The Merchants Tale. "By close and detailed analysis, write a character study of the Merchant, as he is present in the general prologue and the prologue to his own tale." The Merchant has a forked beard, dresses in motley and ... cares about appearance. It says he gave his opinions on English policy very pompously and these opinions were always dictated by his idea of what would be good for trade and lead to an increase of his own profits. Suggests something about his personality being quite selfish and arrogant it also clear from the text he ... he firmly believed that the sea between Middleb...

• Word Count: 524
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... as an anthropologist but her husband is an anthropologist who is interested in Chinese families. Otherwise, Wolf would like to send to her readers three things "to present a case study for the social scientist interested in the strains inherent to the form of family considered ideal in China, to provide another account of village life ... story" (page vi). She did an observation from 1959 to 1961, and the ethnography was taken place and published until 1968. Both Wolf and her husband choose Taiwan for the case study instead of China because China is such a huge country which can be hard...

• Word Count: 991
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Study Questions 1. What were the historical functions of marriage outlined in the article? How have these functions changed through the years? ... to say that marriage is a "patriarchal institution"? Issues facing women in marriage historically – in the "Western world" Marriage as necessary for economic survival Women seen as biologically, intellectually, morally inferior to men Historically a patriarchal institution Wives were seen as "chattel" or property. Rape was simply ... "Property damage" Domestic/patriarchal violence condoned Sexual assault within a marriage legal until 1983 in Ca...

• Word Count: 647
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily- focuses on the life of Emily Grierson and how she became a monument and symbol of tradition in her town. As a young respectable black woman, ... her- by not burying him right away (485). With her father's death, Emily also transcended into poverty; her only link to money, power, and protection vanished except for the house, and the town finally viewed Emily as no exception to everyday life hurdles. The smell emanating from the house further made the "high and mighty Grierson- ... her loss of importance and stature in the town; ironically, he...

• Word Count: 607
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... ". It is because of this, it is such an important text for students to study. Students can easily relate to the issues presented in the text because most people have experienced some, if not all of these issues ... not to judge people who are illegitimate differently and should not be used as a taught. Katia, Cristina's mother is somewhat hypocritical about illegitimacy. In Josephine's search for her own self-identity she reveals the shocking truth of why Francesco, Christina's so called "father" hated her. We discover through Josephine's eyes that Katia had ... secrets are revealed we le...

• Word Count: 951
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily- describes the journey through the life of a civil war hero's daughter. Over the course of her life, Emily Grierson unsuccessfully seeks love from everyone around her. Like a rose, Emily's ... pick all of the "weeds- from her life. However, he only creates thorns in Emily's life. After his death, he still haunts Emily by making her reluctant to bury him for three days. Afraid of being alone, Emily desperately clings to her father's lifeless body. This reluctance is the first indicator of Emily's insanity. People come to offer their condolence and ... ...

• Word Count: 474
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Brett Favre, who some would argue is the greatest quarterback in the league, now faces allegations of adultery. Jenn Sterger, a former sports reporter for the New York Jets, reported unwarranted advances by Favre while he played for the team. Favre reportedly sent sexually explicit messages and provocative picture messages to Sterger (Kersey). After the Sterger allegations were brought forth, further accusations of adultery ... with two massage therapists for the Jets also surfaced (Lalate). These allegations are not recent, but they are just now being considered by the NFL. Favre refuses to ...

• Word Count: 462
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Most of my life I have lived in so many uncomfortable homes. I have lived in the slums of Westchester County, New York, for most of my child hood. I shared my bedroom with roaches and rats. If I would have lived in any of these apartments for more than a year, I probably would have been able to name them. However, I now reside in the most comfortable home ... they could go out and hang out with kids their own age. I also have kids around my own age, and they also have similar interest as me. I have lived here for about four years, and have been the only place I forward coming home to. By the ...

• Word Count: 401
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... connotes the three main themes of the film. It connotes tradition because the characters were shown preparing traditional Spanish cuisine cumulatively for several generations. Food connotes love as well, because when the food was served at the table, it is time for the family to spend time together and bond. Lastly, food connotes passion. One example of this was when Tita made ... viewer, the lighting (example: how Rosaura was obscured until the film was nearly two-thirds over), and the different colors of the sky (how orange symbolized passion, eg, Tita love for Rosaura husband and Ger...

