Other cultures poetry Essay Example

Other cultures poetry Paper Aint I a woman? which was written by Sojourner Truth in 1854 and Maya Angelous poem Still I rise which was written in the 20th century both deal with the themes of racism and inequality between white and black people and especially white and black women. The first poem is Sojourner Truths, which asks why she wasnt treated like a woman throughout the speech Aint I a woman? . The two main themes she looks at are the themes of racism and inequality she gives examples throughout the poem that show that women have no rights and the poem questions the morality of why she does not have these rights. Sojourner Truth was born into slavery and therefore had no real education and throughout the poem she highlights this using non-standard English Aint I a woman? She has a deep Christian faith from her childhood and she expresses this at the end when talking about how Christ was from a woman and man had nothing to do with him. We will write a custom essay sample on Other cultures poetry specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Other cultures poetry specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Other cultures poetry specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In this poem she addresses a wide audience because this poem was originally as a speech for a womans conference there would have been numerous people at this conference including men, women, blacks and whites. In the first stanza she talks about how all women should be treated equally comparing the treatment of white women to herself as a black woman. She also talks about segregation when she says that man over there say referring to him as that man and as being over there creates a distance. In the second stanza she talks about how she works as hard as a man in the first few lines of this stanza she engages the reader by using the imperatives look at me followed by look at my arm these commands capture the reader. In the third stanza she talks about the fact that she as all the bad points of both men and women about how she can work as much as a man and that she is not given the right food to match and highlights this point when she says I can bear the lash as well. In the fourth stanza she gathers both sympathy and empathy from the reader when recalling some of her harshest experiences of inequality as a slave she recalls how her children were taken by the slave owners and she recalls how there was nobody there none but Jesus heard me this will engage everyone but especially mothers she also refers to her faith in this line when she mentions that the only person there was Jesus. In the penultimate stanza she refers again to segregation when saying as she did in the first stanza that little man in black there say the use of the word there creates distance between Truth and this person. She again refers to her faith when commenting that man had nothing to do with him when talking about Jesus in a time when religion was a very powerful tool as many people were deeply religious. In the last stanza she says that women should be able to have positions of power saying that as a woman had the power to turn the world upside down they should be able to turn it right side up again. Still I rise was written to express Maya Angelous plight during the 20th century and how she will never be down hearted about it repeating the line still I rise throughout the poem. Maya Angelou had a disruptive childhood when she was three her parents divorced and she was sent to live with her Grandmother in a different state. After being sexually assaulted whilst staying at her mothers she didnt speak to anyone but her brother for four years. She has no target audience as the poem was written as just that a poem and therefore has a large span of people reading the poem however it is aimed at an adult audience rather than children talking of things like haughtiness, sexiness and sassiness. In the first stanza she talks about how people make up lies and put her down your bitter twisted lies she uses personal pronouns to make the reader guilty for her plight and therefore more sympathetic. The second stanza talks about her confidence and power oil well pumping in my living room this use of imagery is very powerful as oil was and still remains a very expensive material. The third stanza is used to make her point that she cannot be stopped using the line just like the moons and the suns and she goes on to say with the certainty of the tides she uses nature as it is the only thing that cannot truly be stopped. She backs this up like she has done with many of the other stanzas by using the phrase still I rise this line is assertive saying no matter what I will rise. The fourth stanza relies on the theme of pain and suffering talking about how she feels people want her to be treated again using personal pronouns to make the reader feel guilty she uses past tense to make the reader feel guilty for what they may have done. The fifth stanza reverts back to present tense and is similar to the second stanza claiming confidence again using the theme of power and wealth gold mines diggin in my own backyard. The sixth stanza almost repeats the theme of pain but is more violent using violent verbs such as cut, shoot and kill and at the end of that stanza again uses the analogy of nature when saying still like air I rise this makes it sound effortless and done with ease. The seventh stanza shows sarcasm in the first to lines of the stanza does it come as a surprise and then as we have seen before the theme of wealth and power diamonds at the meeting of my thighs. The last few stanza change structure in an explosion of rage. Again using nature as an example of power, Black Ocean. It ends with the repetition of the line I rise to enforce her point. Aint I a woman asks people, lets work together using collective people such as women whereas Maya Angelous poem is more of an out cry of anger finalising with the words I rise. Sojourner Truth is ill educated and therefore she uses non Standard English however Maya Angelou uses non Standard English to highlight her roots throughout Mayas poem a theme of aggression moves to the forefront of the poem whereas in Truths poem she grows in confidence questioning the reader throughout. Both poets address a wide audience one in a womans conference and the other (still I rise) not having a real target audience. Still I rise follows a set pattern of quatrains until the end when the structure explodes into a vent of aggression and defiance it also changes from past tense when talking of oppression to present tense when talking about hope. The previous poem on the other hand was written as a speech but still has a rhythm she splits up the poem every 5 or 6 lines with the words Aint I a woman Still I rise is very fast paced because it has shorter sentences compared to Aint I a woman which because it contains longer sentences is much slower. In Still I rise Angelou uses personal pronouns to grab the readers attention and make the reader think about the injustices done. While in Aint I a woman Truth never uses personal pronouns but instead opens up to the reader supplying her inner most thoughts. Both poem repeat their titles right through the poems but for different effects in Still I rise it is used to make a point while in Aint I a woman it is used to back up a point and to question the reader. Both poems use rhetorical questions still I rise uses more, more frequently to highlight or to make points whereas in Aint I a woman they are used purely to highlight or to remind the reader of the theme f the poem. Aint I a woman uses verbs right from the start describing how white women should be treated using the verbs helped, lifted and how they need and the use of verbs continues throughout the poem when describing Truths tasks Plowed and gathered etc all of which are tasks commonly set to men as opposed to the violent verbs used in Still I rise such as cut, shoot and kill. Both poems have very strong endings; Angelou repeats the line I rise three times after rallying people with the word I am the dream, the hope of the slave whilst Truth tells her readers to work together. Still I rise was more a vent of anger whereas Aint I a woman was open and it seemed like she was revealing her inner most secrets. It was for that very reason that I preferred Aint I a woman as I found it therefore easier to sympathise with her than In Still I rise as it felt as if sympathy was almost forced on you despite the fact that Truth used less personal pronouns the imperatives she used grabbed my attention and she kept my attention by discussing personal issues that were very intimate.

