So Long a Letter Essay Example

So Long a Letter Essay So Long a Letter is a novel written by Mariama Ba, a black Sengalese author. It was assumed that she had lived a life that was very similar to the two main female characters of her story. Mariama Ba is an educated woman, who attended school at Ecole Normale Institution, an exclusive Western school situated in her own native country. During the publication of her work, she was a schoolteacher who is doing her share to help ease the societys unrest caused by their transition to freedom from being Frances colony for a long time. Mariama Ba is an active feminist and a women’s rights activist. And as a divorced woman herself, she is against polygamous marriages. And it is primarily because of the many difficulties that it causes women.II. Type of WorkSo Long a Letter was a novel that is presented in a form of a letter. The main character in the story writes a very long epistle to her friend, narrating all the pains and hardships that she had been through from the time her husband t ook a second wife up until his recent death and thereafter. The literary work touches on Muslim-African culture and traditions. It was written against a backdrop of a turbulent society where women are inferior to men.III. Type of PlotSo Long a Letter follows an episodic type of a plot. The book is composed of several series of stories included in each chapter that narrates the lives of the main characters in the story.   All these stories are linked to each other. They were all about trials, difficulties, and the choices people have to make. Each chapter has its own climax that slowly builds towards an end. Generally, there were no overall high point or plot to the entire story.   Instead, everything was a smooth and steady narration of the events that happened in the storyteller’s life in a reversed chronological order, starting from the death of his husband and back to the time he took a second wife, where most of the storys tragedies occurred. But the story doesnt stop there. It pushed forward into the future towards the time when the main character dealt with her loss and the things she did to live with a new life following her husbands death.IV. Setting, Time, and Locale of the PlotThe story is set during the time that Senegal was in transition to become an independent country. Senegal was previously a colony of France; and as they move towards liberty, the society is in total unrest. Politics was always brewing and trade unionism was very rampant. New Africa is expected to be on the rise. And it is also during the said point in time that the society follows the strict Islamic tradition of putting men in a pedestal much higher than the women. It is the time where the husbands are supposed to provide for their wives and their children and the women’s main job is to merely take care of their husbands.V. Social or Political ContextIt was only in 1960 that Senegal has gained its independence from France and became a separate entity. Senegal was under the French colony since the 17th century. And during that period of time, there were civic disturbance everywhere. It is also in the same year that only a few African women were given a chance to education. Most of privileged few that were able to study came only from the elite society, as not many believe in the importance of education for African women. A lot of it is because women are given a role in the society that doesnt require much of education. With the great influence of Islam in the nation of Senegal, the only thing that a woman should do for the country is to rear children. And it is not important that she be educated to do that well.Mariama Ba, like the main characters of her story, were one of those few educated women of Africa. As a result, she was able to teach in schools and was able to give back to the younger generation what she had attained. With this story she had written, she unconsciously aims to raise the position of Senegalese women in a rank thatà ¢â‚¬â„¢s closer, if not within the same level, as with the men.V. Character AnalysisThe main characters of the story are as follows:RamatoulayeRamatoulaye is the main character of the story. She is also the same one who wrote the letter to her friend, Aissatou. It is her life story that was the main focus of the novel. Ramatoulaye is a schoolteacher in Senegal and when she wrote the letter, she was 55 years old and a widow.Ramatoulaye is a strong woman and was able to live through the pain and struggles associated with the Islamic traditions and the transformations in the society. Despite the infidelity directed to her by her husband, she was still the same woman who performs most inside a family setting. And as such, she stood by her children throughout the ordeal. Ramatoulaye is the perfect blend of the old and new woman of the society. She is devoted to her children and yet she is able to hold on a career that enriches her being. And more importantly, she never believes that wome n were merely meant for the home and has lesser rights than men.AissatouAissatou is Ramatoulaye’s friend who is the recipient of the letter. Ramatoulaye regards her like a true sister, as both of them had shared childhood went to the same school and together. And like Ramatoulaye, Aissatou had gone through the same hardships when his husband took a second wife. Being educated and liberal, Aissatou left Senegal after she requested for a divorce and served in the Senegal Embassy in the U.S. She lived independently and provided for her son then after.If Ramatoulaye is a showcase of a woman both of the past and of the present, Aissatou is a picture of the modern liberated female. She doesn’t want to conform to the beliefs that the society unresistingly accepts, more particularly about polygamous marriage. Instead, she came out and openly asserted herself and her right. She lived liberally after which.Modou FallModou Fall is the husband of Ramatoulaye. He was the object of love and obsession of Ramatoulaye for a whole twenty-five years. And she was equally adored by Modou Fall up until he decided to marry a much younger woman. Modou and Ramatoulaye had twelve children and all of them had suffered from the day their father was absent in favor of his new wife. Modou Fall died of heart attack years after he had remarried.Modou Fall is but society’s regular male. He does according to his whims and tries to justify it with the law. He had not the courage to even face Ramatoulaye when he abruptly decided to marry another woman. He is basically weak and had merely used religion as a weapon. He is a coward who can’t even face his wife under his supposedly muscular build.Mawdo BaMawdo Ba is Aissatou’s husband. He is a doctor by profession and a man who is well regarded by a society where herbs and potions are next best thing when it comes to finding a cure for common sicknesses. However, Mawdo Ba’s elitist mother is not in favor of his marriage to Aissatou, even if it is very clear that Mawdo loved her so much. Mawdo Ba is Modou Fall’s friend. He is also the one who had introduced the two to each other.Mawdo Ba is the type of a man whose resolve is not absolute. He succeeded in going against her mother’s wishes when he chose to marry Aissatou. But he merely threw that resolution away the very moment he blindly fell into her own mothers trap by leading her to take another woman as a second wife. This fact could even go to show that men might just be polygamous in nature.BinetouAlthough Binetou’s actions in the story are not much told about, her role is very important for it is her who caused a turn in Ramatoulaye’s life. Binetou is the second wife Modou Fall had took indiscriminately. She is a much younger woman and actually the friend of Modou’s oldest daughter, Daba. Binetou was not rich and doesn’t have a father to look out for her. And so when Modou proposed marriag e, it was mother who was very much in favor of it. Binetou accepted Modous proposal for a marriage because of the security blanket that it would be able to provide her and her family. Binetou was merely 19 when Modou Fall died.TamsirTamsir is Modou Fall’s elder brother. He, along with Mawdo and the local Imam, is the person who broke the news to Ramatoulaye about Modou having a second wife. And on the fortieth day of Modou’s death, Tamsir indicated that he would like to marry Ramatoulaye in regards to the Islam tradition that the younger brother is supposed to inherit another brother’s wife the moment he died. Tamsir intended to use the tradition eventhough he is Modou’s elder brother and not a younger brother just like the custom implied.Daba FallDaba is Ramatouleye’s oldest daughter. She is also the person who took Binetou to their house because she was her friend and schoolmate. It was during those times that Binetou was their guest that their f ather had developed some affection to the young girl. Modou always volunteers himself to bring her home. Consequently, Binetou has Daba as confidante when it comes to the things that were happening in her life.   