The different forms of religious experience are nothing more than fantasy Essay Example for Free

The different forms of religious experience are nothing more than fantasy Essay Assess the view that the different forms of religious experience are nothing more than fantasy. (45) The term religious experience refers to an experience a person has which has religious qualities and significance. Many people have researched into the idea of religious experiences and it is surprising to find out that a third of people in Britain have said to of experienced some kind of religious experience. These experiences have been researched to discover what impact they have on peoples lives and whether this impact has a positive or negative result. Many scientists research the theory of religious experience to either prove or disprove the existence of God. There are four main forms of religious experience which can be considered when assessing this question that religious experiences are nothing more than fantasy. The first is Mysticism; this refers to an experience where people have had an intimate direct experience with God or some kind of heavenly spirit. William James was a philosopher who approached the idea of religious experiences he wrote a book called the varieties of religious experiences and came up with the idea that there are four main qualities that an experience should have for us to justify calling it mystical. The first is the experience should have a Noetic quality or a divine knowledge after the experience. The next is Transience the experience is only short and lasts only a small while. Passivity which is the lack of control you have when the person is having the religious experience. And the last quality is ineffability which is the fact that the experience is indescribable ands cannot be explained. Julian of Norwich was a famous English mystic who was born about 1342 and at some point during her adult life joined a religious order and became an anchoress living in complete solitude. She lived in a cell which was attached to a church in Norwich, and lived a complete ascetic lifestyle. Julian just before she died became seriously ill and on her deathbed she accounted for 16 visions she had experienced. These experiences are questioned though due to Julians poor health and cannot be used as proof for religious mystical experiences due to this reason. A second mystic is Margery Kemp she was 14th century English mystic who was from Kings Lynn in Norfolk. Margery Kemp became seriously ill after the birth of her first child and suffered from severe guilt from a past sin which had committed during her youth. She was very disturbed going to such lengths as biting through her own veins in her wrist and she also tried to jump out of a window, until one day she looked up to see Jesus and he asked her Daughter, why have you forsaken me when I never forsook thee? From then on Margery seemed to calm and she devoted her life to serving Christ. She had many experiences of Christ and each time Margery was overwhelmed and was seen to be crying. Margery went on many pilgrimages and even at one point was seen being chased by a mob from the shrine of St Thomas Becket after she was crying profusely. From these experiences of which many questions could be asked are very unreliable and couldnt be taken as proof for real religious experiences and meetings with a higher power. The next form of religious experience would be Conversion experiences. These are experiences which change a person and the direction in which there life is going. They transform a persons life and there attitude. A good example of this would be Nicky Cruz and his evangelical conversion experience. Cruz is the author of Run Baby Run which he wrote recalling his life as the leader of a notorious gang the Mau Maus. Cruz was raised by spiritualist parents in Puerto Rico. During his childhood he experienced severe physical and mental abuse. His parents took part in strange and disturbing practises such as when they sacrificed a goat and drank its blood. At a very young age Cruz tried to commit suicide and at 15 he was sent to live with his older brother in New York. This is where he met the gang members and eventually became the leader. Nicky committed many awful crimes and seemed unreachable and unredeemable; this was until he met a street preacher David Wilkerson who told him that Jesus loved him. This is when he experienced a dramatic conversion experience after a Christian meeting. After this he trained as a preacher and set up an outreach programme and teen challenge to help disadvantaged children. And he also managed to convert his parents to Christianity. Another conversion experience which was miraculous was the conversion of John Wesley who saw his conversion as a moment from academic acceptance to personal trust in Christ. At the young age of 6 he was almost killed in a great house fire at his home. From then on he decided to make religion his life and was ordained in 1725. At university he set up a group of people concerned with spiritual matters they nicknamed themselves the Methodists. Wesley became a missionary and travelled to Georgia to try and convert Indian settlers here. On the way back to England he was caught in a strong storm and he feared for his life until he noticed a group of Moravian Christians on board who were remaining calm because they felt so sure of there faith and they knew God would look out for them. And then at a Christian meeting he gained assurance that he was saved on that journey home form America. He stated that his heart felt strangely warmed and had accepted and now trusted Christ this again was an evangelical conversion experience. These are miraculous conversions and could lead to evidence of real religious experiences due to the amazing transformation both these people had, and in both cases the experience had a positive effect on there lives. Visions are also a type of religious experience. One of the most famous visions would be the visions which appeared to three young children. These children lived in Fatima Portugal. Lucia Santos was sent to live as a shepherdess she worked with her cousin Francisco and her 6 year old sister Jacinta. On the same hillside the children saw three visions these were called the three secrets of Fatima. The first vision was a vision of hell which was shown to the children as a great sea of fire with demons and souls in human form. The second secret that was predicted was that Russia would one day return to Christianity. And the last secret was a vision of a man dressed in white falling to the ground apparently dead. This is said to be the attempted