Thursday, January 30, 2020

Understanding the Novel Housekeeping Essay Example for Free

Understanding the Novel Housekeeping Essay The novel entitled â€Å"Housekeeping† is written by one of the most famous and talented author, Marilynne Robinson. As one of the certified Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, Marilynne Robinson’s 1980 novel called the â€Å"Housekeeping† has been nominated for the category of Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which later-on she also won for another novel entitled Gilead that paved the way for her Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for best first novel. As of the present time, this novel continues to receive and gain broad recognitions and honors that commemorate the work and contribution of a great American author in the industry of publishing and American literary writing scene. In the year 2003, the Guardian unlimited, a British online site owned by Guardian Media Group, named the novel â€Å"Housekeeping† as one of their top 100 list of selection of greatest novels of all time. In addition to this, the Time Magazine, one of the giants in the publishing business, included the said novel of Marilynne Robinson â€Å"Housekeeping† in their TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. This inclusion and recognition shows the sterling quality of the novel and its elements. In a sense, there are various reasons and apparent explanations as to how and why this novel of Marilynne Robinson continues to attract the interest of the readers and still remain as one of the ever significant stories that has been written. One of the better rationales is that â€Å"Housekeeping,† just like any other widely admired novels, is written with a very strong plot that is designed to directly present and depict a significant personality and character through the representation of Ruth, one of the leading characters in the novel. In this regard, this essay would directly draw a clear picture and discussion about the character of Ruth and her identity in the main narrative of the novel. In the novel, Ruth is mainly depicted and stood as a character which has a stong personality that is composed and firm despite the negative events that have happened in their family and between her and Lucille, who is her sister. Ruth is presented in the main narrative of the novel as a brave woman who is filled with hopes and beliefs with their family and their eccentric way of living. Set to live and grow-up with a dysfunctional family, where she and her sister, Lucille, are abandoned by their biological parents with their mother committing a suicide, it is observable that the presentation of Ruth in the novel is a paradigm that the author has used to illustrate specific characteristics of an individual who is brave enough to live and move on with what he or she believes is right. As for the own perception of Ruth, it is observable that staying and living under the eccentric way of life by their family is what makes her complete as a person and as a normal individual on this world. In respect to the representation of Ruth, it is apparent that the main narrative of the novel further strengthens the notion that Ruth, though has been through different pictures and stories of pain and difficulties with her experiences of a dysfunctional family, still has that belief about the primary stance and role of family to her life as a living entity in their community. As seen apparent to the novel’s story, Ruths standpoint is that her family is the primal basis that gives her that distinct identity as a normal entity in this world. Ruth believes that living and adhering to their unconventional family lifestyle, more especially according to the life of her Auntie, Sylvie, renders her the particular details as a living member of their society. Thus, unlike her sister, Lucile, Ruth takes pride in living her life according to the legacy of their family despite of all the difficulties and many questions that she has in mind. Despite of the many differences and misunderstandings that she has against her younger sibling, Lucille, she has remained to be a loving and caring older sister for Lucille. As seen apparent in the narrative of the novel, Ruth’s character is an example of a typical protective and concerned elder sister for Lucille where she has stood before her sister for security. Ruth also expressed her love for her younger sister through their shared collection of quality and happy moments spent together prior to the decision of Lucille to go the opposite way and live a conventional life with another family residing in town. In addition to this, Ruths character is also affectionate and emotional as she grieved with so much pain with the departure of her sister to live a different way of life. Moreover, it can also be said that Ruth, despite the characteristic of being brave and composed in pursuing and sticking with the what she believe is right, is a character filled with different confusions and questions which she tries to find specific answers and enlightenment for. As the main narrator of the novel, who tells mostly the story of her experiences from childhood up to womanhood, Ruth herself has numerous thoughts and issues that she can not even answer by her self. There are things and actions that she is seeing, more especially from the eccentric lifestyle of her Auntie Sylvie and her grandmother from the moment they are forsaken by their own parents. Thus, Ruth’s main personality and character is shaped by many of her own undertakings and events in her life that leads her to be coherent in such a way that she is independent to make any decisions that is based from her own way of thinking. As compared to her sister, Lucille, Ruth is more composed and firm as she refused to embrace the extensive influence of the outside forces such as the predominance of modern civilization and beliefs of many individuals that surrounds them. Ruth is a character in the novel which has played a rather distinct important role. She served as the narrator of the story and her viewpoint says the distinct taste of the novel and it is on her personality from which the story depends on. She has a little sister whom she grew up with and as she became nonetheless taller than the rest, there is the need for her sister Lucille to remove the heels of the shoes in order for her to be able to move more naturally and allow her to stand more normally. In this respect, it is seen that Marilynne Robinson, the author of the novel, has the similar characteristic where she remains taller than the rest but tries to remove the heels that sets her apart from the rest. More so, she tries to remove the false pretentions and high expectations which come from the current notions of fiction from the people. Another characteristic of Ruth in the story is her ability to follow and adopt a particular characteristic that is embodied in the values of her mother. According to one statement of Ruth in the novel, the requests of her mother to wait for her has â€Å"established in me the habit of waiting and expectation which make any present moment most significant for what it does not contain† (Robinson, 214). This particular characteristic of Ruth, as a character in the novel, has shown her to be a child patiently and dreamingly wishes of a parent who has abandoned her. As her mother left them in the care of one another, they have continuously and expectedly tried to contain all the hardships and patiently waited for something which they are unsure would come to them anymore. Works Cited Robinson, Marilynne. Housekeeping: A Novel. New York: St Martins Pr, 2004.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Philosophy on education :: essays research papers

