The Merchants Tale Essay Example for Free

The Merchants Tale Essay The use of the word ‘but’ in line 843 is the first signal to the audience that there is going to be a significant change within Januarie’s fortune. Up until this point he has been considerably lucky; he is described as a ‘worthy knight’ who has ‘lived in greet prosperitee’ and has been married to ‘fresshe may, his paradys, his make’. Through this excessive amount of fortune, Chaucer has led the audience to believe it is too good to be true, and so the change is almost inevitable. Januarie’s fortune is represented by the image of ‘the scorpion’, which smiles with its face while stinging with its ‘sweete venym queynte’, just as Januarie is deceived into believing he has found stable happiness when he suddenly goes blind. When Januarie becomes physically blind, this becomes a fulfilment of the metaphorical blindness of self-delusion which has afflicted him from the outset. On line 386, the audience are reminded of the proverb ‘love is blind’, and Januarie’s character has been built up to this point as a demonstration of the truth of this saying. At this point in the tale, we have only recently heard May’s voice for the first time, (like 770) but we are yet to know much about May’s personality from anyone other than Januarie’s perspective. However, the females already mentioned in the tale, such as Abigail, the wife of Nabal and Rebecca, the mother of Jacob all gained their own fortune and power through the use of deception and trickery, inclining the audience to believe that May is going to use similar techniques. It soon becomes apparent that this deception is at the hands of Januarie, ‘for as good is blind deceyved be / As to be deceyved whan a man may se’. The fact that he is being deceived because of both his physical and mental blindness makes Januarie appear vulnerable, and the audience almost begins to pity him, showing that the power balance has shifted abruptly from Januarie to May. The language Chaucer chooses to use contributes to demonstrating this power balance effectively. Fortune is personified in this passage, as is common in Chaucer’s writing. Like a number of abstract qualities which have the female grammatical gender in Latin, the personification is feminised, and she is presented as a woman, often blindfolded, to demonstrate the arbitrariness of her operation, an holding a wheel on which her victims rise and fall. When comparing this image to May, it is clear that she now has full power and control over Januarie. It is not only clear how May has gained power over this passage, but also how Januarie has lost his. He becomes so possessed by jealousy that He nolde suffre hire for to ride or go/ But if that he hadde hond on her alway’ , ‘nor anywhere/ Would he allow his wife to take the air/ Unless his hand were on her, day and night’. Towards the beginning of the tale, it is unlikely that Januarie would have been so possessive over his new wife, as he had enough confidence within himself to prevent any jealousy. When he loses his sight, it is apparent that his self-consciousness becomes particularly strong, once again making him seem vulnerable and helpless, and May’s dishonesty only increases Januarie’s lack of power.

the presidency :: essays research papers

The Presidency - The powers of the presidency are described very briefly in Article II of the Constitution. Specific powers include: - Chief Administrator - Commander-in-Chief - Chief Lawmaker - Chief Diplomat - Chief of State - In addition to those enumerated powers, presidents have claimed they have certain inherent powers to do whatever has to be done to fulfill their responsibilities as leaders. - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln all expanded on their enumerated powers, setting a precedent for later presidents to do likewise. - Because the U.S. has become such a powerful nation, presidents have become more powerful people. They are now considered world leaders as well as national leaders. - They have also become party leaders,have to be strong communicators in the age of mass media, and serve as lobbyists for their legislative goals. - One explanation for expansion of presidential powers is that sometimes Congress lets a president take responsibility for unpopular actions, such as going to war. - America's strongest, most powerful presidents have emerged during periods of crisis, such as a war or depression. Lincoln and FDR are examples. - Popular presidents are also likely to become more powerful, because citizens trust them with power. - President Lyndon Johnson was a strong president because he believed that government should play a strong role in alleviated the nation's problems. - President Reagan, on the other hand, advocated a smaller role for government so didn't encourage national government involvement in problem solving. He was, however, known as a great communicator. - A successful candidate for the presidency must put together a winning coalition of supporters and must win 270 electoral college votes, which means winning the popular vote especially in large, highly populated states with large electoral college votes. - Although American presidents have huge responsibilities, they also have many resources to help them carry out those responsibilities. These include: - The Executive Branch establishment, which includes the White House staff, key aids (such as the chief of staff and national security advisor), and the Executive Office of the President, which consists of the OMB, Council of Economic Advisors, etc. - The Vice-President, who has only become a real resource since Jimmy Carter started using his V-P, Walter Mondale, more than any previous president. - The Cabinet, consisting of the heads of the major executive branch departments. - First Ladies sometimes serve as advisors to the president.

Analysis of Research Essay

This research discusses the affects positive reinforcement by teachers has on students. The research attempts to determine if promoting a positive environment for students through mechanisms such as praise notes, has a positive effect on overall performance and progression. In one of the studies the researcher directed teacher to use direct models of instruction for the social skill research and praise student if they display skills consist with social skills (Nelson, 2010). The premise of the research was to determine if students who receive praise are less likely to receive disciplinary actions or office discipline referral (ODR). The research question for this study is students who receive praise are less likely to receive office discipline referrals. A basic z test was used to determine if there was a statistical difference in levels of self-esteem between boys and girls. The purpose of calculating a Cohen’s D is to calculate the ideal size for two means, it is also used to reveal the difference between means, which could be used to in conjunction ANOVA and t test reporting. The d=.90 can be revealed using Cohen’s d by dividing the mean difference in the boy and girl’s self-esteem scores by the standard deviation. In addition to this method, mean one less mean two divided by a pooled standard deviation could be used (Lind, 2011). Reference: Lind, D. (2011). Business Statistics for Business and Economics (7thth ed.). New York City, NY: McGraw Hill. Nelson, J. A. P., Young, B. J., Young, E. J., & Cox, G. (2010). Using teacher-written praise notes to promote a positive environment in a middle school. Preventing School Failure, 54(2), 119-125. This article is available at http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/docview/603227825?accountid=7374.

Symbols and Journey Used in Ellisons Book Invisible Man...

In the book Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller the two writers use various symbols to develop the American Literature Theme of The Journey. Two important symbols Ellison uses in Invisible Man are dreams and the narrator’s briefcase. Two important symbols in Death of a Salesman are diamonds and the car. Ellison and Miller use these symbols to take their characters through their life’s journey, whether physical or metaphorical. The portentous dream the narrator has in the beginning of Invisible Man foreshadows his whole journey throughout the book. In the his dream at the end of the first chapter, he finds an envelope in his briefcase that says, â€Å"To Whom It May Concern, Keep this Nigger-Boy†¦show more content†¦The briefcase holds the contents of the narrator’s past; it haunts him and he cannot relieve himself of it until the very end. When he is burning the contents he becomes a phoenix rising from the a shes to a new life, a new journey. Within the briefcase is his high school diploma, the piece of paper with his new identity on it that was given to him by the Brotherhood, Clifton’s doll, the anonymous letter from Jack. All of these things were a part of his old identities, always with him in that briefcase. In Death of a Salesman, the diamonds are Willy’s past and future, what could have been and what could be. Ben tells Willy in one final scene, â€Å"’The jungle is dark but full of diamonds, Willy.’ ‘One must go in to fetch a diamond out.’ ‘It’s dark there, but full of diamonds’† (Miller 1993). Willy had the opportunity to go with Ben to find real diamonds, real happiness. He missed his first chance and instead he must now die to find the happiness, the diamond in the rough. The car is the way for Willy to reach true happiness, no worries; a means of ‘transportation’ eventually to Willy’s de ath. Willy’s life never amounted to anything much in the end and he needed to escape. The car is his ferry to the afterlife, to his happiness. The first