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Chinese culture and western culture
Style and themes of American literature
Chinese culture and western culture
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A Taoist Reading of Henry James' novel, The American
Henry James' novel, The American, tells the story of one man's journey in search of the Tao. Or, rather, the qualities of Christopher Newman are the qualities of a student of the Tao, following the teachings of the Sage described in Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching. Each time Newman digresses from his path, the lure or object which he desires eventually pushes him back on to it. James's description of Newman as an American incorporates many tenets of the Tao, beginning with the sudden enlightenment on Wall Street that leads to the events in this novel. Likewise, James's Europe rings of Confucianism, the belief system that Taoism eventually replaced in 7th century BC China.
As the Introduction to the Penguin edition states, Newman's American qualities can be taken in either a positive or negative light. Our class discussion revealed a resounding agreement with the negative side of Newman as an American, his uncultivated ignorance and unrefined audacity. Sadly, the class has accepted Europe's negative stereotype of the American. On the positive side, Newman's Taoist qualities make him the ideal American. Because of his near perfection, he is despised by those characters whose imperfections he silently reveals. It is perhaps this very interaction between Newman's Taoist American qualities and the more Confucian qualities of the Europeans which originally fostered these negative stereotypes.
Taoism is an ancient Chinese philosophy dating back as early as the 6th century BC. Many Chinese philosophers have attempted to put the Tao into writing, the most widely known being Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching. The Tao Te Ching, loosely translated as the Book of Virtues, contains 81 poems assert...
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... order of things. His lack of culture, social grace, and position allow him to enjoy what he finds aesthetically pleasing rather than settle for what he should; and communicate to others his true nature rather than one shrouded in applied labels and preconceived notions. Newman, and many Americans, are like the Taoist concept of the uncarved block. The most skilled sculptor carves the least. Our lack of strictly defined stratification and culture leaves us empty and thus open to whatever may fill us, rather than already full and closed-minded.
Works Cited and Consulted
Borus, Daniel. Writing Realism: Howells, James, and Norris in the Mass Market. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 1989.
Dalton, Jerry O., Tao Te Ching: Backward Down the Path. Avon Books, New York, 1996.
Kaplan, Nancy. Essential Readings in Realism. Durham: Duke University Press,1997.
American revolution, a war of independence, started on April 14, 1775 between the American colonies and the Britain. However, the series of events happened before 1775 already marked the beginning of the revolution war. During 1754 and 1763, there was a war between Britain and France which ended up with the victories British deeply in debt. Britain was weakened by the war and their economy was suffering, thus they started to impose tax from the American colonists. And that leaded to the the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act. The American colonists were not happy about the taxes not only because they were paying more money, but also because they were outraged and have no say in the taxes since they do not have a
Philosophy is a complicated subject. Since the beginning of human existence, many tried to come up with theories about life, happiness, reality and knowledge. From philosophical ideas different beliefs sprung, and existence of different religions followed. Every theory raised by a philosopher attracted different followers. In today's modern society aside from major religions, there are thousands of others that suggest that their explanations to universal questions are the only accurate ones, and all of these religions seek to gain more followers to join their "way". One of these religions is the religion/philosophy of Taoism. Taoism has it roots in China, where the founder of Taoism Lao-Tse was searching for a way that would avoid the constant feudal warfare and other conflicts that disrupted his society during his lifetime. The result was his book: Tao-te-Ching. Lao-Tse described Taoism as a path or a way which one must follow in order to reach inner serenity and peace. In order to reach these inner goals one must live in harmony with nature and natural process that creates the balance in the universe.
Robinson, B.A. "History of Taoism." Taoism. March 21, 2002. http://religioustolerance.org/taoism.html Velasquez, Manuel. Philosophy: A Text With Readings. 8th Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2002.
What does the word crucible, mean to you? In fact, crucible has multiple meanings. A play called The Crucible, tells of the Salem witch trials that took place in 1692. Many innocent people died during the trials or admitted to accusations that they truly never committed, just to save their lives. The witch trials were a devastating time for the people of Salem. The play fits the multiple definitions all too well. This essay helps prove that all three of the definitions clearly make the title The Crucible, the perfect name for the play. A pot made of porcelain that can be heated to high temperatures, but not break, a severe test, and a place or situation that influences change or development are the three definitions of the word crucible that fit perfectly with the plot of the play, the major themes, concepts, and characters, making it the ideal title.
“Wisdom, Happiness, and Courage are not waiting somewhere out beyond sight at the end of a straight line; they are part of a continuous cycle that begins right here. They are not only the ending but the beginning as well” (Hoff 137). In Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff explains the fundamentals of Taoism through the cute characters of Winnie the Pooh. Each character’s action helps explains how Taoism works and affects our everyday lives.
