The Anchoress of England: Julian of Norwichs Portrait of Christ as Mot

The Anchoress of England: Julian of Norwich's Portrait of Christ as Mother      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When speaking of medieval literature, Chaucer, Gower and Langland are quite often the most noted. However, recent studies have provided modern scholars with a wide variety of medieval women writers from all over Europe and a few in England. The most widely anthologized English female writer is Julian of Norwich. Julian was an anchoress, and as Marcelle Thiebaux notes, "The anchorite movement was widespread in England from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries. Both men and women chose this extreme form of asceticism, which was favored and encouraged by the crown, the church, and the laity. Anchorholds were small, narrow cells attached to churches or friaries" (442). 1[1] The process of becoming an anchoress was difficult and complicated, but suffice it to say that after the process was completed "the anchoress was sealed up, never to re-emerge into the world. Penance, meditation, reading, and in some cases writing were the anchorite's sole activities" (Thiebaux 442).   This was the case for Julian of Norwich. She was "well read in Scripture, dwelling especially on the Psalms, the gospels, and the epistles of Paul and John, ...and was the first English woman to write a book" (Thiebaux 443-44). Her Book of Showings to the Anchoress Julian of Norwich 2[2]   possesses literary and religious value, and the work lends itself quite naturally to a feminist reading. In her clear, lucid, prose style, combined with the images of the medieval mystic, Julian establishes herself as an independent, female religious authority and she gives a staunch affirmation of the divinity of God with this unique view point: the motherhood of God.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In her fi... ...7. All biblical references come from the Geneva Bible (which is based on the Jerome Bible) but were checked and crossed referenced with the Jerome Bible with help of Professor Behunin as the Jerome Bible is in Latin. 7[7] It is interesting to note that there might be a biblical correlation to the hazelnut. The name Hazel appears in the Bible, and in Jewish the name Hazel is a feminine name and means "one who sees God." ( Harrison, R.K. Biblical Hebrew England: Hodder & Stoughton, 1986.) 8[8] Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Trans. Marie Borroff. Norton Anthology of British Literature Vol. 1, New York: WW Norton, 1993. 9[9] The "five fives" as they are known in medieval literature and religion can be found in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Trans. Marie Borroff. Norton Anthology of British Literature Vol. 1, New York: WW Norton, 1993, lines 640-654.   

The Great Gatsby has been described as a definitive record of the glamorous side of the Jazz Age

The Great Gatsby is full of lavish spending, huge parties and all round hedonistic enjoyment, showing a ‘definitive record of the glamorous side’ of the 1920s on every level. America in the 1920s had the highest living standard in the world, the United States owned around 40% of the entire world’s wealth, with this money the established rich spent their time living a glamorous lifestyle. In the 1920s the class of the established rich certainly knew how to be glamorous, as Fitzgerald shows through Daisy and Tom Buchanan. The Buchanan’s house was ‘more elaborate’ then Nick expected, it was a ‘Georgian Colonial mansion,’ and they also had luxury items such as a ‘motor boat’ and ‘horses.’ Tom obviously took pride in his house and processions, saying that he has ‘got a nice place.’ The money was also spent immorally; they always seem to have a plentiful amount of alcohol, like ‘the cocktails’ which Tom drank like ‘it was a drop on the bottom of a glass’ showing he must drink a lot. This alcohol was bought illegally as prohibition was in place from 1920 to 1933 which banned the manufacture, sale and transportation of liquor in the USA. RACISM Not only did the established rich have luxury items, they also did not work for their money, giving them plenty of free time to spend as they please, Jordan Baker had enough time to take up golfing, and ‘play in tournaments.’ Yet with all this money and free time the Buchanan’s lives are unfulfilled as they have spiritual goals, Daisy is unhappy in life and questions her purpose in life by saying ‘What shall we do this afternoon? And the day after? And the next thirty years?’ this showing the darker side to the 1920s. Fitzgerald shows glamour through Gatsby’s extravagant parties, Gatsby is new money as he worked for his money. From Gatsby’s ridiculous quantities of oranges to ‘the orchestra’ which played at his parties, Gatsby made sure that his parties were glamorous. At first Gatsby’s parties seem magical, as Gatsby’s ‘blue gardens were alive with the whispering and the champagne and the stars.’ The ‘floating rounds of cocktails permeated the garden’ and the ‘air was alive with chatter and laughter,’ everybody seemed to be having a fantastic time. Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda would have known first-hand how glamorous these jazz age parties were as they often attended them and they lived a glamorous life style. Yet underneath the glamour of Gatsby’s parties we see the bleaker side of the 1920s. Fitzgerald shows the work put in to the parties, to make the orange juice a butler had to press ‘a little button†¦ two hundred times.’ After the parties ‘eight servants†¦ toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes†¦ repairing the ravages of the night before,’ as the party guests left so much destruction in their way. Gatsby’s parties may be glamorous but he paid a great deal to make them this way. It is alleged that Gatsby made his money immorally, by bootlegging, Tom suggests this when he said ‘I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him.’ It was easy to make money illegally in the 1920’s, due to prohibition many found it easy to sell alcohol over the counter or to speakeasies, which were secret bars in the 1920s, these people were often called bootleggers. This was an illegal way of getting the money; showing unglamorous, illegal acts were done to make these glamorous parties. Therefore alcohol in Gatsby’s parties was plentiful, he even had his own bar, but this alcohol led to carelessness as owl eyes was ‘drunk for about a week’ and alcohol also lead to recklessness in the form of car crashes, and violent actions with women ‘kicking off into the night, dragged away by men said to be their husbands.’ Gatsby paid a great amount of money but did the guests really care about their host? Nick was ‘one of the few guests, who had actually been invited,’ and of all of the guests who were at Gatsby’s parties only one came to his funeral, this shows the caring attitude and shallowness of people in the 1920s. Despite the unprecedented economic growth and excessive glamorous spending during the 1920s, the gap between rich and poor became increasingly prevalent. As most of the characters are very wealthy the rich and glamorous atmosphere defines the novel’s tone, the focus on the upper class lifestyle gives the novel a mood of extravagance. However, this society is contrasted with the poverty of those living near the Valley of Ashes; which is based on T.S Elliott’s poem ‘The Wasteland’. Like Elliott’s wasteland, the Valley of Ashes is a hideous image of a spiritually dead world, a symbol of the collapse of moral values after the chaos of the war. In the Great Gatsby we see how the Wilson’s live, which is a stark contrast from the Buchannan’s glamorous lifestyle. Nick could not believe that the Wilson’s lived in such a place, he thought the ‘garage must be a blind, and that sumptuous and romantic apartments were concealed overhead. ’ Their lifestyle is so unglamorous; it gives the darker side of the Jazz age. Myrtle Wilson tried hard to climb the classes by having an affair with Tom Buchannan, but even the apartment he provides for her is small and Tom treats her badly, he even breaks her nose, in his eyes she will always be lower than Daisy. George also tries very hard to make his money honestly, when Tom comes in he is so eager to have some business, George is a failure of the American Dream, he will never achieve the glamorous lifestyle he wants to provide.

