A Hot Thing as a Catachresis in Beloved - Literature Essay Samples

In Beloved, characters experience egregious violations of their human rights that create situations that the English language cannot truly capture. The author, Toni Morrison attempts to communicate the meaning of some indescribable emotions and actions with catachresis, a literary device where a writer uses the closest possible phrase to describe something that has no accurate definition in the English language(Danner, 32-34). Morrison explains this in her foreword, saying â€Å"To render enslavement a personal experience, language must get out of the way.†(Morrison, XIX) One issue addressed throughout Beloved is the struggle of slaves to maintain their humanity through their human traits, such as their face or their teeth. Since this struggle has no definition that someone who has never been a slave could understand, Morrison uses catachresis to describe the different aspects of it. In her utilization of the phrase †a hot thing†(Morrison, 248), which Morrison draw s from Sethe’s understanding of characteristics, she describes the feeling that occurs after the loss of a human identity. This use of catachresis is used to communicate the emotion when a character feels as if either they or their loved ones have lost their humanity through the loss of a uniquely human trait. The specific phrasing of â€Å"a hot thing†(Morrison, 248) comes from Sethe’s limited definition of characteristics. When Sethe worked on the Sweet Home plantation, her understanding of characteristics was limited to the example â€Å"a feature of summer is heat. A characteristic is a feature. A thing thats natural to a thing.† (Morrison, 230) Due to Sethe’s lack of education, she has difficulty understanding what a characteristic is and she moves   on before she truly comprehends it. Morrison draws from Sethe’s experience at this moment to find a phrase which she feels will best communicate the meaning of an indescribable emotion. Morrison chooses this experience to find a phrase for the emotion, because this is the moment where it becomes most clear to Sethe that she is being treated as if she were an animal. Therefore, the phrase â€Å"a hot thing†(Morrison, 248) provides the the closest definition of an emotion, which occurs when someon e experiences dehumanization in Beloved. This is also one of the times in the novel that characteristics are linked to emotion. By having Sethe feel she is being treated like an animal, Morrison connects emotion with characteristics in the novel. Sethe fears that she could lose her humanity with the loss of only one characteristic, a fear shared by other characters. Sethe seeks clarification of what a characteristic is, when she overhears her master teaching his nephews to separate her   human and animal characteristics, saying â€Å"I told you to put her human characteristics on the left; her animal ones on the right.† (Morrison 228) A characteristic is more than just a visible aspect of a person’s appearance as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford English Dictionary). A characteristic is a feature, which is integral to the humanity of a person; therefore, a characteristic is a piece of someone’s identity. This is the origin of the fear of falling into pieces. The dehumanized feeling that Sethe has in this instance is not the only time when it becomes evident to the charact ers in Beloved that they are thought of as animals, but it is the explanation for why some characters feel that they could break into pieces at any moment. The characters feel that if they lose their defining characteristic that keeps them human, they will become just a list of animal characteristics rather than a human being. It becomes clear which features these characters consider to be uniquely human features. One characteristic that is considered to be integral to a part of some characters’ humanity is their teeth. Earlier in the novel,   Beloved loses a tooth and experiences the fear of no longer being human, and becoming just her animal characteristics instead. Morrison writes â€Å"Beloved looked at the tooth and thought, This is it. Next would be her arm, her hand, a toe. Pieces of her would drop maybe one at a time, maybe all at once.†(Morrison, 157) The decision to list only other body parts as the pieces of Beloved that would fall next is further evidence of a character’s fear that losing her unique, human characteristic would result in her becoming just her animal characteristics. After she loses her tooth Beloved worries that she has no characteristic to hold her human identity together, she will lapse into just her visible animalistic features, which she believes she will eventually also lose. So, to Beloved, losing a tooth is losing what she believes keep s her human.   Another time that teeth represent a distinctly human feature is Sethe’s listing of injustices that occurred during her experiences while enslaved. Sethe remembers, among other things, that the owner of the plantation â€Å" [whitefolk] gave Paul D iron to eat† (Morrison 222) This quote is significant because of the phrasing. Rather than referring literally to the bit in Paul D.’s mouth, this quote references the iron bit as iron he was forced to eat. This implies that the iron obscured his teeth, stopping him from expressing his most human characteristic, in Sethe’s eyes. The context of this quote also makes it clear that Sethe is talking about injustices that robbed   people to whom she was close of their humanity.   A second characteristic, which is represented as a defining part of a human’s identity in Beloved, is a person’s face. When the characters in Beloved remember Halle, they usually remember his face. When Sethe is remembering the same list of unjust things that happened in slavery, she also remembers that â€Å"they buttered Halle’s face† (Morrison, 222) While the master of the plantation did not literally butter Halle’s face, he did rob Halle of his humanity. After witnessing Sethe’s milking, Sethe’s husband, Halle went insane, sitting in a butter churn and stirring incessantly. Both Paul D. and Sethe remember the buttering of his face, not the loss of his humanity. These characters thought of Halle’s unique characteristic as being his face, so when Halle lost his sanity, and therefore his humanity, the characters of Beloved saw his buttered face as no longer being representative of his humanity.   