Internet and Books Essay Example for Free

Internet and Books Essay In today’s modern world, technology has a great influence on our life and time. Back in the early 19th century, when electronic devices had not been invented, the population could only use printed word such as books, posters, newspapers or magazines, to gather information. Later, in the mid 20th century, the use of computers, televisions and radios helped people to know about the incidents happening all around the world, more easily. Now, in the 21st century, the creation of internet and other devices to access it has helped us to attain gigabytes of information, just with the click of our mouse. The internet has made it possible for us to acquire answers for almost all of the questions that we ask, and has alleviated the access to information to almost every topic imaginable. Firstly, internet helps to save time and effort. All you need to do is type in your question and click SEARCH. It can give an answer to almost every question type in, and it is usually very quick, speedy and fast. On the other hand, using books or other printed texts can waste time, as you need to find the appropriate book and then search for the information you need from it. For example, while searching for a book in the library, you waste time trying to reach there, and even more time trying to find the book you need. Despite this, time is also lost when you try to find the information that is useful to you from the book. Whereas the internet acts as a filter that sieves out all the data you need, in a span of seconds. However it can be argued that using electronic devices can cause distractions and disturbances. Using the internet can divert your attention to some other unrelated site and will cause you to waste time. For instance, you may login to facebook or twitter, or check your mail instead of researching and using the time well. On the contrary, you cannot be easily distracted in a library where silence is preferred, and is filled with people who want to work. But if the internet is used properly, and if the person has a self control over himself the internet has more advantages comparing to printed texts. So in short internet can be a time-saver only if used wisely. Alternatively, the internet can sometimes provide us with unreliable information. It is like a blank page in which people are allowed to post whatever they want, and sometimes even the wrong information. As exemplified by blogs, in which anyone can post their opinions and views on a topic, the internet can be a source of unreliable and inaccurate information as it contains the judgement of different individuals and not the actual facts. On the contrary, printed texts can be a great source of reliable information. Books are written by experienced authors who have researched well about the topic themselves before publishing it. A library can assure you that the book in your hand is dependable and trustworthy. In spite of being unreliable, internet can provide us with up-to-date data. It offers information on the most recent discoveries and inventions, the latest cars or other products and about the contemporary incidents and happenings all around the world. However once a book is published, any recent findings cannot be added to it. There are always new developments in the field of health, science, technology and politics that the library simply cannot keep up with. Therefore, the internet can provide us with the latest news about our modern day developments and can be dependable only if used properly by checking the sources of a particular website. Thirdly, glaring at a screen for a long period of time can cause various eye and back problems. Computer vision syndromes like eye strain and cataracts are caused by glaring at the computer screen for prolonged periods. Millions develop a condition called ‘dry eye’, resulting in gritty, itchy, inflamed eyes, due to staring at the screen for hours. The light from computer screens can cause drastic problems to your eyes, and sometimes even partial blindness. Unlike computer screens, books can be very easy to read as they are just words printed on paper. However there are many solutions to prevent the damage caused to eyes by computer screens. Screen filters can be bought to reduce the amount of light radiation hitting our eyes. There are also many softwares that can transfer the information audibly or with the help of videos, and do not require data to be read. Regular breaks, and turning away from the screen constantly can also help in avoiding eye and back problems. Usually, there is an option to zoom in, which enables people to read easily. Unlike computers, books cannot be zoomed in, when the letters are too small to be visible, causing eye problems as well. So the problems caused by glaring at computer screens or reading the small printed texts in books, can be reduced by taking regular breaks and exercises, as anything in excess is not good for our health. Moreover, a lot of paper is wasted in the creation of books and magazines. Deforestation, being one of the greatest threats that humans are facing today, is increased by the production of paper in books. A few sheets of paper could be worth one tree. Hence the number of trees is reducing day by day. Obviously, trees are vital for our living as they are the natural producers of food. Deforestation not only causes scarcity of food and other resources, but also results in the rise of the earth’s temperature, causing global warming. In contrast to books, modern technology like mobile phones, computers or tablets does not harm the environment to a very great extent. In the case of computers the energy used is electricity, which is renewable and can be created again and again. The internet is a huge database, and more information can be adjoined into it, very easily. However books are created from sheets of paper, and if the number of books increase, then the level of deforestation can increase correspondingly. To reduce the destruction of the earth’s forests by deforestation, paper should be recycled and not wasted. Instead it is much easier to use the help of modern technology that functions with the help of renewable energy, which does not have a great impact on nature. Therefore modern electronics has made it possible to overcome a huge problem to the environment. In conclusion, modern technology has many positive uses; it has made the world a smaller place by allowing us to contact individuals all around the world, many electronic devices are very cheap making it affordable to all and has also allowed people to find out about the news and incidents happening all around the world. But every good has some bad, and the extensive use of technology can be harmful to our health. I strongly believe that modern technology has been very helpful and useful to the human population. It has eased our access to information in very sustainable manner, and has connected the world together.

