Of Mice and Men Question Lennies big fingers fell to stroking her hair Essay Example for Free

Of Mice and Men Question Lennies big fingers fell to stroking her hair Essay The pathetic figure of Lennie seems to symbolise mankind in its search for love. Do you agree? How does Steinbeck treat this theme in Of Mice and Men? In the book, Of Mice and Men, Lennie an opposite extreme to George; George is quite smart but not very tall or exceptionally strong, Lennie on the other hand is extremely stupid and very tall with exceptional strength. The way Steinbeck writes about Lennie, the audience feels great pity for him; the dialogue is very basic and he has trouble remembering simple tasks like keeping silent. The way he speaks can be related to the same way a three year old speaks; Lennie has the same sort of mind as a three year and is pleased by the same things. He has an affinity to touch everything and that is how he came to be stroking the ladys hair. The way Lennie acts, speaks and looks creates a strong sympathy for him in the readers mind and Steinbeck plays on this to give the overall plot of the story. The idea that Lennie symbolises mankind in its search for love is what I believe is not a very good theory. The main basis for this is because Lennie does not understand what love is and the idea that mans job in life is to look for love does not appeal to me. I do not think that a man goes around looking for love but love finds him, George did not ask to be loved by Lennie or to even take him on, he was offered and he made a promise. The only way which I believe that a man looks for love is through what he enjoys doing. If you love playing football then you are in search of your chance to be a footballer, you are in search of your love. This is the only in which I think this theme works in Of Mice and Men. Lennie loves George in a way which he does not understand, but George has grown to love him through their escapades together. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses love in a lot of ways; one way is Georges love of his dream. George fantasizes about owning his own little cottage with land he can farm on, he loves his dream and wishes it to come true. Lennie loves all creatures be it mice or puppies, he adores them and just loves to pet them and stroke them like a toddler loves to touch anything it can lay its hands on. Candy loved his dog and spent all his time with it, Curley loves boxing and spends most of his time practicing with his fists, Curleys wife loves acting and deeply regrets missing her chance. Love plays a great part in Of Mice and Men, but nothing is as strong as the love between Lenny and George, George only realises how much he loves Lennie when Lennie is under the death sentence. George risks his own life to save Lennie and he realises that he will thoroughly miss Lennie. The theme that man is in search of love is also incorporated into Of Mice and Men by Steinbecks pen. George is in search of his dream cottage and every possible way to get it, the cottage is his love and he would go to no extreme to reach it. Lennies love is of keeping a heard of rabbits, he is constantly referring to them in the book and would love to have them. However he is letting George pursue the search to get them for him because he is completely incapable of getting them himself. Crooks is in search of finding friends to sit and talk with or being accepted by the other men on the ranch. His love is gain friends and become one of the gang and be allowed to play cards with them in the bunkhouse. Curley is in search of becoming a boxer, he loves using his fists and he is searching for his chance to become a boxer again. Curleys Wife is constantly searching for her chance to escape from Curley and become and actress, she loves acting so she is in search for a career in acting. The idea of searching for love is incorporated a lot into Of Mice and Men; every main character is in search of his or her love whether it be human, animal or even a career.