The philosophy that I feel the strongest connection to is Progressivism. In my educational journey the teachers that have made the most significant impact have been progressive. From K-12, I had two teachers who used the progressivism method and the lessons that I learned from them are still with me today. The progressive teachers express more individuality and creativity than others. Progressive educators relate material to real-life experiences that the learner can relate to. They generally conduct group activities rather than individual assignments. Progressivism opposes many of the concepts and practices associated with essentialism. My personal philosophy adopts ideas from both. Essentialists believe that children learn from traditional basic subjects such as reading, writing, history, math, and science. Progressives believe that learning is stimulated by tuning into problem solving skills. I believe that students learn most effectively when both concepts are utilized together. Many teachers that I have encountered were essentialist because this is what they were taught. The essentialism philosophy had been the dominant approach to education in America from the beginning of our history. However early in the twentieth century essentialism was criticized as being too rigid to prepare students adequately for adult life. Dewey was a major figure in the Pragmatic movement that later became known as progressivism. Every educator has their own thoughts and ideas about education, educational processes, and what they feel is the best way to educate students of today and tomorrow. These philosophies are built on the individual’s personal experiences and beliefs. My philosophy is like that of many new teachers, eclectic. There are ideas of many philosophies that I agree with and just as many that I disagree with. Teachers are as diverse as the students they teach. I believe that it takes a combination of several philosophies to reach each student in a classroom. Harris-Stowe State College’s Conceptual Framework advocates for effective teachers for a diverse society. Their roles include the user of technology, counselor, skilled instructor, communicator with parents, and diagnostic prescriber to name few of the criteria that would make for an effective teacher according to Harris Stowe’s framework. Successful teachers also have to utilize strictness, motivation, compassion, patience, honesty, and flexibility to educate the students that are a part of our diverse educational arena today. Teachers are not just responsible for their student’s educational growth. They have to be responsible for the growth of the whole child.