Another time that faces are used to represent a person’s identity is when Sethe’s mother tells Sethe how to identify her, saying â€Å"If something happens to me and you cant tell me by my face, you can know me by this mark.†(Morrison, 72) While it initially seems that Sethe’s mother is telling Sethe that her mark is part of her identity, upon close examination it becomes clear that Sethe’s mother is telling her that if she dies, the ultimate loss of humanity, then she can be identified by a mark of her slavery. Specifically, by using the word â€Å"identify†(Morrison, 72) it becomes clear that Sethe’s mother is talking about how Sethe should know whether or not her mother is the person who is dead. Since she begins her statement with â€Å"if you can’t tell me by my face†(Morrison, 72) it is clear that she considers her face to be an integral part of her human identity. This is an instance of a character considering their face to be their defining feature and essentially stating that if they are dead, their face is no longer identifiable.   Through these examples, it becomes clear that characters are able to identify, either their own distinctly human characteristic, or the distinct characteristic of someone who they loved. However, these characters do not describe the distinctly human characteristic of those who they do not love.   When Sethe thinks about the injustices that occurred during slavery, she is able to specifically talk about the features which Halle and Paul D lost. When talking about her mother, who died before Sethe could get to know her well, and Sixo, to whom Sethe was not particularly close, she simply lists the things that happened to them, thinking â€Å"[whitefolk] crisped Sixo; hanged her own mother.† (Morrison, 222) Sethe is able to identify neither her mother nor Sixo’s distinguishing characteristic. This conclusion is significant because it explains the selective usage of   the phrase â€Å"a hot thing†(Morrison, 248), used later in the book only in references to pe ople whom the narrator loved and the loss of their human features.   The phrase â€Å"a hot thing†(Morrison, 248) is used to represent the emotion the narrator of chapter twenty two feels, when a man, who the narrator loves, dies. The narrator states â€Å"I cannot find the man whose teeth I have loved a hot thing†(Morrison, 249). The specific reference to this man’s teeth indicate that the narrator feels they were his distinctly human feature. The next time the phrase is used, it is used after the narrator sees â€Å"the little hill of dead people.†(Morrison, 249) The reason that â€Å"a hot thing†(Morrison, 248) is used after this fragment is that she has seen her man in this hill of dead people. While it is not explicitly stated in the text, she refers to her man as if she is sure he is dead for the rest of the chapter.   Another time the phrase â€Å"a hot thing†(Morrison, 248) represents an undefined emotion is in reference to the loss of a girl, who the narrator believes shares her face. When the narrator says â€Å"the woman with my face is in the sea a hot thing† (Morrison, 249).   She is experiencing the indescribable emotion represented by the phrase for two reasons. Firstly, because she lost another loved one and is remembering a feature which reminds her of that loved one’s identity as a human. Secondly,she believes that she and this girl share a face, saying at the beginning of the chapter â€Å"her face is my own†(Morrison, 248)   So, not only did the loss of this girl represent the loss of a loved one to the narrator, it also represents the loss of the quality with which the narrator identifies her own humanity. The explicit link between characteristics and one facet of this emotion was made when Morrison wrote about Beloved’s fear of falling into pieces after losing her own distinct characteristic. It is evident that the narrator of chapter twenty two believes that she has lost her own distinct feature as well from the sentence â€Å"I drop the food and break into pieces.†(Morrison, 251) In this sentence, the narrator of this chapter has succumbed to becoming just a list of characteristics and does not feel human anymore. This is why the narrator does not experience â€Å"a hot thing† (Morrison, 248) again, until she sees the face, which she believes is her own, come out of the water.   That the narrator does not feel â€Å"a hot thing†(Morrison, 248) again until she sees the face resurface shows that â€Å"a hot thing†(Morrison, 248) is an emotion. This is evident because in Beloved, complex emotions are addressed as something that is unique to humans. An example of this is when Paul D. says to Sethe that her love is â€Å"too thick† and that she has â€Å"two feetnot four.†(Morrison, 194) By saying this, Paul D. is telling Sethe that she is not an animal and therefore should be able to love without loving so much that she harms her loved ones. Paul D’s discussion with Sethe in this instance is indicative of the belief, held by the characters, that having complex and conflicting emotions is unique to humans. Therefore, when the narrator of chapter twenty two goes without experiencing the emotion represented by â€Å"a hot thing†(Morrison, 248) until she once again sees the face she lost, it is because the narrator had s topped feeling human. Morrison chooses to use this catachresis in chapter twenty two to give the reader a better understanding of what it felt like to be dehumanized everyday, while trying to hang on to humanity. When the meaning of the phrase â€Å"a hot thing†(Morrison, 248) has become clear to the reader, the chapter is particularly unpleasant to read. Morrison’s use of catachresis in this chapter serves to accomplish her goal of rendering â€Å"enslavement as personal an experience as possible.† (Morrison, XIX)   In conclusion, Morrison uses the phrase â€Å"a hot thing†(Morrison, 248) as a catachresis for an indescribable emotion that occurs when a character remembers the loss of either their own identity or the identity of a loved one as a result of losing a unique feature that represents their humanity. Morrison’s use of this particular catachresis is an attempt to express to the reader an emotion that can not be sufficiently defined with the English language. Morrison’s use of catachresis throughout the book is what allows the reader to gain insight into the emotions slaves experienced while undergoing the atrocities of slavery.