Another Heart of Darkness Essay -- essays research papers

Ignorance and Racism Joseph Conrad develops themes of personal power, individual responsibility, and social justice in his book Heart of Darkness. His book has all the trappings of the conventional adventure tale - mystery, exotic setting, escape, suspense, unexpected attack. Chinua Achebe concluded, "Conrad, on the other hand, is undoubtedly one of the great stylists of modern fiction and a good story-teller into the bargain" (Achebe 252). Yet, despite Conrad's great story telling, he has also been viewed as a racist by some of his critics. Achebe, Singh, and Sarvan, although their criticisim differ, are a few to name. Normal readers usually are good at detecting racism in a book. Achebe acknowledges Conrad camouflaged racism remarks, saying, "But Conrad chose his subject well - one which was guaranteed not to put him in conflict with psychological pre- disposition..." (Achebe, 253). Having gone back and rereading Heart of Darkness, but this time reading between the lines, I have discovered some racism Conrad felt toward the natives that I had not discovered the first time I read the book. Racism is portrayed in Conrad's book, but one must acknowledge that back in the eighteen hundreds society conformed to it. Conrad probably would have been criticized as being soft hearted rather than a racist back in his time. Conrad constantly referred to the natives, in his book, as black savages, niggers, brutes, and "them", displaying ignorance toward the African history and racism towards the African people. Conrad wrote, "Black figures strolled out listlessly... the beaten nigger groaned somewhere" (Conrad 28). "They passed me with six inches, without a glance, with the complete, deathlike indifference of unhappy savages" (Conrad 19). Achebe, also, detected Conrad's frequent use of unorthodox name calling, "Certainly Conrad had a problem with niggers. His in ordinate love of that word itself should be of interest to psychoanalysts" (Achebe 258). Conrad uses Marlow, the main character in the book, as a narrator so he himself can enter the story and tell it through his own philosophical mind. Conrad used "double speak" throughout his book. Upon arriving at the first station, Marlow commented what he observed. "They were dying slowly - it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not cri... ... (Singh 278). Conrad didn't write his book to the extreme of racism. Overall, the natives appeared better humans than the Europeans in Heart of Darkness. Conrad's ignorance led to his conformity to racism. His ignorance of not completely "granting the natives human status" leads him to social categorization. C. P. Sarvan wrote in his criticism, quoting Achebe, "Racism and the Heart of Darkness," "Conrad sets up Africa 'as a foil to Europe, a place of negations... in comparison with which Europe's own state of spiritual grace will be manifest.' Africa is 'the other world,'..." (281). Achebe, Chinua [An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness.] Heart of Darkness. By Joseph Conrad 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton Critical 1988. Conrad, Joseph Heart of Darkness 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton Critical, 1988. Sarvan, C. P. [Racism and the Heart of Darkness.] Heart of Darkness. By Joseph Conrad 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton Critical 1988. Singh, Frances B. [The Colonialistic Bias of Heart of Darkness.] Heart of Darkness. By Joseph Conrad 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton Critical 1988. Another Heart of Darkness Essay -- essays research papers Ignorance and Racism Joseph Conrad develops themes of personal power, individual responsibility, and social justice in his book Heart of Darkness. His book has all the trappings of the conventional adventure tale - mystery, exotic setting, escape, suspense, unexpected attack. Chinua Achebe concluded, "Conrad, on the other hand, is undoubtedly one of the great stylists of modern fiction and a good story-teller into the bargain" (Achebe 252). Yet, despite Conrad's great story telling, he has also been viewed as a racist by some of his critics. Achebe, Singh, and Sarvan, although their criticisim differ, are a few to name. Normal readers usually are good at detecting racism in a book. Achebe acknowledges Conrad camouflaged racism remarks, saying, "But Conrad chose his subject well - one which was guaranteed not to put him in conflict with psychological pre- disposition..." (Achebe, 253). Having gone back and rereading Heart of Darkness, but this time reading between the lines, I have discovered some racism Conrad felt toward the natives that I had not discovered the first time I read the book. Racism is portrayed in Conrad's book, but one must acknowledge that back in the eighteen hundreds society conformed to it. Conrad probably would have been criticized as being soft hearted rather than a racist back in his time. Conrad constantly referred to the natives, in his book, as black savages, niggers, brutes, and "them", displaying ignorance toward the African history and racism towards the African people. Conrad wrote, "Black figures strolled out listlessly... the beaten nigger groaned somewhere" (Conrad 28). "They passed me with six inches, without a glance, with the complete, deathlike indifference of unhappy savages" (Conrad 19). Achebe, also, detected Conrad's frequent use of unorthodox name calling, "Certainly Conrad had a problem with niggers. His in ordinate love of that word itself should be of interest to psychoanalysts" (Achebe 258). Conrad uses Marlow, the main character in the book, as a narrator so he himself can enter the story and tell it through his own philosophical mind. Conrad used "double speak" throughout his book. Upon arriving at the first station, Marlow commented what he observed. "They were dying slowly - it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not cri... ... (Singh 278). Conrad didn't write his book to the extreme of racism. Overall, the natives appeared better humans than the Europeans in Heart of Darkness. Conrad's ignorance led to his conformity to racism. His ignorance of not completely "granting the natives human status" leads him to social categorization. C. P. Sarvan wrote in his criticism, quoting Achebe, "Racism and the Heart of Darkness," "Conrad sets up Africa 'as a foil to Europe, a place of negations... in comparison with which Europe's own state of spiritual grace will be manifest.' Africa is 'the other world,'..." (281). Achebe, Chinua [An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness.] Heart of Darkness. By Joseph Conrad 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton Critical 1988. Conrad, Joseph Heart of Darkness 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton Critical, 1988. Sarvan, C. P. [Racism and the Heart of Darkness.] Heart of Darkness. By Joseph Conrad 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton Critical 1988. Singh, Frances B. [The Colonialistic Bias of Heart of Darkness.] Heart of Darkness. By Joseph Conrad 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton Critical 1988.