Women’s Plight in Katherine Mansfield’s Life Of Ma Parker :: Life Of Ma Parker Essays

Katherine Mansfield’s "Life of Ma Parker" presents the plight of Ma Parker as a working-class woman at the turn of the century, in terms of her position in the sphere of the family and in the sphere of society. "Life of Ma Parker" is a story of a widowed charwoman. Like Miss Brill, Ma Parker is a very lonely woman, but their equally painful story is told quite differently, mainly because Mansfield supplies no background to account why Miss Brill’s Sunday passes as it does. As the title of the story denotes, we receive the story of Ma Parker’s life, which explains her current situation. "As servant, wife, and mother, she’s the generic British working-class female at the turn of the century – cowed by drudgery and burdened by loss. Her husband, a baker, died of ‘white lung’ disease, and those children who survived the high rate of infant mortality fell victim to other ills of the late-Victorian underclass: emigration, prostitution, poor h ealth, worse luck" (Lohafer 475). At the present point in the story, Ma Parker arrives to work in the house of the literary gentleman after she buried the previous day her loving grandson, Lennie, who was the only ray of light in her dreary life. According to Irigaray, "all the systems of exchange that organize patriarchal societies and all the modalities of productive work that are recognized, values, and rewarded in these societies are men’s business†¦.[t]he work force is this always assumed to be masculine, and ‘products’ are objects to be used, objects of transaction among men alone" (171). Ma Parker has to play the role of an object circulated among masculine employers as she has to support her children and herself. Ma begins working as early as the age of sixteen as a "kitching-maid" (143). Later on, "[w]hen that family was sold up she went as ‘help’ to a doctor’s house, and after two years there, on the run from morning till light, she married her husband" (144). Ma is an object of transaction among men, as she transfers from one male employee to another, until she is married. Now then, Ma was working for the literary man, as people advised him to "get a hag in once a week to clean up" (142, my italics). The literary man, insensitive to his surroundings and lonely as Ma Parker at the same time, dirties everything around him and leaves it all looking like "a gigantic dustbin" (142), but Ma "pitied the poor young gentleman for having no one to look after him" (142).

Marxist Critique of Desiree’s Baby Essay

The Antebellum south, or merely the word plantation, conjures images of white, columned manses shaded by ancient oaks bowed beneath the weight of Spanish moss and centuries. Somehow these monuments of Greek revivalist architecture sparkle in their ivory-coated siding, even while the trunks of their aged arboreal neighbors hide under layer upon soggy layer of dense, green lichen. The white house is a reflection of the inhabitants, its cleanliness in the damp, soiled environment standing as a stark reminder of the hegemony governing the lives of those living not in the house, but hidden nearby. L’Abri, the plantation home of the Aubigny family in Chopin’s Desirà ©e’s Baby, is yellow and has a foreboding black roof made more sinister by the gloomy shadows cast by its requisite antiquated greenery. L’Abri is not unlike any other antebellum mansion of the pre-Civil War era; it represents its inhabitants. The mansion is excellently presented as an example of how little authority color truly wields without an underlying power structure to give it substance. While race figures prominently in Desirà ©e’s Baby, the story is an exemplary specimen for the application of Marxist criticism. Marxist criticism is the recognition of â€Å"inequalities in power between characters† (Gardner 146). It purposes to â€Å"expose the inequalities that underlie all societies† (Gardner 146). These inequalities can have multiple sources, though often the main source is race. But is race a biological reality? Miles posits that races are imagined, in that they â€Å"have no real biological foundation† (26). Miles further observes that differentiations between groups are â€Å"simultaneously inclusive and exclusive† (27) as the characteristics describing one group stand in contrast to another group. The destructive nature of racial categorization is in the claims that biolo gical types determine â€Å"the endowment and behavior of individuals† (Miles 28) depending on their race, and that conflict between them is the â€Å"consequence of their biological constitution† (Miles 28). Furthermore, race can be used to argue that there exists a natural hierarchy that determines positions of inferiority, and by extension, superiority (Miles 28). These assertions give credence to the ownership of slaves and the race-based denial of rights, and are foundational to the idea that the mixing of races is unnatural and