assignation of Pope John Paul II. The vision was recalled and Lucia accounted exactly what happened to the pope just before he was shot at. The lady asked the children to do penance and make sacrifices to save sinners. The children wore tight ropes around there waists and deprived themselves of water and food. The lady who had appeared to them also asked them to pray the rosary everyday. The last and most incredible thing about the predictions of the lady was that she predicted the time and date of the death of two of the children. The lady had told them when and the exact hour the children would die and that they would be saved and be with her if they followed her instructions of praying the rosary and giving penance. One thing in which makes these visions different from all the other religious experiences is the fact thousands of people experienced one of the miracles brought by the lady. The children were asked to visit the lady on the 13th October and the news of the visions had become common knowledge therefore the children were followed by great crowds of people who wanted to experience a vision of the lady. At the site where the lady appeared to the children the sun began to dance in the sky and the whole crowd witnessed it. Many visions are recorded in the Bible such as Moses and the burning bush, which recalls the time God spoke to Moses via a burning bush and told him his plans for the Hebrews who had been enslaved in Egypt by the Pharaoh. These visions still have many unreliable qualities it could be said that they are more convincing than the previous religious experiences mentioned. This is because for these visions many of the predictions came true and were also seen by many others. The final form of religious experience is Revelation or divine self disclosure. Revelation can be defined as the communication of some truth by God to a rational creature. Hildegard of Bingen lived in Germany and from the age of eight she claimed that she felt God over shadowing her life. Hildegard recorded the visions she had experienced during her lifetime and she described the fact she felt she had had an insight from God about future events. From these findings of religious experiences, and the many different forms in which they can take, has aided me in answering the question about religious experiences being only fantasy. In many of these cases the individual has been in poor health and has had some kind of traumatic experience in there past. Although some of the explanations and descriptions of the religious experience have been very realistic especially those with more than one witness to them. Many of the experiences have been very miraculous and if they did occur, this could have been blamed on many factors such as ill health or poor diet, or even guilt and their mind was playing tricks on the person.

Hostility and aggression Essay Example for Free

Hostility and aggression Essay This tells the audience automatically that when he feels he has no power against his family he tries to prove himself so that he would get recognised for his qualities of being a man. So therefore he proves his manliness by showing Rodolpho a few passes of boxing, but really show that he is man but Rodolpho isnt. He shows Rodolpho some boxing to make him and everyone understand that if you want to be a man you need to know how to fight. It was also as if Eddie had purposely asked Rodlopho to try a bit of boxing so that Eddie could hit him, but instead make it seem accidental. From this part the tension starts to build up between Eddie Rodolpho and Marco. The final idea Eddie would consider as manliness id for his name to be respected. He is very dominant over his name and doesnt like to be seen as a bad person. I want my name! (Page 82) Eddie is extremely protective over his reputation in his neighbourhood as he would hate for anyone to make him out as a bad person or anything that would destroy his existent in his community. Eddie is a forceful, energetic and obsessive character, but he is also a character who can show warmth and some generosity. It is obvious throughout the play that he has unnatural feelings for his niece Catherine as he lays down the rules for her not to expose herself. Eddie always comments on the clothes she wears as if they were inappropriate for anyone to see but him. where you goin all dressed up? (Page 13) Rodolphos manliness is completely different to Eddies Standard of manliness. Rodolphos manliness doesnt really measure up to Eddies as they both have very different qualities. Eddie has many different things that he considers to be manly, and feels that Rodolpho does not conform to his idea of masculinity because he can cook, sing and make dresses. Rodolpho is a young man who is seemed to be attracted by Catherine. We know this because he explains his wonderful features, in a conversation with Beatrice. hes a good-lookin fella (Page 34) His sense of humour is not missed in this play, we can tell that hes quite funny and is on the good side of a lot of people except Eddie. This is because Rodolpho is man of many talents, such as he can cook, sing and make dresses. When any of these are mentioned around Eddie he makes it sound as if as if Rodolpho isnt a man but a homosexual. Eddie tries to humiliate Rodolpho informant of Catherine to make Rodolpho look bad because he isnt a typical man so Eddie tries to insults him by being sarcastic. Eddie may come across as not liking Rodolpho as a person, but it is obvious that the only reason he doesnt like him is because of his talents, he sneers at Rodolphos Talents as if he is jealous because he and Catherine have taken a shine to each other. He also feels quite envious of Rodolpho because Catherine doesnt care about Rodlphos manliness but only of the things that really matter such as the personality. Rodolpho shows a romantic quality towards Catherine, as soon as he entered the play they had fallen in love with one another. Eddie feels Rodolphos doesnt love Catherine, but is putting on an act to become an American citizen. Katie, hes only bowin to his passport. (Page 41) Catherine thinks this is untrue and believes that he truly loves her, and that hed never do anything like that. Rdodlphos and Catherines love is very powerful and is quite genuine. My heart dies to look at you. (Page 61) Rodlphos character is made known through his caring personality. He is thoughtful, sensitive and is an intelligent person who feels a sense of responsibility for those who he loves. Rodolphos idea of manliness is to provide for Catherine and support her through everything. Hed hate to see her suffering for him. How can I bring you from a rich country to suffer in a poor country? (Page 60) This implies that Rodolpho is worried for Catherines welfare if they lived in Italy. We can tell that he really wants to provide for her but feels he wont be able to because of the lack of jobs that are offered in Italy. So hed rather work hard in America to earn money so that he could support and provide for Catherine. We work hard, well work all day all night___ (Page 29) Rodolpho and his brother will do anything to get some money as they are desperate to provide their family back in Italy. They would rather work all night than do nothing at all for their family. This proves that they are very loyal to their families and when trouble strikes they always find a way through it. Rodolphos and Eddies manliness are very different. Between Eddie and Rodolpho, Rodolphos manliness does not measure up to Eddies standard as he all about being relaxed and calm, whereas Eddie is mainly about being powerful and being able to fight. They are two very different characters which are shown and articulated in loads of different ways, but mainly through their manliness. Marcos character is very powerful and he really shows his masculinity but you can see the clear difference between himself, Eddie and Rodolpho. Marco is a conventional man who thinks traditionally about how to support his wife and kids. Marco is seen as the strongest of the two brothers as he likes to defend his family if any sort of remark is made. For example when Eddie comments about how his wife will be unfaithful during his time away. I mean, you know-they count the kids and theres a couple extra than when they left? (Page 52) Marco responds very quickly and results by saying No-No the women wait, Eddie-most most very few surprises. (Page 52) This suggests that Marco can get aggressive over remarks like this but strides past it as he has a strong sense of responsibility to his family. Marco has a duty to his family whilst hes in America. Hes earning money for them so that they are able to eat as they are quite poor at the moment. Marco knows it was a risk arriving illegally to America but he thought about it and done what he thought was the best for his family. Marco shows he is responsible and always thinks before he acts. Marco doesnt really come across as the main character but more of an antagonist of the play. He hardly shows aggression unless he feels his family are getting exploited. Marco really feels the hurt when Eddie takes advantage of Rodolpho, so hes raged with anger about their boxing match. Marco then challenges Eddie to lifting a chair as some sort of revenge, to show Eddie up. [Marco face to face with Eddie a strained tension gripping his eyes and jaw, his neck stiff, the chair raised like a weapon over Eddies head] (Page 58) Marco challenges Eddie to see is he is a man like he insulted Rodolpho of not being a man. This shows that Marco is very defensive over his brother Rodolpho, it symbolises Marcos impending judgement and punishment, anticipates the way in which Marco, rather that Rodolpho, is to become Eddies main opponent. This proves that they are a very protective family who all look out for each other. Marcos Ideas of manliness is expresses very conventionally. Marco is a family man and came to America to earn money to support them. What can I do? The older one is sick in his chest. My wife-she feeds them from her own mouth. I tell you the truth, If I stay there they will never grow up. They eat the sunshine (Page 29) Marco really wants to support his family and feels America is his only option to do that. Marco has proven that hed do anything for his family. Whatever there is, anything (Page 28) All the men in this play have different ideas of manliness. Eddie is far more protective of Catherine than his own wife, he obviously loves Beatrice but not enough if she feels Eddie gives her less attention than Catherine. When am I going to be a wife again Eddie? (Page 36) She really feels unsettled around her husband and wishes he paid less attention to Catherine and more to her. Rodolpho is supportive; hes come over with his brother to earn money and to be able to buy the things hes always dreamed of. When I am rich, and I will buy a motorcycle. (Page 30) coming to America to earn money shows that it will change Rodolphos life, he will be able to buy anything that hes always dreamed of. Marco is the most traditional man, he really shows that he is powerful and a family man, who will always support them. Marco acts very conventionally towards his family, this could be because he may have been brought up this way, to be respectful and always support the wife. Hostility today is viewed upon as abuse, but in the time the play was written hostility was part of a day to day running of peoples lives. Hostility in the play is shown between Eddie and Rodolpho. When Rodolpho and Marco arrive Eddie feels quite insecure about his status in his household. Eddie tries hard to keep his status of being the man of the house whilst Rodolpho and Marco are around. Eddie is very hostile towards Rodolpho because he thinks he is a homosexual. Marco knows Eddie feels this way about Rodolpho, but doesnt quite understand why hed feel this way about a member of his family. Marco is very unhappy about this and so this then creates the aggression in the play. From the arrival of Rodolpho and Marco, various conflicts between Himself and Eddie have resulted in which Marco demonstrating his masculinity over Eddie. This then makes Eddie feel quite threatened and anxious. Eddie calls Rodolpho Danish rather than by his name to make fun of his appearance. Now, watch out, here I come, Danish! (Page 57) Eddie is mocking Rodolphos appearance because its not a typical mans appearance. Eddie refers to Rodolpho as Danish because he has blue eyes and blonde hair, but in other words a homosexual. This is an example of where Marco feels the anger of Eddie exploiting his Brother. It is also an example of where the hostility is clearly shown between Rodolpho and Eddie, and so this is where aggression is used between Marco and Eddie. Marco then demonstrates later his manliness to make Eddie nervous and regretful of his earlier actions towards Rodolpho. In the play a view from the Bridge the women are treated unfairly, and are constantly mocked by Eddie. The play also shows how Beatrice and Catherine are abused through verbal violence by eddies constant stereotyping. The way Beatrice and Catherine are indentified id through their aggression, they are no the sort of characters who show their aggression a lot but only when the tension starts to build when Rodolpho falls in love with Catherine, which is what Eddie finds hard to deal with. Beatrice is one of the very caring characters of the play, she is always there for everyone and this is one thing that Beatrice gets mocked for by her husband Eddie. He says to her Im just worried about you, thats all Im worried (page 61) this suggests that Eddie has got tight grips on her and that she should stop being caring and nice to people. Beatrice is always in the middle of any arguments and ends up being the mediator, but at the same time shes always trying to please her husband so he treats her the way she wants to be treated. Beatrice is always tied between her Husband and everyone else. This implies that Eddie has a lot of control over her and he has trained her well as being his wife. Eddie feels that he needs to mock Beatrice to feel a sense of power. Catherine is a young lady who is growing up to be a woman. She has met the man of her dreams and wants to marry him, but theres only one thing stopping her, Eddie. Eddie has brought up Catherine like a daughter but has experienced feelings for her that are unnatural which he and Catherine cant quite understand. Eddie has looked after Catherine for so long that he has developed a possessiveness over her. He has become overprotective and is unable to let go of her after all the years he has taken care of her. When Catherine comes home and explains what she thinks is good news to Eddie and Beatrice, Eddie is furious over how she could take a job without his permission. I should take the job at the end of the year (Page 18) she explains how much good it will be for her but he just keeps going on about how young she is and is only still a child. This shows that Eddie is not yet ready to let go of Catherine but if he doesnt she will disown him and then he would probably never see her again. Eddie has shown that he is quite a controlling man and also that he has a caring side to him but it is expressed through his anger by him being very manipulative towards his wife Beatrice and nice Catherine.

War Crimes In Wwii Japan History Essay

War Crimes In Wwii Japan History Essay This paper addresses issues related to war crimes committed by the Japanese during World War Two (1942-45). It begins with a brief history, background information, and continues with an analysis of the Japanese wartime mentality that includes selected events in depth. The subsequent sections of this paper identify and describe what war crimes are, and elaborate on two vital examples during World War II. In doing so, this paper will analyze the issue of war crimes and its impact and denial as a feature within Japanese politics. The militaristic tradition feudalistic structure which concentrated power in the hands of the daimyo establishes the historical precedence that lead to the development of Japanese wartime mentality. At the top of the class structure was the Samurai Warrior Class. The Samurai were about 10% of the population and they commanded respect. The Samurai answered only to their leader the Daimyo which were the landed aristocratic leaders. Samurai as top of the class structure and in many ways sanctioned them to do anything as long as it was for and in service for their masters/warlords The tactical and political demands of the Japanese militarists outdated the strict moral and ethical essentials of the Code of Bushido. Firstly, the term Bushido is a concept that includes a large amount of interpretation. Its vital exposing the misleading context of bushido to show that within this flexible doctrine, any action can be interpreted as just or moral as long as it fulfills the end goal. For a law of a doctrine to be corrupt, and illegal action to ensue, the laws must be clearly defined which the code of bushido was not. Secondly, Bushido emphasized obedience above all over aspects of conduct. It was required as long as it serve the motives of the individual, giving them the freedom unrestrictive action which can be seen in the Japanese conduct in WWII making their behaviour part of a continuous pattern of martial culture. As an ideal construct, Bushido emphasized honesty, filial piety, honor, selflessness, loyalty and unquestioning obedience to ones superiors. In fact, according to the Historian Yuki Tanaka, the brutality committed by Japanese soldiers during WWII was an effect of the subordination and the corruption of the Code of Bushido. The second example would be Nationalism. It was in this environment that the Tokugawa Shogunate was toppled and the emperor re-empowered during the Meiji Restoration of 1868. It was also in this environment, faced with external dangers and internal instability that the Japanese government became more centralized and the importance of nationalism and patriotism was stressed to the people. Loyalty was transferred from the daimyo and the shogun to the emperor-though the emperor largely remained a figurehead and the real machinations of government were being run by an oligarchy of powerful politicians. In order to develop a deep and abiding sense of nationalism it was necessary to stress what was uniquely Japanese. According to Conroy (1955:828), the program was to be national renovation, purification of the national polity, are turn to the traditional Eastern morality. By reviving traditional Japanese ethics the Meiji government could bring the people together under a set of commonly shared values that were unique to the Japanese. This would help create a national consciousness which is a necessary component of nationalism. This moral revival largely focused on stressing traditional Shinto and Confucian ethical precepts. There was another source of ethical values, however, one which centered on the values of loyalty, honor and courage-just the values that the Meiji leaders wanted to instill. This source was Bushido, Jansen points out that the samurai served as ideal ethical types, theoretically committed to service and indifferent to personal danger and gain (2000:101).These were precisely the values that the Meiji leadership wanted to instill in the population. From the abolition of the class structure, this clearly created a tight unification among the inhabitants of Japan and this is what pushed national strength to survive. Looking forward this can be seen as the progression of the us vs. them mind-set that can be found frequently in war. By creating this exaggeration of the virtues of samurai heritage, it intensifies and separates self-image of the Japanese as a virtuous and warrior-like population from everyone else. During World War II, Japanese society was a volatile combination of feudalism and nationalism that concluded in a national acceptance of military rule during the war years. The Japanese armed forces were a highly nationalistic, well established modern fighting force. Their doctrine was the Bushido code of feudal Japan permitted the fighting code of Japans servicemen Stephen van Evera notes that the effects of nationalism depend heavily on the beliefs of nationalist movements, especially their self-images. He also argues that chauvinist mythmaking is a hallmark of nationalism and that self-glorifying myths encourage citizens to contribute to the national community-to pay taxes, join the army, and fight for the nations defense (van Evera, 1994:26-27, 30) Japans movement toward militarism began after the overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the commencement of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, with Meiji oligarchs adoption of fukoku kyohei, meaning rich country, strong military. The Meiji Oligarchs did show signs of restraint towards expressions of militarism and imperialism in the first portion (decades?) of the Meiji period but this did not mean that they did not agree with the goals of foreign and military expansion. They first focused more on modernization and economic growth to catch up with Western industrial powers before they took any steps to expand Japans influence in foreign matters. Japanese militarism and imperialism progressively developed for five principal reasons. The first reason was Japans desire to be a Western-style imperialist power and the second reason was Japans concerns for its security and safety which played an important roles in the growth of militarism up to the end of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. The next two reasons, Japans belief in its leadership role for Asia and Japans frequent provocations by Western powers, gave rise to an expansion of militarism and imperialism from 1905 to the 1930s. The final reason, Japans desire to secure its economic interests, rose in importance as Japan entered the decade of the 1930s. The last example is during the Meiji Restoration (1868) it also resulted in the refashioning of old militaristic goals to include expansionist ambitions overseas; such as Japans desire to be a Western-style imperialist power its concerns for its security and safety, its belief in its leadership role for Asia and its desire to secure its economic interests. National survival became tied to imperialism and expansionist ambitions with increased contact with imperialistic Western countries. The island nation became to a point paranoid with Western countries and its influence; from economically and militaristically catching up, unequal treaties that brought them humiliation, to freeing other Asian countries from Western imperialist power. Militaristic tradition, the development of a fiercely nationalistic culture which helped led to the development of Japans leaders imperialistic ambitions pitted the Japanese us against outsiders. The combination of these three historical developments led to the formation of a Japanese mentality where any kind of military action against outsiders was sanctioned as long as it furthered the larger goal of increasing Japanese strength and ensuring the nations survival. This ethnocentric view was not uncommon among imperialist countries and explains the way Japanese (and in fact, imperialist countries) viewed war crimes. Understanding the Japanese mentality towards the war and their nations role in it helps shed light on how war crimes were perceived by the Japanese. As such, I would define war crime in the Japanese eyes during World War II as follows. A war crime is an act of cruelty against ones own people that is neither to the countrys benefit in any form nor sanctioned by ones superior. By approaching the war crime in this context, it is possible to deduce that the Japanese soldiers did not see the acts of cruelty they committed during the war as crimes for they were all for the larger Japanese imperialistic goals and furthermore, committed against outsiders. Japanese troops entered the capital on 13 December 1937 and for six weeks, conducted a campaign of terror, humiliation and brutality known as the murder and rape of Nanking. Civilians and captured military personnel were subjected to looting, rape, torture, decapitation, mass killings and killing practice exercises. From a population of approximately 600,000-700,000 inhabitants in the city before it fell, it is estimated that at least 300,000 were killed and at least 20,000 were raped. Of all the atrocities committed in the Asian territories occupied by Imperial Japan between 1937-1945, the Nanjing Massacre is perhaps the most well-known. As historian Professor Charles S. Maier (Harvard University) has written: Within both Japan and Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the Nanjing Massacre has assumed the somewhat same salience in public memory as the Holocaust in Europe and Americaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The Japanese armys killing spree at Nanjingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ has become the other emblematic massacre of the Pacific War, and it remains the epitome of the cruelty and aggression that the Japanese military unleashed. The Nanjing rampage seems all the more atrocious in that it involved not what has seemed so horrifying about the Holocaust its bureaucratized planning and mechanized execution but the often gleeful killing of perhaps hundreds of thousands of civilians by individual soldiers using sword and bayonet as well as bullet. The killings were all the more appalling in that they were unnecessary for the military objective, continued after the victory was secured, and apparently involved such joyful or at least indifferent murder. (Bold mine) Brutal killings that seemed to have no meaning after victory was secured killing contests Japanese saw these acts as demonstrations of military prowess which harks back to samurai brutality in the past during the Sengoku era .Japanese did not see outsiders as equals and because of that, not really worthy of compassion or sympathy and treated them as lesser beings. Mentality of Japanese as the superior race with them making light of the lives of outsiders is not unique. This can be seen in Germanys persecution of Jews during WWI or known as the racist dimension of Social Darwinism. The official and extensive enslavement of young women by the imperial government for sexual exploitation stands out as one of the most egregious examples of how women suffer the cruelest blows of war. Historians have estimated that as many as 200,000 civilian women were forcibly conscripted in Japanese-occupied countries