Comparing Evil in Emerson, Hawthorne, and Melville Essay -- comparison

     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lionel Trilling once said, "A proper sense of evil is surely an attribute of a great writer." (98-99) Although he made the remark in a different context, one would naturally associate Hawthorne and Melville with the comment, while Emerson's might be one of the last names to mind. For the modern reader, who is often in the habit of assuming that the most profound and incisive apprehension of reality is a sense of tragedy, Emerson seems to have lost his grip. He has often been charged with a lack of vision of evil and tragedy. Yeats, for example, felt that Whitman and Emerson "have begun to seem superficial, precisely because they lack the Vision of Evil" (qtd. in Matthiessen 181).    There is no doubt that Emerson was a yea-sayer. He did celebrate the daylight and hope in preference to blackness and despair. At the same time, however, he was not unaware of the existence of evil. He personally went through the agony of unusual poverty and a series of deaths of his beloved ones, and his own health was constantly threatened. He knew life was hard and full of tribulations. But Emerson discovered the key to the perplexing reality in absolute faith in human nature and divinity: A human being is capable of banishing whatever evil with the guidance of divinity that sometimes seems to accomplish the just cause at any cost, even by an evil agent. Throughout 'Self-Reliance' echoes his strong conviction in human nature and God:    Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events...And we are new men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not minors and inv... .... "Self-Reliance." The American Tradition in Literature. Ed. Sculley Bradley et al. Vol. 1, 4th ed. New York: Norton, 1983. 1036-1048. -----. "The American Scholar." The American Tradition in Literature. 1080-1092. -----. "Experience." The American Tradition in Literature. 1126-1135. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "Young Goodman Brown." The American Tradition in Literature. 672-683. Hoeltje, Hubert H. "Hawthorne, Melville, and Blackness," American Literature, 37 (1965): 279-285. Matthiessen, F.O. American Renaissance. New York: Oxford & University Press, 1941. Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick. New York: Norton, 1967. -----. Billy Budd. The American Tradition in Literature. 997-1054. Sherman, Paul. Emerson's Angle of Vision Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1952. Trilling, Lionel. The Opposing Self. New York: Viking Press, 1955.   

Lecture Notes

Scientific Investigation of mental processes and behavior and how they Lancaster uses tools and research methods to understand mental processes & behavior Has a biological boundary (changing nature of body impacts way we behave and who we are) and a cultural boundary (culture shapes human behavior) Psychology is about understanding a persons biological make-up, their psychological experience and function and cultural background Brief History Psychology has stemmed from philosophical roots and philosophical questions (1)Free will or determinism – Do people freely choose their behavior or Is It characterized from lawful patterns? (2) Mind-Body Problem- How do mental and psychical elements interact?Germany was center of psychological research and thinking In the early stages (19th century) Structuralism (Wilhelm Wound 1832- 1920) father of experimental psychology Focus on elements and introspection of consciousness experience (report of stimulus) 1879 – Wilhelm Wound estab lished the first ever laboratory of psychology Functionalism William James (1842-1910) Criticized Wound's focus on elements and consciousness to behavior Instead of focus n structure of consciousness rather think why (behavior)Strong emphasis on function on mental processes in adapting to the environment Gestalt psychology â€Å"the whole Is bigger than the elements that form the whole† Perception and creating meaning as human beings Experiment orientated Psychodrama perspective Sigmund Freed (1856-1939) Not everything we think, feel and remember we are aware of (unconscious), some aspects of hidden events from us causing anxiety (mental processes in conflict) Dynamic Interplay between consciousness and unconsciousness Past events become part of unconsciousness (find them, relive and talk through) Lecture Notes Revenge Deterrence Get rid of them, get them of the streets Retribution Just desserts Justice, proportionate The punishment must fit the crime It must be proportionate Contravention of social order requires ‘pay back' to society or volt Deterrence Threat of punishment will prevent future crime Hedonistic calculus If the pleasure out ways the pain deterrence is ineffective General Deterrence, and Specific You see a friend commit a crime and you don't want to Specific Is you Certainty, Celerity, Severity These need to be close together In order for deterrence to be affective certainty Is he most important; if you are certain you are going to get caught, you wont do it. Does deterrence work?Sometimes it does work (they get out, and they don't want to go back) and sometimes it doesn't work (people sometimes bargain with the judge to get put into Jail longer, or they go back to crime) Incapacitation (Prison) Symbolic: denouncement of act communicated to offenders and society through use of punishment In the sense of freedom; we as people of society we value our freedom, and taking it away is tough on a lot of people Imprisonment, deprivation of liberty Remove problem elements from