Oedipus and Tiresias :: Essays Papers

Oedipus and Tiresias Oedipus and Tiresias, characters of Sophocles' play "Oedipus Tyrannus," are propelled to their individual destinies by their peculiar relationships with truth. Paranoid and quick to anger Oedipus, is markedly different from the confident and self-assured Tiresias. In the dialogue between the two men, Oedipus rapidly progresses from praise of Tiresias as a champion and protector of Thebes in line 304, to blatantly accusing the blind prophet of betraying the city in line 331, to angrily insulting him in line 334. Rather than be intimidated by the protagonist's title and temperament, Tiresias draws strength from what he knows is true and is able to stand his ground. In this play, power and strength come from the knowledge of truth. Ironically, blind Tiresias, who has the ability to see the truth, becomes enslaved to his own knowledge. Knowing the truth about Oedipus enlists him in the designs of fate as the catalyst of Oedipus' destructive revelation. The prophet takes strength in knowing what he knows is true but, as he says in line 316, he is not able to profit from the knowledge. Forced into dispute with the king of Thebes, by playing off of the anxieties of the main character, the simple power of knowing what another does not know protects Tiresias. Gradually Tiresias' and Oedipus' relationships with the truth are revealed as that of knowledge and ignorance, respectively. The anxieties that plague Oedipus, making him weak and prone to paranoia, are rooted in the obscurity of his origins. In response to accusations made by Oedipus, Tiresias declares that he is neither a conspirator in a scheme concocted by Oedipus' paranoid mind, nor his supplicant. Rather, Tiresias states that he is a slave of Loxias: the ambiguous one. In whatever manner the mechanics of Tiresias' prophetic sight function, to understand the nature of truth, they must include deciphering the ambiguous. As a true slave of Loxias, he is incapable of directly telling Oedipus the truth but always speaks enigmatically. An extreme annoyance to Oedipus, such seemingly vague speech may be the only way that the truth may be expressed. Tiresias is thus fluent in the language of truth and is speaking to Oedipus, who claims to excel in deciphering riddles, in the clearest manner. Tiresias knows who Oedipus' parents are, and he knows that the revelation of Oedipus' genealogy will cause the foundations of Oedipus' identity to crumble, simultaneously destroying one man and causing another man to come into being.

Improving Listening Skill

NGO TH? THUY DUNG DH27AV03 TOPIC: IMPROVING LISTENING SKILL FOR SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE FA CULITY IN BANKING UNIVERSITY abstract introduction literature review History of listening english skill A brief review of literature related to language listening english methods shows that â€Å"leran more about this in smart talk- a comprehensive set of tools to help you build stronger relationships and overcome communication obstacles† (Lisa B. Marshall,2012. P. 4)In real-life listening situations(Louanne Piccolo,2012,para 1) most of the spoken language we listen to is informal, spontaneous and can contain many features like slurred speech, colloquial vocabulary and incorrect grammar. Listeners usually know in advance something about what is going to be said as they expect to hear something relevant to the context in which they find themselves. Speakers usually direct what they are saying at the listener and take the listener's character and intentions into account wh en speaking.Naturally, listeners are normally speakers as well as we usually respond to what we are listening to by taking part in the conversation or by answering questions. A small amount of the listening we do is done blindly through listening to the radio or talking on the phone. However, most of the time, there is something or someone to look at that is linked to what is being said. Listening in the Classroom is not the same as real-life listening but is as realistic a simulation of real-life listening as possible.Listening activities should be training students and preparing them for effective functioning outside the classroom. They should also provide students with practice in coping with some features of real-life situations. Types of Listening Activities No overt response activities: Students do not have to do anything in response to the listening text. Often students' facial expression and body language will betray what they have understood. Activities of this type include storytelling, listening to songs or watching movies and videos. Short response activities:Students don't only have to give responses verbally but can also respond by performing a task in response to instructions, ticking off items on a worksheet as they hear them being said, ticking off true/false answers in response to statements or writing down missing words from cloze exercises. Long response activities: Students can engage in answering questions verbally about a listening text, taking notes from a mini-lecture by rewriting what you said in different words to the ones you used or writing a brief summary of a listening text. ( Larry M.Lynch,2000, para. 2) Study exploring listening english methods Slow your listening down. Take a minute to breathe and think about listening and to be aware and present. Listen from your head to your toes. Listen as if what you are hearing could change your life. Factoid: We speak an average of 120 words per minute, but listen four times faster. Your mind fills the gap by thinking of other things and wandering off. Stay focused. Slow down your listening and listen more than you talk. Pay attention. Watch out for shiny objects! Stay focused.Don’t get distracted, but rather offer a statement of observation. For example: say, â€Å"It sounds like you’re angry† (or sad/upset/frustrated, etc. ). Listen and watch for the tone of voice, body language, and facial expressions of the person you’re talking to. (fred crane, 2000, p. 1) Get clarification. Listen first, then, ask questions. Find a way to understand their story – their facts, their feelings, and their perceptions. Say, â€Å"Tell me more,† or clarify by saying, â€Å"help me understand,† or â€Å"do you mean to say that†¦? † If you still don’t understand, ask again in a different way.Sometimes you may need to ask for different words. My daughter may say something like, â€Å"the thing didn’t work and it’s just not fair! † I may have to ask her to find a different word to use for â€Å"thing† to understand what she is trying to communicate. Paraphrase. Repeat in your own words what was said to make sure you understand. Try this paraphrasing technique: â€Å"What I hear you saying is†¦Ã¢â‚¬  or â€Å"So you are saying that†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And then check for understanding. Say, â€Å"Is that right? † After listening carefully, respond genuinely. Don’t fake it.An insincere response is worse than no response. Give non-verbal communication. Use eye contact and head nods to show your concern and interest. And, here’s a tip: a response that demonstrates you really weren’t listening is not a good response. A simple change in the way we listen will change the way we understand and how we respond. Active listening will increase the odds of success at understanding what the real issue is. This may take some practice, but you will get bet ter at it, and it may even transform a relationship or two. ( Betty Lochner on August 11, 2011)

