The Yellow Wallpaper Essay Example for Free

The Yellow Wallpaper Essay â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is a short story that was written by American author Charlotte Perkins Gilman and was published in 1892. The story is narrated through the journal entries of a woman who is confined to her bedroom in order to cure her â€Å"slight hysterical tendency.† Although this treatment was well intended by her physician husband, due to her isolation and lack of mental stimulation the woman’s mental state steadily deteriorates until the end of the story when she goes completely insane. In order to better understand this story it is helpful to analyze it through the lenses of the seven schools of literary criticism which include, formalist, biographical, historical, reader-response, deconstructionist, psychological, and gender criticisms. From a formalist perspective, one of the most important things to note about this short story is how it is composed from the entries in the narrator’s secret journal, which she keeps hidden from her husband. The result of this diary-like construction makes the story seem almost autobiographical even though the narrator is a fictional character. Because of this, everything is relayed in a very personal way and gives an in depth view of the narrator and her feelings. The reader gets very little information about other characters and there is an intense focus on the narrator and the inner workings of her mind as her mental state steadily declines. While formalists argue that there is one true meaning that can be derived from the formal qualities of the text, deconstructionists argue that as time passes, the meanings of words change and thus the meaning of the text also changes. One word whose meaning has changed since the writing of this piece is â€Å"nervous.† The author seems to use this word as meaning an affliction or illness. Back in the nineteenth century, the word nervous seems most frequently attributed to women as if it is an unavoidable characteristic of the female nature. Today these same connotations do not exist and therefore a deconstructionist would argue that the meaning of this text has changed. In contrast with the deconstructionist style of criticism, which focuses on the text, biographical criticism focuses on the author of the piece and their experiences and motivations in order to understand a work of literature. The motivations behind the â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† become strikingly clear when the author’s background is revealed. Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote this piece in 1892, shortly after her own similar bout of mental illness. In her explanation of why she wrote â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† she explains that after being prescribed the rest cure, she â€Å"came so near the borderline of utter mental ruin that [she] could see over.† She also explains that much of her reason for writing this short story was to try to save people from the fate she narrowly escaped and the same fate that the narrator of â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† ultimately fell victim to. Similar to the biographical method of criticism, gender criticism also focuses on the author’s background, specifically the aspects relating to his or her gender. The fact that Charlotte Perkins Gilman lived in the 19th century has a lot of impact on her writing. She lived in a time when society was primarily male dominated and women had few rights. Her experience with mental illness was also strongly affected by her gender. Similar to the narrator’s experiences, a male doctor prescribed Gilman the rest treatment, which ended up doing more harm than good. This was a time when women were stereotyped as fragile, weak, nervous, silly, and were generally not taken seriously. Doctors did not understand postpartum depression during this time period and believed that it was a â€Å"temporary nervous depression† or â€Å"a slight hysterical tendency† which they thought were simply characteristics of the female nature. The historical method of criticism focuses on the historical context of the story. As the previous paragraph discusses, this short story was written in the 19th century when postpartum depression was not understood and women had few rights. This is the historical backdrop of Gilman’s life and writing of â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper.† Gilman wrote this story at a time when the â€Å"rest cure† was a real medical treatment that was being applied to countless women, most of whom suffered from it. When this piece was first published many of Gilman’s contemporaries were shocked. One physician wrote that â€Å"such a story ought not to be written, it was enough to drive anyone mad to read it.† Similar to biographical and gender criticism, the psychological school of criticism focuses on the author, but also looks at the readers and the characters of the story. This method of criticism looks into psychology to unearth the meaning in the story. â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† would be full of interest for psychological critics. Both the narrator and the writer suffered from severe postpartum depression, which in the case of the narrator, progressed into full-blown madness. The last of the schools of criticism is the reader-response criticism, which studies the readers because without the reader, a text has no meaning. Many modern readers, for example, probably feel sympathy for this narrator because they have a better understanding of the disease that she was suffering from. Readers who were alive when â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† was first published would have probably had a much different reaction to this story. From Gilman’s piece on why she wrote the story, it is clear that her story did was not well received by many people due to its shocking and disturbing nature. I think that by far the most important school of literary criticism for interpreting â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† would be the biographical method of criticism. So much of the short story was influenced by Gilman’s own experiences with the rest cure and mental illness that it is almost essential to know about her background in order to understand this piece. Historical criticism and gender criticism are also very important but I think the biographical method encapsulates all of them because when trying to understand the author one must inevitably factor in the influences of their gender and the time in which they lived and wrote.