Monday, January 13, 2020

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

THE TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FACTORY FIRE: FROM TRAGEDY CAME CHANGE Donna Baker MG 420 14 February 2011 In the early 20th century, immigrants from Europe flooded Ellis Island in droves in search of â€Å"streets paved with gold† which they believed to be found in the United States. The majority of these immigrants settled in New York City to live in tenement housing and find work in the â€Å"30,000 factory floors and sweatshops that were located in Lower Manhattan. Each year, 612,000 workers, mostly immigrants were turning out one-tenth of the industrial output of the United States.A quarter of a million men, women and children labored without any regulations. †3 â€Å"The majority of garment workers were made up of Southern Italian and Eastern European Jewish immigrant women. They ranged in age from 15 to 23 and many spoke little English. †2 Their days were long. On average, workers put in â€Å"eleven hours, but most often they were sixteen to twenty hours, six da ys a week for which they were paid about $6 per week. †1 The women were subjected to intolerable, brutal working conditions where if you were sick, you came to work sick for fear of being fired.While on the job, it was common practice to be locked into your work space unable to go anywhere at-will. The nightmarish conditions were likened to working in a slave factory. â€Å"The doors were locked to keep out union organizers, to keep the women focused on their jobs, and to prevent the workers from stealing material. †2 â€Å"The hissing of the machines and the yelling of the foremen made it unbearable. Paychecks were docked or the workers were fired for humming or talking on the job. †3 The bathrooms were located outside and the workers were made to ask to be dismissed to use them.The shirtwaist makers were paid by the piece produced and speed was everything. The quality, however, was not important. â€Å"In some cases, they were required to use their own needles , thread, irons and occasionally their own sewing machines which they carried on their backs. †1 The â€Å"shirtwaist†, which is another name for a woman’s blouse, had a high neck, puffed long sleeves and was tightly fitted at the waist. It was â€Å"one of the country’s first fashion statements that crossed class lines. The booming ready-made clothing industry made the stylish shirtwaist affordable even for working women.Worn with an ankle-length skirt, the shirtwaist was appropriate for any occasion – from work to play – and was more comfortable and practical than fashion that preceeded it, like corsets and hoops. †1 The garment workers had the beginnings of representation to address implorable conditions, as basic as it was, when on â€Å"June 3, 1900 the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) was founded in New York City by representatives from seven local East Coast unions. The union represented both male and female w orkers who produced women’s clothing.Though affiliated with the more conservative American Federation of Labor for most of its history, the ILGWU was unusual in representing both semi-skilled and unskilled (automated) workers. †8 Although the ILGWU was formed, it did little to impact the working conditions at the factories. So, on â€Å"November 22, 1909 the ILGWU called a meeting in the Cooper Union Hall to consult its membership and map out a strategy. †8 The hall was packed full and there were many speakers who spoke endlessly. They promised their support but feared retaliation by the employers in the form of firings and physical harm. Clara Lemlich, a seamstress and union member who was 19 and already badly beaten for her part in union involvement, came forward and took the stage. She called for an immediate strike of all the garment workers and her motion was resoundingly endorsed. †1 This was to become known as â€Å"the largest strike of women in th e history of the United States. †1 Within days, â€Å"more than 20,000 shirtwaist makers, from 500 factories, walked out and joined the picket line at Union Square. This was called the â€Å"Uprising of the 20,000†. More than 70 of the smaller factories agreed to the union’s demands within the first 48 hours.However, the fiercely anti-union owners of the Triangle factory met with owners of the 20 largest factories to form a manufacturing association. †1 â€Å"A month into the strike, most of the small and mid-sized factories settled with the strikers. †1 The garment workers went back to work. The factories making up the manufacturing association realized that the public opinion was not on their side and agreed to negotiate. The garment workers rejected their proposal because it prevented the workers from having a closed shop. Due to dwindling resources, this first union strike fell short.By â€Å"February 1910, the strike was finally settled and re sulted in a â€Å"protocol of peace† between the women’s clothing industry and labor. †7 â€Å"The few remaining factories rehired the strikers, agreed to higher wages and shorter hours and recognized the union in name only, resisting a closed shop. †1 The Triangle workers went back to work without a union agreement. There were still no regulations of the working conditions. Management never addressed their demands, including unlocked doors in the factory and fire escapes that were functional. This will prove to be an extremely costly error within the following 13 months period of time.The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was located in the Asch Building, occupying the top three floors of the ten-floor building in the heart of Manhattan’s Garment District. The company employed â€Å"over 500 men and women with the majority of them Jewish and Italian women ranging in age from 13-23. †3 Their work was primarily sewing shirtwaist blouses. The 8th flo or was where the cutting room was situated. The 9th floor was where the sewers worked, lined machine to machine in many long rows, hunched over sewing machines that were operated by foot pedals. The finished shirtwaists hung on lines above the worker’s heads and bundles of material, trimmings, and scraps of fabric were piled high in the cramped aisle between the machines. †2 The 10th floor housed the company offices. On Saturday, March 25, 1911, at around 4:45pm, with 15 minutes left in the work day, a fire grew quickly out of control on the 8th floor cutters area. It is believed to have been caused by a cigarette or match which was discarded either on the floor covered with sewing machine oil or in one of the cloth scrap containers, or possibly from a spark put off from the overheating of an electric cutters machine. Fed by thousands of pounds of flammable fabric†6 fire engulfed the area and spread to the floors above in record speed. Most of the workers on the 8 th floor were able to make their way to safety by using the stairs or elevator. The workers on the 10th floor â€Å"received a phone call about the fire and were able to climb to the roof of the building and made their way to the adjoining New York University building and were rescued. †6 The unfortunate workers on the 9th floor, however, didn’t stand a chance.Their fates were sealed because â€Å"the only safety measure available for them were 27 buckets of water, a fire escape that would collapse when people tried to use it, and 2 exit doors which were locked or only opened inward and were effectively held shut by the onrush of workers escaping the fire. †5 About 200 women were trapped on the 9th floor with no means of escape. â€Å"Twenty women made it out on the fire escape before it crumpled to the street, killing a number of women who were on it. Some attempted to slide down the elevator cables only to lose their grip and fall to their deaths. 2 The despe rate women didn’t know what else to do, so they began breaking out the windows and climbing out on the narrow ledge from which they jumped from the 9th floor to the street below. Some were on fire and burning as they fell. â€Å"For the fire department, the horror story that unfolded was compounded by the fact that although their equipment was the most sophisticated of its day, the ladders only reached up to the 6th floor. †6 Firemen watched helplessly as workers died before their very eyes. The water pressure in the hoses failed. And the life nets broke when the desperate women jumped in groups of three and four. In less than 30 minutes, the fire had spent itself. In its wake it left 146 dead. †3 â€Å"Of the 146 who died, 141 died at the scene and 5 died at the hospital. Six of these victims were never identified. Most died of burns, asphyxiation, blunt impact injuries or a combination of the three. †2 It is often thought that most or all of the dead wer e women but, in reality, â€Å"almost thirty of the victims were men. †4 The Triangle fire became known as â€Å"the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city of New York and resulted in the fourth highest loss of life from an industrial accident in U. S. history. 4 Three months after the fire, the owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, Max Blanck and Isaac Harris were â€Å"indicted for manslaughter and acquitted of all charges. †6 It was believed that they broke no laws. â€Å"Three years after the fire, a court ordered the owners to pay $75. 00 to each of the twenty-three families who had sued for the loss of family members. †3 â€Å"From the ashes of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire came the greatest political transformation in American history to bring about social welfare legislation. †4 â€Å"The horrors of the bodies and the number of dead was the key to change. 2 The Triangle fire brought everyone together emotionally and spiritually to want change. â€Å"The resulting reform became an epic event. It took four grueling years of factory investigations by the Factory Investigating Commission to investigate fire safety as well as other conditions affecting the health and welfare of factory workers. †2 â€Å"Among the results of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire are that the New York State Assembly enacted legislation that required installation of automatic sprinkler systems in buildings over seven stories high that had more than 20 people employed above the 7th floor.Legislation also provided for fire drills and the installation of fire alarm systems in factory buildings over two stories high that employed 25 persons or more above the ground floor. Additional laws mandated that factory waste should not be permitted on factory floors but instead should be deposited in fireproof receptacles. Because of bodies found in the open elevator shafts of the Asch Building, legislation was enacted that required all elevator shafts to be enclosed. †9 WORKS CITED

