. Physical items Essay

Goods: Physical items produced by business organizations. Operations Management: the management of systems or processes that create goods and/or provide services Process: One or more actions that transform inputs into outputs Services: activities that provide some combination of time, location, form, and psychological value System: a set of interrelated parts that must work together. Technology: the application of scientific discoveries to the development and improvement of goods and services Operations management requires: both knowledge of the facts and how to interpret that info in order to produce and deliver Requires constant improvement: due to competition in the marketplace and advances in technology Good process design is: customer driven. What questions> What type of process is best suited that will fulfill our customers needs What is the goal in selecting a supplier? To find the best product available for the best price you can The global market enables the operations manager: the flecibility to choose the most cost effective supplier Honda’s relationship with their suppliers is based on: trust Why did Hillrich & Bradsby implement ERP system?: to simplify their processes When do hillrich & bradsbey start their production process?: when an order is entered into the system What was the purpose of Disney’s Fast Pass?: remove the need to wait in line by using a virtual queue Measuring is an important method. Monitoring the consistency and repeatability of a process is called: statistical process control What technique does Gortac use to support continuous improvement: in manufacturing, try to be more efficient, improving quality: continuous improvement: record the days productivity numbers and compare – daily production meetings. How did ABTCO increase capacity without adding space or investing capital? : using fundamentals of operations mgmt., reorganized the manuf process to improve quality and efficiency. Closed lines producing unfrofitable products and started idle lines to fill shortages, as a result, their siding unit increased prod capacity w out adding space or capital expense.

Political Socialization and The Environment essays

Political Socialization and The Environment essays Political Socialization and The Environment The political socialization of the population has become a large concern for society today. With out a change in the political socialization in a way favorable to the preservation of the world disaster can occur. Political Socialization is an efficient means in predicting and controlling the political ideals and values of future generations. As people grow more environmentally conscious, socialization could be a useful tool in ensuring the protection of the environment for future generations. Political socialization could also predict what will be faced by future generations as a result of the worlds destruction of the environment. Whether or not health problems resulting from pollution will affect socialization or the absence of forests and the natural world will effect socialization. Although, it is obvious to say that it will but socialization can explain how it will. If socialization is not geared towards environmental awareness and conservation then the world can only ex pect a greater deterioration of its surroundings as well as greater pollution, which will cause more health problems. Socialization is the most effective way to ensure how future generations will deal with and perceive the world; if that perception is to protect the environment then the possibility that natural resources will be protected is greatly enhanced. The socialization of those active in the environmental movement or those concerned with conservation as well as those with an environmental consciousness comes from many factors, the condition of their political leaders and state, the presence of an environmental danger or disaster, and the role of education in teaching the youth environmental preservation. It has been held for thousands of years by primitive tribes and cultures that human kind should live harmoniously with nature, living with nature is practiced still in the aboriginal tribes of ...

