Characterization, Tone, and Setting in The Story of an Hour :: The Story of an Hour

Characterization, Tone, and Setting in The Story of an Hour 1 The theme of â€Å"The Story of an Hour† is do not believe everything that is told to you until you see it yourself. This story is understood better when you focus on these three critical concepts, characterization, tone and setting. 2 First off is characterization, which is important for what is upcoming at the end of the story. To understand this you must understand the character of Louise Mallard. Louise was young looking with fair skin and a calm face, who spoke repression and some strength. [?] She also has a heart problem, which means the death of her husband has to be broken to her as gently as possible. But now [?] there is nothing but a dull stare gazing into the patches of blue sky as if she was in intelligent thought. 3 The second of the three critical concepts I am using is tone. Tone is the prevailing attitude as perceived by the reader. Attitudes I got from reading this story were sad and shocked. The sad part is when her husband had died in a railroad disaster. It was her sister who had, with broken sentences, slowly told her that he had died. Mr. m[M]allard's friend Richard was also there at the time to assist Josephine in breaking the bad news. After they had told her, she had looked [?] herself in her room and stared out the window. The second attitude was shocked this was how I felt at the end of the story. [CS - 1] The reason I did is when Josephine finally got Louise to come out of her room and come back downstairs. [Frag -1] On the way downstairs the front door opened and in walked Mr. Mallard who was supposedly dead. The sight of him shocked Louise so much that it had caused her to have a heart attack and die. This was shocking to me because they had said that he had die d in a railroad accident and the second telegram confirmed it. But Mr. Mallard had said that he was now were [nowhere; Hostage 50] near the supposed accident even though [?] he did not even hear about one.

Reparations: African Americans Justice Essay

The United States government should pay reparations to African Americans as a means of admitting their wrong-doing and making amends. The damages African Americans have sustained from White America’s policy of slavery have been agonizing and inhumane. Therefore, I am in favor of reparations for African Americans. The effect of slavery has been an enduring issue within the African American community. Many of us are cognizant of the harm racism brought to the African American race, conveyed through slavery, racial segregation and discrimination. African Americans suffered many atrocities, but the greatest damage done to them was the destruction of they’re original identity. African Americans no longer have a native language or any African customs to connect them to Africa. Today, African Americans are connected together because they all share a common foundation-the horrendous experience of slavery-and the great effort to conquer its lingering result. (www. AcedemicLibrary. com) Americans should realize the magnitude of slavery’s consequences on African Americans as a whole. Blacks were brainwashed and stripped of self-esteem and taught to be ashamed of dark color of their skin. Many African Americans have effortlessly tried to advocate â€Å"Black Pride†, trying to re-instill self-worth and being proud of our distinct facial and body features, and darker complexions. African Americans had zilch to begin with after the abolishment of slavery in 1865. Slaves were promised a â€Å"mule/ and 40 acres† and they didn’t live to receive it nor did generations to follow; because the American government has yet to live up to its word. The fruit of the slaves’ labor was stolen from the â€Å"land of the free†. The victims of the White people’s African slave trade never experienced such freedom. This race deserves compensation for the mistreatment Pongee Bryant it has suffered and continues to endure. Paying reparations to the descendants of African American slaves would bring about a tremendous improvement for the advancement of Black America. (Douglass, Fredrick, 1845, Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass). White Americans have profited from education, life experiences, riches that were handed down by their ancestors. As well, African Americans have been handed down the hardship of race-related issues, poverty, and the unknown history of their past. African Americans have constantly been inflicted with the social status of their low-income level in contrast with that of White Americans. America should be ashamed for their mistreatment of a race that did not ask or even desire to reside in this country. Yet, they still wear their ugly face of racism, and discrimination, and only seek to segregate African Americans, as if they were at fault. Americans may argue Blacks shouldn’t be complaining, whining, and to pull themselves up by their boot straps. Well, Martin Luther King once said â€Å"White America wants us to pull ourselves up from our boot straps, but we don’t have any boots†. (Shuttlesworth, Fred, 1999, A Fire You Can’t Put Out). The U. S. government has a moral responsibility to this race of people to compensate, African American’s because they were denied their heritage, religion, family, and culture. America alleges it is a religious-based country and their faith resides in God. The bible says: â€Å"If a man steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. † This country consistently contradicts itself in the way it wants to be perceived. If America has any belief in God, they should feel an obligation to compensate the African American descendants of slave ancestors. (Exodus 22, Bible). Pongee Bryant White Americans may argue that the country did enough when it passed the Civil Rights Act in 1960. They may also state America has enough resources and equal opportunity for each individual of every race to succeed. However, there is a huge wealth gap in social status among blacks and whites mostly because of oppression, discrimination and racism toward the modern day contemporary black. Whether anybody wants to admit it, there is still a glass ceiling (i. e. ,a status barrier) against African Americans. Reparations would bring African Americans justice and economic power in this country. There are numerous black reparation organizations which could receive the money and distribute it evenly among African Americans, to incorporate black-owned businesses, home ownership, and better education selective for young and old blacks. These reparation organizations could also invest money into smaller black-owned businesses, and other industries that would further the African American race, and ensure a rapid growth of African American middle-class and beyond. (Robert J. Brym/ John Lie, Sociology) The exploitation of African Americans in this country took on many forms through decades. The centuries of slavery in this country laid the foundation of our current relationship to America. From cotton fields to building America’s most significant buildings African Americans have helped build the wealth in this country. Yet, the African American race has endured the most terrorism from the Ku Klux Klan, lynchings, plantation jails, police torture and murder, and poverty. Slavery was a crime against humanity; and it still is in existence in many other ways and forms. America has created a system with, voter discrimination, drugs, and drug sentences to keep the African Pongee Bryant American man enslaved. The government should compensate the African American race and put an end to a never-ending oppression cycle. The government of the United States of America was instrumental in having pressured the German and Japanese governments into the payments of reparations to the people who suffered and survived the crimes and legacy of slavery endured during World War II. The government of the United States has also already paid reparations to the Japanese-Americans who were detained in concentration camps during World War II. America calls herself a fair nation: a civilized country which respects civil and human rights, encourages opportunity for and well-being of all her people, and can be trusted by other nations as a county whom honors her word. Well, America promised African Americans 40 acres and a mule and didn’t live up to her promise. America’s attitude and silence on reparations reeks of hypocrisy. (X, Malcolm, Biography of Malcolm X). America should also pay reparations to African Americans because they consistently want us to labor for their work and take all the credit. For instance America is at fault for African American dead and injured men who served and were drafted in the Vietnam War. America put young black men on the front-line of a war they had nothing to do with nor helped contribute to. America wanted a race that was not yet â€Å"capable† of voting but was competent enough to fight in a war. A race that did not have the option of drinking from any fountain, sitting anywhere on a bus, using any bathroom, however we were fit for fighting. The point is America constantly benefits from African Americans, but refuses to compensate African Americans for their contributions to this country. (www. AcedemicLibrary. com).