But when she talks about her story, she omits Modou’s name and merely referred to him as a sugar daddy. Daba even asked for an advice from her mother to help out Binetou, not knowing that they are actually talking about Binetou and her father all the while.Daouda DiengDaouda Dieng is Ramatoulaye’s former suitor. He is also the same person that her mother wants her to marry. Daouda Dieng is also a doctor and he had reappeared in Ramatoulayes life from Modou’s funeral thereafter. And much of it is because he still cares for her. Like Tamsir, Daouda Dieng also expressed his desire to marry Ramatoulaye. But Ramatoulaye openly refused. Daouda Dieng already has a wife and although their law permits taking another wife, Ramatoulaye chooses not to go between him and his family. She doesn’t want to do what Binetou had done to her.VI. Summary of the Storyâ€Å"So Long a Letter† started off with Ramatoulaye reminiscing the events that happened to her the past few days. She created the letter with the main intention of telling Aissatou about the death of his husband, Modou. And along that path, Ramatoulaye had begun a journey back in time, starting from when she and Modou met.Modou died from heart attack while dictating something to his secretary in his office. He was a lawyer. He studied in France and went back to Senegal to practice. But he wasn’t like any regular lawyer who merely works for money. Primarily, he does his job for the community. This is what makes Modou a person of great dignity and social position. Ramatoulaye had described him as the perfect man during their courtship stages. And despite her mother’s disapproval of Modou, she chose him to be her husband because she felt that he was the man that was meant for her.Ramatoulaye and Aissatou were best friends and even treat each other as sisters. They both went to the Western same school and are one of the few women who were given the elusive opportunity to finish a degree. Ramatoulaye became a schoolteacher. And in the long twenty-five years that she is married to Modou, she had balanced her time between her work and her family with great success.Everything was perfect in Ramatoulaye’s household up until her oldest daughter, Daba, brought a classmate with her in the house. And just like any mother, Ramatoulaye merely shrugs the fact that her husband is especially fond with Daba’s classmate, whose name is Binetou. But she was able to see the young woman’s transition from wearing plain and basic clothes to something that comes from an expensive clothes store. The once shy and timid girl is no longer one either. And she had made it very apparent every time she was in their house.But despite that, Ramatoulaye never had once doubted Modou’s love for her. That was up until her brother-in-law Tamsir, Mawdo, and the local Imam had paid her an unannounced visit one day. They have all come to inform her that Modou had, just a few seconds ago, married another woman, giving himself a second wife. And that woman was indeed, Binetou.During those years that Modou left them abandoned, Ramatoulaye had tried to live in the exact same way as she does. But even so, she started to question the whole idea surrounding polygamous marriages. She even would like to shout out the fact that even if a man is allowed a second wife, each wife should be treated as equal. It is as if his husband had forgotten that he still has a lot of responsibility to her and her children. But even so, Ramatoulaye and her twelve children had managed on their own. And despite their hardships, she still want her children to think well of their father. It is just that they all fail to understand what was happening to them and why it did. The biggest pain of all was with their oldest daughter, Daba.But as Ramatoulaye recounts her story, she can’t stop writing about Aissatou’s ordeal along with it. Like her, Aissatou was a victim of a polygamous marriage. Mawdo Ba, who eventually became Aissatou’s husband, was a doctor. It was Modou who introduced Mawdo to their circle of friends and that had included Aissatou. When the two of them decided to get married, Mawdo’s mother was very much against it. Mawdo’s mother used to be a Princess of the Sine and she could not dwell on the fact that her only son is marrying an ordinary woman without wealth, title, and social prominence. Despite being educated, Mawdo’s mother regarded Aissatou merely as a goldsmith’s daughter. But Mawdo was resolute. He married Aissatou against her mother’s wishes.But her mother was not soon to be defeated. She actually devised a ploy to make Mawdo marry Nabou. Nabou is the daughter of Diouf and Diouf is her younger brother. Mawdo gave in and in essence, he took his cousin as his second wife. When that happened, Aissatou didnt sit back and merely watch thing befall her. She asserted herself, asked for a divorce, and fled to a different land to start a new life. Since then, she had worked in the Senegal Embassy in the U.S. After the divorce, she had lived independently supporting herself and her son.Ramatoulaye’s reaction to her husband’s second marriage was different though. She chose to stick with the situation in the hope that Modou will assume his forgotten responsibility to her and her family in due time. But all her thoughts were disrupted with the death of her husband. And it is only during that time that she started to break free from the idea that women are merely created to serve, act, and think, behind the shadow of men.During the days of seclusion and mourning, Ramatoulaye was able to realize a lot of things. And on the fortieth day fol lowing Modou’s death, Modou’s elder brother Tamsir asked for her hand in marriage. Ramatoulaye knew that he was doing this merely for economic reasons. So she outwardly turned down the offer telling him that he cannot simply ask that of her because she is a woman with her own mind, body, and dignity. And that marriage and companionship means a lot to her so she wouldn’t marry anybody she doesn’t have affection for.Ramatoulaye has another suitor, Daouda Dieng. Daouda Dieng is the man who had cared for her tracing back from the day she had first met Modou. In fact, her mother voted for Daouda Dieng instead of Modou. And after Modou’s death, he became visible again. He even shared Ramatoulaye’s the ideas about feminism and believed that there should be more laws that protect women in the same way as men. In their resurrected friendship, Ramatoulaye had rekindled her fondness for Daouda Dieng. And much of it is because they share parallel views on a lot of things. Daouda Dieng never lost his love for her either. And one day, he asked for Ramatoulaye’s hand in marriage. But being the woman who learned so much from her own experiences, Ramatoulaye had refused his offer for the reason that Daouda Dieng already has a family. And even if Islam allows men to have up to four wives, she did not choose to come between him and his family.VII. Analysis of the WorkThe novel â€Å"So Long a Letter† is an accurate overview of Senegal circa 1970. It can even be used as a historical basis of what was happening prior to the development of New Africa. But digging deeper in the social and political context of the literary work, it is depicts as a mesh of African culture with a Muslim religion in a semi-European context.The overall tone of the letter is remorse and pain. And the feminist ideas integrated in it cannot be left ignored. This is because a woman wrote the novel – a woman who has long been regarded as merely a face without a name and a shadow instead of a person. But more importantly, that woman is black. History has it that African natives have long been suffering the pains of inferiority over the white race. Therefore, it can be said that the narrative is spoken with the voice of a black woman who has been victim in many ways. And being so, you can never underestimate the magnitude of her cry.What the whole story would like to impart were the choices that are presented to a woman. With the society, tradition, and culture all seemingly working in favor of the men, women are left with nothing but their own strength to drive their selves upon. In a society where polygamous marriages are allowed, it has become easy for the man to put the woman in her position – and it is a position that was way below where he is. In 1960 Senegal, that position is somewhere down the deepest remorse of her own soul.Through her novel, Mariama Ba had shown those choices to the many women who had gone thr ough the same circumstances similar to her and her two main characters. When a womans husband takes another wife, she is presented two options – you can either stick by him and do what was expected of you; or leave him and reclaim your own independence. And those are exactly what Ramatoulaye and Aissatou had done. Ramatoulaye had chosen to sit back and wait for everything else to be how it used to be while her husband is in the company of another wife. Aissatou, on the other hand, is different. Instead of choosing to do what everybody had anticipated, she body did otherwise, went against the current, and liberated her own self from the claws of the society.The novel had also clearly depicted the mentality of African Muslim women. The characters in the story have represented the varied frame of thinking women have – while all of them being influenced by all the events transpiring around them. Ramatoulaye is the ever trusting and faithful wife. Aissatou is the liberal wo man ready to face the world, with or without the company of men. Binetou is the woman ready to give anything and do anything in exchange for financial security and social standing. Modou’s mother is much the same. All she wanted to do was to clothe herself in what her son had attained and make it the subject of envy to all her friends– even if she was never material in any of it. All she could do was to associate her own success to anything that her son possesses. On the other hand, Mawdo Ba’s mother is the woman who clutches firmly to what was used to be hers – and that would be her fame and glory of long ago.These are the type of women that Mariama Ba would like to identify her own women audience with. Indirectly, the author is infusing change in the way society thinks by showing them the errors in their mentalities.VIII. Thematic Structure and Development of ThemeThe major theme of the story is the depiction of the clash between African-Muslim traditio ns and French-European ways. African-Muslim traditions say men are allowed to have multiple wives while the French-European culture indicates that the answer to infidelity is divorce. And much of that is because a woman is free to do what she wants. The idea behind that new-found freedom has a lot to do with the fact that a woman