between 1931 and 1945 and forced to serve as sexual slaves in Japanese Army brothels. The Imperial Japanese Army assigned these victims the euphemistic term comfort women. The majority of these women were conscripted in China and Korea, but this barbarous practice occurred in every country occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army. Representatives of the Japanese government pressed them into sexual servitude with lies, including promises of education, or simply by snatching them from the streets. Usually taken from their home countries to military brothels elsewhere, they were kept isolated and imprisoned. From China, Korea, SEA and even Japan itself, perhaps the fact that it included even Japanese women makes it even more of a controversial topic to talk about. Also, the 90s saw women coming out to tell of their experiences which kept this crime alive and an important feature of Japanese dealings with the outside world long after the end of WWII. Comfort woman is an example of how different forms of oppression work within a system of war. The oppression faced by the combination of race and gender create a dangerous environment for these women. These two factors worked to dehumanize Japanese women and justify the behaviour of the government. Even the language used to describe this crime is a euphemism. Language is a very powerful tool used by the government to legitimize the rape and enslavement of thousands of women. Taking away their autonomy and reducing Japanese woman to their reproductive organs denies them basic human rights. The system of comfort woman also intersects with another form of oppression class. Comfort woman were woman of the lowest class. Therefore you have a government that is using its most marginalized demographic as a tool during war. Japanese view of women are lesser than men, purpose: to service men thus even enslaved Japanese women as comfort women, needs of the soldiers come before anyone else (harks back to samurai superiority were always the top of the class structure before Meiji period). Although due to its borders the definition of war crime as mentioned above, since it included crimes against their own people as well, comfort women remains an issue that nationalists politicians struggle to reconcile even till today. Notably, this difference in perception over war crimes carries on up till today which leads to the issue of war crimes still being a feature of Japanese politics. The Tokyo War Crimes Trials (1946 1948): Ultimately, victors convicting the losers, outsiders convicting the Japanese. Japanese defendants accused of war crimes were tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, which was established by a charter issued by U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur. The so-called Tokyo Charter closely followed the Nà ¼rnberg Charter. The trials were conducted in English and Japanese and lasted nearly two years. Of the 25 Japanese defendants (all of whom were convicted), 7 were sentenced to hang, 16 were given life imprisonment, and 2 were sentenced to lesser terms. Except for those who died early of natural causes in prison, none of the imprisoned Japanese war criminals served a life sentence. Instead, by 1958 the remaining prisoners had been either pardoned or paroled. Japans refusal to acknowledge its war guilt and war crimes stands in stark contrast to the willingness of Germany to confront its war crimes. However, it is arguable that Japan has only been able to avoid squarely confronting its war guilt and war crimes because of the active connivance of the United States. In 1948, intensification of the Cold War persuaded the American government that Japan should become an American ally and bulwark against the spread of communism in Asia. This was unlikely to happen if investigation and prosecution of Japanese for war crimes continued. This is what many believe what sparked the Japanese government to refuse to acknowledge Japans military aggression. Many Japanese LDP members of parliament, government officials, academics, and revisionist film makers have aligned themselves with militarists and extreme nationalists in claiming that Japans intervention in China in 1931, 1933, and 1937 was necessary to liberate the Chinese from exploitation by Western colonial interests. Even if political figures do apologize to their neighbours they receive backlash and negative reactions in Japan. When Japans first Socialist Prime Minister, Tomiichi Murayama, was touring South-East Asia in 1995, he apologised for the tremendous damage and suffering caused by Japans colonial rule and aggressionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ in the not too distant past. Murayamas apology did not mention atrocities such as the Nanjing Massacre, and was the closest Japan has ever come to an admission of war guilt and apology for its war crimes. The apology by Murayama was viewed as inadequate in China but caused widespread fury in Japan. Another large issue over the years would be the textbook controversies. In 1962, an officially sponsored seven-volume history of the Pacific War was published. This sanitised history, called Japans Way into the Pacific War, ignored Japans military aggression across East Asia and the western Pacific and the countless atrocities committed by Japans military. From then, textbooks have been censored from statistical data such as the fatality rates, creating false historical information or even downplaying of words and content. Impact on foreign relations even to this day tensions between Japan and its Asian neighbours escalated from time to time. On Wednesday, the 67th anniversary of the end of World War Two, as South Korea and China both told Tokyo to do much more to resolve lingering bitterness over its past military aggression .Despite close economic ties in one of the worlds wealthiest regions, memories of Japans wartime occupation of much of China and colonisation of South Korea run deep in the two countries. Throughout wars there have always been casualties from both sides. The death tolls which include the estimates of all deaths that are either directly or indirectly cause by war, within World War II are the highest. The two most infamous executions by the Japanese military are the Nanjing massacre and the development of comfort women. Through western influence and the Meiji Restoration is what progressed into Japanese nationalism and expansionism. To this day Japans neighbors are bitter towards their history which can be seen through the attitudes of the older generation in Asia, the text book controversies and the constant refusal to accept their war crimes.