Enders Game And Out Of The Silent Planet Essay :: essays research papers fc

In both novels, the characters represent certain kinds of individuals in today's society. They encounterjealousy, as well as many other conflicts within themselves, and human nature. Ultimately, these two novels deliver the inner conflicts of our society. Both, Ender's Game and Out of the Silent Planet are related in terms of the class structures of society, the qualities of the characters, and both characters' struggles with others in the stories. In Ender's Game class structure is strictly military based. The classes are comprised of Citizens, who are just common people, making up the basic population, but are separate from the other classes. "Thirds" are children who were allowed to be born. In this futuristic setting the novel takes place in. Families were only allowed to comprise of two children. However, in Ender Wiggen's case, the government believed that he was the missing link, the great commander who would lead Earth to victory against the dreaded "Buggers". Which Ender does achieve. Thirds, however, were shunned, picked on, and often left out because they were sought to be social out casts. "Launchies" were the newcomers to the Battle School. They were always about six years old, and were often the lackeys of the older children soldiers. Next came the platoon's. platoon's were the main fighting group, which was just the basic soldier, they had little respect from others as well as themselves. Platoon leaders however, were the more desired positions at the Battle School. They were the best of the soldiers, and were veterans. Chosen over a period of time, and flight reviewing were the Army Leaders. Each Army Leader was expected to act a certain way, hardened and wise, as well as strict. Those, who made it to Army Leader often graduated, and went to war against the Buggers. Above these classes were the political castes. They were often corrupt and misled individuals, who often made many important decisions. At others' expense they followed through with their decisions, such as with taking Ender away from his family to train in the military. Orson Scott Card is quoted saying about the government that "the followers are ignorant and stupid and easily fooled, and the leaders are exploitative and cynical, manipulating others' faith for their private benefit."(Card, pg. 2) Which the government in his novel was often portrayed doing to the general public. One instance of this was, when Ender was attacked by Bonzo and a few of the other boys.

Piers Plowman

Elyssa-Beth Bender British Literature Dr. Zeiger 14 March 2013 William Langland: Piers Plowman The life of William Langland is a mystery. There is very little known about the man who wrote the Middle English, alliterative poem known as Piers Plowman. I did gather that he was born in the West Midlands around 1330 and may have died in 1386 (William Langland). Though much not can be found on Langland’s life, one can infer that he had many different life experiences in which he may drawn from to write Piers Plowman (Calabrese 123).Whether one looks at the elegant trial of Lady Meed at the King’s court, to impoverished life lived on Piers Plowman’s half-acre. Also the narrator in Piers Plowman seems to indicate that Langland may have been exposed to a higher education (Calabrese 123). There are three different versions of Piers Plowman, known as the A-text, the B-text, and the C-text The A-text is the earliest and shortest of the three versions and is about 2,400 line s long (Greenblatt 297). The B-text is an revision of the A-text in which the original 2,400 lines are still there but turned into a 4,000 line piece of work.During my reading of the B-Text, I found that it was more poetic in its form (Greenblatt 297). What I also found was that the C-text was almost a full revision of the B-Text with not much more added. The A-text seemed to be written in 1370 while the B-text. The C-text may have been written in 1381 during the â€Å"Peasants Revolt of 1382† (William Langland). The opening lines let the reader know what to expect: a man named Will on a religious quest that is set in a dream-like, vision state. He wakes up in Field Full of Folk in the opening scene.It is quite obvious to the reader that Will is a very righteous man as he is described to be wearing â€Å"shroudes as [he] a sheep were, / In habite as an heremite unholy of werkes. † (line 124). This indicates that Will is in clothes made of sheepskin, a symbolic meaning to The Lamb (Calabrese 4). However, it could also make the reader conclude that he may also be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The uncertainty is loathsome. The reader might think, â€Å"Is he good or evil? Will he hurt or help? † (Calabrese 124).The phrase, â€Å"unholy of werkes† seems like Will could be evil, but by the end of the poem, we see that it meant that spiritually Will was only just a child and needed to mature. In continuation with this idea, in the prologue of