The Timeless Power of Les Miserables Essay example -- Les Misérables M

The Timeless Power of Les Miserables      Ã‚  Ã‚   The book Les Miserables, written by Victor Hugo in 1862, created a sensation throughout the world (Royston and Schlesinger 2). That impression continued through theatrical productions and most recently the musical, but the book contains greater detail and adds a deeper understanding of Hugo's epic story than the movie or musical portray. Regretfully, few people in World society take the time to relish this masterpiece. Living in a fast paced world, many people today consider reading a time-consuming, senseless activity, and those who still read most likely choose a shorter novel rather than the 1500 page story of Les Miserables. However, the author states, "I don't know if it will be read by everyone, but it is meant for everyone" (Royston and Schlesinger 2). This statement applies to this time period as well. The sincere characters, intriguing sub-plots, and moral theme of Les Miserables relate to people today even 130 years after its publication.    Popular characteristics that today's reader admires coincides with the characteristics of the characters in Les Miserables. Readers look for a hero that they relate with, so the hero who possesses admirable qualities as well as demeaning faults appeals to most people. The heroes of Les Miserables, Jean Valjean and Marius, both portray average men with flaws in their character. Jean Valjean, the main character, steals from a bishop who treated Valjean decently when other people only saw him as a convict. This single act makes Valjean appear ruthless, but later in the novel, his eagerness to help people and his willingness to accept punishment makes Valjean's error seem trivial. Valjean's mistake secures his r... ... and moral theme. Written over 130 years ago, it remains influential even today. Although the book requires an immense amount of time to read, the outcome proves beneficial and invigorating to anyone who chooses to embark on the adventure of Jean Valjean's life in Les Miserables.    Works Cited Hillis, Newell Dwight. Great Books as Life-teachers: Studies of Character, Real and Ideal. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1899. Grossman, Kathryn M. Les Miserables: Conversion, Revolution, Redemption. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1996. Lee, Rob. The Barricade on the Rue de la Chanvrerie: Les Miserables - The Novel. Internet. 1997. Available: www.users.cloud9.net/~rlee/lesmis/welcome.htm. Royston, Peter and Sarah Schlesinger. About the Novel Les Miserables. Internet. 1997. Available: www.lesmis.com/inspiration/author/aboutnovel.html.   