Discuss Some of the Challenges Facing International Students in Higher Education Essay

As a growing number of international students who attempt to obtain a further education diploma or expand their horizons, has been increasing, it is often the case that they would face various challenges while studying abroad. The main barrier that they have to overcome is â€Å"academic learning that consists of strangeness, difference and integration (Teekens, 2006:17, cited in Hyland, 2008). According to Hyland et al (2008:29), to improve the quality of higher education not only the individual needs to endeavor, but also the departmental and institutional effort would be indispensable. This essay will illustrate that the main factors of overseas students who study for least one year result in academic learning challenges, are adapting to a new educational system’s assessments and English speaking only environments, then will provide possible solutions, for example, giving sufficient guidance from enrolled universities, revolutionising language certified test in reducing these difficulties. The first main factor that directly causes learning challenges is that overseas students would probably face different methods of assessment. Most postgraduate students wish their overseas journeys were the same as ‘back home’ (Pointon, 2009, cited in The Higher Education Academy, 2012). However,for those students who graduated in other educational systems, team projects, presentations would become the barriers they have to confront. Firstly team-based learning appears to be more strange and complicated to these students because it not only depends upon academic competence,but also has to be relevant to their abilities of communication and coordination. Group work can be even more stressful because a silent student is effectively excluded, whether voluntarily or not. It is also something that many international students have not really encountered before (Sovic,2008). Subsequently, quite a number of overseas students seem to be unfamiliar with presentations as well. According to (Sovic,2008:153), except for necessity of group work sometimes, to express their opinions via presentations international students who may be new have to be confidently confronted with classmates who would hold other cultural perspectives. These unacquainted assessment criterions would widely and considerably affect international students, especially at the beginning of their academic journey. For example, presentations would be often assigned in the first term, if the results seem to be quite low, they not only directly impact those students’ overall score, but also affect their emotions to some degree even might reduce their confidence and motivation with regards to continuing their studies abroad. The second major factor which would be around all overseas students,is the atmosphere of foreign language only. Sovic(2008:150)has demonstrated that for those students who are non-native speakers, even if they have obtained fairly high IELTS(The International English Language Test System)test grades, language is still singled out as the biggest obstacle for them to study abroad. The main reason, which causes that they passed the tests but could not adapt to the new language environment quickly, is that IELTS seems to be irrelevant to the demands within the universities. To begin with, when overseas students arriving the destinations, the first difficulty they have to face is local accent. Research (Sovic, 2008:151) reported that international students who are even native-speakers can still have significant problems with fast and heavy accents in lectures and tutorials. Another point which bothers almost overseas students especially at the beginning of study abroad is acquiring academic language, including discipline-specific vocabulary and academic expression. It is often overlooked, since students who obtained the required language scores always mistakenly believe that it is sufficient to complete their studies (Arkoudis, 2008). These unexpected barriers would be troubled for all overseas students to varying degree. It is notable that international students must spend quite a large amount of time and energy on solving language issues. In other word, they have to cut down the time from learning main curriculums, which would considerably affect them to absorb curriculum knowledge and make them feeling more stress. One feasible solution to help overseas students to face academic challenges is that enrolled universities need to make more efforts before international students’ academic journeys. Despite universities always remind students who have been confirmed acceptance to prepare relevant knowledge about their courses, there are few students who could prepare adequately. Zhai(2004:101)discovered that academic issue tend to be the most difficulty for international students, and there are around 60% students whom recommended that their college should provide more academic guidance. It is suggested that academic support should be provided to international students as soon as possible, since Pedersen (1991) had demonstrated that sufficient guidance should be initiated before they arrive. According to the factors mentioned above, enrolled universities may