society Rehabilitation Address underlying causes facing the offender Focus on offender, not crime Assumes transformation potential of rehabilitation within a punitive context The problem with rehabilitation is that it believes that you can rehabilitate someone in a prison setting; where you got people in an anxious setting etc. ND it becomes a lot more challenging Justice Policies Trend in Policies There is more emphasis on incapacitation, retribution, deterrence Rehabilitation, reparation overshadowed Less focus on solving problems of crime Belief that vindictive punishment is most appropriate response to crime Trend in US ND Canada toward punitive approaches New Pensiveness From mid-sass's Claim of global trend toward harsher CA sanctions More and more punishment is increased, some states in the U. S have totally gotten rid of community sanctions and probation Increase use of prison, more crimes result in prison, increase prison lengths, mandatory minimums More and more punishment is increased, some states in the U. S have totally gotten rid of community sanctions and probation Shaming initiatives, austere prison regimes For example in Arizona they make their inmates wear pink suits Zero tolerance strategiesZero tolerance means they have to report everything even if it's a push fight Three strikes legislation If you do two serious offences on the third serious offence you get a life sentence Use of capital punishment It does not have an effect on crime rates In Canada the death penalty did not have an impact on crime rates In states for the first two weeks it would go down and then it would go right back to where it was Harsh CSS policies are response to increasing public disorder, rising crime, deterioration of moral framework Leap backward, shift away from restraint Stretching the limits of punishment Tough Justice War on Drugs in 1971 Drug offences is what is driving the crime rates in the U. S out the roof Crack: is used by the lower class people Cocaine: is used by the middle and upper class The police are targeting the lower class that is using crack So the prisons and sanctions in the U.S is filled with the minority people, such as blacks and Latinist's Tough on crime policies and election platforms 1980 = 40,000, 2008 = 500,000 Simon: prison used to target race Relationship between ‘Get Tough' and Crime Rates Little relationship between crime and incarceration rates There is no relationship with how tough you are on crime and the crime rate. You can e as tough as you want but it will not put a dent on the crime rate. High welfare spending = low incarceration rates Greater inequality = higher incarceration rates Inefficient – move away from pensiveness Example: Texas vs†¦ California Texas spent a lot of money on offences, which in turn had zero effect on the crime rate, where as California spent no money, and they had the same rates as Texas who spent a lot of money Canada youth incarceration rate Canada put in place laws and barriers that stated you can't put children under the age of 12 in Jail.Criminal Responsibility Category Age Children Under 12 None Youth 12-17 Diminished Adults 18+ Full Legal Legal Classification of Criminal Offences Offence Hearing Punishment Summary Provincial court Judge $2000 both Indictable (Felony: U. S term; both mean the same thing) Less serious: provincial court Judge Most serious: provincial superior court by federally appointed Judge All others: Judge without Jury Up to Life Hybrid Can be summary or indictable Prosecutor discretion Record, circumstances Varies Cocoas: Representations of Crime – Lecture 3 Non. 29) Epistemology – Study of knowledge What do we know about crime? How do we know what we know? How do we acquire our knowledge? What are its limitations?Common Sources News Word of mouth Problems with Understanding Crime Hidden Subject of inquiry is deliberately Insight Criminals have little insight into the broader nature of their behavior What does one murderer know about another Cost Access in costly, time consuming and partial Scope Much crime lies beyond the scope of research Access Sociologists cannot pass effortlessly into every situation Barriers exist within social worlds Representation Social worlds are not representative Official Sources of Crime Statistics The Crime Funnel Citizens detect crime A lot of people do not report crime, for reasons being: Fear Can resolve it on your own Police might/wont do anything about it May not think it's a crime/don't define it as a crime Street youth, they don't trust the police because they are victimized If you are engaging in criminal behavior you won't report crime to the police.Uniform Crime Reports Standardized counts of crime known to police National statistic s about crime Applies standard definitions to all offences Counts used to determine crime rates The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics Limitations Mainly the crime funnel Justice system does not give an accurate portrayal of crime Unreported crime The â€Å"dark figure† of crime Self-Report Surveys Asks people about the crimes they have committed You can get peoples attitude etc Who commits the most crime: Young Adults Identifies some unreported crimes (dark figure) Measure attitudes and prevalence of offending (primary peers) Factorization Surveys Asks victims about crimes they did not report Indicate that a large number of crimes are not reported Example: Canadian Urban Factorization Survey Direct Measures Economic loss, physical injury, property damage Indirect Measures Fear of crime and its effects People don't want to be alone at night Lock the doorsEstablish new