Via Negativa: A Way of Talking to God

Vla Negatlva Is a way of talking about God In only negative terms. For example, God Is not mortal; or God is not human. Both of these tell what God is not, instead of what he is. This is because our knowledge of God is limited by our finite human understanding, therefore. as God is out of this Universe, we find it extremely hard to talk about him. Saint Augustine said â€Å"If you comprehend, it is not God. If you are able to comprehend, It is because you mistake something else for God. Vla Negatlva allows us to compare God to things within our Universe that we understand, allowing s a sense of recognition with God, however not allowing us to reach a full understanding. This simple recognition Is meaningful enough for many, Including the like of Maimonides and Pseudo-Dionysius. Other philosophers believe that this negative way of speaking about God, is not the only meaningful way to talk of him. These will be discussed further within the essay. Moses Maimonides said that Via Negativ a was the only true way to speak of God.God is transcendent, so it is impossible to say what God is, we don't know. He herefore decided the only way we could speak of him, Is to talk In negatives. He gave the example of ‘God is not a human being. This Is because he Is transcendent, so cannot have a body. ‘ Maimonides believes that by giving positive ideas to God, we are lowering God to our human level of understanding. Words like ‘good' or ‘loving', which are often used to describe God, are simply are interpretations of those words, God is transcendent so in no way is he confined to this basic understanding. sing Via Positiva is Improper and disrespectful. However, Maimonides agrees that one positive tatement can be made about God, and this is that he exists, this is because the whole principle of Vla Negativa is based on the Idea that God exists. Pseudo- Dionysius follows the same belief as Maimonides, also stating that God is beyond assertion and beyond den ial, meaning that whatever you say about God, even if negative, doesnt ultimately tell us what God Is, It simply provides us with spiritual understanding of Him.This way of negatively speaking still allows us to recognise God as ‘good'. Even If we say ‘God Is not good,' this can made that God Is more than ust good, he may be wholly perfect So this account of speaking still allows for God being transcendent. It also accepts the fact that the finite cannot get a true grasp of the infinite. However, there are a few Issues with this view. This theory simple assumes that there is a God to talk about when there is no proof of this; some believe that the fact we cannot describe God, suggests there Is not anything to be descrlblng.If we were to only ever talk about objects in a negative manner, we would never grasp truly what an object was, only what it was not. Finally, many religious people believe that it is important to view God as positive and good, so Via Negativa removes this idea for the religious followers. Other philosophers take the complete opposite view of religious language, saying there is absolutely no meaningful way to talk about God. This view was taken by the Vienna Circle who believed that only analytic propositions and synthetic propositions 1 OF3 are meanlngTul. Analytic Decause tne Knowledge comes tnrougn logical reasoning, eg. he man was dead, so was not alive; synthetic principles because they can b proven o be true or false, so there meaningfulness can easily be shown, eg. The water is 27 degrees. The Vienna Circle followed the Verification Principle; this suggested that only empirically verifiable statements are meaningful, one that can be verified by sense experience. Meaningful language involves discussing things that exist only in reality. Therefore God does not fit into this category since he exists outside of our reality. Simply put, the Vienna Circle believe that there is no meaningful way to discuss talk.However, the princ iple allows historical facts to be meaningful, as they ould be verified at the time. Therefore, could not some of God's existence be verified? For example, ‘Jesus was raised from the dead,' is a historical fact and was verified by many at the time. There is room for God to exist within the principle, so their idea was weak. There are also issues with the fact that the principle itself is not verifiable, so therefore is a bunch of meaningless opinions. Hereby the Vienna Circle and their ideas are often overlooked. Paul Tillich is a philosopher of symbolism.He believes that symbols open up ealms of understanding that we often cannot access. A symbols stands for something other than whatever is represented, he gives the example of the American Flag; not only does it represent America, but it shows the unity and the strength of the nation. These secondary meanings are often things that we would struggle to explain, but a symbols makes it easy for us to recognise them and then disp lay them to others. Another example is a simple love heart; that heart can mean a lot of things too many different people, Justice, peace, love, safety†¦ Symbols allow personal nderstanding.Tillich therefore believes that symbols can be used to talk about God in a meaningful way. He suggests that religion and God are things of Ultimate Concern, things that we should strive to understand. God is a representation of many things like Justice, love and infinity. We struggle to understand these things normally, but religion symbolises these things and allows us to understand. Therefore, religious faith is a way of accepting these symbols, providing a great deal of meaning to God. Tillich then suggests that God can be spoken about in a meaningful way, by sing symbols to explain many of his known features.However, people find issues with this idea, mainly that religion is symbolising other things and isn't really in existence. It appears to lower God's power by simply saying that he i s used as an object of representation, rather than of his own great importance. Many religious people dislike this view, saying that God is the ultimate power and should not be lowered to such standards. There are many other theories on how to speak of God and whether it is meaningful or not; Aquinas' view on analogy, Hare's blik†¦ but I find Tillich's view on eligious language to be the best.