USS Illinois (BB-65) in World War II

USS Illinois (BB-65) in World War II USS Illinois (BB-65) was a battleship that was laid down during World War II (1939-1945) but never completed. First proposed as a ship of the massive Montana-class of battleship, Illinois was re-ordered in 1940 as the fifth vessel of the US Navys Iowa-class. As work commenced, the US Navy found that it had a more pressing need for aircraft carriers than battleships. This led to efforts to convert Illinois into a carrier. The resulting designs proved impractical and construction resumed on the battleship but at a slow speed. In early August 1945, with Illinois only 22% complete, the US Navy elected to cancel the ship. Some debate ensued regarding completing the hull for use in nuclear testing, but the cost proved prohibitive and the decision was made to break up what had been built. A New Design In early 1938, work commenced on a new battleship design at the request of US Navy General Board head Admiral Thomas C. Hart. At first conceived as a larger version of the earlier  South Dakota-class, the new battleships were to mount twelve 16 guns or nine 18 guns.  As the design was revised, the armament changed to nine 16 guns. In addition, the class anti-aircraft complement underwent several evolutions with the majority of its 1.1 weapons being replaced with 20 mm and 40 mm guns. Funding for the new ships came in May with the approval of the Naval Act of 1938. Designated the  Iowa-class, construction of the lead ship,  USS  Iowa  (BB-61), was assigned to the New York Navy Yard. Laid down in 1940,  Iowa  was to be the first of four battleships in the class. Fast Battleships Though hull numbers BB-65 and BB-66 were originally slated to be the first two ships of the new, larger  Montana-class, the passage of the Two Ocean Navy Act in July 1940 saw them re-designated as two additional  Iowa-class  battleships named USS  Illinois  and USS  Kentucky  respectively. As fast battleships, their 33-knot speed would allow them to serve as escorts for the new  Essex-class  carriers that were joining the fleet.   Unlike the preceding  Iowa-class ships (Iowa,  New Jersey,  Missouri, and  Wisconsin),  Illinois  and  Kentucky  were to employ all-welded construction which reduced weight while increasing hull strength.  Some debate was also given as to whether to retain the heavy armor scheme initially intended for the  Montana-class. Though this would have improved the vessels protection, it would also have greatly extended construction time. As a result, standard  Iowa-class armor was ordered. One adjustment that was made in the design was to alter elements of the armor scheme to improve protection against torpedo attacks.   USS Illinois (BB-65) - Overview Nation:  United StatesType:  BattleshipShipyard:  Philadelphia  Naval ShipyardLaid Down:  December 6, 1942Fate: Scrapped, September 1958 Specifications (Planned) Displacement:  45,000 tonsLength:  887.2 ft.Beam:  108 ft., 2 in.Draft:  28.9  ft.Speed:  33  knotsComplement: 2,788 Armament (Planned) Guns 9 Ãâ€" 16 in./50 cal Mark 7 guns20 Ãâ€" 5 in./38 cal Mark 12 guns80 Ãâ€" 40 mm/56 cal anti-aircraft guns49 Ãâ€" 20 mm/70 cal anti-aircraft cannons Construction The second ship to carry the name USS Illinois, the first being an Illinois-class battleship (BB-7) commissioned in 1901, BB-65 was laid down at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on January 15, 1945.  The delay in the start of construction came as a result of the US Navy putting the battleship on hold following the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway. In the wake of these engagements, the need for additional aircraft carriers became apparent and these types of vessels took priority in American shipyards. As a result, naval architects began exploring plans for converting Illinois and Kentucky (under construction since 1942) into carriers. The finalized conversion plan would have produced two vessels similar in appearance to the Essex-class. In addition to their aircraft complement, they would have carried twelve 5 guns in four twin and four single mounts. Assessing these plans, it was soon determined that the converted battleships aircraft complement would be smaller than the Essex-class and that the construction process would take longer and cost more than was practical.   Due to this, the decision was made to complete both vessels as battleships but very low priority was given to their construction.  Work moved forward on Illinois in early 1945 and continued into the summer.   With victory over Germany and the impending defeat of Japan, the US Navy ordered construction on the battleship to cease on August 11. Struck from the Naval Vessel Registry the next day, some thought was later given to using the vessels hulk as a target for nuclear testing. When the cost of completing the hull to permit this use was determined and concluded to be too high, the decision to break up the vessel on the ways was made. Scrapping of Illinois incomplete hull commenced in September 1958.