Piers Plowman, Will is born metaphorically into his vision and faith. In the first passus, Will is confronted by a female named, Holy Church and becomes quickly engaged in learning how to be a good Christian (line 153). Holy Church represents a holy and pure church that is uncorrupted by man (Daegman 274).She is vital for teaching Will the basics of Christianity. I found that her presence was the best way to teach Will the holy and pure way to be a Christian untouched by the corrupt hands of man . She also teaches Will that the body and soul are in constant struggle for power. Holy Church explains that Will must find the balance between physical self and spiritual self lead by the soul; what may be good for one may not be good for the other(line 209). Will must learn at this point what moderation is. Moderation is a vital step of self-control and awareness in Piers Plowman.Will is now faced with a few new characters named, Kynde Wit, who tells him the way of common sense; Reason, who tells him what reason and moderation mean; and Truth expects Will he must be truthful in speech, work, and intent of the heart and soul (700-1235). Before Will could fully comprehend what Truth meant, he need to find out what truth is not: falsity or the character â€Å"Falseness†. After meeting with these characters Will had learned everything they could instill upon him. However, since Will is in a dream-like, vision state, he fears that he will not have the capability to make the righ t decision with his own free will.In his early education with Holy Church, she fails to explain what Falseness means for Will. However in the story of Lady Meed, concept is explained (line 1456- 1729), Lady Meed seems to be the bastard daughter of Falseness and about to be wed to Fals Fikel-tonge (line 1464). â€Å"Whore of Babylon in Revelation,† she is described as, with her magnificent scarlett, silk robes (1468). Lady Meed represents the corruptive influence of money, bribery, prostitution, and is found in every aspect of society. In this story of Lady Meed, she represents good use of money.However, since Lady Meed can be used by anyone, she often falls into the wrong hands and used for corrupt purposes. Lady Meed’s marriage to Fals Fikel-tonge is ceased by Theology, who pursues that the King is the one who should decide whom Lady Meed marries (1475). In the royal court, Lady Meed and her follower voyage off to London at the expense of men of legal authority. The K ing calls upon Conscience for his advice. At this point he swears he will have nothing to do with the evil, wickedness of Lady Mead and her fate is left to the courts (1509). With the advice of Concscience, the King decides to find out what kind of person Lady Mead is.The King decides that the best thing for Lady Mead was to marry Conscience to know where the line is drawn between right and wrong (1534). Though the King’s intentions were in good reason, Lady Mead was known to be easily corrupted. The King believed Conscience was the perfect mate to control Lady Mead and make her submissive to his good morals. However, Conscience explained to the King that this would not be possible because though his morals were pure and righteous, he would soon eventually be consumed by the power of Lady Mead (1547). Since Lady Mead can be easily used by anyone, she os quickly corrupted by those around her.She is accused of corrupting the pardoners who forgive the sins of the common (not of the clergy) people. As we recall back to Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, Pardoners of this time were very ill-willed men who would only accept money and power to pardon the sins of people. This corruption is said to be the work by the hands of Lady Mead. In this part of Piers Plowman, It is the responsibility of the character Penance to steer Will away from the ill-will and corruption of Lady Mead’s influence on the pardoners’ business (1609). Before a marriage with Conscience, Lady Mead discusses her character.While she shows him all the wonderful aspects of her existence, Conscience reminds her of her malevolent ways (1613). It is clear to the King that Conscience is right, however the King is blinded by Lady Mead’s conveyed character of good will. At this point, the King orders Conscience to give her a kiss on the forehead, which is to signify there to be peace between the two characters (1645). However, Conscience would not give her a kiss of peace unless Reason was summoned to asses the pros and cons, essentially, of the situation (1647-49) . The King, a benevolent creature, decides to honor the request of Conscience and summon Reason.The King decides to bring Wrong to the court to defend Lady Mead and convince the King his ways are correct (1664-1672). He believes he should be allowed to bribe his way out of the charges of rape, murder, and theft. Reason snaps back at this and urges for hard punishment to be inflicted on Wrong. The King, swept up by all these testimonies, decides in favor of Reason and Conscience, whom were