Defending Barbie

When I was young, one of the most favorite songs I usually listened to is â€Å"Barbie Girl†. The song started with funny melodies about a blonde single girl named Barbie. She lived in her dream house with swimming pool, convertible and lovely things. She also had a boyfriend named Ken. She was not a girl coming from this song but a doll who was created in 1959 by Mattel. Until now she is over 50 years-old but her beauty and her lifestyle are always the dream of children. She does not look like the fashionable trends which will be old-fashionable after a short period. Her influences to children never decline. Barbie is not only a plastic doll that cannot talk and interact but also a friend who plays an inspiring role in their life. In my experience with playing and owning Barbie's, Barbie has had nothing but the fun and positive impacts on my life. First of all, the most positive impact of Barbie is the meaningful messages which she brings to us through her story. Barbie is famous with her dream house, convertible, beautiful outfits, luxurious jewelries and expensive shoes. She owns the luxurious things which she acquires them all by herself from being a career woman. She is a symbol of a successful woman by working in a wide range of jobs such as a dentist, a teacher, a police, a chef, a baby-sitter, a fire-fighter, an artist and so on. For this reason, she can earn a lot of money by her own capacity and buy everything she likes. Not just that, Barbie is also a fashionmonger. She always appears in the most beautiful outfits with different styles and she will be the person who updates the newest fashionable trends of famous brands. She has a boyfriend but she does not dependent on his bank account. She is depicted as an independent girl who does not rely on a man to take care or support for her. By her own way, Barbie becomes an ideal model of women, a public idol who many children want to become. They all want a Barbie to play with and to be like her because of her meaningful message that Barbie can be anything she wants and so do they. Besides that, there are countless valuable messages she brings to children such as being feminine, living independent from man, doing anything you want, working any kind of jobs which you like, achieving your dreams by putting your heart and mind into it, being fashionable†¦ hrough her special and unique lifestyle. Secondly, Barbie helps children develop their creation. Owning a Barbie doll is not a simple work. When we buy a Barbie, she just looks like the other Barbie dolls with same faces, same body shapes, same outfits or even same colors of hair. However children have their freedom to make her become different. Whether she will become a unique doll depends on children's hands and minds. If they want Barbie to be different, they have to figure out and act. It is the way Barbie motivates children's minds in imaginative acts. Holding Barbie in their hand, they can start to change the appearance of Barbie by typing her hair up with rubber brands, make braids or change Barbie hair lengths by cutting shorter too. Besides that, they can also try to replace the set of her outfits by the other one. It is not compulsory that Barbie has to wear this T-shirt with his trouser. Children can combine the t-shirt with a long skirt and create a new style. Moreover they can modify the length of her dresses as they might like or they can even try to sew a new dress or a T-shirt for her. The ideas to imagine the context which Barbie belongs to is not a bad ideas. For example, Barbie who wears a gorgeous dress may attend in a prom party. Not just that, due to her flexible body children can modify the position of her arms, bend her legs or sink her head like she is greeting someone for their ideas. Barbie makeovers are not only fun, but also creative. It step by step helps children show their own style. Barbie successfully shows her power in promoting the children's imagination and creation. Moreover Barbie is a friend who inspires children to show their own identity. Playing with their Barbie, children have a chance to show their dream, their lifestyle and their personalities. The children would like to spend many hours to take part in a role play that Barbie is the main character. The context is one of the necessary elements in their imaginative play. Nothing is scripted in their imagination; it includes children's pretended role play. In their play, Barbie will be a reflective image of children. For example, if the child considers Barbie as a teacher, she may create a play that Barbie goes to the school and works at 7 a. m. At 5 p. m, she comes back her home and plays with her children. Then there are some conservation between Barbie and her children†¦ In this case, perhaps the child has a dream to be a good teacher in future. She also thinks about her future as a kind mother with a lot of children around her. Besides that, the child shows her time for Barbie going to work and coming back home means that she is very good at managing her time. However the role of Barbie in these plays is not fixed. Children usually change Barbie's careers and extend the plots as well as the conservation to illustrate their family life, imagine adolescent life and glamorous events. Barbie will be the copy of children which helps them show their dreams, their personalities and their real life. Since I was 12 years old, Barbie was always appeared in my wish lists. That was the time when I came to my friend's house and saw her doll. Her Barbie's beauty going along with her beautiful outfits and accessorizes makes me fall in love with her. However it was not easy to own a Barbie doll due to its price and its market distribution. I remember at that time it is very difficult to find the original Barbie in Vietnam. The only way to own a Barbie doll at that time was you had to buy in America and send back. My dream only came true when my uncle came back to Vietnam in 2009. He brought a Barbie doll as a gift for me. Although it was not a right time for me to play Barbie due to my busy schedule and my age, I still felt very happy when owning such a beautiful doll. Every weekend, I have to go to Ho Chi Minh City and I take a bus to come back my hometown. When I leave, my younger sister usually stays at home alone. As the result, Barbie became my younger sister's friend whom she could spend for hours to play with. One day when I came home from Ho Chi Minh City, my sister asked me to design some clothes for Barbie. I accepted her request because I thought this was a good chance to me for practicing my sewing skills. We came to some tailor shops asking for scarps of fabric together. Then we tried to sew the simplest outfit for Barbie without taking her measurements or sketching out her outfit including a strapless shirt and a mini skirt. Although they were not really excellent, it was an unexpected success and it made us feel really satisfied for our efforts. By sewing the outfit for Barbie, we together stimulate our creation. Not just that, she also enjoyed changing Barbie's appearance for example the hair. Thanks to the long and straight hair, my sister created many different hairstyles as far as she could imagine. Sometimes Barbie becomes a charming girl with the small lovely braids, another time she turned into an active girl with the basic horse-tail style. Besides that as far as I know, she also had a schedule for taking care of Barbie. She usually changed Barbie's hair and her outfits every day and cleaned the dirt in Barbie every weekend. Taking care of Barbie shows how thoughtful and careful she was. Barbie somehow helps me realize my sister's identity. Sometimes when I came home and saw my younger sister was talking to Barbie. She often played a role as a teacher and Barbie was her student. She had her own classroom map which included the position of her friends and Barbie in class. She taught Barbie the subjects she studied such as Math, Literature or Music. Thanks to the plays she performed together with Barbie; I realize many potential capabilities of my younger sister as well as her identity and her thoughts. While many people today only pay attention to Barbie's unreal body shape and argue about her negative influences she may bring to children due to her story and her lifestyles, they seem to forget her positive impacts. In my opinion, instead of complaining about Barbie and her body measurements, we should reinforce the facts that Barbie helps life of children become more beautiful and lively. By the time when children grow up, Barbie will help them figure out their career, their characteristics and their lifestyle. She is not a plastic doll who was named Barbie but a bridge and an instructor guiding children to their future. What a wonderfully full and imaginative world we enjoy with Barbie!