send an amount of materials to international students via email or even material object, including introduction of new educational system, samples of presentation and team project, videos of lecture and tutorial. Moreover, for students of different disciplines, universities may provide more specific background knowledge or required reading list. Although these will increase universities’ operating costs, it would be effective to help international students overcome academic challenges. Another solution which seems to be quite challenging is revolutionising language certification test. Lee (2009:23) claims that compared to other language certified tests, IELTS is most effective and reliable examination to assess students’ not only language skill but also academic ability. However, although international students obtain the qualified language scores, it does not mean that they can successfully finish academic learning (Schmitt, 2005; Murray and O’Loughlin, 2007; Arkoudis, 2008; Sovie, 2008), even the type of writing in IELTS seems to be â€Å"public non-academic genres† (Moore and Morton, 2005, cited in Hyland et al, 2008). Feast (2002:83) reported that between language proficiency and academic performance at university there is a positive and significant, but weak relationship. Thus, in order to better serve high education, IELTS may be adjusted. Firstly, academic IELTS test could be divided into three categories that consist of Arts aspect, Science and Engineering, Social Science. Secondly, increasing more academic topics in section1 and section2 of listening test could replace a considerable number of life topics. Thirdly, the type of task2 in writing could change to mini-academic essay. These adjustments could not only make the scores more valuable to be referred by universities, but also help and guide international students to accumulate more discipline-specific and academic knowledge which lead to reduce those academic difficulties after they arrive. In conclusion, as this essay has demonstrated, the main factors which lead to academic learning challenges are atmosphere of English speaking only and different educational assessment system. Feasible solution to these challenges including revolutionising language certified test and providing adequate support from enrolled universities. It seems that revolutionizing language certified test is most significant solution to help and guide students at the source. In the future, increased awareness of academic challenges via researching and reporting as a whole could arouse relevant departments’ attention to take action on resolving these problems.

Short Story - 1411 Words

Gray- All I could hear were her screams, I could not handle it. Being stuck here and not being able to help or save her. I paced around the room nervously, after Gabriela had untied my arms. There has to be a way out, I have to find a way out. I banged my fist against the wall, Dang it! Gabriela flinched and stood up from the old tattered bed in the corner, she rested her hand on my shoulder, She will be fine sir Gray, she had always been find, she had this far away look on her face. What is wrong Princess? I asked her turning to look at her. She smiled, I envy her, she is so cheerful and so positive. So optimistic to the future even if it means she could die in the next second, she pushed her fist into her other hand, She†¦show more content†¦Yes! Jones said still posing, she then jumped scaring us both. She grabbed the sheets on the bed in the corner, We can use what we can find and build a rope. Gray goes first, I make sure the Princess gets down and then I will come down, she said determined. There was loud knocking on the door, Open up Gabriela, you cant escape forever. Jones looked at us seriously, her scar on her eyes making her look stronger than she was, Hurry. We quickly made the rope with bed sheets and curtains, we tied it to a post in the middle of the room. Octavian continued to knock loudly at the door and yell at his guards. Jones pulled me towards her, she smiled as she tied the end of the rope to my waist. Mebi oso na hit choda up nodotaim, Gray, she said with a sad smile. Huh- I interrupted my words with screams as she pushed me out the window. Gabriela- I pushed him through the window in a rush, you could hear his screams as he made his way down the tower. Then rope tightened as it held his weight from crashing and dying. I turned to look at Gabriela, her jaw had fallen to the floor. Jones! She yelled at me. Youre next, I commented blankly. She looked at me terrified. The door burst open, I grabbed her arm and pulled her behind me. Octavian grinned at us, two of his men stood on either side of him. Youre not escaping this time, Octavian said angrily. I smirked, You sure about that? I blasted a gush of wind magic at them, sending his two menShow MoreRelatedshort story1018 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Short Stories:  Ã‚  Characteristics †¢Short  - Can usually be read in one sitting. †¢Concise:  Ã‚  Information offered in the story is relevant to the tale being told.  Ã‚  This is unlike a novel, where the story can diverge from the main plot †¢Usually tries to leave behind a  single impression  or effect.  