Black Swan Essay Example for Free

Black Swan Essay Speech problems are serious hardship for children as they have to cope not only with medical aspects of the problem, but also with social exclusion and mockery. David Mitchell in his book tends to recreate the childhood from the child’s viewpoint, to transmit feelings, emotions, doubts and anxieties of children. Moreover, the author decided to show the life and hardships of a boy suffering from stammer. Children always feel embarrassed when they stammer as they think they may be mocked at. The world of children with speech problem is delicate and fragile; therefore, they are vulnerable to more stresses and anxieties. They are less confident and more reserved. That is what the author is willing to show in his book. Jason Taylor, the main character, is a common teenager who was born in a village in Worcestershire in the year of 1982. Though he is unremarkable in appearance, he is aspiring poet. He is highly gifted child with rich inner world. Jason tells the story about his school days, about problems with parents and his elder sister who irritates him constantly. However, Jason has speech problem – he has a stammer and this fact makes him feel embarrassed and unconfident. Like all children Jason has secrets from his parents and school friends. He hides the fact that he is a poet and his poetry is written under the name of Eliot Bolivar. (Mitchell 2006) The author starts his novel from explaining and examining the social status of childhood. The first chapters are devoted to analyzing why some children are called by their first names, some children by â€Å"sort of respectful nicknames like ‘Yardy’†, wheras others by their surnames and some by ‘piss-take nicknames like Moran Moron or Nicholas Briar whos Knickerless Bra. . It’s all ranks, being a boy, like the army†. Mitchell shows that children are other people in the world. The book is an interesting and exciting story of a 13-year boy whose parents divorce. The author provides detailed overview of his anxieties, thoughts and reflections. Actually, the author details on the first year of his life after the divorce. It is discovered the Jason’s father has another woman. As for me, the most impressive part of the book is when Mitchell writes about Jason’s stammer stressing that this speech impediment causes lots of problems for young boy as he has to â€Å"think one sentence ahead, and if you see a stammer-word coming up, alter your sentence so you wont need to use it†. Jason is a very sensitive and vulnerable personality and he is afraid of being labeled as â€Å"Stutterboy†. He hides his stammer and fears that his school friends and teachers would become aware of his speech problems. The author impressively conveys Jason’s inner anxieties and feelings to the readers. The book is poignant as the author is struggling to keep the tension and intrigue at the desires level. (Mitchell 2006) I think that the book is a mix of genres as the author refers to social realism when showing that children with speech problems may suffer from social exclusion, and romanticism when conveying Jason’s inner struggle. Mitchell vividly depicts Jason’s family life. Mitchell shows his best qualifications of a caricaturist. He has a better ear for the smarmy and the self-important, like Jasons father, than for the more softly spoken. For example, he claims at the dinner table: â€Å"The principle, o daughter of mine, is a universal constant. If you dont keep records, you cant make progress assessments. True for retailers, true for educators, true for the military, true for any systems operator. One bright day in your brilliant career youll learn this the hard way and think, if only Id listened to my dear wise father. How right he was†. Actually, Jason gets the best lines in the novel. The author chooses the child character to show the different consciousness, different attitudes and perception of the problems and anxieties. Mitchell defines childhood as inevitably the age of false notes and brashness. He outlines that children shouldn’t be allowed too much knowingness. Jason is well-educated and quick-witted boy and his perception of the world is rather fresh and original. For example, Jason thinks: â€Å"Woods dont bother with fences or borders. Woods are fences and borders. The world won’t leave things be. Its always injecting endings into beginnings. The crows parascended up and off†. (Mitchell 2006) Jason is also very observant and shrewd. When he sees that his father meets his brother-in-law, he mentions: â€Å"Each was wearing the jersey the other’d given him for Christmas†. In such a way the author restore the slang of Black Swan’s school children. (Mitchell 2006) I like the way Jason depicts love and affection, when a girl attracts him, he says: â€Å"Magnets dont need to understand magnetism. Listening to houses breathe makes you weightless†, etc. But the striking sentences and snatches of dialogue are too often waylaid by cutesy apercus – â€Å"The earth’s a door if you press your ear against it† and the narrator’s wish to be too cunningly callow. (Mitchell 2006) Speaking about what I have learnt from the book, firstly, I want to say that the book has made me more aware about the world children with speech problems live in. I am really impressed by Taylor’s pretence to see beyond his childhood. I think that boy is too clever and intelligent for his age, though he shouldn’t hurry to become old. The book is very informative as it reveals the reality of life: children wit stammer may undergo mockery and social exclusion. A child may be excellent student and talented personality, though children would laugh at his speech impediment. The author teaches us to be more tolerate and to think and only then to act. Moreover, I see psychological changes occurring with children after parents have divorced. I found out that children became more reserved and failed to display their true feelings and emotions. And I think that Jason’s stammer is apparent consequence of parent’s divorce. (Mitchell 2006) David Mitchell wants, in my opinion, to do a very ambitious thing in this novel, which is to write a book about a young adolescent and the young adolescent as natural poet as though it was written by a young adolescent, but he hasn’t quite found the voice for it. A young adolescent finding his voice by experimenting with other voices is a useful device for a novelist. But a young adolescent is even more promising for contemporary fiction because he is someone who doesnt want to be too accessible or too unpopular. Mitchell’s fans should see this as a transitional novel in what is already an intriguing career. The book is filled with Jason’s insights and revelations. The adult world is obsessed with fame and erotic life, and, therefore, Mitchell’s book is of great importance as it teaches people to be more patient and tolerate towards children with speech and health problems. The book is very impressive and it remains nobody indifferent. Mitchell shows that children are strongly affected psychologically when parents decided to divorce. Mitchell’s book covers all these problems stressing that children psychologically suffer from parental split up and their speech problems may become more severe. The book is surely the ambitious study of adolescence. (Mitchell 2006) The book is relevant to the course â€Å"Communication Science† as the auhtor discusses speech probems of Jason Taylor, in particular, stammer and its psychological affect on child’s behavior. Mitchell shows that speech problems make children feel shy and self-conscious. Ccommunication is playing nowadays one of the most important roles in society because it is the core source of mutual understanding among people. Communication is the greatest luxury given to people. Works Cited Mitchell, David. Black Swan: A Novel. Random House, 2006.