selected to be his counselors. Wrong is punished and the King’s eyes are now open to Lady Mead’s benevolent aspects. He is no longer naive. At this point, the King’s court has flourished since Conscience and Reason became his advisors.Holy Church explains to Will that Conscience and Reason are two things that every person has within them on some level. She also explains that th e King is not a character that is based on royal heritage. The King is a being that represents the challenges that every common man faces (Burrow 318). Explained even further in an article by J. A Burrow every man faces the challenges of Right and Wrong, and often seeks to find Conscience and Reason in their lives. At this point, the scene fades into the Field Full of Folk once again as Will wakes up and then falls asleep shortly after.Next, Will is confronted with the character of Reason who fashions the wardrobe of a clergymen. He urges Will to repent (2573). After urging Will to confess his sins, he brings out the Seven Deadly Sins. This section of the story where Reason speaks to each of the seven and teaches Will that if he lives with The Seven Deadly Sins in his life, he will never find salvation. The next section starts with the Will waking up briefly from the vision and reflecting on his experience so far. However, our dreamer, Will quickly falls back into his dream. In this next part of his holy vision quest, he enters upon the Feast of Patience ( 2798-2906).Seven people attend the Feast, Conscience, Clergy and his wife, Scripture, Patience, Will, and The Master of Divinity. The food was simple and elegant which was to show will what penance means (Burrow 319). Later in the poem,Will is though of as a fool (3015-3016). At this point of Will still being a foolish man, he is intorduced to Anima, who tells Will the importance of putting into action all that he has learned (3025-3120). Anima prepares Will for a vision of the Tree of Charity. In a vision conveyed to Will by Piers Plowman himself, a tree is an image of fallen humanity.Piers Plowman is said to be represented as Jesus (Burrow 320). There are three kinds of fruit: human souls of wedlock, widowhood, and virginity, and it is supported by three planks. The three planks have been explained to will as the Holy Trinity (Greenblatt 399). However the Tree being threatened by Covetise, who is the Fiend of Flesh. The tree represents the tree that bore the fruit of knowledge, much like the fruit referenced in Genesis. The tree contains knowledge that is not to be consumed by man. However, in this section of Piers Plowman, The Devil is pursuing Covetise to extract fruit from the tree for evil intentions.Toward the end of the poem, Will goes to mass on Easter Sunday and, during the middle of mass, falls asleep and dreams of Piers Plowman. Piers is identified this time as the eucharistic host at the moment of consecration during the Mass when the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ (Greenblatt 399). The mystery of the Body and blood of Christ is mysterious to Will as he cannot understand at what point these common items become holy. The answer is conveyed appearance of Piers before the people. Will turns to Conscience for an explanation of the mystery.Conscience recalls the life of Jesus by explaining the sacrament. The miracle at Cana involves the changing of water int o wine, a type of wine turning into blood in the Eucharist. Thus, the Three Lives are put into the perspective of the ministry of Christ, and the message is clear: it is impossible to do well, do better, and do best without divine grace, and this grace is available to all through the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and penance(Burrow 380) . If Dowel is the sacramental wine, Dobet is the eucharistic bread, as it is paralleled to the miracle of the loaves and fishes (Greenblatt 399).That Piers is granted the power of binding and unbinding sins reflects back upon the early association of Piers and the Good Priest (Daegman 7) . Piers is a variation of Peter, suggesting the apostle and first pope. Piers remains behind after the Ascension, and it is to him that Grace gives the four evangelists and the four church leaders (3321-3364). Piers is known to be Jesus Christ whom is a part of the eternal, divine Church. Noticeably, the forces of Pride wait to attack until Piers until he has featured once more at the end of Piers Plowman. By the end of the poem there are no good clergy. (Daegman 8).The Barn of Unity that Grace tells Piers to build is another image of the whole Christian community (3433-3457). However, since the Tree of Charity is under constant threat, so is the Barn of Unity. Covetise and Pride try to confuse Conscience with their so that he can not tell the difference between a Christian and a dark worshipper. Conscience advises the Christians to leave the area to find safely form the the malevolent qualities (3458-3465). Events turn dark for Will and is in need of consulting Need. It can be a humbling