even destructive. But race mixing is not mixing if race does not exist as a biological category. While science can find ways to assign race, those categories are blurred as races blend and eventually they will disappear. As a danger to the idea of race, blending is anathema to the superior category. Plantation life was a microcosmic picture of the idea of a need for segregation, wherein each category was given â€Å"its own territory within which its distinctive capacity for ‘civilization’ can be realized† (Miles 30). But Chopin gives an excellent (and perhaps accurate) portrayal of the lack of any real biological basis for what constituted race in Antebellum Louisiana. Chopin describes Armand as dark (402), and Desirà ©e points out to Armand that she is fair-skinned and whiter than he is (403). The baby is â€Å"their child† (Chopin 403) when Armand reveals the ‘truth’ to Desirà ©e, but is Desirà ©e’s child alone only four paragraphs later as she decides to leave (Chopin 404), notwithstanding the actual biological basis upon which the child’s parentage is based. Desirà ©e walks away with the â€Å"golden gleam† (Chopin 404) of the sunlight in her brown hair, taking nothing with her, as befitting her new-found but false identity. She does not take the beaten path, but instead walks through the newly-harvested October fields (Chopin 404), again behaving in a way that befits the new category with which she now identifies. Desirà ©e’s biology belies the reality that she now accepts as â€Å"the stubble bruised her tender feet† (Chopin 404), and she does not know to walk where the branches will not shred her delicate clothing. If Desirà ©e were actually black in the Antebellum south, she would know these things from early childhood. Desirà ©e disappears â€Å"among the reeds and willows that grew thick along the bank of the deep sluggish bayou; and she did not come back again† (404). Desirà ©e’s disappearance is not only her physical departure from L’Abri; it is the disappearance of the white woman that was Desirà ©e. And none of these circumstances is decided by biology, but by what Marxists refer to as a â€Å"struggle for power between different social classes† (Gardner 145). Chopin is delivering a message that power transcends race. What sets Desirà ©e apart in terms of her subjugation by Armand? It is not race, but the lack thereof. Desirà ©e is unable to hide anything about herself because her origins are unknown (Chopin 401). She is a willing captive to Armand as a result of her love and her marriage, but she is not an unwilling captive to race; she is an unwilling captive to her otherness. She does not have doubts about her race, but must live with the reality that â€Å"Armand has told me I am not white† (Chopin 404). Because her origins are unknown and she does not have a name, she must acquiesce to the whims of Armand, who had at first decided to be unconcerned about â€Å"the girl’s obscure origins† (Chopin 401). Armand is the power here. He makes all of the decisions regarding the lives of those within his circle of power, and he does so because he is allowed to do so. Madam Valmondà © has even decided to be unconcerned about Armand’s questionable origins. It is interesting that Desirà ©e’s mother perceives evidence of the baby’s blackness (Chopin 402), but does not explore the possibility that Armand’s blood is the cause. Madam Valmondà © is part of the power structure and victimizes her own daughter, whom she claims to love deeply and sees as a gift from â€Å"a beneficent Providence to be the child of her affection, seeing as she was without child of the flesh† (Chopin 401). Had Desirà ©e been a child of the flesh of Madam Valmondà ©, she would have been accepted, and Madam Valmondà © could have exercised her superiority over Armand and the unanswered questions of his origins. It is remarkable that no one questions Armand’s pedigree even though his mother lived and died in France (Chopin 401). Armand’s mother is perhaps one of the more interesting subjects of Marxist study in the story. One cannot help but wonder why Chopin portrays Monsieur Aubigny as â€Å"easy-going and indulgentâ⠂¬  (Chopin 403). He is a slave owner who married a woman of a different race overseas and asserted his white superiority over her, which is evident in her letter at the end of the story (Chopin 405). She credits God with having given her the ability to hide the reality of her inferiority from her son (Chopin 405). She is lost in the shame of her otherness. She has been so fully convinced by her perceived superiors of her inferiority that she sees the ability to hide her true nature as a gift from her creator. To Monsieur Aubigny’s hidden wife, this is as much a gift as Madam Valmondà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s child of affection. One must question why Aubigny moved to France to marry this woman. And what was the arrangement that allowed her to stay hidden? Did she commit suicide? Is the letter