Margaret Atwood- Feminism - 1227 Words

Jennifer Yeomelakis Major Author Rough Draft 2/13/12 Feminism in the Works of Margaret Atwood Feminism is the belief and advocacy of equal rights for woman. This belief is shown through Margaret Atwood’s works, although she doesn’t believe so â€Å"Every time you write from the point of view of a woman, people say it’s feminist.† Critics all of the world disagree with her and say that Atwood’s novels are blatantly feministic. Margaret Atwood uses time, male chauvinism, and jealousy to display her belief that women aren’t treated fairly, yet they deserve to be. Atwood’s mute female roles create the setting for her In Atwood’s works, time is vital is showing that her feminist beliefs sets the outline in which she displays that belief.†¦show more content†¦They were always destined to be in the situations that they end up in and they spent their whole lives preparing for that situation. Men were meant to become the leaders and women were to be kept in the shadows, but Atwood purposefully changes those destinies for her characters. In the societies built around Atwood’s novels, women are destined from birth to become a certain attribute in the world. Such as in the case of The Handmaid’s Tale, women are destined to become only six things, wives, daughters, handmaids, aunts, marthas, or econowives, they never had the choice of being anything else. In Margaret Atwood’s novels, the characters try to change each other’s destiny, but will find out that no one can change one’s destiny. â€Å"He who could master the hearts of men and their secrets is well on their way to mastering the fates and controlling the thread of his own destiny, not that any man could really do that, not even the Gods† (43) the characters of The Penelopiad believe heavily that the fates control what happens in their life, especially the bad things, and are well aware that they cannot change each other’s destiny. Margaret Atwood’s societies are chauvinistic to show that there was no universal law on how to behave towards other people. Her male dominated, male chauvinistic societies add emphasis to her belief of feminism. Through male chauvinism, the sanctity of marriage or of other relationships is dissolved. Men seem to be allowed to commitShow MoreRelatedFeminism And Gender Roles By Margaret Atwood1518 Words   |  7 PagesIn Surfacing by Margaret Atwood, there are numerous portrayals of feminism and gender roles. There are underlying hints of distaste towards the female sex role and the predatory, aggressive behaviour of men towards women. The suppression of women is portrayed and analyzed, and Surfacing manages to tackle the theme of gender roles by exploring through the perspective of the female narrator how women are marginalized in many aspects of their lives. . Surfacing makes a case for strong women that defyRead MoreEssay on Feminist Ideas in Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale1199 Words   |  5 PagesFeminist Ideas in Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale For this essay, we focused strictly on critics reactions to Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale. For the most part, we found two separate opinions about The Handmaids Tale, concerning feminism. One opinion is that it is a feminist novel, and the opposing opinion that it is not. Feminism: A doctrine advocating social, political, and economic rights for women equal to those of men as recorded in Websters Dictionary. This topic is prevalentRead MoreThe Life and Achievements of Margaret Eleanor Atwood Essay1687 Words   |  7 PagesMargaret Eleanor Atwood, one of the most acclaimed and idolized writers’ to date. Atwood was born in Ottawa, Ontario, on November 18th, 1939 in the Ottawa General Hospital. Two and a half months after the beginning of the Second World War (Atwood). She is a renowned novelist and poet; furthermore writer of short stories, critical studies, screenplays, radio scripts and books for children (Gale). Margaret Atwood is a living inspiration to many writers today. Atwood is a fiction, and non-fiction writerRead MoreShort Story By Margaret Atwood1031 Words   |  5 PagesMargaret Atwood once said, â€Å"I spent much of my childhood in northern Quebec, and often there was no radio, no television - there wasn’t a lot to entertain us. When it rained, I stayed inside reading, writing, drawing.† Born on November 18, 1939, she spent half her childhood moving to different places for her father’s study of entomology (insects). She obtained her love of writing through the different experiences that traveling provided as well as the encouragement of her parents. Though she didRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1357 Words   |  6 PagesHow does one define feminism? It means many things to many people. For some it’s more personal, for others it’s the Oxford definition: â€Å"the advocacy of women s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes† (Oxford dictionary). In the novel The Handma id’s Tale, Margaret Atwood explores feminism through the themes of women’s bodies as political tools, the dynamics of rape culture and the society of complacency. Margaret Atwood was born in 1939, at the beginning of WWII, growing up in a timeRead More Feminist Issues in The Handmaids Tale Essay1316 Words   |  6 Pages  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Handmaids Tale, by Margaret Atwood, can be classified as a distopic novel. The Republic of Gilead in The Handmaids Tale is characteristic of a distopia in that it is not intended as a prediction of the future of our society, but rather as a commentary on current social trends. Atwood has created this nation by isolating what she might consider the disturbing aspects of two diametrically opposed factions of our society (namely the religious right and radical feminism) as a theory as to what wouldRead More Feminism In The Handmaids Tale Essay1588 Words   |  7 PagesFeminism In The Handmaids Tale      Ã‚  Ã‚   Feminism as we know it began in the mid 1960s as the Womens Liberation Movement. Among its chief tenants is the idea of womens empowerment, the idea that women are capable of doing and should be allowed to do anything men can do. Feminists believe that neither sex is naturally superior. They stand behind the idea that women are inherently just as strong and intelligent as the so-called stronger sex. Many writers have taken up the cause of feminismRead MoreFeminism Lost in Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale Essay1527 Words   |  7 PagesIn Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale, the human spirit has evolved to such a point that it cannot be subdued by complacency. Atwood shows Gilead as an extremist state with strong religious connotations. We see the outcome of the reversal of women’s rights and a totalitarian government which is based on reproduction. Not only is the government oppressive, but we see the female roles support an d enable the oppression of other female characters. â€Å"This is an open ended text,†¦conscious of the possibilitiesRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1249 Words   |  5 PagesDystopian Research Essay: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood In the words of Erika Gottlieb With control of the past comes domination of the future. A dystopia reflects and discusses major tendencies in contemporary society. The Handmaid s Tale is a dystopian novel written by Margaret Atwood in 1985. The novel follows its protagonist Offred as she lives in a society focused on physical and spiritual oppression of the female identity. Within The Handmaid s Tale it is evident that through theRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale Of Women1858 Words   |  8 Pageskeepers, the Commander’s wife, and other red handmaids One major reason for banning The Handmaid s Tale is sexism. Offred, the main character, explains in her journal; We are for breeding purposes: we aren t concubines, geisha girls, courtesans (Atwood 136). Clearly the handmaids are only used to make babies because the wives of the commanders cannot reproduce. These women are forced into this sexist act solely because of their social class and gender. They are treated unfairly not by just males