should decide whether she would like to delegate herself as one of the wives or not.And this theme leads us to yet another, which is the feminist tone of the novel. A lot of ideologies that are added in the story are subconsciously evoking to empower the rest of the women readers black, Muslim, or neither, to break free from the clutches of tradition and be their own person. The novel is also a call for all women to unite – because with their varied ideologies and mentalities, it is near impossible to achieve the change that all women wanted to attain. The novel attempts to make a woman realize her important role in the society, including all the co mmon situations she is involved in. The novel presents the woman her options. And the story’s theme greatly implies that she has the ability to do whatever she wanted to do. Her very existence gives her that right.IX. Language, Structure, and StyleSo Long a Letter is a type of an epistolary novel. Epistolary novels are literary works that use long narratives, mostly in the form of a correspondence, a diary, or news clippings. In this particular work, the main character, Ramatoulaye, relates the most recent and past events of her life to her friend, Aissatou in a very long missive. The author even referred to it as a diary in the first few pages of the narrative. As the story progresses, Ramatoulaye conveys both the events and her feelings about it. She broadcasts her thoughts to the letters recipient, as well as quotes important conversations that had transpired between her and others.The authors choice of using this format must be the fact that she would like to make her wor k appear as real as possible. The subject is certainly close to her heart, because she has been through the same pains and aches as the main story of the character had. It is also very apparent that both of them almost share the same ideas and principles when it comes to the role of the female in the society. And this is why the main character of the story is directly compared to her. Though it, readers can see and feel through the realism, or at least the appearance of it, that echoes out of from the pages of the literary work.X. Literary Techniques and DevicesThe choice of the authors literary techniques and devices are all very effective in this novel. Being an epistolary novel, which is a literary technique on its own, the work had clearly relayed all the events that happened before and after the main characters husband has died. The main purpose of writing the letter was to inform Aissatou that Modou had died – but as she did so, Ramatoulaye was not able to resist the te mptation of recounting the events that happened since the time she and her husband met, up until he decided to leave her in favor of a younger second wife. She also cannot stop herself from point out the fact that she and Aissatou had experienced the same fate in the hands of their husbands. Ramatoulaye had related not only her own story as she goes along, but the life story of Aissatou, the letters recipient, as well.Ramatoulayes and Aissatous characters are a juxtaposition, which is another literary technique. The author had placed two people with the same experiences in one story. But their ways of solving the conflicts that were presented to them were different. When Aissatou learned about her husbands second marriage, she revolted and moved away. Ramatoulaye, on the other hand, went along the situation and continued her life as is. It is the purpose of the author to make readers compare the two women in the hope that they can identify themselves with them.In this story, it is a lso clear that Mariama Ba had successfully used another literary technique, the author surrogate technique. Clearly, one of the two characters of the story is an idealized version of the author. Mariama Ba, known to be divorced and a feminist herself, had wanted to show her audience the things that she had been through and how she should have handled it. It is also possible that Mariama Ba is a little bit of the two main characters combined, and she is merely conveying the choices women like her has, given the same situation.XI. Critical Evaluation/General AssessmentSo Long a Letter had effectively captured the sentiments of all women, not merely the Africans or the Muslims. Reading the novel had allowed a lot of people to realize the emotions of a woman and how hard it must have been for them to be given limited choice and be virtually powerless over the men. Through her work, Mariama Bas had indeed found a creative way of voicing out her feminist views. As a result, this work was written along the refreshing views of a woman writer. There have been quite too few of them before. This, added to the fact that the author is a true African in her own right, made the whole story a lot more realistic that it ought to be.The words and lines used are all rich and clear. The thoughts conveyed are straightforward. And the events in the story are related in a highly logical and comprehensible manner. Mariama Bas style of writing is simplistic. And it allows readers to easily understand the things, ideas, and concepts that she is trying to point out. There was never any event and information that can be considered irrelevant to the main story. Simply stated, the novel was concise and true to its form.Overall, the novel is written with the voice of a victim – but it is the type of a victim who would like to see changes. The story is not about a victim who merely sits and laments. The story is about the victim who tries to struggle out from where her place is suppos ed to be. This is a story of empowerment. And even if it is a storyline that is expected of black authors, the power of it has never diminished. The victim-perpetrator type of a story can still captivate and move, especially if it is done in the same heart-felt way as this story was.From my own critique of the story, So Long a Letter can be considered as a masterpiece. It will never cease to touch the emotions of both the women and even men for that matter, who had seen, much more gone though, the same instances that the characters of the story had. And because the story deals on the three popular sectors of the society, namely the women, the Blacks and the Muslims, it definitely had a universal appeal as expected.Outlineâ€Å"So Long a Letter† started off with Ramatoulaye reminiscing the events that happened to her the past few days. It is a novel that is presented in a form of a letter.   The main character, Ramatoulaye, created the letter with the main intention of telli ng Aissatou about the death of his husband, Modou. And along that path, Ramatoulaye had begun a journey back in time, starting from when she and Modou met.Modou died from heart attack while dictating something to his secretary in his office. He was a lawyer. But he mostly does his job for the community. As such he is a person of great dignity and social position.Ramatoulaye and Aissatou were best friends and even treat each other as sisters. They both went to the Western same school and are one of the few women who were given the elusive opportunity to finish a degree. Ramatoulaye became a schoolteacher. She was married for long twenty-five years to Modou.Then Modou abruptly made the decision to have a second wife. And worse, it was in the person of his daughters friend. He didnt even have the courage to face her that he did remarry. Instead, he just sent his bother, his friend, and the Imam to tell her wife about it.Even so, the story had shown that Ramatoulaye was a strong woman a nd was able to live through the pain and struggles associated with the Islamic traditions and the transformations in the society. Despite the infidelity directed to her by her husband, she was still the same woman who performs most inside a family setting. And as such, she stood by her children throughout the ordeal. Ramatoulaye is the perfect blend of the old and new woman of the society. She is devoted to her children and yet she is able to hold on a career that enriches her being. And more importantly, she never believes that women were merely meant for the home and has lesser rights than men.On the other hand, Modou Fall is a portrait of society’s ordinary male. He does according to his whims and tries to justify it with the law. He had not the courage to even face Ramatoulaye when he abruptly decided to marry another woman. He is basically weak and had merely used religion as a weapon. He is a coward who can’t even face his wife under his supposedly muscular build .In her letter, Ramatoulaye also wrote Aissatou’s ordeal that was very much like her. Aissatou was also a victim of a polygamous marriage. Mawdo Ba was Aissatou’s husband. When the two of them decided to get married, Mawdo’s mother was very much against it. Mawdo’s mother used to be a Princess of the Sine and she could not dwell on the fact that her only son is marrying an ordinary woman without wealth, title, and social prominence. Despite being educated, Mawdo’s mother regarded Aissatou merely as a goldsmith’s daughter. But Mawdo was resolute. He married Aissatou against her mother’s wishes.But her mother was not soon to be defeated. She actually devised a ploy to make Mawdo marry Nabou. Nabou is the daughter of Diouf and Diouf is her younger brother. Mawdo gave in and in essence, he took his cousin as his second wife. When that happened, Aissatou didnt sit back and merely watch thing befall her. She asserted herself, asked for a di vorce, and fled to a different land to start a new life. Since then, she had worked in the Senegal Embassy in the U.S. After the divorce, she had lived independently supporting herself and her son.If Ramatoulaye is a showcase of a woman both of the past and of the present, Aissatou is a picture of the modern liberated female. She doesn’t want to conform to the beliefs that the society unresistingly accepts, more particularly