Essay Laurent Clerc Pioneer Teacher - 958 Words

Laurent Clerc Pioneer Teacher 1785-1869 Laurent Clerc was born in LaBalme, France, on Dec. 26 1785. His father was Mayor of the town and the family could boast of a long line of magistrates in the Clerc lineage. At the age of one, the infant fell from a kitchen chair by accident into a nearby fireplace. He was burned on one side of his face and a fever left him totally deaf. He had uncle also named Laurent Clerc, who heard about the school for the deaf in Paris. When he was twelve years old, his uncle brought him to Paris and took him in the Royal Institution for the Deaf. In 1816, his eight year as a teacher, an event happened which changed the course of his life. He met a young idealist from America, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet,†¦show more content†¦At age 84, Laurent Clerc died on July 18, 1869. History of Laurent Clerc There are a lot of firsts that Laurent Clerc accomplished. He was the first deaf teacher in America, the first deaf person to appear before U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C. to talk about establishing public schools for the deaf, and the first deaf person to get an honorary M.A. degree from Trinity College. Clerc was born to a prominent family in the village of LaBalme, France. His father was a notary by profession and a mayor of the village for 34 years. His mother was the daughter of another notary. Males in Clercs family held the office of Tubelion (a Royal Commissary) in that village for over 300 years. Clercs family believes that he became deaf after falling from his highchair into the kitchen fire, but he might have been born deaf. His right cheek was burned from the accident- hence the name sign of brushing two fingers across cheek. Clerc lived through the French Revolution, witnessing Napoleons rise and fall. In fact, he lived in England for a while to escape from the turmoil. Clerc had once been considered to help start a school for the deaf in Russia but was passed over because he was deaf. He agreed to coe to America for only three years for three reasons: 1) to help organize a new school for the deaf; 2) to be the first experienced teacher; and 3) to teach others how to teach deaf. However, he married one of his beautiful, dark-eyed, dark-haired, slender,Show MoreRelatedEdmund Booth: Deaf Pioneer Essay1064 Words   |  5 PagesEdmund Booth: Deaf Pioneer Edmund Booth was born on a farm near Springfield, Massachusetts in 1810. Some of the hats he wore during his lifetime were farmer, teacher, activist for the deaf, pioneer settler, 49er, journalist, and politician. The consistent theme in Booths life, one to which he always returned, was his commitment to the deaf: working for the rights of all deaf people in this country, including education of deaf children. Booths interest in deaf issues wasRead MoreSign Language Is A Complex System Of Communication2007 Words   |  9 Pagesaristocrats who could afford private tutoring and helped children to learn how to speak audibly and instructed children in writing and simple gestures. De Ponce’s success would have not been if not for Bonnet. In 1620, Bonnet went down in history as the pioneer of education for the deaf. Juan Pablo published the first book on deaf education in Madrid that is considered the first modern treaty of phonetics and speech therapy, setting out a method of oral education for deaf children by means of the use of