Create a Java Constant Variable (Static/Final Keywords)

A constant is a  variable  whose value cannot change once it has been assigned. Java doesnt have built-in support for constants, but the variable modifiers  static and final can be used to effectively create one. Constants can make your program more easily read and understood by others. In addition, a constant is cached by the JVM as well as your application, so using a constant can improve performance.   Static Modifier This allows a variable to be used without first creating an instance of the class; a static class member is associated with the class itself, rather than an object. All class instances share the same copy of the variable. This means that another application or main() can easily use it. For example, class myClass contains a static variable days_in_week: public class myClass {    static int days_in_week 7;} Because this variable is static, it can be used elsewhere without explicitly creating a myClass object: public class myOtherClass {      static void main(String[] args) {          System.out.println(myClass.days_in_week);    } } Final Modifier The final modifier means that the variables value cannot change. Once the value is assigned, it cannot be reassigned.   Primitive data types (i.e., int, short, long, byte, char, float, double, boolean) can be made immutable/unchangeable using the final modifier. Together, these modifiers create a constant variable. static final int DAYS_IN_WEEK 7; Note that we declared DAYS_IN_WEEK in all caps  once we added the final modifier. Its a long-standing practice among Java programmers to define constant variables in all caps, as well as to separate words with underscores. Java doesnt require this formatting but it makes it easier for anyone reading the code to immediately identify a constant.   Potential Problems With Constant Variables The way the final keyword works in Java is that the variables pointer to the value cannot change. Lets repeat that:  its the pointer that cannot change the location to which its pointing. Theres no guarantee that the object being referenced will stay the same, only that the variable will always hold a reference to the same object. If the referenced object is mutable (i.e. has fields that can be changed), then the constant variable may contain a value other than what was originally assigned.