about polygamous marriage. Instead, she came out and openly asserted herself and her right. She lived liberally after the ordeal.The overall tone of the letter is remorse and pain. And the feminist ideas integrated in it cannot be left ignored. This is because a woman wrote the novel – a woman who has long been regarded as merely a face without a name and a shadow instead of a person. But more importantly, that woman is black. History has it that African natives have long been suffering the pains of inferiority over the white race. Therefore, it ca n be said that the narrative is spoken with the voice of a black woman who has been victim in many ways. And being so, you can never underestimate the magnitude of her cry.The storys author, Mariama Ba had successfully used the author surrogate technique in her work. Clearly, one of the two characters of the story is an idealized version of the author. Mariama Ba, known to be divorced and a feminist herself, had wanted to show her audience the things that she had been through and how she should have handled it. It is also possible that Mariama Ba is a little bit of the two main characters combined, and she is merely conveying the choices women like her has, given the same situation.;;; So Long a Letter Essay Example So Long a Letter Paper So Long a Letter is a novel written by Mariama Ba, a black Sengalese author. It was assumed that she had lived a life that was very similar to the two main female characters of her story. Mariama Ba is an educated woman, who attended school at Ecole Normale Institution, an exclusive Western school situated in her own native country. During the publication of her work, she was a schoolteacher who is doing her share to help ease the societys unrest caused by their transition to freedom from being Frances colony for a long time. Mariama Ba is an active feminist and a women’s rights activist. And as a divorced woman herself, she is against polygamous marriages. And it is primarily because of the many difficulties that it causes women.II. Type of WorkSo Long a Letter was a novel that is presented in a form of a letter. The main character in the story writes a very long epistle to her friend, narrating all the pains and hardships that she had been through from the time her husband t ook a second wife up until his recent death and thereafter. The literary work touches on Muslim-African culture and traditions. It was written against a backdrop of a turbulent society where women are inferior to men.III. Type of PlotSo Long a Letter follows an episodic type of a plot. The book is composed of several series of stories included in each chapter that narrates the lives of the main characters in the story.   All these stories are linked to each other. They were all about trials, difficulties, and the choices people have to make. Each chapter has its own climax that slowly builds towards an end. Generally, there were no overall high point or plot to the entire story.   Instead, everything was a smooth and steady narration of the events that happened in the storyteller’s life in a reversed chronological order, starting from the death of his husband and back to the time he took a second wife, where most of the storys tragedies occurred. But the story doesnt stop there. It pushed forward into the future towards the time when the main character dealt with her loss and the things she did to live with a new life following her husbands death.IV. Setting, Time, and Locale of the PlotThe story is set during the time that Senegal was in transition to become an independent country. Senegal was previously a colony of France; and as they move towards liberty, the society is in total unrest. Politics was always brewing and trade unionism was very rampant. New Africa is expected to be on the rise. And it is also during the said point in time that the society follows the strict Islamic tradition of putting men in a pedestal much higher than the women. It is the time where the husbands are supposed to provide for their wives and their children and the women’s main job is to merely take care of their husbands.V. Social or Political ContextIt was only in 1960 that Senegal has gained its independence from France and became a separate entity. Senegal was under the French colony since the 17th century. And during that period of time, there were civic disturbance everywhere. It is also in the same year that only a few African women were given a chance to education. Most of privileged few that were able to study came only from the elite society, as not many believe in the importance of education for African women. A lot of it is because women are given a role in the society that doesnt require much of education. With the great influence of Islam in the nation of Senegal, the only thing that a woman should do for the country is to rear children. And it is not important that she be educated to do that well.Mariama Ba, like the main characters of her story, were one of those few educated women of Africa. As a result, she was able to teach in schools and was able to give back to the younger generation what she had attained. With this story she had written, she unconsciously aims to raise the position of Senegalese women in a rank thatà ¢â‚¬â„¢s closer, if not within the same level, as with the men.V. Character AnalysisThe main characters of the story are as follows:RamatoulayeRamatoulaye is the main character of the story. She is also the same one who wrote the letter to her friend, Aissatou. It is her life story that was the main focus of the novel. Ramatoulaye is a schoolteacher in Senegal and when she wrote the letter, she was 55 years old and a widow.Ramatoulaye is a strong woman and was able to live through the pain and struggles associated with the Islamic traditions and the transformations in the society. Despite the infidelity directed to her by her husband, she was still the same woman who performs most inside a family setting. And as such, she stood by her children throughout the ordeal. Ramatoulaye is the perfect blend of the old and new woman of the society. She is devoted to her children and yet she is able to hold on a career that enriches her being. And more importantly, she never believes that wome n were merely meant for the home and has lesser rights than men.AissatouAissatou is Ramatoulaye’s friend who is the recipient of the letter. Ramatoulaye regards her like a true sister, as both of them had shared childhood went to the same school and together. And like Ramatoulaye, Aissatou had gone through the same hardships when his husband took a second wife. Being educated and liberal, Aissatou left Senegal after she requested for a divorce and served in the Senegal Embassy in the U.S. She lived independently and provided for her son then after.If Ramatoulaye is a showcase of a woman both of the past and of the present, Aissatou is a picture of the modern liberated female. She doesn’t want to conform to the beliefs that the society unresistingly accepts, more particularly about polygamous marriage. Instead, she came out and openly asserted herself and her right. She lived liberally after which.Modou FallModou Fall is the husband of Ramatoulaye. He was the object of love and obsession of Ramatoulaye for a whole twenty-five years. And she was equally adored by Modou Fall up until he decided to marry a much younger woman. Modou and Ramatoulaye had twelve children and all of them had suffered from the day their father was absent in favor of his new wife. Modou Fall died of heart attack years after he had remarried.Modou Fall is but society’s regular male. He does according to his whims and tries to justify it with the law. He had not the courage to even face Ramatoulaye when he abruptly decided to marry another woman. He is basically weak and had merely used religion as a weapon. He is a coward who can’t even face his wife under his supposedly muscular build.Mawdo BaMawdo Ba is Aissatou’s husband. He is a doctor by profession and a man who is well regarded by a society where herbs and potions are next best thing when it comes to finding a cure for common sicknesses. However, Mawdo Ba’s elitist mother is not in favor of his marriage to Aissatou, even if it is very clear that Mawdo loved her so much. Mawdo Ba is Modou Fall’s friend. He is also the one who had introduced the two to each other.Mawdo Ba is the type of a man whose resolve is not absolute. He succeeded in going against her mother’s wishes when he chose to marry Aissatou. But he merely threw that resolution away the very moment he blindly fell into her own mothers trap by leading her to take another woman as a second wife. This fact could even go to show that men might just be polygamous in nature.BinetouAlthough Binetou’s actions in the story are not much told about, her role is very important for it is her who caused a turn in Ramatoulaye’s life. Binetou is the second wife Modou Fall had took indiscriminately. She is a much younger woman and actually the friend of Modou’s oldest daughter, Daba. Binetou was not rich and doesn’t have a father to look out for her. And so when Modou proposed marriag e, it was mother who was very much in favor of it. Binetou accepted Modous proposal for a marriage because of the security blanket that it would be able to provide her and her family. Binetou was merely 19 when Modou Fall died.TamsirTamsir is Modou Fall’s elder brother. He, along with Mawdo and the local Imam, is the person who broke the news to Ramatoulaye about Modou having a second wife. And on the fortieth day of Modou’s death, Tamsir indicated that he would like to marry Ramatoulaye in regards to the Islam tradition that the younger brother is supposed to inherit another brother’s wife the moment he died. Tamsir intended to use the tradition eventhough he is Modou’s elder brother and not a younger brother just like the custom implied.Daba FallDaba is Ramatouleye’s oldest daughter. She is also the person who took Binetou to their house because she was her friend and schoolmate. It was during those times that Binetou was their guest that their f ather had developed some affection to the young girl. Modou always volunteers himself to bring her home. Consequently, Binetou has Daba as confidante when it comes to the things that were happening in her life.   