that Armand is reading a final word from her before taking her own life? Note that this was only â€Å"part of an old letter† (Chopin 405), which leaves the true nature of her death unknown. This is power beyond ownership of chattels or social superiority; this power is God-like. Aubigny has happy slaves and is an indulgent tyrant, but to what dark magic has he subjected his French wife? Even if she is dying from something natural at the writing of the letter, it is remarkable that she perceives such powerlessness in herself. Armand is not as devoted as his mother to God. He finds that God has â€Å"dealt cruelly and unjustly with him† (Chopin 404) when he discovers that all is not as it seemed. Armand has a beautiful wife who â€Å"loved him desperately† (Chopin 402) and â€Å"asked no greater blessing of God† (Chopin 402) when he smiled. He has inherited a plantation and slaves to work it. He is rich and possesses the legacy of a good name. Yet in unmitigated spite of all that he has been given, Armand finds God unjust. His world has been suddenly and completely turned on its head because he has reason to believe that his child has inherited inferiority, never guessing that he himself is the source in more ways than one. Armand is a name similar to Adam, and Chopin seems to model him in part after the biblical first man. With the expulsion of Desirà ©e, L’Abri is reminiscent of the biblical garden east of Eden, with the exception that Armand remains. The Mosaic account of the creation of man includes a guideline for marriage, with the command that â€Å"they shall become one flesh† (NASB, Genesis 2.24). A married couple in this sense should be regarded in the same manner as a child and parent – inseparable by nature, regardless of wounds or emotions. This is a picture that does not give place to the other as each partner is regarded equally. It should be noted here that the name Desirà ©e is a French articulation of desire, and it was Adam’s desire that inspired God to give him a mate (NASB, Genesis 2.20). But Adam failed to regard his wife as equal to himself, standing by as she was tempted and choosing not to intervene (NASB, Genesis 3.6). In witnessing her deception and choosing not to intervene, Adam has made Eve the other. He has separated himself from her. Armand allegorically models the actions of Adam, but he gives himself the God-like power to expel his Eve from the garden, while choosing to ignore his own nature. Adam was Armand’s example in choosing to act in spite of all that he had been given, and in Adam’s attempt to fool God into believing that he had been blameless (NASB, Genesis 3.11), he set up a struggle for power. Armand falls easily into this struggle. It is not a stretch to believe that he has doubts about his own race. Exiling Desirà ©e is a tactic that Armand uses to maintain his hegemony. He does not have a foundation of support apart from the societal acceptance of slavery and white superiority. Desirà ©e and Madam Valmondà © are victimized by the very system that they tacitly support. They support it both by their participation as landowners and probable slave-holders and by their acceptance of it even when it forces them to accept inferiority. The superstructure of power in their society is so strong that it can be enforced with nothing more than words, even when those words have no basis in biological fact. It is not the taint of the wrong skin color that makes Desirà ©e a tragic figure; it is her support of a tainted system from which she benefitted until it turned on her. Skin color is a biological reality, but it has been manipulated in support of hegemony. The Antebellum south stood as a physical representation of the realities of race. Large, sparkling, white houses stood proudly fronting the large plantation estates of the white owners therein, while the dark-skinned slaves abode in small, mean cottages hidden in the rear. Kate Chopin depicts a plantation mansion in her short story Desirà ©e’s Baby with a paint color that is darker than the standard, modeling the color of the inhabitants. Nonetheless, the Aubigny family is powerful, benefitting from a superstructure that assigns power by the perception, rather than the reality, of skin color. While race is an important feature of the story, Chopin has written a work that is perfect for a Marxist critique. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. â€Å"Desirà ©e’s Baby.† Anthology of the American Short Story. Ed. James Nagel. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. 121-135. Print. ISBN: 978-0-618-73220-3 Gardner, James. Writing about Literature: A Portable Guide. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. Print. ISBN: 978-0-312-60757-9 Miles, Robert. â€Å"Recent Marxist Theories of Nationalism and the Issue of Racism.† The British Journal of Sociology 38.1 (1987): 24-43. Web. 9 Jun. 2012. New American Standard Bible. Trans. The Lockman Foundation. New York: Oxford UP, 1971. Print.

