Tolerance and Intolerance in Chocolat - Literature Essay Samples

Chocolat is not just a quirky romance set in a quaint French village centered on a magical chocolate shop. It is so much more than that. It is a story of the juxtaposition of humanity and the ying and yang of life. It leaves the reader with more than a craving for chocolate. It leaves them reflecting on their own morals, values and prejudices and maybe a little better equipped to consider those of others. Joanne Harris uses two opposed narrators and several literary techniques to present a study in moral relativism. Moral relativism is the premise that any view based on a moral judgement is neither intrinsically right nor wrong; that moral judgement only comes from the lens through which it is viewed and those views are shaped by a myriad of factors such as life experiences, culture, beliefs and family values. Tolerance and intolerance are not moral absolutes, but rather are relative to those beliefs and social norms. Joanne Harris uses the characters point of view to create a picture. Vianne views herself as tolerant. She is free spirited and strong willed, willing to stand up to perceived prejudices. She has strong empathy, particularly with the misunderstood members of the village. With the thought that â€Å"It isnt up to [her] or anybodyto decide how these people should live their lives.† Vianne views placing rules or restrictions on people as intolerant. In contrast, she conveys the point of view that Reynaud’s position is one of intolerance. He is inflexible and rigid in his faith. Her perception of his religious beliefs allows the author to present a foreshadowing of how religion may negatively manifest in society and how hypocrisy born of blind faith in religion can cloud judgement. Whilst Reynaud views himself as faithful and an upholder of moral values, he is at the same time portrayed as heartless and intolerant when seen through Vianne’s eyes. The author has used this paradox to further challenge the concept of moral absolutes. From Reynaud’s perspective tolerance is compliance with agreed norms of the society in which he lives. He sees behavior that is in opposition to those norms, such as Vianne’s, as antisocial and therefore it does not require acceptance. The purpose of acceptance is to provide a sense of belonging and therefore when Vianne shows disregard for these rules of acceptance he feels justified in promoting her exclusion by the townspeople. Joanne Harris employs a number of literary techniques to increase engagement with the reader. By using parallelism of the two narrators, Vianne and Reynaud, each committed to an opposing point of view, Harris encourages the reader to develop a deeper understanding of the core issues. Harris â€Å"see’s Vianne and Reynaud as two sides of a single coin; closer in terms of their background, their fears and their struggle for dominance than anyone else in the story.† By presenting both sides equally Harris is able to encourage the reader to reflect on the concept of tolerance and intolerance. When questioned on the story Harris refers to it as â€Å"a plea for tolerance of others but also of ourselves, a reminder that to be fallible is both natural and allowed; that self-indulgence isn’t always bad;†(Harris, 2000) The use of a protagonist, an advocate or champion of a cause or idea, and an antagonist, a person who actively opposes someone or something, is a common literary technique in themes of major conflict. However, in Chocolat these roles are not clearly defined. Whilst a contemporary definition may see Vianne as the protagonist and Reynaud the antagonist, arguments could equally be made for the opposite based on the reader’s subjectivity and perspective. When questioned on which characters she perceives as fulfilling these roles, Joanne Harris stated â€Å"that’s a very good question, I will leave it to you as the reader to decide† By presenting the story from the two opposing perspectives of the main characters Vianne and Reynaud, Joanne Harris challenges the reader to come to their own conclusion of who is right or wrong. The deliberate absence of a third, neutrally narrated perspective reduces the potential for the reader to simply adopt the role of a bystander and instead draws them into the conflict and encourages them to reflect on the polarizing issues of the narrators. In doing so the reader will unconsciously form a subjective position, based on their own views and beliefs as to which character they most align with. This in turn encourages the reader to reflect on their own bias and explore where they find themselves on the tolerance/ intolerance continuum.