• Word Count: 514
• Approx Pages: 2

In Like Water for Chocolate the narrator, a woman, sees everything in life from an emotional standpoint. She tells the basic history of her family through the "rose colored" glasses of emotion. ... by your side she thought that you could accomplish anything. She saw life through love and emotion and not through the eyes of hatred or war. The film, Like Water for Chocolate, represents a story through incorporating the idea of food as feelings and expressing the woman's roles during the Mexican Revolution. The film is a romantic-comedy showing many ... it official, she also told her two daugh...

• Word Count: 823
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The major theme in the novel The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan is the personal quest for identity that is made more difficult by the cultural diversity of all the characters. The conflict between the Chinese mothers and their American-born ... Ying-Ying's transformation into a ghost. She lives in her cousin's house and "waits between the trees". Ying-Ying refers to "waiting between the trees" as waiting for the right moment. Ying-Ying was born in the year of Tiger and so she has two sides, gold and black. "The gold side leaps with its fierce heart ... side is dominant, this person is strong and ...

• Word Count: 707
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

It is very common for parents, even after their children have started their own lives, to try and continue to tell their children how to live their lives. They may always tell their children "you ... own mistakes-, but when it comes down to it, they want to keep their children from possibly making the same mistakes they did. In the short story "Aren't You Happy for Me?-, by Richard Bausch, Melanie's father, Jack, is not too thrilled about the idea of his young daughter marrying a much, much older man. Later in the story, we learn that ... many times, a woman gets pregnant before marriage an...

• Word Count: 524
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... with a dedication to Talleyrand asking him to reconsider his view about women and girls education. Women are not prepared by education just to be a companion for men, but they can be so much more, if they are allowed a chance by society. I believe if women and men are educated equally ... continues to engage a great deal about power in terms of the status quo, in regards to women's position in society, but ultimately what Wollstonecraft wants for women is to have power over themselves, not men. I feel many of the men of this time didn't believe her beliefs. Wollstonecraft's book made .....

• Word Count: 543
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... in our lives can cause fluctuations in our emotional states. Laura Esquivel displays a perfect example of this evolution in her book, "Like Water for Chocolate". The protagonist of the novel, Tita De La Garza, is the youngest daughter of Mama Elena. As the black sheep, Tita spends most ... reaching a breaking point, Tita shows a dynamic change of character, from despair and loneliness to strong-willed maturity and a passion for life. Tita's caring and forgiving nature makes it easy for Mama Elena to control her like a puppet. Tita never feels a close mother-daughter bond, but instead bel...

• Word Count: 626
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Is marriage just for heterosexual people? Our country prides itself on our strong acceptance of diversity and equality in all aspects of our lives. Large corporations are now required to have a diverse ... and treat them as equal. But our government is not treating homosexuals as equals. Gays and lesbians are to be considered equal in all aspects of our lives, except for marriage. Only a male and female in America are allowed to marry in this culturally diverse nation of ours. Is it our government's right to decide when two people ... are in love or not? I do not believe so. Our government ...

• Word Count: 635
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In the short story, "A Rose for Emily- Faulkner describes how mysterious Emily's life is and how nothing is what it seems. First there is a watch that represents Emily's time of life. There is a metaphor of Toby ... her and her giving china painting lessons. As her ink is faded away so will she. The ebony cane is a metaphor for Toby because they both help support Emily. Toby is always there for Emily. When Emily is sick Toby is always there for Emily. When Emily is sick Toby helps her get well, he takes care of her, he opens the door ... for her, and he gives her food. He gives support to h...

• Word Count: 316
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

In life everyone tries to find his/her identity. For some it comes naturally , but for others it may take years to find. Some might not find it at all. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God , Zora Neale Hurston reveals a woman's true identity through ... her overalls. After all the struggles Janie went through, she finally found her true identity. She had did everything that everyone else wanted for her, but never did what she really wanted for herself. It did not come easy for Janie to find her identity, it had taken years of struggles to find herself. However, after she found her true ...

