Comparison of The Arrival of the Beebox and The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock Essay Example for Free

Comparison of The Arrival of the Beebox and The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock Essay In Sylvia Plaths The Arrival of the Bee Box and T. S. Eliots The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock both speakers are burdened by great mental anguish caused by their feeling of insignificance and powerlessness in the world. They both fear and accept the prospect of death, while acknowledging life as its opposite. These are the two sides of the human experience. Through an internal monologue, Prufrock explores his feeling of uselessness and displacement in society, while in The Arrival of the Bee Box, the speaker is concerned with their powerlessness over their mind, and impending consequences. Throughout The Arrival of the Bee Box, the speaker is concerned with their powerlessness to the noises in their mind. The speaker tends to contradict or argue with themselves as shown by contrasting tone and opinion. While the speaker knows that (the box) is dangerous they still cant keep away from it. The speaker wishes to be sweet God, yet denies desiring power by proclaiming that I am not a Caesar. This bi-polar behaviour is also shown by inconsistent rhyming throughout the poem. In the first stanza lift is rhymed with midget and it, yet in other stanzas no rhyming is found at all. Inconsistently throughout the poem, internal rhymes are found square as a chair, din in it, It is dark, dark which add to the staccato feel of the poem. The din of the bees is emphasised profusely by using consonance and onomatopoeia It is the noise that appals me most of all. The unintelligible syllables that highlight the true noise and confusion in the speakers mind. The noise of their mind is highlighted by many metaphors that compare the sound to furious Latin, a Roman mob, angrily clambering, a box of maniacs and unintelligible syllables. The tone of the end of the piece seems to ask for help as the speaker asks many questions such as how hungry they are?, if they would forget me?, how can I let them out?, and why should they turn on me?. The speaker expresses a desire to be in control, but accepts that they are insignificant to the power of the noise in their mind. In T. S. Eliots The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Prufrock is concerned with his sense of his insignificance and displacement in society. Eliot makes use of metaphors measured out my life with coffee spoons, When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall to show that Prufrock compares life to coffee and feels like an insect on a wall. Contrastingly, Plath uses metaphors to emphasise an exact sound, the noise of the bees in the speakers mind. Eliot also uses much more alliteration than Plath in his poem Before the taking of a toast and tea, fix you in a formulated phrase, When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall whereas Plath nearly did not use any alliteration at all apart from black on black perhaps since her piece sounds more like a story using conventional words when compared to Eliot. Both Eliot and Plath personify many objects in their pieces. Plath describes the bees as a Roman mob and Eliot compares the yellow fog and smoke to a cat as it licks its tongue, leap(s), rubs its muzzle and curled†¦ and fell asleep. A unique literary device that Eliot uses is anaphora To have†¦ To have†¦ To roll†¦ To say†¦ which in this instance describes all the things that Prufrock could have done, but never did. The central connecting burden that both speakers are plagued with is a powerlessness to their Sword of Damocles; the bees ruling the speakers powerless mind and Prufrocks feeling of alienation and uselessness in the real world.

Luck, Moral Guilt and Legal Guilt Essay -- Philosophy essays

Luck, Moral Guilt and Legal Guilt      Ã‚   The question of whether luck should play a role in our assessment of other people is fundamental to human society. Our judicial laws express the view that we are responsible for our actions-in other words, luck does have a bearing on the determination of legal guilt; since legal guilt is theoretically based on moral guilt, this means that luck is usually considered to have a bearing on moral guilt as well. However, there are serious difficulties with this system of judgment. Indeed, I believe that it is neither advantageous nor even logically plausible to accede to either side of this debate: simply admitting to one extreme (e.g., that luck should never be considered when assessing others, or vice versa) automatically creates a multitude of problems. If we do consider luck when assessing someone's moral character, we open ourselves to the very real possibility of punishing two people unequally for the same exact action or intention, which is incompatible with our notion of j ustice. Yet if we decide that luck should not be a factor, we are in effect embracing the notion that we are not responsible for our actions, and in such a case, punishment would be futile; without legal guilt and punishment, however, society would be chaotic, which again assaults our notion of justice. We shall see that this issue is closely tied in with the more general idea of free will vs. determinism, which itself is a fundamentally disturbing problem. As long as the free will debate remains inconclusive-as most people feel it is-so too will the debate over moral luck remain unresolved.    In order to examine this issue, it is beneficial to start with a specific example: consider a person who happens to ... ... leads to chaos. Yet factoring in luck fails to punish those who are immoral but have good luck, while punishing only those who have bad luck. I maintain that a satisfactory answer to this question is impossible because, as I stated earlier, the issue of moral guilt in relation to luck is based heavily upon the idea of free will versus determinism, a problem which is fundamentally troublesome. With no clear way to decide the issue of free will vs. determinism, it is equally unclear how we should decide the issue of moral guilt. Should luck play a part in the assessment of a person's character? As I asserted at the start of this discussion, I believe that such a determination is logically implausible.    WORKS CITED Nagel, Thomas. "Moral Luck." Reason and Responsibility, 9th edition. Joel Feinberg, ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1996: 515-521.