But when she talks about her story, she omits Modou’s name and merely referred to him as a sugar daddy. Daba even asked for an advice from her mother to help out Binetou, not knowing that they are actually talking about Binetou and her father all the while.Daouda DiengDaouda Dieng is Ramatoulaye’s former suitor. He is also the same person that her mother wants her to marry. Daouda Dieng is also a doctor and he had reappeared in Ramatoulayes life from Modou’s funeral thereafter. And much of it is because he still cares for her. Like Tamsir, Daouda Dieng also expressed his desire to marry Ramatoulaye. But Ramatoulaye openly refused. Daouda Dieng already has a wife and although their law permits taking another wife, Ramatoulaye chooses not to go between him and his family. She doesn’t want to do what Binetou had done to her.VI. Summary of the Storyâ€Å"So Long a Letter† started off with Ramatoulaye reminiscing the events that happened to her the past few days. She created the letter with the main intention of telling Aissatou about the death of his husband, Modou. And along that path, Ramatoulaye had begun a journey back in time, starting from when she and Modou met.Modou died from heart attack while dictating something to his secretary in his office. He was a lawyer. He studied in France and went back to Senegal to practice. But he wasn’t like any regular lawyer who merely works for money. Primarily, he does his job for the community. This is what makes Modou a person of great dignity and social position. Ramatoulaye had described him as the perfect man during their courtship stages. And despite her mother’s disapproval of Modou, she chose him to be her husband because she felt that he was the man that was meant for her.Ramatoulaye and Aissatou were best friends and even treat each other as sisters. They both went to the Western same school and are one of the few women who were given the elusive opportunity to finish a degree. Ramatoulaye became a schoolteacher. And in the long twenty-five years that she is married to Modou, she had balanced her time between her work and her family with great success.Everything was perfect in Ramatoulaye’s household up until her oldest daughter, Daba, brought a classmate with her in the house. And just like any mother, Ramatoulaye merely shrugs the fact that her husband is especially fond with Daba’s classmate, whose name is Binetou. But she was able to see the young woman’s transition from wearing plain and basic clothes to something that comes from an expensive clothes store. The once shy and timid girl is no longer one either. And she had made it very apparent every time she was in their house.But despite that, Ramatoulaye never had once doubted Modou’s love for her. That was up until her brother-in-law Tamsir, Mawdo, and the local Imam had paid her an unannounced visit one day. They have all come to inform her that Modou had, just a few seconds ago, married another woman, giving himself a second wife. And that woman was indeed, Binetou.During those years that Modou left them abandoned, Ramatoulaye had tried to live in the exact same way as she does. But even so, she started to question the whole idea surrounding polygamous marriages. She even would like to shout out the fact that even if a man is allowed a second wife, each wife should be treated as equal. It is as if his husband had forgotten that he still has a lot of responsibility to her and her children. But even so, Ramatoulaye and her twelve children had managed on their own. And despite their hardships, she still want her children to think well of their father. It is just that they all fail to understand what was happening to them and why it did. The biggest pain of all was with their oldest daughter, Daba.But as Ramatoulaye recounts her story, she can’t stop writing about Aissatou’s ordeal along with it. Like her, Aissatou was a victim of a polygamous marriage. Mawdo Ba, who eventually became Aissatou’s husband, was a doctor. It was Modou who introduced Mawdo to their circle of friends and that had included Aissatou. When the two of them decided to get married, Mawdo’s mother was very much against it. Mawdo’s mother used to be a Princess of the Sine and she could not dwell on the fact that her only son is marrying an ordinary woman without wealth, title, and social prominence. Despite being educated, Mawdo’s mother regarded Aissatou merely as a goldsmith’s daughter. But Mawdo was resolute. He married Aissatou against her mother’s wishes.But her mother was not soon to be defeated. She actually devised a ploy to make Mawdo marry Nabou. Nabou is the daughter of Diouf and Diouf is her younger brother. Mawdo gave in and in essence, he took his cousin as his second wife. When that happened, Aissatou didnt sit back and merely watch thing befall her. She asserted herself, asked for a divorce, and fled to a different land to start a new life. Since then, she had worked in the Senegal Embassy in the U.S. After the divorce, she had lived independently supporting herself and her son.Ramatoulaye’s reaction to her husband’s second marriage was different though. She chose to stick with the situation in the hope that Modou will assume his forgotten responsibility to her and her family in due time. But all her thoughts were disrupted with the death of her husband. And it is only during that time that she started to break free from the idea that women are merely created to serve, act, and think, behind the shadow of men.During the days of seclusion and mourning, Ramatoulaye was able to realize a lot of things. And on the fortieth day fol lowing Modou’s death, Modou’s elder brother Tamsir asked for her hand in marriage. Ramatoulaye knew that he was doing this merely for economic reasons. So she outwardly turned down the offer telling him that he cannot simply ask that of her because she is a woman with her own mind, body, and dignity. And that marriage and companionship means a lot to her so she wouldn’t marry anybody she doesn’t have affection for.Ramatoulaye has another suitor, Daouda Dieng. Daouda Dieng is the man who had cared for her tracing back from the day she had first met Modou. In fact, her mother voted for Daouda Dieng instead of Modou. And after Modou’s death, he became visible again. He even shared Ramatoulaye’s the ideas about feminism and believed that there should be more laws that protect women in the same way as men. In their resurrected friendship, Ramatoulaye had rekindled her fondness for Daouda Dieng. And much of it is because they share parallel views on a lot of things. Daouda Dieng never lost his love for her either. And one day, he asked for Ramatoulaye’s hand in marriage. But being the woman who learned so much from her own experiences, Ramatoulaye had refused his offer for the reason that Daouda Dieng already has a family. And even if Islam allows men to have up to four wives, she did not choose to come between him and his family.VII. Analysis of the WorkThe novel â€Å"So Long a Letter† is an accurate overview of Senegal circa 1970. It can even be used as a historical basis of what was happening prior to the development of New Africa. But digging deeper in the social and political context of the literary work, it is depicts as a mesh of African culture with a Muslim religion in a semi-European context.The overall tone of the letter is remorse and pain. And the feminist ideas integrated in it cannot be left ignored. This is because a woman wrote the novel – a woman who has long been regarded as merely a face without a name and a shadow instead of a person. But more importantly, that woman is black. History has it that African natives have long been suffering the pains of inferiority over the white race. Therefore, it can be said that the narrative is spoken with the voice of a black woman who has been victim in many ways. And being so, you can never underestimate the magnitude of her cry.What the whole story would like to impart were the choices that are presented to a woman. With the society, tradition, and culture all seemingly working in favor of the men, women are left with nothing but their own strength to drive their selves upon. In a society where polygamous marriages are allowed, it has become easy for the man to put the woman in her position – and it is a position that was way below where he is. In 1960 Senegal, that position is somewhere down the deepest remorse of her own soul.Through her novel, Mariama Ba had shown those choices to the many women who had gone thr ough the same circumstances similar to her and her two main characters. When a womans husband takes another wife, she is presented two options – you can either stick by him and do what was expected of you; or leave him and reclaim your own independence. And those are exactly what Ramatoulaye and Aissatou had done. Ramatoulaye had chosen to sit back and wait for everything else to be how it used to be while her husband is in the company of another wife. Aissatou, on the other hand, is different. Instead of choosing to do what everybody had anticipated, she body did otherwise, went against the current, and liberated her own self from the claws of the society.The novel had also clearly depicted the mentality of African Muslim women. The characters in the story have represented the varied frame of thinking women have – while all of them being influenced by all the events transpiring around them. Ramatoulaye is the ever trusting and faithful wife. Aissatou is the liberal wo man ready to face the world, with or without the