factor, but it can also be a convenient excuse for doing what one wants to do rather than what one ought to do.Will falls asleep after being reproached by Need and dreams of the coming of Antichrist. Conscience consults Kynde, Old Age, and Death. Though Will has become an old man, he manages to keep somewhat in good humor. His appearance has changed dra matically. He has become bald, deaf, toothless, and a bit incompetent due to his old age. During this last part of Piers Plowman, Will is confronted by the inevitable character named Death (3502- 3696). As Will’s time is coming to an end, he begs Kynde for him to spare him. Kynde advises Will learn what love is (3757) . This could be compared to what Holy Church told Will in the first section.Though Piers Plowman is a lengthy alliterative poem, it ends considerably curtly. Conscience vows to undertake another quest, this time to find Piers Plowman, and he calls upon Grace for help. Then the Dreamer simply wakes up and that is the end. I found that the ending lines of the poem had no emotion to it. I was not able to feel if Will felt like his total experience was positive or negative. Will’s attitude does seem to show the slightest bit of positivity as he learns to find what it means to be a Christian and learns the value of good morals. Piers Plowman is a series of jou rneys in a dream-like vision in search for answers.The narrator named Will goes from one higher authority to another. However, as the quests move along, the main point of the journey changes. The quest was originally to find how a Christian is expected to live, however, as time goes on it becomes about finding a way to do the best and be the best one can be (Daegman 273). When the poem finishes, Will is faced with yet another quest. this indicates to the reader that a Christian’s search for salvation is eternal (Daegman 273). Works Cited Burrow, J. A. The Ending Lines in Piers Plowman. Notes & Querles (2012). vol. 59 Issue 3, p 316-400. Academic Search Complete.Web. 9 Feb. 2013. Calabrese, Michael. Piers Plowman: A Parallel-Text Edition of The A,B,C, And Z Versions. Journal of English & Germanic Philogy. (2012): vol. 35 issue 12 127-130. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Feb. 2013. Deagman, Rachel. The Formations of Forgiveness in Piers Plowman. Journal of Medieval & Early Mo dern Studies (2010). vol. 40 issue 2 p. 273-97. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. â€Å"William Langland† Encyclopedia Britannica. Britannica Online Web. 27 Feb, 2013 Greenblatt, Stepehn. â€Å"William Langland:Piers Plowman† The Norton Anthology English Literature vol. A. New York 397- 408. Piers Plowman Elyssa-Beth Bender British Literature Dr. Zeiger 14 March 2013 William Langland: Piers Plowman The life of William Langland is a mystery. There is very little known about the man who wrote the Middle English, alliterative poem known as Piers Plowman. I did gather that he was born in the West Midlands around 1330 and may have died in 1386 (William Langland). Though much not can be found on Langland’s life, one can infer that he had many different life experiences in which he may drawn from to write Piers Plowman (Calabrese 123).Whether one looks at the elegant trial of Lady Meed at the King’s court, to impoverished life lived on Piers Plowman’s half-acre. Also the narrator in Piers Plowman seems to indicate that Langland may have been exposed to a higher education (Calabrese 123). There are three different versions of Piers Plowman, known as the A-text, the B-text, and the C-text The A-text is the earliest and shortest of the three versions and is about 2,400 line s long (Greenblatt 297). The B-text is an revision of the A-text in which the original 2,400 lines are still there but turned into a 4,000 line piece of work.During my reading of the B-Text, I found that it was more poetic in its form (Greenblatt 297). What I also found was that the C-text was almost a full revision of the B-Text with not much more added. The A-text seemed to be written in 1370 while the B-text. The C-text may have been written in 1381 during the â€Å"Peasants Revolt of 1382† (William Langland). The opening lines let the reader know what to expect: a man named Will on a religious quest that is set in a dream-like, vision state. He wakes up in Field Full of Folk in the opening scene.It is quite obvious to the reader that Will is a very righteous man as he is described to be wearing â€Å"shroudes as [he] a sheep were, / In habite as an heremite unholy of werkes. † (line 124). This indicates that Will is in clothes made of sheepskin, a symbolic meaning to The Lamb (Calabrese 4). However, it could also make the reader conclude that he may also be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The uncertainty is loathsome. The reader might think, â€Å"Is he good or evil? Will he hurt or help? † (Calabrese 124).The phrase, â€Å"unholy of werkes† seems like Will could be evil, but by the end of the poem, we see that it meant that spiritually Will was only just