All the Details Regarding Article of Positive Research Accounting

  Discuss about the   Defense of Positive Accounting Research ? This report contains all the details regarding article of positive research accounting . In this article various facts and figures of positive accounting theory have been given. There is several methodology and models have been shown which reflects how humans would make decision in different situation based on prepared accounting frameworks. This article consist various models and frameworks which are useful to determine the effectiveness of positive accounting research practice. With the help of this article, writers, researchers and other viewers could easily evaluate the merits and demerits of positive accounting research. This article contains the information on the human behavior and their cause and effect relation in positive accounting research practice. There are several viewpoints and assumptions have been taken into consideration which reflects the best accounting practice and standards set program to mitigate different accounting practice. In addition to this there are several casual theory and comprehensive viewpoints which reflects how accountant and auditors could come up with the common decision in preparing financial statements (Brown, Preiato, and Tarca, 2014). Positive ontology and epistemology is the main major factors which provides how casus and effect relation could be used to determine the accountant and auditors decision making factors in positive accounting research practice (Ahmed, Neel and Wang, 2013).   In addition to this, this article contains details regarding reciprocal behavior, Self interest theory and Positive ontology and epistemology which are used to make interpretation of qualitative data. For instance, reciprocal behavior helps in determine the cause and effect relation. Self interest theory also provides that persons will take care of their own interest before the interest of organization as a whole.   In addition to this, behavior of free will establishes that each and every human take decision on the basis of his external and internal factors which result into variation of their decisions. These different decisions aroused due to different perceptions, factors and other models (Celestine and Maher, 2014). These models have helped accountants and auditors to classifying, recording and summarizing task and provide them understanding to cover all the requirement of positive accounting practice in effective manner (Way mire, 2014). Now it could be inferred that this article consisted with different human behavior based on the different factors and circumstances (Everett, Neu, Rahaman and Maharaj, 2015). There are several questions which could be taken into consideration for preparing this article. How positive accounting research practice could be different from Intellectual program? What are the affecting factors which establish cause and effect relation in positive accounting research? Which theories and models have been used in positive accounting research? What are the possible effects of using ontology and epistemology in positive accounting research practice in positive accounting research? This article is consisted with several models and frameworks which could be used in this positive accounting research practice. There are other models such as hypothetical test, ontology and epistemology frameworks. These all theories have been used to define the human behavior and other associated factors. (Engle and Hunton, 2015). As per the views of Everett, Neu, Rahaman and Maharaj, 2015 it is given that auditors and accountant are two different persons who use different critical understanding to make effective decisions in their accounting works. There are several theories such as behavior of free will, cause and effect relation and other accounting frameworks which helps accountant and auditors to make their decisions effectively.   It is observed that if accountants are using behavior of free will in their accounting models and decision then it would surely result into conflict of interest between auditors and accountants. There are other models and frameworks which could be used in accounting frameworks in this article either in Americana or international which reflects standard models for measuring human behavior. There are other several basic concepts and theories in positive accounting theories such as reciprocal behavior and behavior of free will. In this article main focus in made on Darwin’s theory of evaluation which reflects qualitative assessment and measurement in positive research. This Darwin’s theory of evaluation could be bifurcated into following several parts. The first phase of Darwin’s theory of evaluation is related with collecting primary and secondary qualitative data. These collected data is deployed by Auditors other stakeholders to evaluate on what basis accountant has prepared financial statement (Dyckman and Zeff, 2014). In Darwin’s theory of evaluation, focus is made to identify type- 1 errors (Li, 2015).   It is considered that Type-1 error is not possible to avoid for accountant as per followed realistic approach. It is observed that if auditor uses realistic model then it would result into basic level of errors (Type-1 errors) (Deegan, 2017). There are other several models which have been used in positive accounting research practice such as Hypothetical test and ontology and epistemology (Slater, et al. 2014). The main significant of this positive research accounting is related with how accountants make their decisions. This research has accompanied with the details which reflects the human behavior and their cause and effect relation. This study has been prepared with a view to provide the core aspect of positive accounting research. There are several important factors which have been reflected in this research. In addition to this, there are several factors which have been identified in this research that provides how positive accounting research practice could be useful for establishment of harmonization in accountant and auditors behavior. It is also observed that there are several frameworks and models used in this report which provides how positive accounting research practice could be used by accountant for effective accounting practice.   Ã‚  There are several other rational and personal theories and practices have been used in positive accounting practice which is core factors f or influencing human behavior. There are other rational and personal practice in positive accounting research have been evaluated which reflects the human behavior and factors which influence accountant behavior (Guan, 2014). In the end, it would be inferred that there are several methods and models in positive accounting research which are very useful for establishment of harmonization in accountant and auditors behavior. In this article various methodologies and theories have been used which only provides standards set based on the normal accountant behavior. Therefore, only after considering some theories and models it would be hard to gauge the human decision making process. In addition to this, there are several models and theories have been used in these articles which are consisted with hypothetical test and other auxiliary assumptions. Therefore, it becomes complex to determine the level of certainty of positive accounting research functions. Authors in this article have also not suggested any possible level of escalations and remarks which should be used to readers to evaluate the certainty and uncertainty of models used in this article for positive accounting research practice. In addition to this, the most critical factors in this article are related with the behavior of free will. It is observed that if a human is having free will to take his decisions then it would result into several cont radictions and complexity. For instance, if accountant has used a spate decision making process in his accounting frameworks then auditors may have conflict with his accounting practice which he opted as per his free will. This article is also accompanied with large set of information and cumbersome process which made hard for researcher to understand the facts and human decision process models in effective manner. There are limitation which could be evaluated such as relevancy of data, justification for assumptions and models taken and set format and path for determining human decision making (Bedtime, Darrough and Xue, 2017). Human decision varies person to person and based factors. In addition to this, in order to justify the facts and theories used in this article hypothetical test have been taken into consideration. This hypothetical test make effectiveness on the result oriented human decision behavior. These all theories and models are the critical factors to establish harmonization in the accountant and auditors behavior in their accounting decisions. The main impact on positive accounting research aroused from the type one error. This type of error is unavoidable and accountant and other auditors tend to make these mistakes. As per the positive accounting research, these types of errors could be mitigated if double cross check system is implemented. In addition to this, interchangeable factors given in various models and theories such as Darwin’s theory of evaluation, behavior of free will and cause and effect relation provides how humans take their decisions and what complexity they face in their accounting decisions. In the end it would be inferred that all the test and statistics under the null hypothesis is based on auxiliary assumptions which is considered as limitation of this article. All the accountant and auditors should take less assumption and hypothetical data to avoid possible mistakes and errors. Ahmed, A.S., Neel, M. and Wang, D., 2013. Does mandatory adoption of IFRS improve accounting quality? Preliminary evidence.  Contemporary Accounting Research,  30(4), pp.1344-1372. Bertomeu, J., Darrough, M. and Xue, W., 2017. Optimal conservatism with earnings manipulation.  Contemporary Accounting Research,  34(1), pp.252-284. Brown, P., Preiato, J. and Tarca, A., 2014. Measuring country differences in enforcement of accounting standards: An audit and enforcement proxy.  Journal of Business Finance & Accounting,  41(1-2), pp.1-52. Deegan, C., 2017. Twenty five years of social and environmental accounting research within Critical Perspectives of Accounting: Hits, misses and ways forward.  Critical Perspectives on Accounting,  43, pp.65-87.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dyckman, T.R. and Zeff, S.A., 2014. Some methodological deficiencies in empirical research articles in accounting.  Accounting Horizons,  28(3), pp.695-712. Engle, T.J. and Hunton, J.E., 2015. Retraction: The Effects of Small Monetary Incentives on Response Quality and Rates in the Positive Confirmation of Account Receivable Balances.  AUDITING: A Journal of Practice & Theory,  34(3), pp.201-201. Everett, J., Neu, D., Rahaman, A.S. and Maharaj, G., 2015. Praxis, Doxa and research methods: Reconsidering critical accounting.  Critical Perspectives on Accounting,  32, pp.37-44. Fang, J., Haw, I.M., Yu, V. and Zhang, X., 2014. Positive externality of analyst coverage upon audit services: Evidence from China.  Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics,  21(2), pp.186-206. Guan, K., 2014. Corporate Growth, Audit Quality and Accounting Conservatism: Empirical Evidence from Public Companies in China.  Journal of Accounting and Economics,  5(005). Klemstine, C.F. and Maher, M.W., 2014.  Management Accounting Research (RLE Accounting): A Review and Annotated Bibliography. Routledge. Li, X., 2015. Accounting conservatism and the cost of capital: An international analysis.  Journal of Business Finance & Accounting,  42(5-6), pp.555-582. Slater, R.A., Koren, S., Ramot, Y., Buchs, A. and Rapoport, M.J., 2014. Interpreting the results of the Semmes?Weinstein monofilament test: accounting for false?positive answers in the international consensus on the diabetic foot protocol by a new model.  Diabetes/metabolism research and reviews,  30(1), pp.77-80. Smith, M., 2014.  Research methods in accounting. Sage. Waymire, G.B., 2014. Neuroscience and ultimate causation in accounting research.  The Accounting Review,  89(6), pp.2011-2019.