company of men. Binetou is the woman ready to give anything and do anything in exchange for financial security and social standing. Modou’s mother is much the same. All she wanted to do was to clothe herself in what her son had attained and make it the subject of envy to all her friends– even if she was never material in any of it. All she could do was to associate her own success to anything that her son possesses. On the other hand, Mawdo Ba’s mother is the woman who clutches firmly to what was used to be hers – and that would be her fame and glory of long ago.These are the type of women that Mariama Ba would like to identify her own women audience with. Indirectly, the author is infusing change in the way society thinks by showing them the errors in their mentalities.VIII. Thematic Structure and Development of ThemeThe major theme of the story is the depiction of the clash between African-Muslim traditio ns and French-European ways. African-Muslim traditions say men are allowed to have multiple wives while the French-European culture indicates that the answer to infidelity is divorce. And much of that is because a woman is free to do what she wants. The idea behind that new-found freedom has a lot to do with the fact that a woman should decide whether she would like to delegate herself as one of the wives or not.And this theme leads us to yet another, which is the feminist tone of the novel. A lot of ideologies that are added in the story are subconsciously evoking to empower the rest of the women readers black, Muslim, or neither, to break free from the clutches of tradition and be their own person. The novel is also a call for all women to unite – because with their varied ideologies and mentalities, it is near impossible to achieve the change that all women wanted to attain. The novel attempts to make a woman realize her important role in the society, including all the co mmon situations she is involved in. The novel presents the woman her options. And the story’s theme greatly implies that she has the ability to do whatever she wanted to do. Her very existence gives her that right.IX. Language, Structure, and StyleSo Long a Letter is a type of an epistolary novel. Epistolary novels are literary works that use long narratives, mostly in the form of a correspondence, a diary, or news clippings. In this particular work, the main character, Ramatoulaye, relates the most recent and past events of her life to her friend, Aissatou in a very long missive. The author even referred to it as a diary in the first few pages of the narrative. As the story progresses, Ramatoulaye conveys both the events and her feelings about it. She broadcasts her thoughts to the letters recipient, as well as quotes important conversations that had transpired between her and others.The authors choice of using this format must be the fact that she would like to make her wor k appear as real as possible. The subject is certainly close to her heart, because she has been through the same pains and aches as the main story of the character had. It is also very apparent that both of them almost share the same ideas and principles when it comes to the role of the female in the society. And this is why the main character of the story is directly compared to her. Though it, readers can see and feel through the realism, or at least the appearance of it, that echoes out of from the pages of the literary work.X. Literary Techniques and DevicesThe choice of the authors literary techniques and devices are all very effective in this novel. Being an epistolary novel, which is a literary technique on its own, the work had clearly relayed all the events that happened before and after the main characters husband has died. The main purpose of writing the letter was to inform Aissatou that Modou had died – but as she did so, Ramatoulaye was not able to resist the te mptation of recounting the events that happened since the time she and her husband met, up until he decided to leave her in favor of a younger second wife. She also cannot stop herself from point out the fact that she and Aissatou had experienced the same fate in the hands of their husbands. Ramatoulaye had related not only her own story as she goes along, but the life story of Aissatou, the letters recipient, as well.Ramatoulayes and Aissatous characters are a juxtaposition, which is another literary technique. The author had placed two people with the same experiences in one story. But their ways of solving the conflicts that were presented to them were different. When Aissatou learned about her husbands second marriage, she revolted and moved away. Ramatoulaye, on the other hand, went along the situation and continued her life as is. It is the purpose of the author to make readers compare the two women in the hope that they can identify themselves with them.In this story, it is a lso clear that Mariama Ba had successfully used another literary technique, the author surrogate technique. Clearly, one of the two characters of the story is an idealized version of the author. Mariama Ba, known to be divorced and a feminist herself, had wanted to show her audience the things that she had been through and how she should have handled it. It is also possible that Mariama Ba is a little bit of the two main characters combined, and she is merely conveying the choices women like her has, given the same situation.XI. Critical Evaluation/General AssessmentSo Long a Letter had effectively captured the sentiments of all women, not merely the Africans or the Muslims. Reading the novel had allowed a lot of people to realize the emotions of a woman and how hard it must have been for them to be given limited choice and be virtually powerless over the men. Through her work, Mariama Bas had indeed found a creative way of voicing out her feminist views. As a result, this work was written along the refreshing views of a woman writer. There have been quite too few of them before. This, added to the fact that the author is a true African in her own right, made the whole story a lot more realistic that it ought to be.The words and lines used are all rich and clear. The thoughts conveyed are straightforward. And the events in the story are related in a highly logical and comprehensible manner. Mariama Bas style of writing is simplistic. And it allows readers to easily understand the things, ideas, and concepts that she is trying to point out. There was never any event and information that can be considered irrelevant to the main story. Simply stated, the novel was concise and true to its form.Overall, the novel is written with the voice of a victim – but it is the type of a victim who would like to see changes. The story is not about a victim who merely sits and laments. The story is about the victim who tries to struggle out from where her place is suppos ed to be. This is a story of empowerment. And even if it is a storyline that is expected of black authors, the power of it has never diminished. The victim-perpetrator type of a story can still captivate and move, especially if it is done in the same heart-felt way as this story was.From my own critique of the story, So Long a Letter can be considered as a masterpiece. It will never cease to touch the emotions of both the women and even men for that matter, who had seen, much more gone though, the same instances that the characters of the story had. And because the story deals on the three popular sectors of the society, namely the women, the Blacks and the Muslims, it definitely had a universal appeal as expected.Outlineâ€Å"So Long a Letter† started off with Ramatoulaye reminiscing the events that happened to her the past few days. It is a novel that is presented in a form of a letter.   The main character, Ramatoulaye, created the letter with the main intention of telli ng Aissatou about the death of his husband, Modou. And along that path, Ramatoulaye had begun a journey back in time, starting from when she and Modou met.Modou died from heart attack while dictating something to his secretary in his office. He was a lawyer. But he mostly does his job for the community. As such he is a person of great dignity and social position.Ramatoulaye and Aissatou were best friends and even treat each other as sisters. They both went to the Western same school and are one of the few women who were given the elusive opportunity to finish a degree. Ramatoulaye became a schoolteacher. She was married for long twenty-five years to Modou.Then Modou abruptly made the decision to have a second wife. And worse, it was in the person of his daughters friend. He didnt even have the courage to face her that he did remarry. Instead, he just sent his bother, his friend, and the Imam to tell her wife about it.Even so, the story had shown that Ramatoulaye was a strong woman a nd was able to live through the pain and struggles associated with the Islamic traditions and the transformations in the society. Despite the infidelity directed to her by her husband, she was still the same woman who performs most inside a family setting. And as such, she stood by her children throughout the ordeal. Ramatoulaye is the perfect blend of the old and new woman of the society. She is devoted to her children and yet she is able to hold on a career that enriches her being. And more importantly, she never believes that women were merely meant for the home and has lesser rights than men.On the other hand, Modou Fall is a portrait of society’s ordinary male. He does according to his whims and tries to justify it with the law. He had not the courage to even face Ramatoulaye when he abruptly decided to marry another woman. He is basically weak and had merely used religion as a weapon. He is a coward who can’t even face his wife under his supposedly muscular build .In her letter, Ramatoulaye also wrote Aissatou’s ordeal that was very much like her. Aissatou was also a victim of