Medea’s revenge Essay

Is Medea doing her children a kindness as they are going to be banished and kicked ot anyway Medea’s revenge ultimately makes her far guiltier than Jason Traditional audience vs modern audience Emotion love obligation < life Justification does not equal right Responsibility – guilt 1. MEDEA: 2. JASON: 3. COMPARISON: In Euripidies play, Medea, Although both Medea and Jason committed wrongs, Medea’s acts of revenge ultimately make her more guilty than Jason. Medea, in a desperate act for justice, acted out in many murders, killing the ones closest to her. Jason, blinded by his desire for power, left Medea, leading to the series of events that followed. There is a evident difference in audience opinion, the traditional audience would have seen Medea far guiltier, whereas the modern audience could see guilt in both of them. From the beginning of the play we are made clear of Medea’s violent nature. We are informed of the murder of her brother, and the nurse foreshadows the murder of Medea’s children. The nurse states, â€Å"I am afraid some dreadful purpose is forming in her mind†¦ no one who makes an enemy of her will carry off an easy victory†. This is definitely fulfilled throughout the course of the play. Firstly, Medea convinces the daughters of Pelias to murder their own father. Once left devastated and alone, Medea’s next point of revenge was to ruin the life of Jason. She devised a plan in which she wished to murder Glauce, followed by the death of her own sons. She values justice over crime, which is evident when she says, â€Å"Yes, I can endure guilt, however horrible; The laughter of my enemies I will not endure.† Jason’s actions were not as gruesome as Medea’s.