The House of Tata Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The House of Tata - Assignment Example This strategy is positive in that the new products that are introduced in the market will receive applause since the brand is already known. However, in some instances, the new products that are introduced in the market are not pleasing since the brand of other products is not performingwell. b) Building of equity interlocks among the Tata companies Building interlocks of equities creates a scenario where the companies are working in unison. The companies are better placed as they have a lot of activities in common. For instance, the group of companies will have substantial equities that will make a greater investment. This is like pooling resources together in the group of companies. Therefore, the group of companies will be able to invest in other activities that need a huge investment (Khanna, Krishna and Wu Melito, 2). However, companies that are not indulged in interlocking equities are not well prepared to invest in activities that need a large sum of accounts. Similarly, inter locking equities brings ahighrate of interest. For instance, the interest rate that is accrued on lump sum equity is much more than the interest that is accrued on minute equity. Therefore, this was a prudent activity to the companies as it would increase the company’s gains in the long run. ... Therefore, in this case selling part of Tata company was againstthecompany’s need for expansion. This limited its market segments and would lead to diminished performance of the company. Similarly, selling part of the company was a step that reduced the operating capital of the company. Therefore,most of its activities in the market were reduced. d) Revitalisation of Tata administration The administration of a company is considered a vital aspect that will dictate its performance. A company that has utterly trained and experienced administration is likely to give positive results at the end of each financial year. However, any company thatdoes not have an experienced and dedicated administration is not likely to make a positive accrual in the business. In this case, Tata was vigilant in ensuring the administration was functioning to its advantage. The change in administration meant that the company was prepared to make an improvement in its activities. Similarly, this would re cord an improvement in the financial management, economic development and all other activities that are vital in the company. Similarly,there is positivity in that revitalisation of the administration improved on the specialisation in the company. The people that are well trained in particular places will be given an opportunityto serve the company to their best. As such,they will increase the performance of the business to greater heights as they will have an enhanced position. This is a prudent aspect that would improve the performance of the company and give the company an added advantage. 2. Corporate portfolio in 1995 The corporate portfolio that was done in 1995 was a vital activity to the company (Khanna, Krishna and Wu Melito, 4). This