a polygamous marriage. Mawdo Ba was Aissatou’s husband. When the two of them decided to get married, Mawdo’s mother was very much against it. Mawdo’s mother used to be a Princess of the Sine and she could not dwell on the fact that her only son is marrying an ordinary woman without wealth, title, and social prominence. Despite being educated, Mawdo’s mother regarded Aissatou merely as a goldsmith’s daughter. But Mawdo was resolute. He married Aissatou against her mother’s wishes.But her mother was not soon to be defeated. She actually devised a ploy to make Mawdo marry Nabou. Nabou is the daughter of Diouf and Diouf is her younger brother. Mawdo gave in and in essence, he took his cousin as his second wife. When that happened, Aissatou didnt sit back and merely watch thing befall her. She asserted herself, asked for a di vorce, and fled to a different land to start a new life. Since then, she had worked in the Senegal Embassy in the U.S. After the divorce, she had lived independently supporting herself and her son.If Ramatoulaye is a showcase of a woman both of the past and of the present, Aissatou is a picture of the modern liberated female. She doesn’t want to conform to the beliefs that the society unresistingly accepts, more particularly about polygamous marriage. Instead, she came out and openly asserted herself and her right. She lived liberally after the ordeal.The overall tone of the letter is remorse and pain. And the feminist ideas integrated in it cannot be left ignored. This is because a woman wrote the novel – a woman who has long been regarded as merely a face without a name and a shadow instead of a person. But more importantly, that woman is black. History has it that African natives have long been suffering the pains of inferiority over the white race. Therefore, it ca n be said that the narrative is spoken with the voice of a black woman who has been victim in many ways. And being so, you can never underestimate the magnitude of her cry.The storys author, Mariama Ba had successfully used the author surrogate technique in her work. Clearly, one of the two characters of the story is an idealized version of the author. Mariama Ba, known to be divorced and a feminist herself, had wanted to show her audience the things that she had been through and how she should have handled it. It is also possible that Mariama Ba is a little bit of the two main characters combined, and she is merely conveying the choices women like her has, given the same situation.;;;

The Poetry of Anne Bradstreet and Her Writing Style

The Poetry of Anne Bradstreet and Her Writing Style Most of the poems included in Anne Bradstreets first collection, The Tenth Muse (1650), were quite conventional in style and form, and dealt with history and politics. In one poem, for instance, Anne Bradstreet wrote of the 1642 uprising of Puritans led by Cromwell. In another, she praises accomplishments of Queen Elizabeth. The publishing success of The Tenth Muse seems to have given Anne Bradstreet more confidence in her writing. (She refers to this publication, and to her displeasure with being unable to make corrections to the poems herself before publication, in a later poem, The Author to Her Book.) Her style and form became less conventional, and instead, she wrote more personally and directly - of her own experiences, of religion, of daily life, of her thoughts, of the New England landscape. Anne Bradstreet was in most ways quite typically Puritan. Many poems reflect her struggle to accept the adversity of the Puritan colony, contrasting earthly losses with the eternal rewards of the good. In one poem, for instance, she writes of an actual event: when the familys house burned down. In another, she writes of her thoughts of her own possible death as she approaches the birth of one of her children. Anne Bradstreet contrasts the transitory nature of earthly treasure with eternal treasures and seems to see these trials as lessons from God. Ann Bradstreet on Religion From Before the Birth of One of Her Children: All things within this fading world hath end. And from Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House July 10th, 1666: I blest His name that gave and took,That laid my goods now in the dust.Yea, so it was, and so twas just.It was His own, it was not mine....The world no longer let me love,My hope and treasure lies above. On the Role of Women Anne Bradstreet also alludes to the role of women and to womens capabilities in many poems. She seems especially concerned to defend the presence of Reason in women. Among her earlier poems, the one extolling Queen Elizabeth includes these lines, revealing the sly wit thats in many of Anne Bradstreets poems: Now say, have women worth? or have they none?Or had they some, but with our queen ist gone?Nay Masculines, you have thus taxt us long,But she, though dead, will vindicate our wrong,Let such as say our Sex is void of Reason,Know tis a Slander now, but once was Treason. In another, she seems to refer to the opinion of some as to whether she should be spending time writing poetry: I am obnoxious to each carping tongueWho says my hand a needle better fits. She also refers to the likelihood that poetry by a woman will not be accepted: If what I do prove well, it wont advance,Theyll say its stolen, or else it was by chance. Anne Bradstreet largely accepts, however, the Puritan definition of proper roles of men and women, though asking for more acceptance of womens accomplishments. This, from the same poem as the previous quote: Let Greeks be Greeks, and Women what they areMen have precedency and still excel;It is but vain unjustly to wage war.Men can do best, and women know it well,Preeminence in all and each is yours;Yet grant some small acknowledgment of ours. On Eternity In contrast, perhaps, to her acceptance of adversity in this world, and her hope of eternity in the next, Anne Bradstreet also seems to hope that her poems will bring a kind of earthly immortality. These excerpts are from two different poems: Thus gone, amongst you I may live,And dead, yet speak and counsel give.If any worth or virtue live in me,Let that live frankly in thy memory.

What causes gas prices to fluctuate Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What causes gas prices to fluctuate - Assignment Example f gas in many industries, there are a myriad of reasons that could be attributed to the constant changes in the price of gas, and the lack of price stability on the commodity (Diewert, Greenlees & Hulten, 2010). This research will seek to explore the fundamental reasons that drive the fluctuation of gas prices. The research will be a descriptive study that will be seeking to provide answers to various questions raised in relation to the problem of fluctuating gas prices. The study will involve collection of information concerning the current state of the problem in seeking to determine the factors that have driven the observed phenomenon of price fluctuation (Creswell, 2009). Although the research might not be able to provide conclusive answers, it will be able to present some of the key elements that could be associated with causing the price fluctuations. The study will be able to yield rich data that can be relied on by policy makers in establishing solutions to the problem. The sources of data will include economic journals and other academic materials providing explanations to causes of price changes. A survey of the industry will also provide information about the operational factors within the industry that could be causing price fluctuations. The collected data will be analyzed using STATA, which is a software that facilitates replicable analysis. Qualitative data analysis approaches will be employed to initially analyze the data collected from the various sources (Tracy, 2013). Logical analysis through inductive reasoning will be utilized in seeking to stratify the data before it can be analyzed using the STATA software. The initial analysis will be able to group the collected data into different categories in order to determine the factors that have been identified from the data collection. The stratification will be used to initially identify the factors that have caused the fluctuations in prices of gas. The factors will further be classified

Inernationalization of UK Businesses in Brazilian Market Essay

Inernationalization of UK Businesses in Brazilian Market - Essay Example As the discussion highlights  many companies adopt different strategies in order to grow in the Brazilian market and to successfully achieve the goal of improved bottom line. Brazil is a country which cannot be avoided to do business because of the huge market size. Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, and it is one of the most populous countries, as well. It has high GDP and legal system, which encourages international companies to tap this market. However, not every company can be successful in the Brazilian market. Size of the country market does not guarantee success in that market. There are many factors, which play a role in the success and failure of international companies. Among such factors, culture has a crucial role. Not only in Brazil but also in every country, culture plays a vital role for success and failure of international companies.  This study stresses that  globalization is growing becoming an integral part of the business in the business world . It has changed the competitive landscape for doing business in local and international markets as a matter of fact that competitive pressures arise not only from local players but also from the international players. On the other hand, in contrast to the pace of globalization, the success rate of businesses in the international market remains under constant challenges.  It is practically a sin for business operating in today’s competitive landscape if it ignores internationalization of business.