Food Stamps, And There Importance Within Society. Food

Food stamps, and there importance within society Food stamps or other words known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP play a critical part in today’s society. More than 46 million American’s rely on food stamps to get through their everyday life. This program kept 4.9 million people out of poverty in 2012 not to mention the over 2 million kids. Food stamps are a voucher from the government for those on low income, exchangeable for food. Many families that have a large number of members, families that only have one single parent responsible for the entire income, or even the disabled which are unable to work rely heavily on this service just to keep food on the table. Furthermore, this is why this†¦show more content†¦To support the farmers, the Federal government bought farm commodities at a discounted price and distributed them among hunger relief agencies in states and local communities. The first Food stamp was issued in 1939 called the â€Å"Food Stamps Plan,† was implemented in 1 939 under the reign of Franklin D. Roosevelt as a variable of his New Deal program. Food assistance was made available to low-income individuals through the purchase of food stamps. Citizens in the program bought booklets of orange stamps to buy food and household items like starch, and soap but the stamps could not be used to buy alcohol, tobacco or foods eaten at stores. For every $1 in orange stamps, an additional $0.50 of blue stamps was given to people. Blue stamps could be used to buy foods in the grocery store including dry beans, flour, corn meal, eggs and fresh vegetables. Participants were required to buy the stamps so that money allocated for food purchases would not be spent on items that are not food. The program ended in 1943, as World War II and the economic boom significantly decreased the number of people living in poverty in the United States. 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Sartre and the Rationalization of Human Sexuality Essay

Sartre and the Rationalization of Human Sexuality ABSTRACT: Sartre rationalizes sexuality much like Plato. Rationalization here refers to the way Sartre tries to facilitate explanation by changing the terms of the discussion from sexual to nonsexual concepts. As a philosophy which, above all, highlights those features of human existence which seem most resistant to explanation, one would expect existentialism to highlight sexuality as a category that is crucial for considering human existence. Descartes comes immediately to mind when one focuses on Sartres major categories. In Sartres case however, it is not mind and matter but consciousness and its opposite: nothingness and being. This irreducible dualism is the key to the†¦show more content†¦All reality is either consciousness or non-conscious being. However, this Cartesianism is qualified by a dialectic derived from Hegel and by Hegelian concepts and explicated through a phenomenological method influenced by Husserl. Yet the net effect of Sartres picture of sexuality is surprisingly platonic; it is what Plato might be expected to say if he had published his position after World War II. Sartres philosophy is presented in his major work, Being and Nothingness, subtitled, An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology. (1) Hazel Barnes notes in her introduction that Sartre is one of the few philosophers in the twentieth century to produce a complete philosophical system. This system is presented in Being and Nothingness. The terms in the title refer to the two primary constituents of reality: being, which is non-conscious, and the negation of being, which is the way Sartre conceives of consciousness. This consciousness of being is examined by a method called phenomenological, which suggests that no pretension is being made to uncover the ultimate nature of reality in a metaphysics, but that Sartre intends to describe as accurately as possible the structures of reality as it appears. The dichotomy of being and nothingness is a new version of platonic and cartesian dualism with several severe qualifications.Show MoreRelatedCnps 365 Midterm 1 Notes Essay3947 Words   |  16 PagesChapter 4 5 Psychoanalytic Therapy †¢ Sigmund Freud. †¢ Freuds psychoanalytical system = model of personality development, approach to psychotherapy †¢ Often a benchmark used for other theories †¢ Freudian view of human nature = deterministic †¢ Behaviour determined by irrational forces, unconscious motivations 0biological/instinctual drives, evolve through key psycho sexual stages in first 6 years of life †¢ Instincts central †¢ Libido = energy of all life instincts †¢ Libido, source of motivationRead MoreFrom Salvation to Self-Realization18515 Words   |  75 PagesConsumption: Critical Essays in American History, 18801980, ed. by Richard Wightman Fox and T.J. Jackson Lears, New York: Pantheon Books, 1-38. Reprinted with the permission of the author. 1On or about December 1910, Virginia Woolf once said, human character changed. This hyperbole contains a kernel of truth. Around the turn of the century a fundamental cultural transformation occurred within the educated strata of Western capitalist nations. In the United States as elsewhere, the bourgeois