• Word Count: 606
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... is made clear by his confessions of having "learned" information and by his ability to relay supposedly accurate details about events he did not witness. He describes in exquisite detail, for example, the visit of the deputation sent to collect Miss Emily's taxes: [W]hen they sat down, a faint dust rose sluggishly about their thighs, spinning with slow motes in the single ... " is about, among many other things, gossip, and Faulkner, through his narrator, tricks us into implicating ourselves as we gossip about his characters in a way that we usually reserve for neighbors--failing to trul...

• Word Count: 872
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... drove away the young men. The people of Jefferson, "believed that the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were. None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such." Miss Emily had no one in her life besides her father. He instilled the Grierson ... despite the disapproval and gossip of the town's people, who set the cousins on her. Why a Yankee, well wouldn't that just serve her father right for leaving her alone in this cruel world. What she soon figures out is that Homer isn't going to marry her. William Faulkner points out, "Homer ... hi...

• Word Count: 549
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... Imagine if one day, you"re on your way to work, but there's a massive traffic jam that morning and you"re half an hour late for your presentation. You reach the boardroom with your boss and the clients glaring at you. Your confidence buckles and you stutter and err through the presentation. ... buying a pack of nut-filled chocolate, only to find that it is filled with raisins when you get home. Therefore, think of premarital living as a trial period for your marriage. It allows us a chance to take a closer look at our partners and ask ourselves, "Is he or she the one that I want to marr...

• Word Count: 1095
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... both in a way were strong, ambitious and great warriors. There is no doubt that if one wanted something he had the ability to get it. For instance, Othello wanted to marry Desdemona, he did marry her. Whereas, Iago wanted to take revenge from Othello, he did succeed in his plans. ... Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago" (I. i.59-62). This prejudice of him brought jealousy to Othello along. He was jealous to Othello for many reasons, one being that Othello has higher ranking in the army than him and also he had a great marriage with Desdemona, which Iago doesn't have ... two characters ...

• Word Count: 1065
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... named Homer Baron. Both Emily and Homer seem to have contrasting personalities, which makes the drama even more interesting. The odd pair created an excuse for the towns' people to gossip among themselves and got into wild and endless speculation as to why and how this attachment came to be. Homer was ... could be used to justify why the two should not have been in any kind of romantic alliance. From the offset the two created a scenario for a tragic end to their engagement as they represented two different values and social morality and infact two different worlds. Emily Grierson would f...

• Word Count: 594
• Approx Pages: 2

... , by William Faulkner, the main character, Emily is a southern, black, gentile lady. Her aristrocrat-like father, who found no suitor acceptable for his daughter, raised her. She began to grow older and by the time she was 30 years old was still not married. Set in the early twentieth ... standards. What is to be expected from a person of certain stature and the consequences of not following that standard are revealed in A Rose For Emily. Since Miss Emily was considered to be a gentile lady, her standards for dating were quite different than that of a common town person. She was to marry...

• Word Count: 304
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... by her actions towards the workers. "So that her body was thrown forward." The reader gets the idea she is a pretty girl flirting with the workers for attention. We see later in the book that this is a routine. Lennie takes a shine to Curley's wife, which could be a potential threat to their ... In this conversation her true feelings about her husband pours out. "Swell guy ain't he." She talks in a sarcastic way. She is so desperate for companionship and communication she resorts to talking to the lowly regarded people such as Crooks and Lennie. The men regard her as "trouble," maybe the...

• Word Count: 804
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... see this as a prerequisite to the major arguing point in relationships. This, as emotional as it can be, is probably the best developmental aspect for human being maturation. The lack of appreciation in an intimate relationship can be seen as a deteriorating factor among a couple. The daily tasks completed by ... the spouse, in the beginning, go recognized and appreciated, but as the relationship progresses the appreciation for the spouse goes unnoticed and quickly evaporates. This is mostly seen in marriages between two equally busy people. This leads to the high divorce ... trust bet...

• Word Count: 599
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate