All My Sons by Arthur Miller Essay Example for Free

All My Sons by Arthur Miller Essay Explain how Arthur Miller makes this moment in his play All My Sons so dramatic. Refer to Extract 6 for passage In his play All My Sons, Arthur Miller makes the moment of George Deever’s arrival highly dramatic through the sense that a crisis looms for the Kellers and is then narrowly avoided. Hostility is reduced to calm and jovial equanimity through Kate Keller’s maternal dominance and controlling nature, and this in turn ensures that the threat posed by George is negated. At first, the interactions between Chris and George are adversarial as Chris repudiates the truth George asserts. Kate Keller resists Chris too, though in a very different way, which is ultimately successful in nullifying George and the threat he represents to the false reality of Joe Keller’s innocence. The initial interactions in this passage create a hostile atmosphere that arises from the clash between George Deever and Chris Keller. George has arrived to insist that Ann does not marry Chris because Joe’s guilt, or, more particularly, Joe’s dishonesty about his guilt, resulted in their father’s imprisonment and the destruction of their family. Chris insists that George â€Å"won’t say anything now.† He intends to marry Ann and, more importantly, has systematically suppressed any doubts about his father’s innocence. Miller has George speak past him to Ann, â€Å"you’re coming with me,† he says, and again, â€Å"you’re coming with me.† This repetition in his dialogue conveys his tenacity and suggests that he’s unlikely to desist. His challenge to Chris is part of a larger challenge to the false reality in which the Keller’s have been living, a reality in which Joe is innocent. Kate has protected thi s reality for years and proceeds to do so again now. When Kate Keller enters she immediately adopts a tone of maternal care and concern toward George. â€Å"Rais[ing] both hands† she â€Å"comes†¦ toward him† saying â€Å"Georgie, Georgie.† This diminutive calls into the present George’s past, his childhood and the happy associations he would have attached to Kate Keller during that time. Miller’s stage directions describe how she â€Å"cups his face,† a gesture suggestive of the affection and intimacy between a mother and young son. She remarks that he has become â€Å"grey† and that â€Å"he looks like a ghost.† This dialogue paints a vivid image of George as a gaunt and almost lifeless figure deserving of pity and perhaps plays on any feelings of self-pity he might have. She declares that she will â€Å"make [him] a sandwich,† and insists that he is â€Å"going to sit here and drink some juice.† Her theatrical and almost hyperbolic performance is one that seeks to emphasise her concern for George’s well-being and the motherly desire to nourish him and see him in good health. George is not actually her son, instead he belongs to the now fractured and dysfunctional Deever family. There’s a real sense that Kate is playing on this. She works to establish the nature of her interaction with George as obviously maternal, and thereby implicitly encourages him to adopt the corresponding role of dependant and grateful son. Moreover, Kate works to displace both George’s mother and Ann as the female figure to whom George owes the most loyalty and thereby establishes her own dominance and control. â€Å"What’s the matter with your mother,† she asks, â€Å"why don’t she feed you?† This question undermines George’s mother as a capable maternal provider. Next, Miller has her takes aim at Ann, admonishing her for saying that George was â€Å"fine† since he so demonstrably is not. Just as George’s mother supposedly fails to nurture him, Kate points out a similar failing in Ann when she notices Ann hasn’t given George grape juice. Ann says â€Å"defensively† that she â€Å"offered it to him.† The stage direction that describes her tone as â€Å"defensive† makes it clear that she feels as though she is under attack. And indeed she is. Kate’s reply is said â€Å"scoffingly,† showing that she is ridiculing Ann for her apparently inept attempts to adequately care for her brother. By undermining both George’s mother and sister, Kate implicitly offers herself as the female figure on whom George can really depend. Ultimately, Kate succeeds and Chris defers to her utterly. Hostility dissolves into amiability and affection. Miller makes it clear from the beginning that George â€Å"always liked† Kate. This stage direction reveals a vulnerability he has in regard to her. At first he is gently dismissive of her, saying â€Å"I know† and â€Å"I feel all right.† This dialogue suggests he isn’t buying into her performance, or at least not at first. Eventually, however, he declares â€Å"Kate, I feel hungry already.† This line signals a crucial shift. It is so obviously said with affection and good humour. Clearly, the thought of doing anything to hurt Kate could not be further from his mind. Moreover, it indicates that he has adopted the role into which she has been cajoling him; that is, the dependent and acquiescent son. Throughout this passage Kate is highly manipulative. She is motivated by an instinct to protect the false reality she and Joe perpetuate and on which she depends if she is to see her husband as anything but a monster who killed their son, Larry. Her success hinges on quelling George and the uncertainty of this is what creates the angst-ridden drama at this moment in the play. Ultimately, of course, her success is only momentary.

Victorian Schoolmistress :: Victorian Era

Victorian Schoolmistress Education It was preferred that the schoolmistresses were certified, particularly to work in the better schools during the latter half of the 19 th century. To become certified they were tested in grammar, geography, history, math, and writing from dictation. Additionally, their handwriting was analyzed for readability (Jackson). Appearance of Schoolhouse The focus on the appearance of the schoolhouse was mainly limited to the private schoolhouses, which wanted to attract the best students. Schoolmistresses decorated the school so that they looked relatively well-off, and conducted the school to give the appearance of a family/domestic setting. Unlike the public schoolhouses, the private schoolhouses aimed to attract a small number of the best students, whereas the public schools wished to attract enough students so as to collect an adequate amount of money for their salaries and other extraneous fees (Pederson 142). Salaries Generally, the pay was rather poor, barely ever being more than  £300 per annum. From this, lodging fees, repairs, taxes, and payment to assistants was removed, causing the profit for personal expenses to be well below  £100. Their salaries were garnered from the payments of their students. At the best boarding schools,  £70 for boarders and  £20 for day students was average. Conversely, in the poorer boarding schools,  £3 to  £10 was the average (Pederson 141). Public vs. Private School Lessons The public schools looked towards the public sphere for inspiration and trained students to be productive in the world and focused on their academics. On the other hand, the private schools tended to celebrate a life of leisure in the private setting. However, in public and private schools, music, French, arithmetic, writing and reading were the core subjects. Greater emphasis was put on domestic subjects and lessons were only taught to the point of being satisfactory in a social setting (Pederson 138, 144). The Typical Day in a Girls’ Boarding School 7:00 – Wake Up 8:00 – Breakfast is Ready, Usually Including Meat 9:00 or 9:30 – Day’s Studies Begin Noon – Girls Take a Walk After Having a Slice of Bread and Butter Dinner Follows the Walk 3:00 – Studies Continue Until 5:00 or 5:30

Mediation and Advocacy Literature Review Essay

In the human services field there is a combination of areas that require mediation and advocacy. Human services consist of and utilize a number of disciplines. Mediation is usually defined as a process in which an impartial third party helps parties resolve a dispute or plan a transaction by assisting their negotiations. Approaches, however, can vary considerably. Many mediators tend to use the same approach regardless of the situations of the parties. But others are flexible and do whatever will work. Each approach has potential advantages and disadvantages. Advocacy is helping or assisting those within a special population acquire the services they need. Advocacy is when someone supports you to speak up about a certain thing. It aims to make sure that an individual’s opinions and/or plight are heard and understood. Many disputes are presented when working as a mediator and an advocate in the human services field. Advocacy and Mediation necessitate a person to stay unbiased in order to assist individuals resolve their issues. The roles of advocates and mediators also come with restrictions which if not followed, could lead them to have severe legal problems. Mediators recognize that research is essential to the advancement of knowledge and that all investigations must be conducted with respect for the rights and dignity of participants and with concern for their welfare. Specifically, the conditions of the Human Subjects Experimentation, as designated by the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States Federal Government, shall be adhered to. (www.mediate.com) Being an advocate can present ethical, moral and legal issues, ethical issues are presented everywhere within advocacy. Those advocates have the ethical liability to act with honesty and sincerity. Advocates have the moral responsibility to help clients and social reasons. The most difficult task in their obligations is the legal and ethical limitations they face when taking on their cases. Some of the most rigorous limitations include laws regarding defamation or even hate crimes. These hate crimes are not only at hand in relation to racisms. An increase in hate crimes has been seen towards and in relation with same-sex marriages. These advocates are faced with the intricate task of protecting these people from hate crimes and must at the same time uphold their ethical and moral obligation to their clients regardless of their own personal beliefs (Barsky, 2007). The assimilation of advocacy and mediation plays a vital role within all human services agencies. These positions are highly recommended to unbiased knowledgeable individuals seeking to help improve society. Advocates support and preserve their stance on their meticulous beliefs and do so in an organized group fashion. A mediator in contrast assists people with decision making; they provide alternatives to their problems through coordinated counseling or support groups. Mediators strive to assist in a wide array of approaches and provide both parties with the best tools and documentation in order to realize a positive result, nevertheless mediators do not make the final decisions as they are only there to facilitate both parties to a arrive at an agreement (Barsky, 2007). Mediation and advocacy also allow clients to become familiar with the laws and limitations in relation to their issues in hopes to eliminate further escalations of the issue; whether it is a social or legal topic. Advocacy allows people the opportunity to defend their personal beliefs and voice what he or she believes to be right or wrong. The presence of these two entities allows the resolution of conflicts and conflic ting beliefs from escalating in to violence or further legal actions. Whether it may be defending the basic human rights or the difficult topics of parental rights or partial custodies; mediators provide an undeniable crucial Advocates understand the complex interface between the individuals and even the communities in which they live in. Being around the individual helps the advocate and mediator access and determine what type of people they are around and see how society interacts with their lives. The individual’s behavior would provide insight into what makes them comfortable; so there want be a need for barriers. Advocates and mediators recognize this type of closure and are specialized in learning how to gain the individuals trust. Advocates and mediators also distinguish how an individual lives with one another and can determine a lot about their lifestyle. Human services act as advocates as well when trying to determine any needs that have not been facilitated for clients. The needs could be great but it is up to human services to determine whether it’s assistance at home, medical and school issues for their children if they have any because unfortunately when adults are having problems, they do reflect on their children. Children are easiest to please but when their parents are having issues at home it can be emotionally offensive to the children if the parents aren’t careful, going to counseling and getting their children involved could help determine the cause and hopefully find a solution. In conclusion I have discovered that mediators and advocates provide a strong backbone for the different disciplines that encompass human services. Human services, advocates and mediators are all allowed to form a positive and engaging environment with the individuals that they relate with. Advocates work with clients in order to help them negotiate more effectively on their own behalves while also acting on behalf of one client. Human services are aware of their own cultural backgrounds, principles, and ethics, recognizing the prospective impact on their relationships with others. Human services advocate for the rights of all members of society, particularly those who are members of minorities and groups at which discriminatory practices have historically been directed (National Organization for Human Services, 2009). Connecting mediation and advocacy to human services involves all parties fully engaged in helping individuals surpass their disputes. Obtaining commitments and considering alternatives are good negotiation ethics that a professional must encounter to have a balanced reasonable connection with their clients (Barsky, Chapter 3 , page 78, 2000). References: Barsky. A.E. (2000). Conflict Resolution for the Helping Professional (2nd ed.). Retrieved From the University of Phoenix eBook Collection database. Mediation Council of Illinois. (1999, August). Standards of Practice for Mediators, Illinois Retrieved February 10, 2013, from http://www.mediate.com/articles National Association of Social Workers. (2011). Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Retrieved February 10, 2013, from http://www.socialworkers.org