The Top 10 Must-Reads for Liberals

Walt Disney Is A Hero Of The Twentieth Century - 2068 Words

Walt had an early interest in art, he would regularly sell his drawings to neighbors. He then went off to start his art career, by studying art and photography by going to McKinley High School in Chicago. Walt started to love, and acknowledge nature and wild life, family, and community, which were a large part of agrarian living. Even though his dad could be very strict, and there was never really any money, Walt was encouraged by his mom, and older brother Roy to seek after his talent. Walt Disney is a legend; and a hero of the twentieth century. His overall prevalence depended on the standards which his name speaks to: creative energy, confidence, creation, and independent accomplishment in the American convention. He took us nearer to†¦show more content†¦Since he really wanted to have some part in the war he turned into a volunteer with the Red Cross. Within a week, he was sent to the front and didn t return for one to two years. At the point when Walt come back from the wars he told his dad that he wanted to become an animator, but his dad didn t approve of that. Walt really didn t care for his dad opinion and he enrolled in art school. Walt went to art school for a while in both Missouri and Kansas City and after that later found a job at a promoting firm in Kansas. There he met a very talented man named Ubbe Iwerks. Ubbe was an awesome artist and he and Walt turned out to be great friends. Walt and Ubbe worked throughout the day for the advertising company, but during the evening they studied the art of animation and experimented with ways to make animation smoother by using light and a camera. Walt soon quit his employment at the advertising firm since he was not happy with the work he was doing. He found an job in Kansas City at a Film Ad Company. Walt was quickly fired from this job and having nowhere else to go, he returned home. Walt and his brother Roy decided to form their own business available jobs didn’t allow them the creative freedom they deserved. They found a little place to set up their own studio on Hyperion Ave. in Hollywood. If their business were successful, it would be the first studio in the city strictly forShow MoreRelatedWalt Disney : A Hero Of The Twentieth Century2018 Words   |  9 PagesWalt Disney Bre’Osha Franklin Dr. White Miles College May 5, 2017 Abstract Walt had an early interest in art, he would regularly sell his drawings to neighbors. He then went off to start his art career, by studying art and photography by going to McKinley High School in Chicago. Walt started to love, and acknowledge nature and wild life, family, and community, which were a large part of agrarian living. 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His technical skills and ideological proclivities were so consummate that his signature obfuscated the namesRead MoreBuffalo Bill and Disney Essay2756 Words   |  12 PagesBuffalo Bill and Disney More than seventy years after Buffalo Bill â€Å"taught† the history of the West to a curious nation, Disneyland embarked on a strikingly similar course. Relying on creative marketing, star appeal, the American fascination with all things western, and, most important, an exceedingly glib portrayal of history, Disneyland in a strange way completed the story that Buffalo Bill started in 1883. Although the eras, to be sure, were decidedly different, history was delivered in exactlyRead MoreManga and Anime in the Japanese Culture Essay1146 Words   |  5 PagesJapanese Buddhist monks that lived during the twentieth century. They drew illustrations on scrolls of funny looking animals that dressed up and played the roles scholars and monks. 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Of these two depictions the most common in the modern world is the baby depictionRead Morefamous people1742 Words   |  7 PagesHenry Ford He gave us the assembly line and the Model T, and sparked America’s love affair with the automobile. 15 Theodore Roosevelt Whether busting trusts or building canals, he embodied the â€Å"strenuous life† and blazed a trail for twentieth-century America. 16 Mark Twain Author of our national epic, he was the most unsentimental observer of our national life. 17 Ronald Reagan The amiable architect of both the conservative realignment and the Cold War’s end. 18 Andrew JacksonRead MoreEvolution of Fairy Tales and Their Changing Influences on Children5699 Words   |  23 Pagescivilizations they are almost a rite of passage that every kid/children has to pass. Whether it was during the ancient times where the stories had to be narrated or the modern times where the fairy tales are in Disney versions, not forgetting the Grimm Brothers (Grimm, 1963). In the eighteenth century investigators argued that the fairy tales were derived from India and distributed to Europe. Others claim the source was Babylonia but Greek scholars ruled those arguments out arguing that there was no wayRead MoreEvolution of Fairy Tales and Their Changing Influences on Children5710 Words   |  23 Pagescivilizations they are almost a rite of passage that every kid/children has to pass. Whether it was during the ancient times where the stories had to be narrated or the modern times where the fairy tales are in Disney versions, not forgetting the Grimm Brothers (Grimm, 1963). In the eighteenth century investigators argued that the fairy tales were derived from India and distributed to Europe. Others claim the source was Babylonia but Greek scholars ruled those arguments out arguing that there was no way

