Hope Leslie Essay Example for Free

Hope Leslie Essay In the novel, Hope Leslie, Catherine Maria Sedgwick uses personal analysis as well as historical information to create an uncannily realistic tale of romance, racial prejudice and religion. Throughout the book, Sedgwick emphasizes relations between the Native American peoples and the European Americans living in Massachusetts in the 1640’s. She is able to do this specifically with the characters of Magawisca, the Native American slave with the will of a lioness, Everell Fletcher, the handsome much wanted white male protagonist, Hope Leslie, a strong headed young woman who symbolizes modernism in the piece and Esther Downing, Hope Leslie’s literary foil. Through the relationships between Everell and each of the three female protagonists, Magawisca, Esther and Hope, Sedgwick stresses that the relations between Native Americans and Americans will never be fully amiable due to religious, societal, natural influences. The first relationship of the three relationships that are mentioned in the writing is that of Everell and Magawisca. Sedgwick uses the mother, Mrs. Fletcher, to introduce this young love between the white boy and his Native American acquaintance in a letter to Mr. Everell while he is away from their home at Bethel. â€Å"The boy doth greatly affect the company of the Pequod girl, Magawisca†, she writes,† He hath taught her how to read† (32). This action between the two children shows Magawisca gradually assimilating into the American society and thus, becoming more Americanized and less â€Å"savage† as literacy is considered a civilized ability. As Magawisca dismisses the basic principles of Puritanism, however, it is clear that there is a definitive divide between the Native American and her new family’s beliefs. As religious tenets are defining features of a person and his or her background, Magawisca can never completely assume the American ways without acknowledging the religion. Thus, the relations between her and Everell will not be able to last due to their difference in. Thus, religious differences create adversities in the relationship and ultimately attribute its failure. Mrs. Fletcher directly highlights the fact that the relationship will inevitably fail when she compares the two adolescents to plants: â€Å"Two young plants that have sprung up in close neighborhood, may be separated while young; but if disjoined after their fibers are all intertwined, one, or perchance both, may perish† (33). This statement implies that nature will undoubtedly separate the Everell and Magawisca in the future and the longer they stay together, the more difficult it will be for each of them to survive when they are torn apart. The emphasis on the fact that nature will tear the Native American and the white boy apart is particularly interesting because towards the end of the book Sedgwick brings up the relation between nature and love when speaking about Everell and Hope. In the later case, however, Sedgwick writes, â€Å"Nature will rejoice in reciprocated love, under whatever adversities it comes† (351). This contradictory statement brings to light the idea that reciprocal love between and American and Native Indian will never last no matter how strong the connection is, yet reciprocal love between two Americans will last no matter how many hardships the couple face. Based on Sedgwick’s blatant double-standards, it is clear that relations between the same races are favored, creating yet another issue between Native American and White relations. As the novel progresses, Everell encounters another relationship except this time with Esther Downing. Though this kinship does not directly involve a Native American counterpart, the future diminishment of this bond is directly based on Native American-white relations specifically concerning Magawisca. When Magawisca is apprehended after meeting with Hope Leslie, she is captured on the grounds that she is â€Å"suspected of being an active agent in brewing the conspiracy forming against [the white people] among the Indian tribes†(245). Therefore she is solely arrested on the basis of suspicion, not proof, and only because of her racial affiliations and the skepticism surrounding the Native American peoples at the time. It is this imprisonment of Magawisca that proceeds to highlight the differences between Everell and Esther and future accentuates the fact that relations between the two races will never be completely peaceful. The reactions both Everell and Esther have towards the situation seem to be the same, however the way each of them handle it show that no matter how much the Americans want to have loyal relations with the Natives it will not work. Once Magawisca is imprisoned Everell tried to enlist the help of Esther to free her however, Esther believes that they â€Å"had not scripture warrant for interfering between the prisoner and the magistrates† (292) implying, that she was too morally and religiously strict to free Magawisca without consent to do so. It wasn’t that Esther disliked Magawisca, in fact, she plainly stated that â€Å"those who love [Everell] need no know this maiden to feel that they would save her life at the expense of their own, if they might do it† (293). The restriction on the loyal and amicable friendship both Esther and Magawisca could share was not hindered by distaste for one another, but instead because of strict religious views and moral conduct. This dissent between Everell’s wishes and Esther’s duty brings about the notion â€Å"that there was a painful discord between them† (293) and they are evidently not compatible. The final relationship, between Everell and Hope, shed a positive light the fact that white relations with Native Americans could in fact be successful. Magawisca’s freedom gave both Everell and Hope a mutual cause to fight for and finally allowed them to express the feelings they had suppressed for so long. She pushed both parties to reveal their true love for each other. â€Å"Ask you own heart, Hope Leslie, if any charm could win your affections from Everell Fletcher? † (350). These lines not only instigated a relationship between two soul mates but also affirmed a very close relationship between Hope and Magawisca. This gesture paralleled what Hope did to Esther when she let Esther have a relationship with Everell even though she loved him. It is evident that Magawisca still has feelings for Everell by her reactions to seeing him: â€Å"An involuntary exclamation burst from her lips; and then shuddering at this exposure of her feelings, she hastily gathered together the moccasins that were strewn over the floor, dropped a pair at Hope’s feet, and darted away† (193). Her burst of emotions and flustered actions prove she had feelings for Everell and by sacrificing those feelings for Hope’s happiness, she is delineating that she is in fact, just as good of a friend to Hope as Hope is to Esther. Thus, the relations between Indians and Americans can in fact occur with the upmost loyalty and respect. Though Hope and Everell’s relationship does indicate that the two races can coexist in harmony, Magawisca still makes it clear that thought the individuals may be on good terms, their society as a whole is not by dutifully stating â€Å"the law of vengeance is written on our hearts†¦ the Indian and the white man can no more mingle, and become one, than day and night† (349). The revengeful nature the Native Americans still associate with the white peoples of Massachusetts still trumps any possible platonic or affable relations between the two races. Thus, societal influence once again hinders harmony. Through each of the three relationships it is evident that good relations between the Indians and the Americans may only exist if the mindset of all parties involved is modernist and accepting of all races. In addition, Sedgwick also determines, with the relationship of Faith, Hope’s sister, and Oneco, Magawisca’s brother, that if one of the lovers in the relationship completely assimilates into the culture of the other, a healthy, loving kinship may blossom. Though Sedgwick does portray Native American people in relatively positive light throughout the novel, through her delineation of forbidden and accepted love, she makes it evident that the cultural and ideological barriers between Americans and the American Indians cannot ever be completely lifted.