Rousseau, Marx, and the Critique of Classical Liberalism Essay

Rousseau, Marx, and the Critique of Classical Liberalism - Essay Example This name reflects the fact that it comes from the integrity of the people (nation, class), the presence of single will before the act of its public expression, and identity of the will and actions of the authorities. Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Karl Marx are the most prominent representatives of this theory of democracy. Rousseau’s Political Philosophy Idealizing the natural state, a kind of â€Å"golden age,† Rousseau believed that the civil state must guarantee the recovery of natural equality of man in the form established by the contract freedoms. Rousseau is considered the father of the classical theory of democracy, since he introduced the idea of popular sovereignty. By creating a state, people do not put themselves under the authority of the sovereign, but become the bearers of the supreme power. Considering the sovereignty of the people as indivisible, he opposed the division of sovereignty between any of the bodies. The legislature cannot be transferred to parl iament, and must be carried out directly by the people. All laws are created by the common will of the people. Rousseau’s criticism of liberalism manifested itself most profoundly in the interpretation of the equality problem. Rousseau distinguishes between legal equality—or formal equality—and de facto equality. ... And it would be unfair, according to ideologues of liberalism, if a fool and a wise man were equal. Rousseau, for all his â€Å"naturalism†, argues differently. By nature, he says, all people are equal. This does not mean that the strong and the weak are equal in strength. In physical strength they are not equal. But they are equal in the right to live. And if this equality is recognized, the strong will help the weak to survive. And then the weak will feel equally strong. But the strong can hurt the weak. And he can take advantage of the weakness of another person in order to subjugate him, to make him work in order to get rich, etc. Similarly, a stupid person can be treated in different ways: one can sympathize with his stupidity, but one can take advantage of his stupidity to deceive him for one’s own selfish purposes. According to Rousseau, natural inequality is compounded by the inequality in the social conditions of life. And the actual inequality of men is manife sted primarily in the inequality of social conditions. That is why humanism in modern society should create equal conditions for healthy people and the most hopeless people with disabilities. Though it could be possible, with reference to their â€Å"inferiority†, simply to reject physically defective people, or enclose them in special reservations. Modern society has become so rich that it can afford to be humane. At the time of Rousseau, it was not so rich. Rousseau proclaimed the need for the actual equality of all people in the society, which was still very far from the economic state when equality could be achieved. Rousseau can be accused of utopianism. But without such utopians