Challenges Do Me Justice free essay sample

My life was never full of glass roses and gold stairs. I’ve had so many challenges in my life. I consider them all heart felt life lessons. They can be good or bad, can be repetitive or new yet challenges make you stronger. I’ve been going through challenges on repeat like a scratched CD, playing the same part over and over. Fear of the eyes of life is still a problem for me and will always be. What I mean by eyes of life is a person that watches me, who can possibly change my life, makes me nervous. As I walk into the room full of the eyes I gravely fear, I lose all thought. Once their eyes are on me I find myself in a dark room fill with a big eye that has teeth full of words, my heart creates a beat unfamiliar to me, voice crack and eyes get watery. We will write a custom essay sample on Challenges Do Me Justice or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I open my mouth the words that are being form come out broken. I just try to remember in my head that fear of intimidation doesn’t come from people thought or their opinion. It comes from the person’s appearance and their expression. The best way for me to ignore the eyes that watch me is to close my eyes and make them disappear. Once I take a deep breath my heartbeats become familiar, voice level outs, eyes dry out and thoughts come back to life. Insults have all different types. There are bad insults, invisible insults, nice insults, caring insults, intimidation insults, petrified insults, intrepid insults and the list goes on. I have overcome all but one, mean insults. All of my elementary school life, 1 or 2 classmates would always mess with me. If you would see me walking down the street, you would have thought I was a bully but I’m not. I was the one being bullied crying to my mother every night. I no longer cried regular tear these burned my eyes. The way tears are portrayed in movies cause you to believe tears just run off your face but they are actually the same color as your skin. You know why, because they leave a scar deeper than you’ll ever imagine. When I cry I feel like every tear falling down my face was a part of my soul being ripped away from my body. My mother would always tell me sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. As I look at it now that saying it’s suc h a cliche and they know it. People say it to make themselves or others feel better but it’s said to hide you away from the forms of reality. That form is actually word do hurt and they sting just as much as if someone stabbed you. I’ve been bran with the letters UGLY, black beast, fat, and gorilla. I shed tears for that. I sometimes didn’t even feel like I had a purpose in life. As I looked at these words I realize that they stand for good things. U.G.L.Y = Unique girl live youthfully, B.L.A.C.K B.E.A.S.T = Bold life acts critical and kindly Beauty elevates as stars travel, F.A.T = Fantasy adds tomorrows and G.O.R.I.L.L.A = Greatness over rides ignorant low lives always. All these words don’t affect me anymore because my physical appearance is an accessory to the soul. My soul is what make me, me. I started to realize that the only thing to live for is life and goals. Live for you and the moment that hold you together or even apart. Good Girl. Figuring out yourself is the hardest when you are a naive doll being pushed by others but the heart you contain inside your body is too sweet. Your heart is nothing more than a confused emotion that helps you feel. You dont know how to cut people off, you don’t understand how to be cautious, you can act but your heart is nothing but dough, uncooked and has nothing but love inside. Soon you will find your way and then you will truly have the heart of a panther. The panther will be hidden until the emotion gate flings open and unleashes the wrath that you keep inside. This is a challenge I face every day and will still be facing in my adult life no matter how hard I try. Here is a girl that walks around with a smile on her face but that smile is not her own it’s every other face she wants to keep happy. I try to make everyone happy and forget about my pursuit of happiness. I need happiness and to be able to have a smile for once that belong to me and me only. People may see me smile but that is just a masquerade mask my emotions have virtually tattooed upon my face. These may be situation people go through but they are struggles to me. All I seem to know is fantasy. Fantasy is what keeps me alive. People can make your sprits bright and make you consume the darkness they have brought upon you. Challenges are a mere example of life lessons and I overcome them one by one. Challenges help me close my eyes and follow the words of my stories. All stories I write about is about teens or a family overcoming their struggles and how they became stronger. The stories I write help me overcome my own challenges and problems in the lives of our generation, who are next to step up to the plate. Now as I think about it, if my life was filled with glass roses and gold stairs it would never make a difference it would just be an accessory.