a child and needed to mature. In continuation with this idea, in the prologue of Piers Plowman, Will is born metaphorically into his vision and faith. In the first passus, Will is confronted by a female named, Holy Church and becomes quickly engaged in learning how to be a good Christian (line 153). Holy Church represents a holy and pure church that is uncorrupted by man (Daegman 274).She is vital for teaching Will the basics of Christianity. I found that her presence was the best way to teach Will the holy and pure way to be a Christian untouched by the corrupt hands of man . She also teaches Will that the body and soul are in constant struggle for power. Holy Church explains that Will must find the balance between physical self and spiritual self lead by the soul; what may be good for one may not be good for the other(line 209). Will must learn at this point what moderation is. Moderation is a vital step of self-control and awareness in Piers Plowman.Will is now faced with a few new characters named, Kynde Wit, who tells him the way of common sense; Reason, who tells him what reason and moderation mean; and Truth expects Will he must be truthful in speech, work, and intent of the heart and soul (700-1235). Before Will could fully comprehend what Truth meant, he need to find out what truth is not: falsity or the character â€Å"Falseness†. After meeting with these characters Will had learned everything they could instill upon him. However, since Will is in a dream-like, vision state, he fears that he will not have the capability to make the righ t decision with his own free will.In his early education with Holy Church, she fails to explain what Falseness means for Will. However in the story of Lady Meed, concept is explained (line 1456- 1729), Lady Meed seems to be the bastard daughter of Falseness and about to be wed to Fals Fikel-tonge (line 1464). â€Å"Whore of Babylon in Revelation,† she is described as, with her magnificent scarlett, silk robes (1468). Lady Meed represents the corruptive influence of money, bribery, prostitution, and is found in every aspect of society. In this story of Lady Meed, she represents good use of money.However, since Lady Meed can be used by anyone, she often falls into the wrong hands and used for corrupt purposes. Lady Meed’s marriage to Fals Fikel-tonge is ceased by Theology, who pursues that the King is the one who should decide whom Lady Meed marries (1475). In the royal court, Lady Meed and her follower voyage off to London at the expense of men of legal authority. The K ing calls upon Conscience for his advice. At this point he swears he will have nothing to do with the evil, wickedness of Lady Mead and her fate is left to the courts (1509). With the advice of Concscience, the King decides to find out what kind of person Lady Mead is.The King decides that the best thing for Lady Mead was to marry Conscience to know where the line is drawn between right and wrong (1534). Though the King’s intentions were in good reason, Lady Mead was known to be easily corrupted. The King believed Conscience was the perfect mate to control Lady Mead and make her submissive to his good morals. However, Conscience explained to the King that this would not be possible because though his morals were pure and righteous, he would soon eventually be consumed by the power of Lady Mead (1547). Since Lady Mead can be easily used by anyone, she os quickly corrupted by those around her.She is accused of corrupting the pardoners who forgive the sins of the common (not of the clergy) people. As we recall back to Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, Pardoners of this time were very ill-willed men who would only accept money and power to pardon the sins of people. This corruption is said to be the work by the hands of Lady Mead. In this part of Piers Plowman, It is the responsibility of the character Penance to steer Will away from the ill-will and corruption of Lady Mead’s influence on the pardoners’ business (1609). Before a marriage with Conscience, Lady Mead discusses her character.While she shows him all the wonderful aspects of her existence, Conscience reminds her of her malevolent ways (1613). It is clear to the King that Conscience is right, however the King is blinded by Lady Mead’s conveyed character of good will. At this point, the King orders Conscience to give her a kiss on the forehead, which is to signify there to be peace between the two characters (1645). However, Conscience would not give her a kiss of peace unless Reason was summoned to asses the pros and cons, essentially, of the situation (1647-49) . The King, a benevolent creature, decides to honor the request of Conscience and summon Reason.The King decides to bring Wrong to the court to defend Lady Mead and convince the King his ways are correct (1664-1672). He believes he should be allowed to bribe his way out of the charges of rape, murder, and theft. Reason snaps back at this and urges for hard punishment to be inflicted on Wrong. The King, swept