Critique of a Research Article about Incarceration in the...

Background In a study of children that had a family member or family associate incarcerated prior to their 18th birthday, Loper Nichols (2012) attempted to address the impact that such incarceration had on such children. It was expected, consistent with previous literature, that household incarceration would have an impact on academic outcomes. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the relationship between household incarceration and two outcomes: failure to graduate high school and extended school absence. Loper and Nichols (2012) examined three factors: 1. If youth with incarcerated household members experienced more social and economic adversity and worse school outcomes than the rest of the sample. 2. Whether household member†¦show more content†¦Furthermore, this influence is not only related to the parents’ influence, but is extended to other close relationship’s in the child’s household. Other theories that may explain how incarceration has an impact on children are strain, attachment, social control, and stigma. Loper and Nichols hypothesized that household incarceration would have a great impact on academic outcomes of the children in the household. Methods There were several relevant variables used in this study. The control variables used were demographic, socioeconomic, and other adversity variables such as sex, ethnicity, poverty status, mother’s educational attainment, cognitive ability, and home environment quality. The dependent variables in this study were related to academic outcomes such as extended absences and failure to graduate from high school. The independent variables used were parental incarceration, sibling incarceration, and other household member’s incarceration (Loper and Nichols, 2012). The study by Lopers and Nichols was a longitudinal, study design using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Child and Youth survey (NLSY 2010), which included women and their children. According to Lopers and Nichols, â€Å"Out of the sample, 585 met criteria for the household incarceration status, to be compared to 2,753 individuals who did not experience household incarceration† (p. 5). Furth ermore, itShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Parental Incarceration On Children3942 Words   |  16 Pages The Effects of Parental Incarceration on their Children Darlene Oliver May 4, 2016 The University of the District of Columbia Introduction The number of children with incarcerated parents continues to increase, thus the long-term ramifications of parental incarceration has become a topic of interest to many concerned people. In addition to understanding the effects of parental incarceration on children, school officials and penal institutions must be involved

Sound of Night Maxine Kumin free essay sample

Maxine Kumin recalls an experience outside with other people at night time when a whole other world comes out. She describes the many animals that thrive in the night and make noises that can be interpreted as threatening. The author appears scared of the unknown and what could be lurking in it’s dark depths. The title, â€Å"The Sound Of Night†, makes the reader begin to ponder what sounds they associate with night. I associate night with chirps and whistles and creaks and rain drops. Many people may think of night as silent and serene while actually a lot happens during the night. As in the poem, animals such as birds, frogs, bats, fish, and others continue their lives impervious to the setting sun or come out to begin their days in nocturnal happiness. Kumin uses her title to relate to her theme of fearing the unknown that can be hiding where you can’t see. We will write a custom essay sample on Sound of Night Maxine Kumin or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In her poem, Kumin uses the literary device of imagery to create the fearful vivid picture in the mind of the reader. For example, Kumin describes the as â€Å"our firework bright and hot† in a stark contrast against the cold dark night she has described so far. The author also uses imagery while describing waiting for â€Å"the crease of first eye-licking light†, or sunrise. Again, the appearance of light and warmth is such a contrast to the night that the rays would lick the author’s eyes. The author also uses the device of personification to make the night seem more alive than it already is. In having the dark doing the action of coming on, Kumin makes the dark something capable of action or â€Å"verbing†. The active dark is suddenly more frightening than the stable, stagnant one. Again, the dark is personified when Kumin says â€Å"we defend ourselves from dark. † Now that dark needs defending against, the night is even more foreboding and unwelcome to Kumin and her fellow adventurers. Kumin’s poem explores the night that we don’t know. She enlightens us to the kind of animals thrive after the sun goes down, the different noises sounding through the seemingly quiet blanket of dark, and feelings of fear and wariness. In her poem, Kumin reveals about humanity that we all fear the unknown and whatever we think could be lurking where we can’t see.

Teen Depression in Catcher in the Rye free essay sample

An examination of teen depression resulting in alcoholism as illustrated by the character of Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salingers Catcher in the Rye. This paper provides a thorough explanation of the concept of teen depression as well as describes symptoms which could lead to alcoholism. Using the character of Caulfield, the writer looks at the process this youth went to in order to reach the lows of chronic depression and alcoholism. Various scenes in the novel are analyzed to provide a link between the character and this condition. Depression is a serious problem facing many in our society, but especially poignant when dealt with by youths. Depression often leads to other serious disorders such as alcoholism. J.D Salinger in his coming of age novel The Catcher in the Rye accurately portrays the mental chasm many teens fall into as a result of depression. The depression and subsequent alcoholism his protagonist Holden Caulfield experiences are unfortunately not just a work of fiction for many teenagers. We will write a custom essay sample on Teen Depression in Catcher in the Rye or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page