What you can and cannot ask on an employment application or in an Interview

Disparate treatment is whereby an employer, under Title VII, is prohibited from discriminating employees or job applicants based on their membership in a protected class. Should an employer be found guilty of such kind of discrimination, the plaintiff can offer circumstantial or direct evidence that proves this.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on What you can and cannot ask on an employment application or in an Interview specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The plaintiff may offer direct evidence in cases where the employer openly admits to discriminating against them based on their origin. However, not many employers can openly admit to discriminating against their employees or job applicants and this makes it difficult to prove. The plaintiff may also offer circumstantial evidence based on three criterions. The first criteria is whereby the plaintiff has solid evidence that shows the employer made comments wh ether oral or written, that was directed towards employees of the protected class. The second criteria is whereby the employer openly shows preferential treatment of employees that he/she doesn’t discriminate against and lastly, the third criteria is whereby the job applicant or employee shows evidence that they were qualified for the job but a person who wasn’t in the protected class group got the job (â€Å"EEO, Disparate Treatment†, 1999). The bona fide occupational qualification is a quality that employers look for when hiring employees in their company. These qualifications when look at in another context may be deemed as being discriminatory and are thus considered to be a violation of the civil rights employment law. These qualifications may include mandatory requirements such as retirement ages for bus drivers and airline pilots for safety purposes. Others include: a manufacturer of male clothes advertising for male models, subscribing to a certain relig ious belief in order to be considered for a certain position, etc. However, these qualifications are only deemed necessary and legal if they are required for efficient running of the institution or the company. For instance, some positions such as chaplain or teaching faculty in a catholic college may require the employees to be Catholics.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Membership or applying to the college should not therefore require one to be a Catholic. Lack of customer satisfaction should not be a criterion for justifying a BFOQ defense. For instance, if customers prefer female flight attendants that doesn’t make it okay to hire only female personnel to the position (Ford, Notestine Hill, 2000). The four fifths rule is the simplest and most widely used way of estimating or determining adverse impact. It can be computed in four different ways. The first step is done by calculating the selection rate for each protected group which totals to more than 2% of the applicant pool. If one divides the total number of applicants within the group that is hired by the total number of applicants within the group, they would be able to calculate the selection rate. The second step is observing which group has the highest selection rate. Thirdly, one can calculate the impact ratio by taking the selection rate for each group and dividing it by the selection rate of the group with the highest selection rate. Lastly, it is important to note if the selection rates are substantially different as a score of less than 8 shows that there is a violation of the civil rights and employment act. There are certain types of questions that employers are advised not to ask during an interview. Such questions include age. Under no circumstances should employers ask job applicants their age. The employment act allows this question to be asked only when the job i nvolves serving of alcohol which requires a minimum age of 21 years or if the job requires the employee to be over 18 years. Citizenship of the job applicant should also not be asked unless the employer wants to establish if the applicant is authorized to work in that country. This is a better alternative to asking whether the applicant is an illegal immigrant. Once the applicant is hired, the employer can fill out an employment eligibility verification document. Inquiring about an applicant’s marital status is also not appropriate and neither is inquiring about their mental or physical disabilities. It is also not advised that the employer ask about the applicant’s health status. This may include inquiring about their addictions whether it’s cocaine, alcohol or any other drug. This may be looked at as a criterion for discrimination on the part of the employer. An employer is also required to accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs by including flexib le hours and allowing a flexible dress code that is required by one’s religion. Other questions that the employer shouldn’t ask include the applicant’s race or ethnic origin.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on What you can and cannot ask on an employment application or in an Interview specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Employers should be able to ask questions that define the qualities and characteristics of potential employees and basic aptitude tests. One can develop a list of interview questions that identify characteristics such as good communication skills, strong work ethics, integrity and honesty among other desirable characteristics. Questions should be carefully phrased so as not to be illegal. For example an employer can ask if the applicant is authorized to work in that particular country instead of asking if they are illegal immigrants or asking about their citizenship. When faced with illegal interview questions, the applicant may choose to request the employer to change the illegal job application process or to change the interview process. Alternatively, if the applicant wants to get the job they may decide to answer the questions in a non-confrontational manner. The applicant may also choose to take up the matter with the appropriate authorities by taking the job application form to them and filling for a complaint. References EEO: Disparate Treatment (1999). Retrieved from www.hr-guide.com/data/G701.htm Ford, E. K, Notestine, E. K, Hill, N. R. (2000). Fundamentals of Employment Law. ABA Publishing. This research paper on What you can and cannot ask on an employment application or in an Interview was written and submitted by user Alana Gutierrez to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