The Van Gogh s Life - 849 Words

It was on March 30, 1853, in Groot-Zundert, Holland, that Vincent Willem Van Gogh was born to a preacher and an artist. His father, Theodorus Van Gogh, was described as an austere country minister who raised his sons in a religious atmosphere, while his mother, Anna Cornelia Carbentus, imparted on Vincent her love for color and art. While Vincent Van Gogh became known later in time for his heartbreaking backstory and troubled mind, melancholia remained a continuous theme in his life story even prior to his birth. In fact, Van Gogh was born exactly one year after Theodorus and Anna’s first son, also named Vincent, was delivered stillborn. This tragic timing led Vincent Van Gogh to grow up with his name and birthdate already etched onto the headstone of his dead brother. At fifteen years of age, the Van Gogh family financial troubles forced their son Vincent to leave school and work at his Uncle’s art dealership; even after leaving school this early in his life, Van Gogh was already fluent in French, German, and English, and had Dutch as his native language. This allowed for no language barrier when he was transferred to a London art gallery, where he fell in love with both English culture and Eugine Loyer. The landlady’s daughter, who was engaged to another man at the time, became the first of many heartbreaks in Vincent’s life, and her rejection of his marriage proposal sparked a breakdown for the tenant. After, telling customers not to buy â€Å"worthless art† out of anger,Show MoreRelatedVan Gogh s Life And Effect Today1819 Words   |  8 PagesSpeech: Van Gogh s Life and Effect today. Specific Purpose Statement: By the end of my speech the audience will be able to list 3 parts of Van Gogh s life and his achievements that affected the future. INTRODUCTION: Attention Getter: Imagine being one of the most well recognized names of the modern world, your name attracts millions, dozens of films and book are created after you. But at the same time imagine your life being filled with depression and rejection for the craft that you are belovedRead MoreVincent Van Gogh s Life1443 Words   |  6 PagesVincent Van Gogh â€Å"It is not the language of painters but the language of nature which one should listen to, the feeling for the things themselves, for reality, is more important than the feeling for pictures.† Said Vincent Van Gogh. (Gogh) Van Gogh is one of the most famous artist here known in this universe. He has came up with a ton of paintings and drawings in ten years then what other artists have in their life time. Has a decent life, art influenced him by a long shot, and his artwork is justRead MoreVan Gogh s Life And Education Essay3039 Words   |  13 Pages VINCENT VAN GOGH: Born in Holland in 1853, Vincent van Gogh, the son of a Dutch minister, did not start painting until the age of 27. Suffering from psychological issues his entire life, Van Gogh would eventually take his own life seeing the world largely unmoved by his artistic efforts, selling only one painting during his existence as a painter on Earth. Today, Van Gogh has become one of the most renowned painters in the history of painting. Van Gogh is both famous and infamous for his evocativeRead MoreAnalysis Of Vincent Van Gogh s Life1414 Words   |  6 PagesVincent van Gogh lived more than 115 years ago, and yet his artwork is still changing the way society views beauty, character, and style in art. His works are recognized all across the globe for their rich colors and his extraordinary style of painting. Those who lived in the time of Van Gogh would have preferred a realistic drawing or an abstract painting not both as one piece. Van Gogh based his art off of his life which was filled with despair, childhood troubles and mental disabilities. DespiteRead MoreThe Starry Night By Vincent Van Gogh1582 Words   |  7 Pagesthe Arts Thesis Question 11-07-14 Vincent van Gogh One of my favorite pieces of art growing up was The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh. Van Gogh was a man of his times, but what was his life like? Van Gogh had a religious upbringing and was originally going to be a minister as his occupation. But my main focus and what I want to know, is what were the influences on his life and how did they affect his painting? Between all of these things van Gogh had many influences. 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Most of all, there is a significant fact that Vincent Van Gogh was prone to reflecting his sensitivity in his works, and to painting places that had personal meaning. His landmarkRead MoreVincent Van Gogh And His Life868 Words   |  4 Pagestwenty-first (21st) Century, the life of Vincent Van Gogh; has become more of a legend with a substantial figure among painters and western art in the society today. Vincent Van Gogh is said to be a person with persevering characteristics due to all the failures he encountered in his career path from being a â€Å"minister like his father to dealing in arts like his uncle† (Blumer,2002) before becoming the successful painter, we all acknowledge in the world today. However, Vincent Van Gogh is practically known toRead MoreThe Works Of Vincent Van Gogh1460 Words   |  6 Pagesyour work is useless. This is the constant state of mind that Vincent Van Gogh lived in with his work being heavily criticized and never praised. Background and Audience Relevance: Van Gogh is one of the most well known artists today. His vivid landscapes and portraits are praised for their use of different colors and bold brush strokes. Many people can easily recognize a Van Gogh painting, but they don’t know much regarding his life or the struggles he faced as an artist. Speaker Credibility: I tookRead MoreVincent Van Gogh Essay1397 Words   |  6 PagesVincent Van Gogh was one of the world s greatest artists. Though not widely known in his lifetime, he is now considered to be the greatest Dutch artist aside from Rembrandt. He was born Vincent William van Gogh in Groot-Zundert, a small town in Brabant Netherlands, on March 30, 1853. His father was a protestant pastor which is believed to have greatly influenced Van Gogh . His mother, Anna Cornelia Carbentus, was artist that loved nature, drawing and watercolors. Her interest in all of these