Alice Walkers Everyday Use Essays -- Alice Walker Every Day Use Essay

Alice Walker's "Everyday Use"   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the story "Everyday Use" the narrator is telling a story about her life and two daughters, who are named Dee and Maggie. The narrator is very strong willed, honest, compassionate and very concerned with the lives of her two daughters. Her daughter Dee is not content with her lifestyle and makes it hard on Maggie and the narrator. The narrator is trying to provide for her family the best way she can. The narrator is alone in raising the two daughters and later sends her daughter Dee to college. The longer the story goes on the more the narrator shows how intelligent and how much she loves her two daughters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mama who is the narrator is a woman who can do any chore that a man can, because of the way she is described. "In real life I am a lar...

Macbeth - Images and Imagery :: Macbeth essays

MacbethL Imagery One of the most important tools in literature is imagery. It is not just in there to fill up paper; rather, there is at least one dramatic purpose for each image and there are many different types of imagery. This essay seeks to prove that in the play Macbeth the author William Shakespeare uses darkness imagery for three dramatic purposes. Those three purposes are, to create atmosphere, to arouse the emotions of the audience and to contribute to the major theme of the play. The darkness imagery in Macbeth contributes to its ominous atmosphere. In the very beginning of the play the three witches are talking and the first witch says "When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?" (Macbeth 1. 1. line 1). This is a good example of darkness imagery because when you think of the crashing thunder, lightning and rain, they all remind you of evil and ominous things. Later on the Sergeant is talking with Duncan and Malcolm when he states "Ship wrecking storms and direful thunders break" (1. 2. l26). Again this darkness imagery contributes to the ominous atmosphere of the play, having reference to thunder and dark storms. Finally, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are talking in the scene just before the murder of Banquo and Macbeth says "Light thickens, and the crow makes wing to the rooky wood: Good things of day begin to droop and drowse, whiles night's black agents to their preys do rouse" (3. 2. l50-53). This example of darkness imagery is saying that the day is turning into night, all the good things are going to sleep, and the evil creatures are coming out . The evil in this previous quotation and the two before adds to the ominous atmosphere. Since the imagery creates an ominous atmosphere it would then lead to the second dramatic purpose, to arouse the emotions of the audience. Darkness imagery is a very good tool for arousing the emotions of the audience. It enables people to create a mental picture of the what they are reading. For instance, in this instance of darkness imagery Duncan and Macbeth were talking when Macbeth says aside "Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires" (1. 4. l50-51). When words like dark and desire are put in that context it creates many horrible mental pictures about murders and fights which arouses peoples emotions. Ross is later talking with an old man when he states "By the clock `tis day, and yet dark night strangles the traveling lamp" (2.

Sammy the Social Climber in John Updikes A&P :: A&P Essays

Sammy the Social Climber in A & P Men will go to extreme measures to impress women. This is the case in the story "A & P" written by John Updike. Sammy, who is a cashier at a supermarket, displays a classic example of a man trying to impress a woman. His rash decision to quit his job was a bad decision and will definitely have an adverse effect on him in the future. Sammy seems doomed from the very first sentence when he says, "In walks three girls in nothing but bathing suits" (Updike 1026). He notices every little detail about the girls from the color of their bathing suits to their tan lines. At this time he is checking out "one of these cash-register-watchers," and he is yelled at for ringing up her item twice (Updike 1026). This distraction from his job shows his interest in the girls, especially the one he calls "Queenie." To Sammy’s delight, Queenie and her two friends pick his register to purchase the "Fancy Herring Snacks in Pure Sour Cream" (Updike 1027). When she puts the snacks down on the counter, Sammy notices that her hands are free. While he is wondering where the money is going to come from, she proceeds to pull the dollar bills "out of the hollow at the center of her nubbled pink top" (Updike 1027). This gesture puts Sammy in total awe of the girl, and this is the turning point, this is when he makes his decision that he should try to impress her. His big chance comes when the store manager, Lengel, makes a visit to Sammy’s line. "Girls, this isn’t the beach," is the first thing Lengel says to the girls when he sees them (Updike 1028). Queenie explains that her mother sent her to pick up some herring snacks, implying that since her mother sent her it is perfectly fine for her to be in the store with only a bathing suit on. While Lengel and Queenie are arguing, Sammy visualizes himself at Queenie’s house during a party. In his imagination he sees, "her father and the other men were standing around in ice-cream coats and bow ties and the women were in sandals picking up herring snacks on toothpicks off a big glass plate and they were all holding drinks the color of water with olives and sprigs of mint in them" (Updike 1028).