The Andromeda Strain: A Critical Analysis Essay -- English Literature:

The Andromeda Strain: A Critical Analysis In 1969 Michael Crichton wrote The Andromeda Strain, a book that would forever expand the limits of a science fiction novel. Although written in 1969, it deals with very current issues facing the modern day boilogical and even political realm. Technically a science fiction novel, the meticulously crafted plot is so intertwined with actual science and technology that some have catagorized it as "science fact." It is this realistic overtone that gives the impression that perhaps, someday, events in the book could actually take place. Plot Synopsis The book opens up with a fictional page of acknowledgments stating "This book recounts the five-day history of a major American scientific crisis." From this opening sentence, the author immediately sets the tone as one of historical narration of events that actually took place. It is supposed to be a retelling of a scientific tradgedy with monumental implications. From here, the story the author relates begins. Five years earlier the United States government initiated a program called Project Scoop. The project's purpose was to send unmanned space capsules into the earth's outer atmosphere to collect samples and examine them. The hope was that undiscovered biological agents could be found for potential use as biological weapons of war. Overall, the Scoop program had been somewhat of a dissapointment until the seventh launch. It reentered the earth's atmosphere over small town in Arizona, where a team of two men were sent to retrieve it. Upon entering the town they found no signs of life and suddenly and unexplicably died themselves. This occurence set in motion something the government had secretly planned for ca... ...ploy would be to grow a number of microorganisms that would grow uninhibited in the vastness of space. The alien race would send them out in random directions where they would drift perpetually until finally reaching other life. Once reaching their destination, they would develop into full organ, or organism capable of communication. They would inform the other race of the presence of the other, and possible ways to communicate back. This seemed amusing to the more practical scientists, but it had to be considered a possibility with Andromeda. Overall, "The Andromeda Strain's" extremely technical subject matter made it challenging to read, but informative on a level usually not touched on by other science fiction novels. The plot itself as well as the concepts conveyed in this book make it relevent to the modern biologic world, even over 30 years later.