Dyslexi A Learning Disability Characterized By Difficulty

Dyslexia is a learning disability characterized by difficulty in reading fluently, as well as comprehending what is read, even in the absence of any other disabilities and with a normal IQ. There are several categories in which individuals with dyslexia may have trouble, such as language skills, phonological decoding and awareness, verbal comprehension, rapid naming, processing, and auditory short-term memory. One factor that stands out with dyslexia and one that causes a lot of controversy is the definition. These can include symptoms-based definitions, other problems that lead to literacy difficulties, and a working definition agreed upon by the Health Council of the Netherlands, which states â€Å" Dyslexia is present when the automatization of word identification (reading) and/or spelling does not develop or does so very incompletely or with great difficulty.† (Smythe, 2011) This definition provides a broad explanation that does not touch on specific causes and avoids any stigmatizing language in order to better serve those affected with dyslexia. The etiology of dyslexia is vast and varied. Although the fact that it is neurological is well-known, several causes can be attributed to it, such as environmental, cognitive, behavioral, and biological reasons. Dyslexia can also be acquired, which means it can appear later in life. Because of this, there are debates within the scientific community, with research being performed such as brain scans and other procedures to

Moral Accountability Essay Example For Students

Moral Accountability Essay Morality depends on the ability of an individual to choose between good and evil, thus, entailing freedom of the will and the moral responsibility of the individual for his actions. It is obvious this is so for the individual, but what about groups and governments? Do they have the ability to choose between good and evil, do they have free will and therefore are they subject to the same paradigms of morality as the individual or does an autonomous morality apply. What if we relate this concept of morality to a present day moral dilemma? Such as should the United States government fire cruise missiles at Serbian cities in order to force the government of Serbia to comply with NATO demands of withdrawal from Kosovo? What moral questions should be asked? Further yet, as we are members of a representative democracy, do the citizens bear any of the responsibility of the governments actions? Am I responsible for the government I choose? Being that it is the actions of a governments we wish to question the morality of, we must know what the present justification for or against the launch of cruise missiles at Serbia and what the consequences of that decision would be. It can be conjectured that the official rational of the United States government in its decision to use cruise missiles on Serbia is based on cost/benefit analysis of what would be in the best interest of the nation and the worlda utilitarian morality. The Serbian government has invaded and seeks to undermine the sovereignty of Kosovo while using genocidal tactics to control the population. The US is acting on what it believes to be the greatest good for the greatest number. But who is the government to place a market value on human life? Is it moral and does the government have the right to place such a value on human life? And who is responsible for their decision? The official utilitarian rationale of the United States government does place a market value on human life Kant writes: Now morality is the condition under which alone a rational being can be an end in himself, for only thereby can he be a legislating member in the kingdom of ends, survival of the individual in a group is the end. If we are to treat men otherwise, as a means to an end, we must make that a categorical imperative and we must treat it as if that action will be a universal law of nature laws to live by). Hence, to do harm to others, to place a market value on man, would be immoral since it would harm humanity. Likewise, it is immoral for the United States to sacrifice ten thousand lives in hope of saving more. It must be asked what if everyone sacrificed ten thousand lives?. According to Kants theory of the Universal law, We must be able to will that a maxim of our action become universal law, this is the canon for morally estimating any of our actions (Kant). Perhaps it is a touch ironic that the very document the US was founded on reads: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This, like Kants moral philosophy of universal maxims, proclaims that man has intrinsic absolute value. Yet, so quickly are we ready to disregard this declaration as our cost benefit analysis dictates. Slavery was abolished on the principle of the absolute value of man. Why should we disregard this now? Do we suspend the unalienable rights to life whenever it would be most prudent? The 24 Hours Essay It must be remembered that by lowering the value of life of others, we at the same time lower our own value. Governments and institutions are composed of a completely different dynamic than that of the individual. This leaves man curious as to whether to obey the same set of morals. These moral issues lead to the question of whether .