expectations and measurements for police effectiveness Increase understanding and trust between police an d immunity leaders Empower and strengthen community-based efforts Commitment to long-term proactive prevention strategies Decentralized operations and management Develop new skills in police Racial and Criminal Profiling Racial Criminal Any action undertaken for reasons of safety, security or public protection, that relies on stereotypes about race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, or place of origin, or a combination of these, rather than on a reasonable suspicion, to single out an individual for greater scrutiny or different treatment.Relies on actual behavior or on information about suspected activity by someone who tests the description of a specific individual. What is Racial Profiling? Based on stereotypical assumptions because of one's race, color, ethnicity, etc. Evidence of disproportionate stops When is it profiling? B, women in spousal relationship killed, airport Good police work or self-fulfilling prophecy â€Å"Intuition†, â€Å"suspicion† Visibility , definition If you are a young black male with an education you are more likely to be stopped by police. ** By in large police officers in Canada are intelligent hard working people who want to serve Justice to the general public. **

The Woman Warrior Memoirs Of A Girlhood Among Ghosts

The world, and the United States especially, is learning faster than ever how important it is not to discriminate against individuals or groups of people based on the color of their skin. However, the world is not perfect and this is an incredibly slow process. Like in Citizen, a collection of poems, images, and stories revolving around the injustices against African Americans, this research paper will highlight the problems with American society s judgments and discriminations that have become social norms. In addition, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, a memoir written around a Chinese girl and her struggles of balancing two identities, will demonstrate the pressure and bias society places on a person of color.†¦show more content†¦Even thousands of years ago humans of different complexions traded with one another and yet there were no racist feelings. Clearly, injustices have happened to specific groups of people before the eighteenth century, however humans have only came up with the formal definition for these injustices after the eighteenth century, mostly due to the systems of colonization which was continued by imperialization. These systems both, â€Å"rely on the colonization and exploitation of other peoples.† (Kaplan, 1) While colonization was a practice that had many negative effects towards people of color, imperialization was much worse. The Encyclopedia of European Social History states, â€Å"Imperialism, however, was an integrated system, a set of beliefs far more coherent and pernicious than early colonialism ever had been. European imperialism, defined as the period between 1885 and 1918, pursued aggressive world political goals and systematically annexed other nations not just for economic gain, as colonialism always had, but to increase its power base abroad, no longer just at home.† (Kaplan, 1). Most of the countries that were taken imperialized were countries that have populations of people of color. This caused the growing judgements andShow MoreRelatedThe Woman Warrior : Memoirs Of A Girlhood Among Ghosts1833 Words   |  8 Pagesmale) colleagues. This gender discrimination is a powerful issue that Maxine Hong Kingston focuses on in her memoir The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts. In the memoir, Kingston discusses the gender discrimination she faced while growing up in a Chinese-American family and culture. Similarly, both women in sports and Chinese-American women, specifically Maxine in The Woman Warrior, face discrimination and inequality because of their gender; however, today, women are more vocal and haveRead MoreThe Woman Warrior : Memoirs Of A Girlhood Among Ghosts1580 Words   |  7 PagesThe Woman Warrior Summary and Response In the memoir The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, written by Maxine Hong Kingston, the author addresses autobiographically the difficulty of combining two cultures. Kingston opens the book with the chapter No Name Woman, a recount of a story her mother told her when she was a child about an aunt she once had who killed herself. Kingston delves into the story of her unnamed aunt explaining the events in intricate detail. Her aunt, whose husbandRead MoreThe Woman Warrior : Memoirs Of A Girlhood Among Ghosts1155 Words   |  5 PagesIn Maxine Kingston’s memoir The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts--especially shown in the section â€Å"No Name Woman†, she describes the way her family has treated and expects her to treat her unknown, dead aunt and how this all correlates with herself as an individual. Kingston realizes the rift between the gender roles within the Chinese tradition and struggles to form her own opinion concerning this for gotten, dead family member and herself. Through the telling of her aunt’s complexRead MoreThe Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston1722 Words   |  7 PagesIn The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston crafts a fictitious memoir of her girlhood among ghosts. The book’s classification as a memoir incited significant debate, and the authenticity of her representation of Chinese American culture was contested by Asian American scholars and authors. The Woman Warrior is ingenuitive in its manipulation of