Book Review “Thinking, Fast and Slow” Essay

I read the international bestseller â€Å"Thinking, Fast and Slow† of Daniel Kahneman (Winner of the Nobel Prize) over the last 3-4 weeks. I think it is a very interesting book and it is describing very critically the human brain and mind, which gave me many insights into decision-making and errors we are doing automatically without noticing it every day. He is very often talking about â€Å"System 1† and â€Å"System 2†. System 1 is fast; it’s intuitive, associative, metaphorical, automatic, impressionistic, and it can’t be switched off. Its operations involve no sense of intentional control, but it’s the â€Å"secret author of many of the choices and judgments you make† and it’s the hero of Daniel Kahneman’s book Thinking, Fast and Slow. System 2 is slow, deliberate, effortful. Its operations require attention. System 2 takes over, rather unwillingly, when things get difficult. It’s â€Å"the conscious being you call ‘I'†, and one of Kahneman’s main points is that this is a mistake. You’re wrong to identify with System 2, for you are also and equally and profoundly System 1. Kahneman compares System 2 to a supporting character who believes herself to be the lead actor and often has little idea of what’s going on. System 2 is slothful, and tires easily – so it usually accepts what System 1 tells it. It’s often right to do so, because System 1 is for the most part pretty good at what it does; it’s highly sensitive to subtle environmental cues, signs of danger, and so on. It does, however, pay a high price for speed. It loves to simplify, to assume WYSIATI (â€Å"what you see is all there is†), even as it gossips and embroiders and confabulates. It’s hopelessly bad at the kind of statistical thinking often required for good decisions, it jumps wildly to conclusions and it’s subject to a fantastic suite of irrational biases and interference effects (the halo effect, the â€Å"Florida effect†, framing effects, anchoring effects, the confirmation bias, outcome bias, hindsight bias, availability bias, the focusing illusion, and so on). Thousands of experiments have been conducted, right across the broad board of human life, all to the same general effect. We don’t know who we are or what we’re like, we don’t know what we’re really doing and we don’t know why we’re doing it. That’s a System 1 exaggeration, for sure, but there’s more truth in it than you can easily imagine. Judges think they make considered decisions about parole based strictly on the facts of the case. It turns out (to simplify only slightly) that it is their blood-sugar levels really sitting in judgment. We also hugely underestimate the role of chance in life (this is again System 1’s work). Analysis of the performance of fund managers over the longer term proves conclusively that you’d do just as well if you entrusted your financial decisions to a monkey throwing darts at a board. There is a tremendously powerful illusion that sustains managers in their belief their results, when good, are the result of skill; Kahneman explains how the illusion works. The fact remains that â€Å"performance bonuses† are awarded for luck, not skill. They might as well be handed out on the roll of a die: they’re completely unjustified. This may be why some banks now speak of â€Å"retention bonuses† rather than performance bonuses, but the idea that retention bonuses are needed depends on the shared myth of skill, and since the myth is known to be a myth, the system is profoundly dishonest – unless the dart-throwing monkeys are going to be cut in. In an experi ment designed to test the â€Å"anchoring effect†, highly experienced judges were given a description of a shoplifting offence. They were then â€Å"anchored† to different numbers by being asked to roll a pair of dice that had been secretly loaded to produce only two totals – three or nine. Finally, they were asked whether the prison sentence for the shoplifting offence should be greater or fewer, in months, than the total showing on the dice. Normally the judges would have made extremely similar judgments, but those who had just rolled nine proposed an average of eight months while those who had rolled three proposed an average of only five months. All were unaware of the anchoring effect. The same goes for all of us, almost all the time. We think we’re smart; we’re confident we won’t be unconsciously swayed by the high list price of a house. We’re wrong. (Kahneman admits his own inability to counter some of these effects.) We’re also hopelessly subject to the â€Å"focusing illusion†, which can be conveyed in one sentence: â€Å"Nothing in life is as important as you think it is when you’re thinking about it.† Whatever we focus on, it bulges in the heat of our attention until we assume its role in our life as a whole is greater than it is. Daniel Kahneman won a Nobel prize for economics in 2002 and much of his time he’s working together with Amos Tversky. Thinking, Fast and Slow has its roots in their joint work. It is an outstanding book, distinguished by beauty and clarity of detail, precision of presentation and gentleness of manner.

Essay on Personal Narrative My Mistake - 566 Words

Although high school was over for me in June 2009, I still think about the memories of my freshman, sophomore, and junior years. In these first three years of my high school experience I did not participate in school activities except drama club and a beauty pageant. I regret my decision of not participating in clubs, or going to the sport games, and not attending events in school. I would go back and change this decision for many reasons. Not participating in school resulted in me not meeting as many classmates as I could have. Also, it became hard for me to fill out college applications, because I did not have anything to state in the school activities section. Finally, not participating in school for the first three years will result in†¦show more content†¦By going to these events it would have game me ammunition to expand my social circle. Participating in school events would have allowed me to interact with the classmates. For example, if I had attended a fundraising e vent that allows group effort I could strike up a conversation with a classmate. Being involved with many activities would have allowed me to meet new and fun people. Furthermore, some high school students dread the process of applying to colleges in their senior year. I to had to go through this long process, but I feel as though it was harder for me to fill out the college applications. Contained in a college application is a section for the applicant to list their accomplishments and school activities for the admission office to view. However, I could list my accomplishments during my high school years, but I did not have anything to write in the school activities section except for drama and runner up in a beauty pageant. As a result, I did not get accepted into as many colleges as I could have with the addition of school activities. In addition, high school memories are suppose to stay with us forever. We remember the things we did in high school through a yearbook or simply pa ssing down our experiences orally. Unfortunately, I do not have as many memories to share with my family during my first three years of high school due to lack or participation. The only memories I could share is making an A on school work or accepting anShow MoreRelatedPersonal Narrative: Learning From My Mistakes Essay947 Words   |  4 Pagescan’t do this anymore, it’s ruining my life†. Many of my friends have started smoking cigarettes while drinking at a very young age, and continue to use this drug currently and don’t realize the affect it has on their future. While I have been smart enough to avoid smoking, I haven’t been as wise at making decisions when it comes to drinking. The amount of partying I’ve done in college has taken over my life, and has had a huge impact on my grades. 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