Fast Food Is Better Than Healthier Choices - 886 Words

What is one thing almost everyone has eaten at some point in their life? The answer to this question is fast food. Just in the United States there are over 200,000 fast food companies that make over 190 billion dollars a year. Although millions of people consume fast food, what are they really eating? I believe that fast food, as well as most processed food, is a problem that often goes unnoticed. Fast food does have several benefits to people. The first one would be that it is quick. Sometimes it is impossible to make food at home if you are driving all day, working, or at school. It is much simpler to drive to a McDonald’s or Wendy’s, and order something that will be ready in a few minutes. The next benefit is that fast food is often cheap. A burger and fries will usually cost around four or five dollars, which is reasonable for most people. It is often cheaper than healthier choices. Fast food is also convenient, since they are located almost everywhere in the countr y, and often you can find a couple McDonald’s or Wendy’s within a few minutes of each other. Fast food restaurants are beneficial to someone who doesn’t feel like cooking, or can’t cook. The last benefit is that fast food taste good. A lot of people who eat fast food do so because they enjoy the taste of it. Fast food may have several benefits but it also comes with disadvantages. Often fast food contains ingredients that most people haven’t heard of before. For example, eggs contain ingredients such asShow MoreRelatedFood Essay1424 Words   |  6 Pageschoose nutritious alternatives to preserved and fast food products. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of how this can â€Å"healthy lifestyle† can be obtained. 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Opened by the McDonald brothers in 1948 as a small restaurant chain in California was soon transformed by Ray Kroc into the corporation many Americans know today as McDonald s. After the opening and growth of McDonald s, many other restaurants began to follow the same system as them. This resulted in Wendy s, Burger King, the growth of WhiteRead MoreObesity in Texas Children Essay1134 Words   |  5 Pagesin Texas, since children are not aware of the serious consequences of being obese. Therefore, Texas should find ways to prevent obesity by authorizing healthier school lunches and allowing a school program to help obese children lose weight. Also, television advertisements are influencing obese children to make unhealthy choices. Allowing healthier school lunches will decrease obesity in children because it will give them the proper nutrition to reduce the risk of health issues. Since obesity causesRead MoreChildhood Expectancy And Its Effects On Our Health936 Words   |  4 PagesBecause of the choices we are making, we are getting sick. Behavior and diet are two characteristics that can change that. The documentary was based on four different districts in Louisville, Kentucky. It used real people to go into details on how each social class affects our health. District 16 is considered the rich area where the people that made six figures lived. The people in this area do not have to worry about fast food or bad food choices because most of them have chefs. Health problemsRead MoreThe Swot Analysis Helps You To Have A Better Foresight1353 Words   |  6 PagesThe SWOT analysis helps you to have a better foresight of awareness of what your strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats entail to know what direction to better utilize strategies to approach a project, such as an obesity initiative, in order to have a successful outcome. S Acknowledgment that there is an obesity problem Community leaders, schools, and healthcare organizations working together to combat obesity Initiating of obesity educational workshops and wellness programs Increased