the autobiographical genre. Kingston integrates the value of storytelling in her memoir and relates it to dominant themes about silence, cultural authenticityRead More Impact of Chinese Heritage on Maxine Hong Kingstons The Woman Warrior2371 Words   |  10 PagesImpact of Chinese Heritage on Maxine Hong Kingstons The Woman Warrior Haunted by the power of images? I do feel that I go into madness and chaos. Theres a journey of everything falling apart, even the meaning and the order that I can put on something by the writing. —Maxine Hong Kingston It is true that some dream in color, and some dream in black and white. Some dream in Sonic sounds, and some dream in silence. In Maxine Hong Kingstons literary works, the readers enter a soundlessRead MoreWoman Warrior Essay1345 Words   |  6 PagesWoman Warrior Essay Maxine Hong Kingstons novel, The Woman Warrior is a semi-autobiographical collection of short stories that chronicles her childhood in California. It gives the reader a feeling of how it feels like to be a Chinese American girl growing up with traditional parents in a world that is quite different from theirs. Throughout the novel, both she and her mother refer to the outside world as ghosts. The subtitle given to the book is Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts. To figureRead MoreMaxine Hong Kingstons The Woman Warrior Essay1302 Words   |  6 PagesMaxine Hong Kingstons The Woman Warrior Maxine Hong Kingstons novel, The Woman Warrior is a semi-autobiographical collection of short stories that chronicles her childhood in California. It gives the reader a feeling of how it feels like to be a Chinese American girl growing up with traditional parents in a world that is quite different fromRead MoreThe Woman Warrior: A Tale of Identity1972 Words   |  8 PagesThe Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston is a collection of memoirs, a blend of Kingston’s autobiography with Chinese folklore. The book is divided into five interconnected chapters: No Name Woman, White Tigers, Shaman, At the Western Palace, and A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe. In No Name Woman, three characters are present: Kingston, Kingston’s mother, and Kingston’s aunt. This section starts off with Kingston’s mother retelling the story of her aunt and herRead MoreMaxine Hong Kingston s No Name Woman1271 Words   |  6 PagesCalifornia, her fa mily roots remain deep within her culture. She is an active feminist and the author of two well-known books, The Woman Warrior (1970) and China Men (1980). In No Name Woman, Kingston explores the treatment, values and life of the women of old-China in the 1920s. In â€Å"No Name Woman,† which is Chapter One of  The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts, Kingston learns from her mother that she once had an aunt who killed both herself and her newborn baby by jumping into the familyRead MoreThe Problems Of Racial Identity927 Words   |  4 Pagessaid as â€Å"the significance and meaning of race in one’s life† (4). The question remaining isn’t how much certain groups of people value their racial identity, rather how this assigned racial identity can impact them negatively in life. Within The Woman Warrior, the characters face many obstacles while living in America and coming from a Chinese background. The author of the novel, Maxine Hong Kingston, faces some of the most difficult challenges out of the characters. Being a child in a new country, The Woman Warrior Memoirs Of A Girlhood Among Ghosts In June 2015, the United States Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) made history by winning the gold medal at the Women’s World Cup. Not only was this a big accomplishment for American sports, as it was the team’s first championship win in 16 years, but the win was also a benchmark for female athletes in professional sports as it showed the potential of these athletes, but also showed many of the obstacles that are currently in their way. Despite having overcome milestones throughout the years in the professional sports industry, there is still a lack of opportunities for women. In addition, many females in the sports industry (including athletes, journalists, referees, and broadcasters) have openly discussed the discrimination that they†¦show more content†¦As a young girl, Maxine is coming to terms with her transition into â€Å"womanhood,† which is complicated by the societal expectations of Chinese girls and the differences between the expect ations for girls in Chinese and American societies. Maxine’s own experiences with Chinese cultural ideas are visible through her interpretation of the story of the No Name Woman when she writes: â€Å"Imagining her free with sex doesn’t fit, though. I don’t know any women like that, or men either. Unless I see her life branching into mine, she gives me no ancestral help† (Kingston 8). Maxine tries to imagine her aunt as a more sexually liberated woman, but her experiences with Chinese traditions and culture complicate her interpretation of these events. In the following chapter, Kingston further discusses the expectations of women in Chinese society and how they differ for the expectations of men. She writes: â€Å"when we Chinese girls listened to the adults talk-story, we learned that we failed if we grew up to be but wives or slaves† (Kingston 19). Many of the talk-stories that Kingston describes would often discriminate against women and were i ntended to teach young girls that their only roles in society were to be submissive and under a man’s control. In the next talk-story, Brave Orchid tells Maxine the story of Fa Mu Lan, a woman warrior