Feminism in Jane Austen Essay -- essays research papers

Feminism in Jane Austen "I often wonder how you can find time for what you do, in addition to the care of the house; and how good Mrs. West could have written such books and collected so many hard works, with all her family cares, is still more a matter of astonishment! Composition seems to me impossible with a head full of joints of mutton and doses of rhubarb." -- Jane Austen, letter of September 8 1816 to Cassandra "I will only add in justice to men, that though to the larger and more trifling part of the sex, imbecility in females is a great enhancement of their personal charms, there is a portion of them too reasonable and too well informed themselves to desire any thing more in woman than ignorance." -- Northanger Abbey "...when a young lady professes to be of a different opinion from her friends, it is only a prelude to something worse. -- She begins by saying that she is determined to think for herself, and she is determined to act for herself -- and then it is all over with her" -- the character of Mrs. Stanhope in chapter 6 of Maria Edgeworth's Belinda [Here basically "friends"="family"] Jane Austen a feminist? That has not been the traditional view (in 1870, Anthony Trollope declared that "Throughout all her works, a sweet lesson of homely household womanly virtue is ever being taught"), but once the question has been asked (which it was not, until relatively recently), it is not hard to see some feminist tendencies. Of course, Jane Austen is not a simple ideologue -- when a character in a Jane Austen novel makes a broad statement that seems to stand up for women in general, this is actually usually done by an unsympathetic character (such as Isabella Thorpe in Northanger Abbey or Mrs. Elton in Emma), and is not meant to be taken seriously. In Pride and Prejudice the main example is Caroline Bingley's statement to Darcy that "Eliza Bennet is one of those young ladies who seek to recommend themselves to the other sex by undervaluing their own, and with many men, I dare say, it succeeds. But, in my opinion, it is a paltry device, a very mean art." Here Caroline Bingley is "undervaluing" Elizabeth, and Darcy sees through her easily. Conversely, Henry Tilney's teasing remarks on the subject of women during the walk from Bath to Beechen Cliff in Northanger Abbey are no... ...in my life which had not something to say upon woman's inconstancy. ... But perhaps you will say, these were all written by men." Anne Elliot: "Perhaps I shall. -- Yes, yes, if you please, no reference to examples in books. Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove anything." Northanger Abbey not only contains the "Defence of the Novel", but what has seemed to me to be a strong statement -- Catherine Morland's faux-naà ¯f declaration: "But history, real solemn history, I cannot be interested in... I read it a little as a duty, but it tells me nothing that does not either vex or weary me. The quarrels of popes and kings, with wars or pestilences, in every page; the men so good-for-nothing, and hardly any women at all -- it is very tiresome." Here the last sentence is as succinct a summary as one could wish of the objections of feminist historiography, social history, and/or the Annales school to the traditional "Great Man" theory of history. (See also Jane Austen's own farcical History of England.)