up by all these testimonies, decides in favor of Reason and Conscience, whom were selected to be his counselors. Wrong is punished and the King’s eyes are now open to Lady Mead’s benevolent aspects. He is no longer naive. At this point, the King’s court has flourished since Conscience and Reason became his advisors.Holy Church explains to Will that Conscience and Reason are two things that every person has within them on some level. She also explains that th e King is not a character that is based on royal heritage. The King is a being that represents the challenges that every common man faces (Burrow 318). Explained even further in an article by J. A Burrow every man faces the challenges of Right and Wrong, and often seeks to find Conscience and Reason in their lives. At this point, the scene fades into the Field Full of Folk once again as Will wakes up and then falls asleep shortly after.Next, Will is confronted with the character of Reason who fashions the wardrobe of a clergymen. He urges Will to repent (2573). After urging Will to confess his sins, he brings out the Seven Deadly Sins. This section of the story where Reason speaks to each of the seven and teaches Will that if he lives with The Seven Deadly Sins in his life, he will never find salvation. The next section starts with the Will waking up briefly from the vision and reflecting on his experience so far. However, our dreamer, Will quickly falls back into his dream. In this next part of his holy vision quest, he enters upon the Feast of Patience ( 2798-2906).Seven people attend the Feast, Conscience, Clergy and his wife, Scripture, Patience, Will, and The Master of Divinity. The food was simple and elegant which was to show will what penance means (Burrow 319). Later in the poem,Will is though of as a fool (3015-3016). At this point of Will still being a foolish man, he is intorduced to Anima, who tells Will the importance of putting into action all that he has learned (3025-3120). Anima prepares Will for a vision of the Tree of Charity. In a vision conveyed to Will by Piers Plowman himself, a tree is an image of fallen humanity.Piers Plowman is said to be represented as Jesus (Burrow 320). There are three kinds of fruit: human souls of wedlock, widowhood, and virginity, and it is supported by three planks. The three planks have been explained to will as the Holy Trinity (Greenblatt 399). However the Tree being threatened by Covetise, who is the Fiend of Flesh. The tree represents the tree that bore the fruit of knowledge, much like the fruit referenced in Genesis. The tree contains knowledge that is not to be consumed by man. However, in this section of Piers Plowman, The Devil is pursuing Covetise to extract fruit from the tree for evil intentions.Toward the end of the poem, Will goes to mass on Easter Sunday and, during the middle of mass, falls asleep and dreams of Piers Plowman. Piers is identified this time as the eucharistic host at the moment of consecration during the Mass when the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ (Greenblatt 399). The mystery of the Body and blood of Christ is mysterious to Will as he cannot understand at what point these common items become holy. The answer is conveyed appearance of Piers before the people. Will turns to Conscience for an explanation of the mystery.Conscience recalls the life of Jesus by explaining the sacrament. The miracle at Cana involves the changing of water int o wine, a type of wine turning into blood in the Eucharist. Thus, the Three Lives are put into the perspective of the ministry of Christ, and the message is clear: it is impossible to do well, do better, and do best without divine grace, and this grace is available to all through the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and penance(Burrow 380) . If Dowel is the sacramental wine, Dobet is the eucharistic bread, as it is paralleled to the miracle of the loaves and fishes (Greenblatt 399).That Piers is granted the power of binding and unbinding sins reflects back upon the early association of Piers and the Good Priest (Daegman 7) . Piers is a variation of Peter, suggesting the apostle and first pope. Piers remains behind after the Ascension, and it is to him that Grace gives the four evangelists and the four church leaders (3321-3364). Piers is known to be Jesus Christ whom is a part of the eternal, divine Church. Noticeably, the forces of Pride wait to attack until Piers until he has featured once more at the end of Piers Plowman. By the end of the poem there are no good clergy. (Daegman 8).The Barn of Unity that Grace tells Piers to build is another image of the whole Christian community (3433-3457). However, since the Tree of Charity is under constant threat, so is the Barn of Unity. Covetise and Pride try to confuse Conscience with their so that he can not tell the difference between a Christian and a dark worshipper. Conscience advises the Christians to leave the area to find safely form the the malevolent qualities (3458-3465). Events