Sense and Sensibility Essay Example for Free

Sense and Sensibility Essay Jane Austen’s novel â€Å"Sense and Sensibility† was originally named â€Å"Elinor and Marianne† before the title was changed during publication in 1811. Thus, the readers associate Elinor with â€Å"sense† and Marianne with â€Å"sensibility†. â€Å"Sense† and â€Å"sensibility† establish the overall characterization of the two main characters. The dichotomy of â€Å"sense† and â€Å"sensibility† is one of the perspectives through which the novel is most commonly analyzed. Although Jane Austen seems to be in favour of â€Å"sense†, through the novel’s plot and characterization of the Dashwood sisters, Jane Austen seems to be suggesting that a balance of both attributes is necessary in order for one to survive in their society. â€Å"Sense and Sensibility† refer to Elinor and Marianne, respectively. From the footnotes of the novel, â€Å"sense† is defined as possessing judgment and intelligence, while â€Å"sensibility† is defined as capacity for refined emotional response to feelings and experiences, involving delicate sensitivity to moral and aesthetic issues. From these descriptions, Elinor can be portrayed as the embodiment of â€Å"sense†, while Marianne is â€Å"sensibility†. At the beginning of the novel, Jane Austen describes these two traits in Elinor and Marianne and how they are in comparison to each other. â€Å"Elinor†¦ possessed a strength of understanding and coolness of judgment†¦ and her feelings were strong: but she knew how to govern them† and â€Å"Marianne’s†¦ quite equal to Elinor†¦ but eager in everything†¦ she was everything but prudent. † These descriptions set up the basic personalities of the Dashwood sisters throughout the novel and are important in showing their growth. Some of the main trials faced in the novel are for â€Å"sense† and â€Å"sensibility† to cooperate and for the sisters to find a meeting point between reason and emotion. In the novel, as Elinor and Marianne mature and develop, the readers start to see the sisters exhibiting each other’s characteristics. For instance, when Elinor finds out that it was Robert that Lucy married and not Edward, she reacted the way the readers would expect Marianne to behave: â€Å"Elinor could sit no longer†¦ burst into tears of joy, which at first she thought would never cease. † By exhibiting â€Å"sensibility†, Elinor demonstrates to Edward her feelings for him and consequently, they are happily married at the end of the novel. Another instance is when Marianne reflects on her behavior: â€Å"My illness has made me think†¦ I saw in my own behavior†¦ nothing but a series of imprudence towards myself and want of kindness to others. † Here Marianne begins to think more rationally and before long, she sees how caring and heroic Colonel Brandon is capable of being (previously, she thought of Colonel Brandon as one who has succumbed to the infirmity of dull middle age) and eventually, Marianne gets her happy ending. From the aforementioned examples, the readers perceive that it is only when the sisters are able to find an intersection point between reason and emotion and their â€Å"sense† and â€Å"sensibility† are in balance, do the Dashwood sisters get their deserved outcomes. Here, the title â€Å"Sense and Sensibility† act as a plot device, as well as a device for character development. Another way in which the title of the novel is significant is it explores some of the main concerns in â€Å"Sense and Sensibility†. One of the main concerns explored is the relationship between Elinor and Marianne. The title â€Å"Sense AND Sensibility† perhaps suggests that â€Å"sense† cannot exist and function without â€Å"sensibility† and vice versa. Seeing that Elinor represents â€Å"sense† and Marianne represents â€Å"sensibility†, this would explain the reversal of roles at the end of the novel. The role reversal discards the somewhat fixed descriptions of the Dashwood sisters at the beginning of the novel. If Elinor and Marianne were to remain true to Jane Austen’s characterization of them, they would not be able to achieve their respective happy endings. Another concern explored through the title is societal expectations of women. In the introduction, it explains that â€Å"sensibility† may be considered as â€Å"a feminine attribute in some respects, but it would be socially inconvenient for women to possess too much of it, for they would not fit in with what was required of them or put up with what they had to endure†. One example, where the â€Å"possession† of too much â€Å"sensibility† has caused a problem is Marianne. When Marianne saw Willoughby at the ball, she was overcome by emotions and acted against the social code and shortly after that she fell ill. This is a result of her having too much of â€Å"sensibility† and too little â€Å"sense†. Perhaps Austen is trying to make a point that in society, a woman needs to have Elinor’s â€Å"sense†, but she also needs to display emotion and possess a bit of passion like Marianne. In short, the well balance of â€Å"sense† and â€Å"sensibility† is necessary. All in all, the overall impression that the readers get from the title, â€Å"Sense and Sensibility†, in relation to the novel’s plot and characters, is that the novel is not about the triumph of sense over sensibility or their division; on the contrary, the readers remember â€Å"sense† and â€Å"sensibility† as a conjunction of terms that serve together as the compound subject of Jane Austen’s novel.

White Noise :: essays research papers

Hoop Dreams pages 130 through 240   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In these chapters the two boys lives separated greatly. William had hurt his foot, and he had a baby girl. Arthur was playing very bad at basketball, and his family was becoming more poor then ever.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The way that this book is organized is a very simple one. The book is divided into two different parts. One of the parts is about the life of William, and the other part is about the life of Arthur. Both boys know each other, and sometimes their lives mix together. The chapters also include the stories about the families of each individual person. The story moves on with time, and each players life is documented. Sometimes the thing that can be confusing is how the two boys get mixed together. I mean I could be reading about one person and get it confused with the other person. Also sometimes the chapters go into too much detail about the family members of the two kids. I think that the book would be easier to read if the book was just one big story. If it didn’t feel like I was reading two books at once it would be much easier to read.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The book had one point that extremely interested me. That point had to do with Arthur’s dad Bo. Bo had to lower himself to robbery to try to support his drug habit. Bo used to be a good man and he had everything going for him. He had a family, and for a while he even supported his family. But when the drugs came he lost all hope. While he was robbing he was caught, and eventually he was sentenced to jail. In jail he found god, and decided to devote his life to god. This was interesting to be because, this incident changed Bo’s life forever. After finding Christianity Bo changed around completely. Eventually he stopped doing bad things, and importantly he stopped doing drugs ( â€Å"I don’t get high no more,† Bo said â€Å"I don’t sell cocaine.† You just poisoning yourself†). Also he got back to his family, and he stopped being a deserter of his family. To me this was important because religion saved his life. Before religion he was on the road to death and destruction. I believe that many prisons should try to spark religion back into the peoples lives, because right now Bo is a good man.