Life Without Televisions

Life without Television When my family’s only television set went to the repair shop the other day, my parents, my sister, and I thought we would have a terrible week. How could we get through the long evenings in such a quiet house? What would it be like without all the shows to keep us company? We soon realized, though, that living without television for a while was a stroke of good fortune. It became easy for each of us to enjoy some activities alone, to complete some postponed chores, and to spend rewarding time with each other and friends.First of all, with no television to compete for our time, we found plenty of hours for personal interests. We all read more that week than we had read during the six months before. For instance, I was able to finish â€Å"The Scarlet Letter†, a novel assigned in my English class. Also my younger sister read 300 pages of the last book of the â€Å"Twilight† series. We each also enjoyed some hobbies we had ignored for ages. M y dad’s old enthusiasm for gardening returned, and he started planting vegetables in his garden.My mom had time to open her bakery book and bake Italian desserts such as Profiterole and tiramisu. My sister and I played volleyball in the back yard, a sport that we loved since we were younger. In addition, my sister and I both stopped procrastinating with our homework. We both found out that it was really helpful to work on homework ahead of time; therefore I worked on chapter three and four of my Algebra homework for next week. I also finished my study guide for my English test. My sister as well worked on her French and Government assignments.Second we did chores that had been hanging over our heads for too long. There were many jobs around the house that had needed attention for some time. Cleaning our rooms was the first chore we did; my sister and I cleaned our entire room and vacuumed the carpet. Then my mom cleaned the counter tops and all the shelves of the kitchen. Fin ally my dad managed to clean his garage and put all of his tools back on the shelves. We also had a chance to do some long- postponed shopping. My father went to SEARS to buy a sofa that was needed in his room.My mom went to LOWES to buy accessories for her bathroom. My sister and I went to the mall to buy her prom dress and I was able to buy two pairs of jeans and two shirts that I wanted. And each of us also caught up with e-mails and did paperwork that was long overdue. My mom had some office work done, such as sales reports for the committee of her company. My dad finally wrote an e-mail to my grandma that is living in Spain with my aunt Susan. My sister also replied to e-mails from her friends that live in Italy.And I was able to complete my FASFA application for the fall semester. Finally, and probably most important, we spent time with each other. Instead of just being in the same room together while we stared at a screen, we actually talked for many pleasant hours. My parent s and I never had long conversations before, and during that week, we got to know each other more than we did for the past five years. My sister and I talked more about each other and we found out that we have a lot of interests in common. Moreover, for the first time in years, my family played some games together.My sister enjoys playing Monopoly; therefore, we played almost every night. We also played chest, one of my dad’s favorite games. My mom’s favorite game is dominos; although my sister ended up winning every game. And because we didn’t have to worry about missing this or that show, we had some family friends over on a couple of evenings and spent enjoyable time with them. We would play volleyball in the back yard. After several games we would have dinner in the back patio enjoying the lovely weather while listening to classical music.And finally after dinner we would make a bonfire and sit around it and remember memories with our friends. Once our telev ision returned, we were not prepared to put it in the attic. But we had a sense of how it can take over our lives if we are not careful. We are now more selective. We turn on the set for our favorite shows, certain sports events, and the news, but we don’t leave it running all evening. As a result, we find we can enjoy television and still have time left over for other activities and interests.

What Do Achievement Tests Measure

Achievement tests have always been part of school, but they have taken on more pronounced importance in American education with the passage of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act. Achievement tests are typically standardized and designed to measure subject and grade-level specific knowledge. Historically, they have been used as a way to determine at what level a student is performing in subjects such as math and reading. The 2001 law, which was replaced in 2015 with President Obamas Every Student Succeeds Act, linked the results on achievement tests to a wide range of political and administrative outcomes, from funding of school programs to individual teacher salaries. History The origins of standardized testing go back to the Confucian era in China when would-be government officials were screened for their aptitudes. Western societies, indebted to the models provided by Greek culture, favored testing by essay or oral examination. With the industrial revolution and the explosion in childhood education, standardized tests emerged as a way of assessing large groups of children quickly. In France in the early 20th century, the psychologist Alfred Binet developed a standardized test that would eventually become the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test, a major component of the modern IQ test. By World War I, standardized tests were a common way to assess the fitness for various branches of the armed forces. What Do the Tests Measure? The most common standardized tests are the ACT and SAT. Both are used to determine the fitness of prospective college students. Different tests are more popular in different parts of the country, and they test slightly differently. Students show a propensity for one test or the other: the SAT is geared toward testing logic, while the ACT is considered more a test of accumulated knowledge. No Child Left Behind opened the door to more extensive testing, as the results of achievements became a measure of a schools effectiveness. The explosive growth in the testing industry answered a call for assessments in grade schools as well, with students typically facing standardized testing every year after the third grade. Popular Achievement Tests In addition to the ACT and SAT, there are a number of achievement tests that are given to students in American public schools. Some of the most popular assessments are: Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT)Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement (KTEA)Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement (WJ)Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT-R)Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT)National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) A number of private companies have emerged to get a piece of the assessment game. Some of the more popular ones: California Achievement TestITBS - Iowa Test of Basic SkillsSTAR Early Literacy, STAR Math, and STAR ReadingStanford Achievement TestTerraNovaWorkKeys