"Exploring Amish Country." Exploring Amish Country, Learn What Makes It Special. Exploring Amish Country, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. .
Piaget’s Formal Operational Theory leads to the understanding that adolescents, around the age of 11-12, are believed to enter a developmental stage in which they gain the ability and capacity to think abstract and reason scientifically. This dramatic leap in Andrew Clark’s case in The Breakfast Club shows that he understands exactly how his father acts and what kind of person he is as well as the kind of person his father expects him to be. He can logically see the expectations that his father has for him. If he is not the best at wrestling then his father will be disappointed and punish him via verbal abuse. Andrew also talks about how much pressure his father puts on him to be perfect; he understands the hypothetical possibilities that could
Taoism follows a much different idea of the "chain of being," than that of the other major religions (i.e. Hinduism, Judeo-Christian, Islam), which is very important in consideration of the ecological sensibility which stems from it. As opposed to a God-over-man-over-nature view of the world, Taoism states:
There is no excuse to killing an innocent child and abortion is giving people an excuse. Before a child even has the chance to be born and live, their life is taken away because of the mothers decision. There are so many alternatives to abortion. When a woman doesn’t want to keep her baby or does’t have the ability to take care of it, abortion shouldn 't be the first option taken. There are many options out there to be taken like “Abortion alternative clinics [that] offer services such as adoption referrals, free pregnancy testing, crisis pregnancy counseling, post-abortion counseling, and homes for pregnant women” (Chittom & Newton, 2015). With that many options to choose from, why would a woman choose to take the abortion route? When the abortion is in consideration, many women admitted they were not fully educated on the topic. Chittom and Newton (2015) wrote: “these heart wrenching stories describe the violent reactions these women have had to seeing images similar to what they had done in the process of killing their own babies”. After the abortion process was over, many women were shocked and mortified at how the abortion was preformed. For many, only guilt and sorrow remain since the damage was already done. Flat out plain and simple, abortion is not the right route to take. It kills and innocent baby and puts the mother’s life at risk
These strict guidelines along with over 10 others helped shape the prison. The guards at the beginning of the experiment formed these guidelines. Their authority, from the start, was absolute. They did not allow prisoners to speak, eat or even use the restroom without permission. Sometimes, unimaginably, the inmates were not granted permission. Day one of the experiment was full of confusion and learning for everyone involved. The events
Perkins, Geroge, and Barbara Perkins. The American Tradition in Literature. 12th ed. Vol. 2. New York: McGraw Hill, 2009. Print
Tao-te Ching (in English pronounced “dow deh jing”) is believed to be written by Lao-tzu (6th century B.C). However, it is not for certain that he wrote the book. Lao-tzu is translated as “Old Master”. He was born in the state of Ch’u in China. It’s been said that he worked in the court of the Chou dynasty. The day that he was leaving the court to start his own life, the keeper of the gate urged him to write his thoughts as a book. Lao-tzu’s work mostly illustrates Taoism –a religion founded by Chang Tao-ling A.D. 150. His main purpose in this piece is practicing peace, simplicity, naturalness, and humility. Lao-tzu believes that people are overloaded with temporal objects in this world. He recommends his readers to let go of everything and always keep the balance in anything. In my opinion, Lao-tzu would more likely dislike our government and the way that people live nowadays. The reason is because majority of the people are attached to secular things. To paraphrase the famous, people have materialistic characteristics in today’s world which is completely against Lao-tzu’s view.
There are too many strands in the film which lead to no-where. At one point Cinque makes an interesting point of international law that might help the case. While the legal minds are inspired by his insight and initiative, the idea is quickly dismissed as unworkable and he plays almost no role in designing the case which might lead to his freedom. The events on the slave ship are even more scattered. Cinque is involved in a brief eye-contact relationship with a young woman but there is no development to give it emotional power. The women's ensuing death is as shocking as it is unexpected and while it works as a good visual, her undeveloped role as a real person results in the loss of any deeper meaning. Furthermore, the Amistad case is portrayed as a spark that helped ignite the Civil War, but the movie does not go into greater detail. It simply flashes ahead and shows that the Civil War had begun.
American Literary Realism, 1870-1910. Vol. 8, Issue 1 - "The 'Standard' University of Texas, 1975. http://www.ut Gilman, Charlotte.
Between the years of 1865 and 1914, American literature was mainly comprised of three writing styles: realism, regionalism, and naturalism. Realism aims to portray life realistically. Though realism...