Elizabeth Bishop Essay

There are many fantastic poets out there today and there were many in the past. One of these many great poets is Elizabeth Bishop. She started writing poems in 1946 and stopped in 1979. Her poems were very imaginative yet serious and sophisticated at the same time. Each poet has their own way to write, and this is hers. Elizabeth Bishop was born on February 8, 1911 in Worcester, Massachusetts. Only a few months after Bishop was born, her father passed away and because of this, her mother suffered from a mental breakdown and was admitted into an insane asylum in Nova Scotia until she passed away in 1934. At the age of six Elizabeth Bishop was taken to live with her grandparents back in Worcester. She then began to be frequently ill, so to give her a ‘happier surrounding’, she moved in with her aunt in Boston. At this age, 8, is when she started to read poetry and fairy tales. Walt Whitman and Gerard Manley Hopkins were her favorite and most inspirational poets at the time. As Elizabeth Bishop grew older she started to choose her career path. At the age of 16 she was admitted to a boarding school in Natick, Massachusettes where she read and studied the works of William Shakespeare and English Romantic poets. One year she tried to study music but then realized that she is terrified of recitals so she quickly dropped that dream and she returned to literature. Along with Mary McCarthy and Eleanor Clark, Elizabeth Bishop founded a literary review, this was where Bishop’s very first poem was published. Then later in the Vassar Review, many pieces of her work were being published but during this time her writing skills were affected to a heavy drinking problem. After Bishop’s problem was solved, she went back to creating great poems, with help of the greatest poetic mentor in Bishop’s early years, Marianne Moore. Moore helped Bishop write more poems and write her first volume, North and South(1946), which was chosen for the Houghton Miffl in Poetry Award and contained one of her most anthologized single poems. With lots of money from her many awards and prizes, Bishop went on a vacation to Brazil, here she had allergic attacks that forced her to  unexpectedly stay for several months. Once she was finally cured, she decided to stay and actually lived in Brazil for many years. During her stay there, Elizabeth Bishop fell in love with a wonderful Brazilian woman, her name was Lota de Macedo Soares. The two actually lived together for a while until Soares tragically committed suicide in 1967. In 1955, Bishop published a second book, inside was North and South(1946). This volume was titled Poems: North and South — A Cold Spring. There was many poems inside of this book, one of which was â€Å"At the Fishhouses.† Much of the work in this book and after, up until about 1974, was influenced by her life in Brazil. Bishop then had poems and book being published like wildflowers. Elizabeth had some great influence in her life to motivate her in her in the poetic arts. Bishop was greatly influenced by the poet Marianne Moore, who she met when she was introduced by a librarian at Vassar in 1934. There was an inseparable friendship between the two women, remembered by an extensive amount of similarities between the two. Bishop stayed with and used Moore as an influence until Moore’s death in 1972. Bishop’s â€Å"At the Fishhouses†(1955) contains many references to Moore’s 1924 poem â€Å"A Grave.† Bishop was also introduced to Robert Lowell through Randall Jarrell in 1947 and the two soon became fantastic friends. But the friendship was curtailed when Lowell died in 1977. After his death, Bishop wrote, â€Å"our friendship, often kept alive through years of separation only by letters, remained constant and affectionate, and I shall always be deeply grateful for it†. They both were influences for each other’s poetr y. Lowell mentioned the influence from Bishop in his poem â€Å"Skunk Hour† which he stated had, â€Å"modeled on Miss Bishop’s ‘The Armadillo.'† In another poem, â€Å"The Scream†, Lowell said is â€Å"derived from†¦Bishop’s story In the Village.† â€Å"North Haven,† was one of the very last poems Elizabeth Bishop had published during her lifetime, and it was written as a memorial for Robert Lowell. Unlike her good friend Robert Lowell, who wrote in a Confessional style, while Bishop’s poetry avoids explicit accounts of her personal life and focuses instead with great delicacy on her impressions of the physical world. She uses lots of adjectives, metaphors, and similes to help the reader create a mental image of what is going on at the time. The imagery in  her poems are very specific and realistic sounding. Rhyming wasn’t really used much in Bishop’s poems but was is used sometimes to add emphasis and/or humor. If the poem did have a rhyming scheme it would be different, rather than being every two lines rhyme or every other, Bishop would do every four lines. So the end of the first lines could be â€Å"wharf† and the last word of the fourth line would rhyme, so for instance â€Å"dwarf†. She had her own style that made her poems unique. One of Elizabeth Bishop’s poems is A Summer’s Dream. This poem was published in 1959. This poem has a sort of childish tone to it, yet still sounds sophisticated. During the whole poem, Bishop is describing the town that she lives in as well as describing the other residents of the place. In A Summer’s Dream, Elizabeth Bishop is the speaker and speaks in a first person perspective. Throughout the poem, it seems as if Bishop is playing the role of a daughter. She sounds like this because the whole time she is using such descriptive words to put a sense of imagination into each line. The poem shows the the everyday life in her town and it at first seems like she is just telling what she sees. But, as u get to the end you realize that the whole time she was using her creativity and imagination to dream of a town that she would love to live in. The tone used in the poem however, is more sophisticated and sounds like something an adult would say rather than a little g irl. Bishop seems compassionate towards the subject and she makes you feel welcomed into this little town of hers in just 36 lines. Towards her neighbors, or the other characters, there is two different tones. Toward the elder and weaker characters, there seems to be a gentle and sympathetic feeling, while there is a cruel and condescending feel. But these two tones are used in just the right amount that they balance out the negatives and positives to make the poem neutral. Poems contain many poetic devices to help make the writing stronger. Not all of it has to do with the tone and theme of the poem, but with the diction. The diction of a poem is the poet’s choice of words and how they are put together. An abundantly used poetic device in A Summer’s Dream is imagery. Bishop uses imagery throughout her poem to help the reader create an image in their mind of the scenery. She describes her boarding house, â€Å"blue as a makerel,our boarding house was streaked as though it had been crying†(14-16), by using these descriptive  words and metaphors the reader can piece the information together t o create a picture. Elizabeth Bishop uses words like â€Å"sagging†(1), â€Å"idiot†(4), and â€Å"shrunken†(12) to put a negative and depressing feel to the town of her dreams. In the same poem word such as â€Å"gentle†(5), â€Å"kind†(7), and â€Å"extraodinary†(17) to give a positive and caring tone. The poet uses both sides together in some cases, â€Å"He was morose, but she was cheerful†(29), the poetic devices are used this way to create a sense of neutrality. Over all Bishop wrote many fantastic poems all in her sophisticated yet whimsical way that would spark the interest of many readers and hopefully influence them to do something. They were full of imagery and poetic elements to create a sense of interest to the reader and to also help them to create a mental picture of the actions in the poem at the time. Elizabeth Bishop has received a great amount of recognition and has earned many awards during her career. Each poet has their own way to wr ite, and Elizabeth’s poetic ways were very popular and unique but very sadly came to an end in october of 1979 when she passed away of a cerebral aneurism in Boston. Cite Page Flemming, Bruce E., and Ann D. Garbett. â€Å"Elizabeth Bishop.† Biography Research Center. Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition, Sept. 2006. Web. â€Å"Poet Elizabeth Bishop.† Poets.org. N.p., n.d. Web. Lensing, George S. â€Å"About Elizabeth Bishop.† Modern American Poetry. Oxford University Press, Feb. 2009. Web.