Catholic and Christians Missionaries in Africa Essay -- African Histor

Marlow, the main character in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, is fascinated by unknown areas of the world and also enjoys the feeling of being afloat on water. To quench this curiosity of the mysterious, he ventures into the wilderness to face the adventures that lay inside the â€Å"heart of darkness†, Africa. Unbeknownst by him at first, Marlow is viewed as a missionary: the man that will bring light to the â€Å"dark† continent (Heart 3). In The Heart of Darkness, Marlow’s aunt refers to him as an â€Å"emissary of light, something like a lower sort of apostle†. It is obvious that Marlow is regarded as a missionary, although in his mind, he is simply going to Africa to complete a job. However, there were 1.6 million Evangelical Christians (people committed to converting people to Christianity) in Africa at the time that Joseph Conrad was writing Heart of Darkness (Vermeulen 2). The first of these missionaries were Portuguese Catholics that were accompanying seafaring explorers. They first arrived in Sub-Sahara Africa in the 1400s and immediately saw their toil come to fruition when â€Å"Kingdo...

The Printing Press

The Printing Press There have been many important inventions over the past millennium. Many of them have helped shape society into what it is today. None however have contributed as much to the world as the printing press has. The printing press was invented in the year 1440 by Johann Gutenberg of Mainz, Germany. The printing press consisted of a large press which held plates where movable type could be inserted to spell out entire books page by page. The press was either operated by a large screw or lever which pressed the inked letters onto the sheet of paper.Once done the letters had to be rearranged to make the next page and then repeated for each new page in the book. This process however slow was much faster than the old method of hand writing the books and great deal cheaper as well. The invention of the printing press was the most important invention of the last millennium because it spread ideas throughout Europe, forever altered modern society and it gave the common people power and the chance to become literate. The printing press was the most important invention of the last millennium because it allowed many important ideas and opinions to be more easily widespread to the general public.The printing press helped the spread of ideas through the production of books. The ability to mass produce books and pamphlets helped many political leaders spread their views to the public more easily. These views of the political leaders, good or bad were now accessible to the general public. The ability to read leader’s views and form public opinions helped shape the world into what it is today. Printed books also explored ideas on science and technology which helped bring forth scientific knowledge that shaped the scientific revolution.The press gave freedom to the general public in a new form of expression of thought. People now had a new way of recording their thoughts and sharing it with others. This freedom of expressive print was very liberating for o nes message could reach many in a short time. The printing press invention was important to people in many fields for it allowed the political powers to continue to expand, it provides the opportunity to share scientific knowledge and it allowed the public freedom to share in print format. Modern society was affected in many crucial ways because of the printing press.One of the ways that society is affected by this invention from so many years ago is that it brought about the standardization of spelling and grammar. This was and still is important because it brought about the awareness that in order to properly communicate there would need to be a standardized form of spelling and spelling rules. This set standard form of spelling shaped many languages and made the written communication of them easy in the past and still today. The second way that its affects are noted still today is it helped spread religious views to various corners of the world in print format.The importance of t his is that this source of books such as the bible or other religious books allowed religious views to be read about and shared in the home rather than just being a message listened to at church. It provided common written messages and because of this many religions such as Christianity could be spread easier throughout the world. These religious writings formed a common base for religion to be prevalent today. Another way in which society was affected by the printing press is that it helped the world’s technology advance faster.People could afford to buy factual books and educate themselves through reading. The more educated that people became, the more they searched for ways to make life better with their knowledge they had acquired from reading books. Today’s society still largely relies on written print as a way to gain knowledge. Modern society and its advancement in written language structure religious followings and technologies advancement are rooted in the his tory of the printing press and would look much different today if the printing press had not been invented.The invention of the printing press allowed many ordinary citizens the chance to own a book and learn to read. Before the invention of the printing press the cost and time to make a book limited the owning of a book to the very wealthy. However with the invention of the printing press as well as the newly found knowledge of how to make paper from the Arabs printing books became rather inexpensive and much less time consuming. These important advancements made it so average people could now afford to buy books, people began to learn how to read and therefore more opinions and ideas were spread.Literacy rates improved and with this knowledge it allowed the common peasants power to understand what was happening in their country. This power of being literate was important because it provided them opportunity to plan to make life better for oneself. Today books still have an importa nce for having books and being literate is important because if one can read and understand things in their world it gives one choices of how they can interact with others. The printing press was the most important invention of the last millennium.Its