Impact of Motivational Theories on an Organization-Free-Sample

Question: Analyse key motivational theories and how they may influence organisational success. Answer: Introduction Motivation is a crucial factor that impacts employee performance. Motivation drives employees to perform to the best of their abilities. Motivated employees perform better and this eventually leads to accomplishment of organizational objectives [1](Lazaroiu, 2015). Leaders of the organization hence use various strategies to ensure that employees remain motivated. Few key motivational theories are as below: Maslows motivational theory This is the most widely used motivational theory given by Maslow. This theory creates a hierarchy of needs for individuals. This hierarchy defines that physiological needs take precedence over all other needs [2](Niemela, 2014). This theory can be applied in organizations by leaders by ensuring that the self-actualization and esteem needs of individuals are fulfilled. In order to fulfill the same, they must be allotted responsibilities that help in their personal growth, development and learning as well as accomplishment of organizational goals. McClellands motivational theory This theory states that every human has three predominant needs and the leaders of the organization must ensure that these needs are fulfilled. Employees must be rewarded for their work, they must be given leadership roles from time to time and they must be given opportunities to work in team. This fulfills their needs and this is what motivates employees to work hard and fulfill their goals[3] (McClelland, 2015). Herzbergs Motivational factors Herzberg has tried to understand the motivational theory by establishing the exact factors that motivate employees and keep them satisfied in an organization. These factors are called satisfiers. However, there are factors which lead to employee dissatisfaction and these are called hygiene. The organizations must aim to change these hygiene factors into motivation factors. All these factors depend on the organizational culture. Therefore, as leaders it is imperative that the culture of the firm motivates employees to work hard and this is possible only if they are satisfied. Goal setting theory This theory states that in order to motivate employees they must have clear goals. These are the ultimate targets that employees are expected to accomplish and this is what motivates employees. The leaders of the organization must set SMART goals for their employees [4] (Locke, 2013). That are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound. It is very important that employee targets motivate employees rather than discouraging them. Self-Efficacy theory This theory lays emphasis on individual employees belief about themselves, trust in their abilities and what they think of themselves. This theory states that leaders must work to motivate employees to believe in themselves. Self-efficacy theory and goal setting theory go hand in hand. Once the goals have been set for the employees, they must be achieved and once these goals are accomplished they enhance the employees belief in their own abilities. When managers set high goals for their employees, it is an explicit gesture of stating their trust in the employee. Which in turn motivates employees to perform better. Intrinsic rewards Intrinsic rewards are forms of recognizing employees for their hard work. These rewards are not tangible and hence more crucial when used as forms of motivating employees. These include giving employees a sense of purpose, enabling them to face healthy competition within the organization, having them believe in their capabilities and publicly recognizing jobs well done. Such measures by the top management motivate employees to work hard and fulfill their goals. References Lazaroiu, G. (2015). Employee Motivation and Job Performance.Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations,14, 97. Niemela, P., Kim, S. (2014). Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. InEncyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research (pp. 3843-3846). Springer Netherlands McClelland, D. C. (2015). Achievement motivation theory.Organizational behavior,1, 46-60. Locke, E. A., Latham, G. P. (Eds.). (2013).New developments in goal setting and task performance. Routledge. Lazaroiu, G. (2015). Employee Motivation and Job Performance.Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations,14, 97. Niemela, P., Kim, S. (2014). Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. InEncyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research (pp. 3843-3846). Springer Netherlands. McClelland, D. C. (2015). Achievement motivation theory.Organizational behavior,1, 46-60. Locke, E. A., Latham, G. P. (Eds.). (2013).New developments in goal setting and task performance. Routledge.