Ancient Religion vs Modern Religion Essay

There are many differences between an ancient religious viewpoint of the Greeks and Romans and a modern world religion viewpoint. I feel that the most distinguishing difference and the difference that I feel makes the biggest impact is that in a modern world religion society believers say there is one God or that the religions today are monotheistic, whereas in the ancient religions we have studied in class citizens say and believe there are multiple gods or were polytheistic. For example the Greeks believed in twelve gods such as Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, and Artemis. They all had names other than just God. This difference is obviously very apparent. In the ancient Greek religion there are gods for everything including grain, the moon, and the underworld; of these gods one is more powerful than the others but they have all power. For each element of the world they lived in, there was a god assigned to each. These gods were both male and female, had relationships with each other, and many had equal power. I like the idea that a specific god was worshipped for each separate element and piece of their world, and not just one god was worshipped for everything. I feel it made the society stronger and more balanced. Today in Christianity and other modern religions, it is believed there is one God who rules all. He created everything, hears all things, sees all things, and basically is everywhere. In ancient religion, the gods were both male and female. This showed that both males and females had power and it was believed that both genders were capable of creating, and worth worshipping. Versus Christianity, where the God is simply a male, and there is no woman god. The worship of many gods meant that the citizens of ancient worlds understood that one person or being should not hold all of the power and that power should be equal. It provided a balance to the society. Today in religion all of the power rests on one being. This just seems silly. In ancient religion it was spread among many beings. This difference leads to other differences between ancient religions and modern world religions. One other difference is that today God has to be everywhere and has to be all knowing. In ancient religions the gods lived on Olympus, woods, and other scared places. They were scattered throughout the world to ensure that the world functioned properly. Another difference I feel comes from the difference in being monotheistic and polytheistic is that today God is pure and has a wholesome character that is essentially perfect with good morals. God does not have imperfections like humans do. But in ancient religion the gods had the personalities of humans and were not so perfect. This difference I think attributes that humans don’t know why God behaves the way he does or does the things he does, but when the ancient gods would act like humans, they knew why, they shared the same emotions and personalities. For example Demeter felt the pain of loss when Persephone went to the underworld, this is indeed similar to the sadness a woman gets when she can’t have children or when all of her children have left the nest. One more difference that arises between modern world religions and ancient religions is that today God is abstract and must be all things to all people and is seen as a parent to protect humans. In ancient religions the many gods were seen more as divine beings who just made the earth better but frequently punished the humans and well didn’t really like the mortals. One final difference between modern world religions and ancient religions is that in a modern religion God created nature and can control nature but is never nature. God is never the sun, he is never the rivers. In ancient world religions the gods were nature, and they controlled nature as well. Ancient gods are sometimes seen as a personification of different elements of nature itself. The most important difference among the ancient religions and modern world religions is that ancient religions were mostly polytheistic and modern world religions are monotheistic. This main difference creates many more differences among the religions of different periods and creates a boundary that is clearly drawn between the religions of the ancient world and modern world religions. The gods of ancient worlds reflect the humans’ personalities, thoughts, and the balance of power they strive for in the world, and God represents perfection, good morals, and everything humans wish they could be. This main difference is fundamentally the difference that builds and creates other differences between ancient religions and modern world religions.

The Psychological Concept of Flow - 1381 Words

Flow Introduction Flow is a psychological state coined by positive psychologist, Mihaly Csà ­kszentmihà ¡lyii. Flow is a state of elevated consciousness and performance, created by single-minded immersion in a particular activity. (Csà ­kszentmihà ¡lyi,1997, p. 30). It is also described as peak performance and focus, with the performer forgetting about the self and becoming one with the activity. (Csà ­kszentmihà ¡lyi,1997, p. 31). It is the realm of enlightened activit,y, where the work itself is the reward. Thesis: Csà ­kszentmihà ¡lyi, through his Flow theory has discovered a key component of optimal living and joy. However, he may be approaching these components too narrowly by suggesting that one must perform certain activities to achieve it. Background Autotelic Personality Flow occurs most often among people with what Csà ­kszentmihà ¡lyi terms the Autotelic Personality. Autotelic people often possess a high degree of curiosity, persistence, low self-centeredness, and a high rate of performing activities for intrinsic reasons only. (Csà ­kszentmihà ¡lyi, 1990, p. 83-84). These traits allow a person to be internally motivated, deriving a sense of joy and fulfillment from their activities in themselves, as opposed to external rewards such as money, power and fame. (Csà ­kszentmihà ¡lyi, 1997, p. 117). Autotelic persons tend to possess a capacity for enjoyment that persists across a number of activities. Csà ­kszentmihà ¡lyi states that †¦such persons experience flow in work, in familyShow MoreRelated The Effects of Sport on Levels of Mindfulness and Experiences of Flow: A Comparison of Contact, Non-contact and Team, Non-team Activities1695 Words   |  7 PagesThe area of research that will be of focal concern is conscious awareness in relation to the concept of ‘mindfulness’. 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