A Look at Feminist Utopia and Dystopia Literature

A Look at Feminist Utopia and Dystopia Literature Feminist Utopia Feminist utopia is a type of social science fiction. Usually, a feminist utopia novel envisions a world in stark contrast to patriarchal society. Feminist utopia imagines a society without gender oppression, envisioning a future or an alternate reality where men and women are not stuck in traditional roles of inequality. These novels are often set in worlds where men are entirely absent. Feminist Dystopia Often, a feminist science fiction novel is more of a dystopia. Dystopic science fiction imagines a world gone terribly wrong, exploring the most extreme possible consequences of current society’s problems. In a feminist dystopia, the inequality of society or oppression of women is exaggerated or intensified to highlight the need for change in contemporary society. Explosion of a Subgenre There was a great increase in feminist utopian literature during the second-wave feminism of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Feminist science fiction is often seen as more concerned with societal roles and power dynamics than the technological advances and space travel of â€Å"typical† science fiction. Examples Early feminist utopias: City of Ladies by Christine de Pizan  Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Contemporary feminist utopia novels: Works by Marge PiercyThe Wanderground by Sally Miller Gearhart Feminist dystopia novels: Walk to the End of the World by Suzy McKee CharnasThe Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood There are also many books, such as Joanna Russ’ The Female Man, that explore both utopia and dystopia.

Consciousness & Coma Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Consciousness & Coma - Research Paper Example The words ‘consciousness’ and ‘coma’ are two different states of mind. If defined from a broader perspective, consciousness is the state of awareness of the self and coma is the state of complete unawareness. Psychologically ‘consciousness’ is deep rooted in man’s thought structure and his response to the surrounding. The faculty of the mind undergoes a subjective experience stimulating his senses. In the field of medicine, consciousness is determined by a patient’s response to medication and physical activities. Psychologically ‘coma’  is  the unconsciousness of the mind unable to perceive his own state and an unwilling suspension of the thought structure of the mind. To a doctor it is the patient’s nervous breakdown and retarding movement of the body and the mind due to any brain injury caused by a shock or accident. More specifically the patients in the situation of Coma tend to respond in a different man ner than as normal patients. The patients in the situation of Coma are found to communicate to the external world through some reflex movements of the body muscles. Coma patients are observed to make their muscle tendons stiff enough as to render some communicative signals to the outer world. This type of non-verbal communication patterns emerges from the patient’s increased involvement with the inner consciousness, which causes the happening of reflexive actions (Tomandl & Jacob, n.d.) The interplay between the conscious state of mind and the surroundings determine the consequences faced by the comatose patient. In order to understand the connection between the state of coma and consciousness it is important to identify the various states of the conscious human mind. The psychiatrists also deal with this joint study of consciousness and coma. Psychologists are interpreting these in various ways. Both the terms define opposite