turn dark for Will and is in need of consulting Need. It can be a humbling factor, but it can also be a convenient excuse for doing what one wants to do rather than what one ought to do.Will falls asleep after being reproached by Need and dreams of the coming of Antichrist. Conscience consults Kynde, Old Age, and Death. Though Will has become an old man, he manages to keep somewhat in good humor. His appearance has changed dra matically. He has become bald, deaf, toothless, and a bit incompetent due to his old age. During this last part of Piers Plowman, Will is confronted by the inevitable character named Death (3502- 3696). As Will’s time is coming to an end, he begs Kynde for him to spare him. Kynde advises Will learn what love is (3757) . This could be compared to what Holy Church told Will in the first section.Though Piers Plowman is a lengthy alliterative poem, it ends considerably curtly. Conscience vows to undertake another quest, this time to find Piers Plowman, and he calls upon Grace for help. Then the Dreamer simply wakes up and that is the end. I found that the ending lines of the poem had no emotion to it. I was not able to feel if Will felt like his total experience was positive or negative. Will’s attitude does seem to show the slightest bit of positivity as he learns to find what it means to be a Christian and learns the value of good morals. Piers Plowman is a series of jou rneys in a dream-like vision in search for answers.The narrator named Will goes from one higher authority to another. However, as the quests move along, the main point of the journey changes. The quest was originally to find how a Christian is expected to live, however, as time goes on it becomes about finding a way to do the best and be the best one can be (Daegman 273). When the poem finishes, Will is faced with yet another quest. this indicates to the reader that a Christian’s search for salvation is eternal (Daegman 273). Works Cited Burrow, J. A. The Ending Lines in Piers Plowman. Notes & Querles (2012). vol. 59 Issue 3, p 316-400. Academic Search Complete.Web. 9 Feb. 2013. Calabrese, Michael. Piers Plowman: A Parallel-Text Edition of The A,B,C, And Z Versions. Journal of English & Germanic Philogy. (2012): vol. 35 issue 12 127-130. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Feb. 2013. Deagman, Rachel. The Formations of Forgiveness in Piers Plowman. Journal of Medieval & Early Mo dern Studies (2010). vol. 40 issue 2 p. 273-97. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. â€Å"William Langland† Encyclopedia Britannica. Britannica Online Web. 27 Feb, 2013 Greenblatt, Stepehn. â€Å"William Langland:Piers Plowman† The Norton Anthology English Literature vol. A. New York 397- 408.

Week Vs. United States - 812 Words

Weeks vs. United States December 11, 1911, Fremont Weeks worked for an express company in Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri. While on the job, he was arrested without a warrant by police. Weeks was arrested due to suspicions claiming he was using the mailing system to transport lottery tickets. His home was searched and seized without a warrant as well. A neighbor had told the police where a key was hidden, allowing them to enter his home illegally. While they were in Weeks’ home, they seized various articles and papers, which were later turned in to the United States marshal. Once these papers we’re documented, the police returned to Weeks’ home with the marshal, hoping to find more evidence. They found more letters and envelopes in†¦show more content†¦Weeks’ petitioned against the state police for his items back since they searched his house without a warrant. During the trial in 1914, Weeks’ filed again for petition which was denie d until the evidence against him was about to be used. He objected stating that the evidence was taken without any warrant, therefore violates his Fourth and Fifth Amendment. Because of this case, Exclusionary rule was created. Exclusionary rule states that any evidence obtained through a violation of the Fourth Amendment, cannot be used in the court of law. The evidence becomes inadmissible and cannot be used against the defendant. The fourth amendment has two separate sections. One being the search, the other being the seizure. In order to get the right to search, the officers need to go to a court and get a warrant signed by the judge. Once that judge signs the warrant, the officers can go over to the defendant’s home or work and search for the evidence they think is necessary to put them in jail. When it comes to the seizure part, the officers take said items they were searching for and mark it as evidence. This evidence is booked and can later be used in the trial agains t the defendant. Although all the evidence of this case leads to Weeks’ being guilty, he was found not guilty in a unanimous decision. The court stated that because the police refused to give back the possessions they took, they violated Weeks’ fourth amendment rights. If the police were to hold on to