Ã‚  Usually, though not always built around one character, place, idea, or act. †¢Because they are concise, writers depend on the reader bringing  personal experiences  and  prior knowledge  to the story. Four MajorRead MoreThe Short Stories Ideas For Writing A Short Story Essay1097 Words   |  5 Pageswriting a short story. Many a time, writers run out of these short story ideas upon exhausting their sources of short story ideas. If you are one of these writers, who have run out of short story ideas, and the deadline you have for coming up with a short story is running out, the short story writing prompts below will surely help you. Additionally, if you are being tormented by the blank Microsoft Word document staring at you because you are not able to come up with the best short story idea, youRead MoreShort Story1804 Words   |  8 PagesShort story: Definition and History. A  short story  like any other term does not have only one definition, it has many definitions, but all of them are similar in a general idea. According to The World Book Encyclopedia (1994, Vol. 12, L-354), â€Å"the short story is a short work of fiction that usually centers around a single incident. Because of its shorter length, the characters and situations are fewer and less complicated than those of a novel.† In the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s DictionaryRead MoreShort Stories648 Words   |  3 Pageswhat the title to the short story is. The short story theme I am going conduct on is â€Å"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ by James Thurber (1973). In this short story the literary elements being used is plot and symbols and the theme being full of distractions and disruption. The narrator is giving a third person point of view in sharing the thoughts of the characters. Walter Mitty the daydreamer is very humorous in the different plots of his dr ifting off. In the start of the story the plot, symbols,Read MoreShort Stories1125 Words   |  5 PagesThe themes of short stories are often relevant to real life? To what extent do you agree with this view? In the short stories â€Å"Miss Brill† and â€Å"Frau Brechenmacher attends a wedding† written by Katherine Mansfield, the themes which are relevant to real life in Miss Brill are isolation and appearance versus reality. Likewise Frau Brechenmacher suffers through isolation throughout the story and also male dominance is one of the major themes that are highlighted in the story. These themes areRead MoreShort Story and People1473 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿Title: Story Of An Hour Author: Kate Chopin I. On The Elements / Literary Concepts The short story Story Of An Hour is all about the series of emotions that the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard showed to the readers. With the kind of plot of this short story, it actually refers to the moments that Mrs. Mallard knew that all this time, her husband was alive. For the symbol, I like the title of this short story because it actually symbolizes the time where Mrs. Mallard died with joy. And with thatRead MoreShort Story Essay1294 Words   |  6 PagesA short story concentrates on creating a single dynamic effect and is limited in character and situation. It is a language of maximum yet economical effect. Every word must do a job, sometimes several jobs. Short stories are filled with numerous language and sound devices. These language and sound devices create a stronger image of the scenario or the characters within the text, which contribute to the overall pre-designed effect.As it is shown in the metaphor lipstick bleeding gently in CinnamonRead MoreRacism in the Short Stor ies1837 Words   |  7 PagesOften we read stories that tell stories of mixing the grouping may not always be what is legal or what people consider moral at the time. The things that you can learn from someone who is not like you is amazing if people took the time to consider this before judging someone the world as we know it would be a completely different place. The notion to overlook someone because they are not the same race, gender, creed, religion seems to be the way of the world for a long time. Racism is so prevalentRead MoreThe Idol Short Story1728 Words   |  7 PagesThe short stories â€Å"The Idol† by Adolfo Bioy Casares and â€Å"Axolotl† by Julio Cortà ¡zar address the notion of obsession, and the resulting harm that can come from it. Like all addictions, obsession makes one feel overwhelmed, as a single thought comes to continuously intruding our mind, causing the individual to not be able to ignore these thoughts. In â€Å"Axolotl†, the narr ator is drawn upon the axolotls at the Jardin des Plantes aquarium and his fascination towards the axolotls becomes an obsession. InRead MoreGothic Short Story1447 Words   |  6 Pages The End. In the short story, â€Å"Emma Barrett,† the reader follows a search party group searching for a missing girl named Emma deep in a forest in Oregon. The story follows through first person narration by a group member named Holden. This story would be considered a gothic short story because of its use of setting, theme, symbolism, and literary devices used to portray the horror of a missing six-year-old girl. Plot is the literal chronological development of the story, the sequence of events