Historical Theology Essay

I. Introduction: As I said in my first Reflection Paper, my knowledge and exposure to Christianity has been somewhat limited. Throughout my life I have been a person who wanted to know â€Å"Why† and have factual proof to support my thoughts and ideas. I have chosen Historical Theology and Fulfilled Prophecy as my two topics. By reading about Historical Theology I am developing a better understanding of some of the essential points of Christian Doctrine. Fulfilled Prophesies provide definitive proof to give my beliefs in Christianity and the Bible a solid foundation. I plan on using both to develop as a knowledgeable and responsible Christian. Since my knowledge of these two topics is in its infancy and I must always keep in mind to crawl before walking and walk before running. II. Part One: Historical Theology a. Historical Theology is described as the study of the development and history of Christian doctrine. While closely related to Historical Theology, Church History should remain separate from Historical Theology. Historical Theology records changes in doctrine that led to divisions and movements within church and Church History is the record of the divisions and movements. b. Luke gives us the Biblical Foundation for Theological History. He began by recording his account of â€Å"all that Jesus began to do and to teach† (Acts 1:1). The book of Acts is the account of what Jesus continued to do and teach through his church. Acts 28:30-31 conclude with, â€Å"For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!† c. While not one of my deepest thoughts, I’ve often wondered why there were so many different churches all claiming to be the one true path to the end goal of heaven. As I progress in my readings of Church History, I am awed by the impact relatively small revisions in doctrine have upon Church History and Historical Theology. A change in wording or different interpretation of a word, phrase or paragraph resulted in â€Å"A new and improved version.† I welcome and value the benefits of the church community, but since becoming a â€Å"Christian† the desire to belong to the right church doesn’t have the same strength as my desire need for salvation. III. Part Two: Fulfilled Prophecy a. The Bible is the Word of God and provides our path to salvation. Fulfilled prophecy provides positive and unerring proof of the validity and accuracy of the Bible. However, while I believe this, there are those who don’t. They use false arguments such as, man wrote the bible and since man is fallible how can the Bible be the Word of God? I have found references that agree there are about 2,500 prophecies of which nearly 2,000 have been fulfilled. That’s 2,000 prophecies fulfilled without error. Man can never achieve a perfect completion rate. A perfect completion rate is God’s territory. The prophecies that remain unfulfilled occur in the future. b. There are two examples of Biblical Foundation that apply to Fulfilled prophecy I’d like to use. First, Moses in Deuteronomy 18:21-22 sets the test for a true prophet. A true prophet’s predictions are 100 percent accurate. No errors. Second, in 700 B.C. Micah predicted the birthplace of the Messiah. (M icah 5:2). That’s an astounding feat. Of all the births that occurred in all the known cities, towns and lands in 700 years it is simply astounding that he predicted Bethlehem as Christ’s birthplace. c. Fulfilled Prophecy has been helpful to my Christian education and growth. People with greater Biblical knowledge and understanding than me have said the Bible is error free. I use internet the to find information about Biblical prophecies and am interested and intrigued by what I find. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and other religious sects all may have written or oral guidance. None of them have, nor will they ever have, the fulfilled prophecies and promise of the Bible. Satan and his helpers have made prophecies. Unlike those in the bible, they are not detailed, but filled with generalities, may fit several situations and never 100 percent correct. Satan’s prophecies exclude a call for repentance, one of the key components in our path to salvation. IV. Conclusion: Inexperience and unfamiliarity with the Bible makes me avoid participating in discussions with the more skilled or better Biblically educated. Rather than participate verbally, I actively listen to identify points/events that I’m unfamiliar with or don’t understand. I research these points/events in order to try and better understand them. Studying Historical Theology helps me understand the history behind the doctrine. I believe the Bible is the Word of God and provides our path to salvation. A Biblical prophecy must contain evidence of divine inspiration. That is the prophecy must contain information the prophet could not have known or been aware of under normal circumstances in effect at the time of the prophecy. Fulfilled Prophecy is an essential element in the argument that the Bible is the Word of God. For me I believe God breathed the Word. That is it. No debate and no argument.

Analysis Of Chamblee Charter High School - 1399 Words

Chamblee, GA is a small city outside of the metro Atlanta area that is characteristically different racially and ethnically than everything around it. The Hispanic population stands at 58.5% of the total population as of 2010, but in Atlanta and Georgia more broadly, this population only makes up 5.2% and 8.8% respectively. Additionally, only 7% of Chamblee’s population is Black, whereas this group is 54% of Atlanta’s population and 30.5% of Georgia’s. However, my alma mater, Chamblee Charter High School, stood out from the city itself being an amalgamation of a magnet program and a charter public school, bringing in students from around the county with significant representation from the Chamblee area as well. Consequently, the school’s†¦show more content†¦A quarter mile from my house there was an entire plaza of Southeast Asian stores and restaurants and a half mile away was another, larger plaza with mostly Mexican and other Central American b usinesses and spaces. In spite of this economic activity, the predominance of apartments, with 66.7% of occupied housing units being renter occupied and nearly 80% of the total population living in these units, in addition to 82.1% of the Spanish speaking population over the age of 25 having earned less than a highschool diploma are emblematic of the relationship between being a person of color in this country and the barriers to accumulating wealth. This is supported as well by the fact that 11.4% of those who speak only English at home are below the poverty level whereas this number is 32.8% for those who speak Spanish or Spanish Creole. The significance of these economic and language barriers is only matched by the physical distance shown by indices of dissimilarity, that describe the concentration of specific racial groups (including Hispanic in this classification) relative to another group, and indices of exposure that describe how