Essay On Ritual Of Memory By Nadine Gordimery Blaeser

Seven score and nine years ago, Abraham Lincoln, our sixteenth President of the United States of America, set off for Gettysburg in order to consecrate Gettysburg National Cemetery. In an uncharacteristically short speech-at least for the 1860s-Lincoln was able to reaffirm the values our Founding Fathers had laid down in the Declaration of Independence as well as the Constitution, and painted a vision of a unified United States where freedom and democracy would be the rule for all citizens. Lincoln utilized various rhetorical devices to make the Gettysburg Address accomplish two tasks in one. The first is to bring remembrance to the principals and morals for which the United States was built upon, second is to honor the brave soldiers who fought and died at Gettysburg and consecrate the land upon which they stood and finally was to sway those attending into giving their “…last full measure of devotion-” to ensure a nation that would remain built upon the concepts of liberty and democracy and continues to gain support for the cause of the war.. Seeking only to honor the dead and inspire the living, Lincoln ended up delivering one of the most powerful speeches in American-if not world-history.

She dedicated her life to helping the sick and elderly after the war. Even though she was beaten throughout

In a world where we can’t agree on the simplest things from the correct pronunciation of GIF to the best music or even the next president of the United States, it’s hard to believe we can ever just get along. However, has anyone ever thought that we weren’t meant to agree and live in harmony? Because our races and ethnicities make us unique, we don’t trust each other, and we all have different points of view, we can never live in harmony as “one human race”.

Throughout the eulogy, Angelou utilizes anaphora to emphasize Mrs. King’s beliefs and commitments to various important humanitarian causes. The audience, in turn, feels a more profound grief for her death as result. For instance, in the second paragraph, Angelou writes, “She believed religiously in non-violent protest. She believed it could heal a nation mired in a history of slavery and all its excesses. She believed non-violent protest religiously could lift up a nation rife with racial prejudices and racial bias” (Angelou). Repeating of the phrase, “She believed” gives the passage a rhythmic feel that suggests the reader/listener to reflect on the importance of Mrs. King’s views and fully comprehend them as important and those of a caring and understanding Christian woman. She additionally expands on this while on the topic of what Mrs. King cared about: “She loved her church...loved and adored her husband and her children...cherished her race...cherished women...cared for the conditions of human beings, of native Americans and...Latinos and Asian-Americans...cared for gay and straight people” Reiteration of verbs such as cared, loved, and cherished function to force the audience to listen to what Mrs. King loved and causes she found significant and urgent. Listeners then begins to view Mrs. King as a compassionate person; they feel mournful that the world has lost such a kindhearted woman. Likewise, Angelou applies the idea of the worldwide loss of Mrs. King to her advantage as she tells the audience, “I stand here today for her family – which is my family – and for my family and all the families in the world who would want to be here, but could not be here.” The concept of Mrs. King surrounded by adoring loved ones echoes through Angelou’s

worked against him for the good of her country. Her heroic life was especially shown by her

Memory is used as a powerful conduit into the past; childhood experiences held in the subconscious illuminate an adult’s perception. Harwood uses tense shifts throughout her poetry to emphasise and indicate the interweaving and connection the past and the present hold. By allowing this examination of the childhood memories, Harwood identifies that their significance is that of an everlasting memory that will dominate over time’s continuity and the inevitability of death.

Lincoln’s speech in the Gettysburg Address lasted about two minutes and only few from the large audience comprehended what he had stated (Cochran 1). It was over so quickly that the audience lacked an applause (Cochran 1). Lincoln was very self conscious of his speeches and with a lack of an applause from the large audience, it made lincoln believe that he had failed them. Though they hadn’t understood what he meant at that moment in time, from this day forward Lincoln’s speech had become one of the best speeches in American History that gave a purpose to the nation.

1. Explain why it is important to recognise and value an individual as a person

freedom. She filed a lawsuit against the railway company for refusing to provide her with

When she thinks of her mother, “I see her in the summertime. We spent a lot of time outside. We had 70 acres, an orchard and gardens. She had lovely blonde hair that she was very fond of, and she would wear it down in the sun. I see her

Preliminary Thesis: I will persuade future American generations that freedom is a privilege. We Americans need to stop taking our freedom for granted because there are people who wished to have the opportunity to be free the way we do.

of her life at the Civil war, because she loved helping people and that what she decided to do

The theme of individual versus society has been featured in many pieces of literature over time. This conflict can be described as an individual’s struggle against the confines of their culture or society. The individual wrestles with either upholding society’s rules or breaking them. The conflict of the individual versus society is included in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass. In his memoir, Douglass, who was a slave at the time, learned how to read and write. This was deviant from society in that period because slaves were not allowed to read and write. This conflict also appears in real life situations, such as the women’s suffrage movement or the Civil Rights Movement. Members of these movements did things that deviated from societal norms at the time. The theme of the individual versus society is presented as an individual deviating from society’s ideals.

work. She offered shelter and food to poor people, took in orphans, stood up for better child labor laws

Through the eyes of society everyone has a set role they are expected to fulfill and certain characteristics they are supposed to exemplify. These roles and characteristics, this discourse, tells everyone how they should act and speak. For women it is the role of the mother. In our culture, that means raising the children, completing the household chores, and cooking all of the meals to perfection. Women are typical thought of as being demure and polite, small in stature, and submissive to the male gender. In the reverse, men also have certain roles that they are expected to fill and characteristics they are supposed to exemplify. Men are expected to be strong, dominant, and in charge of their families. They are often depicted, both in the media and in life, as the leaders. This discourse that we all follow can frequently be seen in Svava Jakobsdottir’s “A Story for Children.” The short story tells the tale of a woman as she raises her children and takes care of her household. The mother is completely devoted to her children and seeks to fulfill her role in the home to the fullest extent. As the story progresses, the main character slowly has pieces of herself removed by her children: her toe, her brain, and finally her heart. At the end of the text, after all of the children have become adults started families of their own, the mother realizes that she now has nothing and feels useless. In her short story, Jakobsdottir uses dramatization to depict the gender stereotypes and