The Reasons Why the World’s Languages Are Disappearing

The reasons why the world’s languages are disappearing Language is everything; because language is a part of culture which is inseparable with human’s life. People speak by their language regardless of what language they use. There are more than 60. 000 languages which do exist in the world; but unfortunately nowadays every fortnight, a language dies; more than half of the world’s languages are in danger; and by the end of this century it is going to disappear completely. The pace of the languages extinctions are faster than the extinction of flora and fauna. The proof is in the last 5 centuries, an estimated half of the world’s languages have become extinct; but now language does not even need much longer period to become extinct; a century and it will be done. The primary reason as to why the world’s languages are disappearing is it has no longer speakers. Research proved that for the minor language, only a few people speak. Ironically, what research means by minor is the local languages; in fact there are much more languages that is considered as minor or local rather than the major. It means that there are lots of languages which potentially extinct. Next, the second reason is the languages are considered old-fashioned. Moreover, some societies are surrounded by people who speak more common language. Therefore, those societies decide to leave their mother tongue because it is some kind of disgrace of still speaking it in the middle of the society who speak more modern languages. The third one, it is because of natural disaster. It just disappeared instantly. People died and also the language. Therefore there is nobody who can spread the language; because they themselves as the native speakers died. Reason number four is because of the complexity. People hate learning a difficult language; lots of minor and local languages have a high complexity as of finally people do not want to learn it and by doing so, they do not speak it. Finally, there are 4 reasons why lots languages died out. All of them are the basic reasons; but not only human who has contributed to the disappearing but also the nature. Therefore to stop the disappearing, there must be something that we are suppose to do; such as try to learn the local language, learn to be proud of it and learn to keep it all the time.

Personal Life and William Hazlitt

Many people say will say that â€Å"money cannot buy happiness. † Nineteenth-century author, William Hazlitt, wrote â€Å"On The Want of Money† to put forward his belief that a life without money is a life full of misery. Hazlitt uses negative diction, parallelism, and specific syntax to show that a person could not lead a happy life without money. In his writing, Hazlitt uses negative diction to discuss the importance of money in one’s life.. Hazlitt uses words like â€Å"crabbed† â€Å"morose† and â€Å"querulous† to show the discontent one would feel without money.With his gloomy word choice, Hazlitt establishes a negative tone and gives his audience a clear idea of what a miserable life one would have without money. Doing this, he suggests the idea that the poor have no control of their lives because they don’t have the money to change the way their miserable lives. Equally important, Hazlitt uses parallelism to stress the importan ce of money in a happy life and show the dreadful instances a person in poverty can go through.He states that living without money, â€Å"it is to live out of the world, or to be despised if you come into it†¦it is to be scrutinized by strangers, and neglected by friends†¦Ã¢â‚¬  By doing this, Hazlitt explains how a person without money cannot possibly be happy, because he or she will be disliked by everyone around them. The dark mood set by all of the examples Hazlitt gives portrays what Hazlitt thinks a life without money would be: difficult, lonely and overall unhappyFurthermore, Hazlitt uses specific syntax to prove his point that one without money cannot possibly be happy. He uses one long sentence that stretches from lines 2 to 47 to put an emphasis on the fact that people without money lead a life filled with misery. Hazlitt’s use of the lengthy sentence represent all of the never-ending obstacles one without money faces. Hazlitt’s purpose in doing t his is to accent his idea that a person without money does not lead a happy life.By using one long sentence instead of many shorter ones, Hazlitt makes the reader feel hopeless and as if they were drowning in their distress Overall, Hazlitt uses negative diction, parallelism and syntax to show his belief that money is what gives you happiness in life. By stating so many examples and employing his strategies, Hazlitt makes reader feel deprived of their hope of being happy in this world without money, which is exactly what the author’s purpose was. To be without money is to be â€Å"†¦dissatisfied with every one, but most so with yourself.. †