Baroque Era: Questions

Baroque Dates: 1600-17501. What does musical style mean? An expressive style of music 2. What was going historically during this era? What was life like? 3. Was did the term Baroque originally mean? An insult to describe a misshapen or oddly colored pearl 4. Why did early baroque composers favor homophony? 5. What texture did late baroque composers prefer? Polyphonic 6. The musical style of the Baroque era began in what country and then spread Throughout Europe? Italy 7. Church modes gradually gave way to what?Major/ minor scale/tonal system 8. Did instrumental music become Just as important as vocal music? 9. What are some harmonistic traits of baroque rhythms? Regular meter and bar lines are finally present: rhythmic patterns repeated throughout a piece. 10. What are some characteristic traits of baroque melodies? Elaborate and ornamental; not symmetrical (phrases not of equal length); melodic patterns. 11 . What are the dynamics like in Baroque music? 12. Were chords becoming more important? No 13. What voices or parts become more important?Bass- because of the choral structure (root of the chord in the bass), soprano?because of the melody lines. 14 . What is the basso continuo? What instruments play it? The bass line/part of the sic in addition to the group of instruments playing the part. Keyboard and a cello, bassoon, etc. 15. What was a baroque orchestra like? 16. What family of instruments were the most important? Strings 17. What is a movement? Did baroque compositions often consist of multiple movements? A movement is an independent section of a larger work, like a chapter of a book.It is often related in some way (by key structure or melodic or rhythmic motif) to the larger work as a whole. Baroque music was often segmented into movements, slow- fast-slow (French Overture) or fast-slow-fast (The confusion, or Italian overture), and not dance movements, as in Handel's Water Music or Bach's lute suites 18. What is the primary or most important way that the movements might contrast one another? Tempo 19. What is opera? What does it include? Where was it invented? Dramatic vocal form blending visual, literary, and musical arts, in which all dialogue is sung.Costumes, sets, props, and it's staged. Florence, Italy. 20. What is the libretto? The words to the opera 21 . What is an aria? More lyrical, song like portion of an opera. Not speech like, for a solo voice 22. What is a recitative? Rapid words advancing story quickly and clearly Eng, it imitates the natural rhythms of speech. Progresses the story. Only accompanied by the basso continuo. 23. What is a dad capo aria? Ternary (ABA) form. The text for both A sections is exactly the same. Singers typically ornamented or embellished the 2nd A Section 24.What is the ground bass aria? Has a repeated pattern in the bass 25. What is the first significant opera? L'Oreal 26. What is an oratorio? Like an opera but not staged; based on biblical stories 27. What is a passion? Type of oratorio based on the life, death, and resurrection of Christ 28. What is a chorale? A Lutheran hymn tune associated with German Protestantism 29. What is a church cantata? A very short onstage opera written for instruments and one or two voices in a single scene or situation 30. What is a sonata? Instrumental work with 4 contrasting movements.What are the different types? Solo, trio, sonata De camera, sonata De cheese 31 . What is a fugue? A carefully worked out polyphonic piece of music using a theme, subject or motive that occurs in all voices 32. What is a prelude? A rambling, improvisatory sounding piece that is often paired with and played before a fugue 33. What is a suite? Often called a Baroque or dance suite) A collection of dances. Written only for instruments. All dances were in the same key center to unify the dances. 34. What is a confusion? An Italian word for symphony. 35.What is the concerto gross? Small group and large group orchestra A solo concerto? Solo instruments and orchestra. How many movements does it have? 36. What is the arteriole form and how does it work? The first and last movements of concerti gross arena in the formed which is based on alternation between tutu and solo sections. Composers: Please include the following for each (l need to be able to ell that you read about them and did not Just Google them or use Wakefield, etc. And copied and pasted-read your textbook please) a. Dates b. Nationality c.Importance/major contribution d. Types of compositions e. Extra little tidbit 37. Claudio Monteverdi-Laotian composer of the first great opera, named Roofer 38. Henry Purcell- 1685-1750 English an early baroque composer; one of his famous works was dido and nanas. Born in 1659 39. Archangel Cornell-1 563-1713 Developed violin technique in addition to composing from his home country of Italy. Genres: sonata, concerto gross. Trio Sonata in C major, La Folia 40. Antonio Vivaldi- nicknamed the red priest an Italian composer practically invent ed the retooling form.Composer of the four seasons 41. Johann Sebastian Bach- 1685-1750 German composer who improvised on the pipe organ and was especially known for his fugues. He wrote in every Baroque style except opera. 42. G. F. Handel- 1685-1759 German composer who became an English citizen and wrote the messiah. Became the Experimenter for George, the elector of Hanover in Germany. Genres: Over 20 oratorios, opera serial, Orchestral suites, solo keyboard works, trio sonatas. Music for the Royal firework's, the water music.