Mosasaurs The Deadly Marine Reptiles

Although they werent technically dinosaurs, the marine reptiles known as mosasaurs hold a unique place in paleontological history: it was the discovery of a specimen of Mosasaurus in 1764, in a Dutch quarry, that galvanized scientists into the realization that species could become extinct (and that the earth used to be populated by some very strange creatures well before Biblical times). Mosasaurus (lizard from the Meuse River) was soon named by the renowned naturalist Georges Cuvier, and the general name mosasaur attached to other members of this ancient family. In evolutionary terms, mosasaurs were distinct from three other famous groups of marine reptiles, ichthyosaurs (fish lizards), long-necked plesiosaurs, and short-necked pliosaurs. These sleek, reptilian predators may have been responsible for the extinction of the ichthyosaurs by the end of the Cretaceous period (not necessarily by eating them, but by out-competing them for food), and their quick, agile, hydrodynamic builds gave plesiosaurs and pliosaurs a run for their money. Essentially, mosasaurs ruled the seas for about 20 million years, until the K/T Extinction expunged most giant reptiles (and all the marine varieties) from the face of the earth 65 million years ago. Mosasaur Evolution While it would be tempting to speculate that mosasaurs evolved from ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, this doesnt appear to be the case. The recent discovery of the small, amphibious Dallasaurus, which was capable of swimming as well as walking on land, hints that mosasaurs evolved from early Cretaceous reptiles very similar in appearance to modern monitor lizards (another transitional candidate is the European Aigialosaurus). Less certain is the proposed evolutionary relationship between ancient mosasaurs and modern snakes; the two reptile families share sleek body plans, scaly skin and the ability to open their mouths extra-wide, but the rest is a matter of debate. In geological terms, one of the odd things about mosasaurs is that their fossils tend to turn up far inland, especially in the western United States and the interior of western Europe, along with other continents. In the case of the U.S., this is because, back in Cretaceous times, much of North America was covered by the Great Interior Sea (or the Sundance Sea, as its also called), a broad but shallow body of water that swamped large portions of modern-day Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado. Kansas alone has yielded three major mosasaur genera, Tylosaurus, Platecarpus, and Clidastes. Mosasaur Lifestyles As you might expect with such a long-lasting family of marine reptiles, not all mosasaurs were in the same weight class or pursued the same diet. The largest individuals of Mosasaurus attained lengths of 50 feet and weights of 15 or so tons, but other genera were considerably sleeker: Tylosaurus, for example, packed only about seven tons into its 35-foot length, and Platecarpus (judging by its fossil remains, the most common mosasaur of North America) was only about 14 feet long and a few hundred pounds. Why these variations? Reasoning by analogy with modern marine predators, like the Great White Shark, its likely that bigger mosasaur genera like Mosasaurus and Hainosaurus feasted on their fellow mosasaurs and marine reptiles, while smaller species like Clidastes made do with relatively harmless prehistoric fish. And to judge by the round, pebbly shapes of their teeth, it seems that other mosasaurs like Globidens and Prognathodon specialized in gobbling down shelled prey, ranging from small mollusks and ammonites to larger (and tougher) sea turtles. At the time they went extinct, mosasaurs were facing increased competition from prehistoric sharks, a good example being Cretoxyrhina (aka the Ginsu Shark). Not only were some of these sharks sleeker, faster and more vicious than the likes of Tylosaurus and Globidens, but they may have been smarter as well. The mass extinction of marine reptiles in the wake of the K/T Extinction allowed sharks, the new apex predators, to evolve to bigger and bigger sizes in the course of the Cenozoic Era. The culmination of this trend was the truly enormous (up to 50 feet long and 50 tons) Megalodon.