GDP Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

GDP Paper - Essay Example These countries are not democratic, do not uphold gender equality and have been repeatedly cited by Amnesty International for human rights abuses (Amnesty International, 2006). In direct comparison, the United States, Great Britain and France, to name but a handful, are all democratic nations which uphold gender equality. While they have been cited for human rights abuse, they have been at a significantly much lower rate than the previously mentioned nations (Amnesty International, 2006). Yet, in accordance with GDP per capita statistical measures, these countries rank as the seventh, the twenty-first and the twenty-fifth on the global GDP scale (IMF, 2008). This is a clear indication of the extent to which GDP contributes to inaccurate readings of national development status and, indeed, fails to provide an accurate reading of the living standards and quality of life enjoyed, or suffered, by populations. As the weakness of GDP ultimately lies in that which it does not measure, it ne eds to be supplemented with poverty index, human development index and gender development index measures. GDP is a weak statistical indicator of national development ... As may be deduced from the foregoing, therefore, it does not discriminate between the rich and the poor, thereby indicating poverty levels and, does not calculate literacy and gender equality levels, to name but a few critical indicators. Added to that, and as Chant (2008) explains, in its calculation of the total amounts spent on healthcare in a given country within a specified time frame, it interprets higher expenditure levels as a positive indicator of well being rather than as an indicator of possibly worsening health conditions. The implication here is, therefore, that not only does it exclude critical indicators from its measurement of national developmental and economic status but, that the GDP and the GDP per capita measures are inherently incapable of providing an accurate indicator of economic and developmental status because the measure is non-discriminatory and tends towards generalizations. Even though GDP and GDP per capita fail to provide an accurate picture of a country's economic and developmental status and most certainly do not reflect the standards of living enjoyed by populations in question, the measurement has its uses. It may not accurately calculate standards of living and economic well-being but it is an indicator of the size of an economy (Ezcurra, 2007). Through the calculation of the monetary value of the goods and services which are produced within the economy and the financial exchanges which occur therein, the measure quite accurately conveys the size of the economy and by calculating the said size in relation to per capita income, it functions as an indicator of whether or not the economy has the capacity to sustain and maintain its population or not (Ezcurra, 2007).

Market structure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Market structure - Essay Example According to Baumol and Blinder (2011 p. 200), such a market must satisfy four conditions. First, the market has many small firms and customers such that no participants are large enough to have market power to affect the price of a product. If one producer reduces the price, there would be no effect on the market since the producer is negligible compared to the whole market. This condition rules out the possibilities for collusion or trade associations; each firm acts independently (Tucker, 2010). Secondly, all the suppliers sell a homogeneous product; there are no close substitutes (McEachern, 2011). As such, the consumers buy products from any seller since the products are the same thus competition is very powerful. The demand curve is perfectly elastic hence if a seller increases the price of the product, customers shift to buy competitors products. The firms have no choice but to meet and not exceed the price charged by others hence are â€Å"price takers† (Baumol & Blind er, 2011 p. 201). Thirdly, there are no barriers to entry or exit in the market. Barriers to entry may be in form of legal, technical or cost advantage but in a perfectly competitive market, any seller willing to enter the industry can do so to take advantage of economic profits and provide an identical product (p. 200). The new entrant is at the same level with the old firms; there are no advantages for existing firms so the new firm can compete effectively. Lastly, the infinite buyers and sellers have perfect information regarding the price and quality of products in the market. As a result, there is no need for advertising as it would have no effect; the customers know where to buy their products and besides, all products are identical and the price is determined by the market. According to Landsburg (2011), in a perfectly competitive market there are no transaction costs and perfect factor mobility. This enables the market to adjust accordingly in case of changing market conditi ons. Q2: Price and Output Decisions of a Perfectly Competitive Market As noted above, there are infinite buyers and sellers in the market such that none has an effect on price. The price in such a market is determined by forces of supply and demand hence the sellers are â€Å"price takers†. Sexton (2012) argues that since the market price is given, the only decision that firms have to make is determining the level of output that would maximize profit. The question firms should ask themselves as asserted by McEachern (2011 p. 176) is â€Å"how much should I produce?† He notes that firms aim at producing a quantity at which total revenue is higher than total cost by the greatest amount. The profit maximizing output in a perfectly competitive market occurs where marginal revenue (MR) is equal to marginal cost (MC); MR=MC therefore the firms are seen to allocate resources efficiently. A perfectly competitive firm has a horizontal demand curve thus it can sell as much quant ity as it wants at the given market price. Whether the firm increases its output or not, the price remains the same as there are many sellers. It also does not have to reduce the price so as to attract demand as it would lead to loss of revenue for the firm (Baumol & Blinder, 2011). Since total revenue is the output multiplied by the price, the average revenue is the same as price. The firm is also a price taker hence the marginal revenue is equal to