Organisational Change Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 11

Organisational Change Management - Essay Example In this regard, the council, through a consultant has been advised to use Appreciative Inquiry 5D to overcome the problem facing the organization and to allow them offer better services to the council. The use of AI 5D involves identifying the strengths rather than weaknesses to bring change in the organization, this paper then discusses the use of AI 5D in bring the necessary change in the council (Englund, Graham, and Paul 2006, p.35). Definition The main concern of the change process in the council is necessitated by the higher levels of absenteeism by the employees who abscond their duties most of the time, they do not show up to take care of their duties and this has led to the emergence of some of the problems associated with absenteeism. The department that was worst hit in this case was that of the elderly care in the council, the care managers then became concerned about the situation as it aggravated the condition of elderly in the council that needed the support of the emp loyees. With the absenteeism rate spiralling, there are a number of issues that became apparent for action to be taken so that change could be brought. One of the salient problems that became out of control was the decline in the quality of the services that was being offered by the council, due to the widespread absenteeism, the quality of the services that was being provided by the council experienced significant drop owing to the fact that there were few employees who showed up. This made it possible for the work to be strenuous to the few individuals who turned up and the demands of the department could not be fully achieved hence decline in the quality of the services (Tennant 2012, p.47). The absenteeism factor also created another problem in the council’s department where the employees who turned up for their duties were subjected to more duties than prescribed so that they could cover for the duties that were to be done by the other workers who decided to be absent. B ecause of these, it became strenuous and stressful to the few workers who maintained reporting for their duties, they worked more than necessary and it was envisaged that if the trend continues, there would be possibility of breakdown and burnout that will definitely impair the performance of the employees who showed up for their duties every day. This consequence too made it prudent for the organization to find a solution to the challenge that was facing the organization as it was bedevilling the performance in more than one way (Reed 2007, p.53). The colleagues that were absent for work had to be covered for by those who turned up, this explains why there was more duties for those who showed up resulting into stressful work (Kluwer 2008, p.58). Lastly, absenteeism also had serious economic consequences for the council, ordinarily employees should be paid for the services that they offer to the organization that employs them, if these services are not offered, then there should be no payments given to the employees. If this happens, there will be obvious losses incurred by the organization, in this respect, the employees that had been out of their duties in the organization were causing serious economic pinch to the organizati