effects were important in 1440 to spread political, scientific and technological ideas. Its effects are still important today in spelling and grammar, religion and in nonfiction education. It gave people power to be owners of printed material and it promoted a desire to learn to educate oneself to read. The printing press was crucial in the advancement of society. Power in written form is a document to learn from and expand from. The printing press allowed societies historical events and ideas to be documented and allowed man to learn from the past to progress the future. The Printing Press The Printing Press There have been many important inventions over the past millennium. Many of them have helped shape society into what it is today. None however have contributed as much to the world as the printing press has. The printing press was invented in the year 1440 by Johann Gutenberg of Mainz, Germany. The printing press consisted of a large press which held plates where movable type could be inserted to spell out entire books page by page. The press was either operated by a large screw or lever which pressed the inked letters onto the sheet of paper.Once done the letters had to be rearranged to make the next page and then repeated for each new page in the book. This process however slow was much faster than the old method of hand writing the books and great deal cheaper as well. The invention of the printing press was the most important invention of the last millennium because it spread ideas throughout Europe, forever altered modern society and it gave the common people power and the chance to become literate. The printing press was the most important invention of the last millennium because it allowed many important ideas and opinions to be more easily widespread to the general public.The printing press helped the spread of ideas through the production of books. The ability to mass produce books and pamphlets helped many political leaders spread their views to the public more easily. These views of the political leaders, good or bad were now accessible to the general public. The ability to read leader’s views and form public opinions helped shape the world into what it is today. Printed books also explored ideas on science and technology which helped bring forth scientific knowledge that shaped the scientific revolution.The press gave freedom to the general public in a new form of expression of thought. People now had a new way of recording their thoughts and sharing it with others. This freedom of expressive print was very liberating for o nes message could reach many in a short time. The printing press invention was important to people in many fields for it allowed the political powers to continue to expand, it provides the opportunity to share scientific knowledge and it allowed the public freedom to share in print format. Modern society was affected in many crucial ways because of the printing press.One of the ways that society is affected by this invention from so many years ago is that it brought about the standardization of spelling and grammar. This was and still is important because it brought about the awareness that in order to properly communicate there would need to be a standardized form of spelling and spelling rules. This set standard form of spelling shaped many languages and made the written communication of them easy in the past and still today. The second way that its affects are noted still today is it helped spread religious views to various corners of the world in print format.The importance of t his is that this source of books such as the bible or other religious books allowed religious views to be read about and shared in the home rather than just being a message listened to at church. It provided common written messages and because of this many religions such as Christianity could be spread easier throughout the world. These religious writings formed a common base for religion to be prevalent today. Another way in which society was affected by the printing press is that it helped the world’s technology advance faster.People could afford to buy factual books and educate themselves through reading. The more educated that people became, the more they searched for ways to make life better with their knowledge they had acquired from reading books. Today’s society still largely relies on written print as a way to gain knowledge. Modern society and its advancement in written language structure religious followings and technologies advancement are rooted in the his tory of the printing press and would look much different today if the printing press had not been invented.The invention of the printing press allowed many ordinary citizens the chance to own a book and learn to read. Before the invention of the printing press the cost and time to make a book limited the owning of a book to the very wealthy. However with the invention of the printing press as well as the newly found knowledge of how to make paper from the Arabs printing books became rather inexpensive and much less time consuming. These important advancements made it so average people could now afford to buy books, people began to learn how to read and therefore more opinions and ideas were spread.Literacy rates improved and with this knowledge it allowed the common peasants power to understand what was happening in their country. This power of being literate was important because it provided them opportunity to plan to make life better for oneself. Today books still have an importa nce for having books and being literate is important because if one can read and understand things in their world it gives one choices of how they can interact with others. The printing press was the most important invention of the last millennium.Its effects were important in 1440 to spread political, scientific and technological ideas. Its effects are still important today in spelling and grammar, religion and in nonfiction education. It gave people power to be owners of printed material and it promoted a desire to learn to educate oneself to read. The printing press was crucial in the advancement of society. Power in written form is a document to learn from and expand from. The printing press allowed societies historical events and ideas to be documented and allowed man to learn from the past to progress the future.

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