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Understanding The 10 Principles Of Listening - 825 Words

University of the People In the workplace, interpersonal skills play an important role. These are life skills used daily in order to communicate with groups and also individually. Both professionally and in their personal lives, people with strong interpersonal skills typically have higher success, and employers tend to hire employees who have them. (â€Å"What are Interpersonal Skills?†, n.d). Listening, or the ability to correctly receive and interpret information, is a key interpersonal skill for business communication. (â€Å"Listening Skills†, n.d.). An example of its importance in business is that good listening skills produce a faster work rate. Listening to each other gives clarity and focus on the task, and fewer mistakes are made as a result. (Mooney, 2016). Steps on how to improve listening and to view the 10 principles of listening can be found here: http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/listening-skills.html. Assertiveness is another communication-heavy interper sonal skill. It is the ability to stand up for oneself or for others in positive way without aggression. (â€Å"Assertiveness – An Introduction†, n.d.). In business, it can be a useful skill because it creates better problem solving and assertive people are able to find a common ground with their opponent quite quickly. (â€Å"Assertiveness†, n.d.). An example of this being two opposing views on the same team reaching a middle. Steps on how to improve assertiveness can be found here:Show MoreRelatedMy Personal Leadership Plan For Leadership Development1393 Words   |  6 Pagesexperiences, I found that leadership is a life learning process and best practices of leadership skills. 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