Boys and Girls by Alice Munro Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Boys and Girls by Alice Munro - Essay Example In â€Å"Boys and Girls†, the author highlights the story of a young girl, who had greater concern for her favorite horses, in the first person narrative. The girl, though very young, helped her father in his farming work mainly by caring for the horses. The internal conflicts of the girls start when he father decides to kill the old horse to feed his foxes. In an attempt to save the horse from death, she lets it free and waits fearfully for her father’s response on finding that she was the culprit behind the escape of the horse. The story develops from there with her little brother’s enthusiasm to get the horse chased back home with the help of a hired hunter. Most parts of the book represent the author’s concern over the societies that undermine the roles of women in active social life. As Martin comments, â€Å"it is not a funny story, but in fact, a poignant comedy† (45). In a situation of the story, when her brother tells everyone during a dinn er that the girl was the reason behind the missing of the horse, her father replies by saying â€Å"Never mind, she’s only a girl†. ... The siblings were given a room to share in the home with a number of safety instructions from their father. As Hooper reflects, â€Å"Boys and Girls returns readers to an already familiar Munro place where mother’s sphere of things is boring and repressive†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (12). The author expresses the ways in which boys enjoyed more social freedom than girls in a family. Girls had to fear almost all factors ranging from darkness to strangers in her time. When the decision making was a question before their life, it was always a conflicting situation between the prospects of parental approval and social acceptance. As Munro writes, even when she had to see the way her father shot the horse with the help of his farm hand, she only told her brother â€Å"Now, you have seen how they shoot a horse.† This expression shows the acquired numbness of the author from the experiences of her childhood in which she used to witness her father engaging in the trade of animal husbandry that involved killing of animals for money. In another context when her father says to her mother with a blood stained appearance that he had shot old Flora, the mare, her mother replied saying â€Å"Well, I don’t want to hear about it, and don’t come to my table like that.† This expression sounds the general disagreement among women with the ‘killing business’. While focusing more on the protagonist, the author can be seen to have given little significance to her name – to a great extent, it may be because of the influences of her own childhood experiences of low self esteem forced by the over preference prevailed in common families of her society. In the story, the girl is critically disregarded by her family members after the birth of her brother. She was treated

Lochgelly Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Lochgelly - Essay Example ve on the economy of Fife, the costs of the project and the long-term benefits of such a project, the effectiveness of a front end development process which has been recommended, and finally the report s attempts to make useful recommendations regarding the scope of improvement of the developmental housing project in Lochgelly. The report covers the main factors which have helped to create the decision of the stakeholders with respect to the strategic housing development initiative in Scotlands Lochgelly. The National Planning Framework for Scotland has identified that the region of Scotland called Fife has tremendous potential for housing development. Not only is the place connected to Dundee and Edinburgh, the region is expected to have a huge population growth is coming 20 years. Exactly, about 11% growth in population is expected by the year 2031. Therefore, the General Register Office has made a plan where it requires more than 35,000 new homes to be built in the next 20 years. Since Lochgelly is a place located in Fife which is expected to be one of the hotbeds of developments in Fife, it is quite natural that the stakeholders would be having a lot of interest in housing projects in Lochgelly. Although Lochgelly was very well developed prior to 2004, after the coal mines closed, the town saw a decline in population and economic growth. The town has links with the roads in the south; it is also connected to by train tracks to Dundee and Edinburgh. On the side of the town, there are vast stretches of natural beauty. The structure Plan of 2006-2026 by the Fife Board has identified land locations in Lochgelly for building 1750 houses within the next 20 years. This development project will not only improve the economic condition, but it will also improve the job opportunities in the town of Lochgelly. During a housing development project, the engagement of stakeholders is of prime importance. The standards and structure plan has provided framework for the