What's a terpene Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What's a terpene - Essay Example Terpene is usually built up from an isoprene which is a type of a hydrocarbon that has five carbon atoms which are attached to the eight hydrogen atoms with the formula C5 H8 (Stewart 258). Terpenes usually occur after a biological formation of a combination of two molecules of acetic acid and mevalonic acid (C6 H12 O4) which is converted to isopentenyl pyrophosphate that latter transforms to isopentenyl compound that leads to occurrence of terpenes and terpenoids (which are oxygenated derivatives of the hydrocarbons that make up the terpene). Terpenes that are considered to be the true ones are those that are grouped according to the number of isoprene units in the molecules which usually includes two units of monoterpenes (C10 H16), six units of triterpenes (C30 H48), three units of sesquiterpene (C15 H24), eight units of tetraterpenes (C40 H64) and four units of diterpenes (C20 H32). Terpenes are used to make turpentine (that comes from the name terpene) which has several monoterpenes, resin (consisting of rosin acid and diterpenes), and even steroids (which are made from conversion of triterpene squalene that is usually obtained in the liver oil of sharks). Since terpene (diterpenes, monoterpenes and even sesquterpenes) is a constituent of the essential oils that are in many plants and animals, it is used to make fragrances used in perfumes and even the natural food additives. Other examples of terpene in its different form other than those mentioned above include vitamin A, hops (used to make some brands of beer), contribute to making of insecticides and recent research by biochemists in Norwich, England discovered that terpene through its bioactive cyclic molecule iridoid is a building block to potential anticancer agents (monoterpene indole alkaloids). Since plants that produce terpenes are aromatic, they are used in cooking. Terpenes are also an important ingredient in making of medicine such as marinol, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and

Differentiation in the Marketing of Fashion Clothes

Differentiation in the Marketing of Fashion Clothes Consider current practices of differentiation in the marketing of fashion clothes Report on: a) The current situation in the UK and regional markets (market segments, key players, sales practices, trends, opportunities and threats) The UK clothing market is essentially mature, following changes in the profile of the UK retail market for clothing during the 1990s. There was a major shift away from traditional sources of purchasing, such as department stores, clothing independents and variety stores, in favour of discounters, supermarkets and sports outlets. This reflects the ‘casualisation’ of the UK and the downward pressure of cheaper, imported products on retail price levels. Shopping for clothing and footwear is increasingly moving away from the traditional high street locations to out-of-town shopping centres, where families may typically spend a good part of a day browsing and shopping in a wide range of stores, rather than visiting their local high street to shop in specific outlets. Mainstream women’s clothing is still strongly populated by private labels from variety stores, such as Marks Spencer or Bhs, and clothing specialists, such as Next, River Island and Principles. Premium product ranges remain focused primarily on department stores and there is some degree of â€Å"trading up† to labels such as Alexon, Planet, Viyella or Jaeger by consumers with greater disposable income levels (Global Market Information Database, 2005). Discounters significantly strengthened their share of consumer purchasing over the last two decades, largely due to the success of the Matalan and Primark chains. However, there are indications in the last two years that strong growth in the position of supermarket groups, largely due to their expansion into fashion wear, is beginning to shift value-driven purchasing in their favour away from discounters, though this shift is not yet decisive. Supermarkets are becoming increasingly involved in clothing; with companies suc h as Asda, Tesco and J Sainsbury have all launched clothing collections under a brand identity during the past few years. For example, J Sainsbury commissioned fashion designer Jeff Banks to launch a clothing range and Asda’s George at Asda range quickly became well-established, making supermarkets increasingly key players in the market. However, supermarkets still tend to focus on price, rather than fashion, and are thus not yet truly key players on the scale of Marks and Spencer, Next and Matalan (Global Market Information Database, 2005). The UK consumer increasingly regards an item of clothing or footwear as a disposable item, rather than an investment and this has affected both consumers’ approaches to purchasing decisions, and the fashion marketers’ sales practices. Whilst quality remains important, as an item must be fit for use, fashion styles play a much greater role in everyday purchasing than previously, so that a piece of clothing may not be expected to last longer than one season. This, in turn, places an emphasis on price levels; and the significantly increased availability of ‘value’ brands in supermarkets and discounters, which stimulates volume purchasing without contributing to value sales development. There is also a growing emphasis on purchasing clothing for leisure use, which has a direct impact on the sales practices used, and on their styling. The dramatic increase in purchasing of sports clothing and footwear during recent years was largely underwritten by fashion marke ting, rather than by a significantly higher level of participation in active sports. Although a necessary requirement of life, which requires regular replacement for functional reasons, let alone in response to fashion trends, clothing sales show an increasing trend of been strongly affected by price discounting during recent years (Global Market Information Database, 2005). Increased competition at retail level, particularly due to the growing involvement of supermarkets and discounters, is causing deflation on prices in most UK clothing and footwear. This situation has been further exacerbated by the growing globalisation of product supply, with formerly UK production increasingly relocated to low-cost production units in the Far East and Eastern Europe. This major shift of production of clothing away from the UK to low-cost production locations, primarily in Asia-Pacific or Eastern Europe, has raised marketing threats for several UK companies over ethical issues surrounding the reported exploitation of cheap labour in these overseas production units. There was extensive media coverage of Marks Spencers decision to abandon its previous strategy of sourcing the majority of its products from UK production (Global Market Information Database, 2005) To compensate for this shift in production, leading UK manufacturers began to emphasise their extensive expertise in product design, which adds value to the finished product. This offers an excellent opportunity for companies with the necessary experience to design and market new ranges of products with lower production overheads. b) Your assessment of the marketing strengths and weaknesses of the key players in terms of branding, reputation, differentiation and elements of the marketing mix. Marks Spencer has historically had a reputation as a leading retailer in the UK’s clothing sector, and this is a position that the company undoubtedly aspires to maintain. The bulk of its turnover is attributable to clothing, approximately 50%, and food, with 44%, (Global Market Information Database, 2005). However, as competition in the apparel sector intensified in the late 1990s, Marks Spencer struggled to maintain market share. Marks Spencer has always positioned and differentiated itself as offering reasonably priced, high quality and well-fitting clothes, but this marketing strategy received something of a battering at the end of the 20th century, as designers and commentators alike criticised the company for the very aspects of its brand which had traditionally attracted customers to the chain. However, Marks and Spencer’s marketing mix, primarily its design and quality, has received far more favourable press in recent years, and a renewed focus on casualwear and the core womenswear ranges, Per Una and Blue Harbour, have helped the company improve performance and regain market share (Strategic Direction, 2005). Matalan’s combination of low overheads, due to low cost out-of-town locations and overseas direct product sourcing, has enabled the chain to undercut high street competitors by as much as 50% on its own brands, and by as much as 35% on external branded products. Complementing its low price differentiation, Matalan also has an astute marketing mix. It operates as a clothing club: customers pay a mandatory  £1 membership fee for the privilege of shopping at the stores. Membership information also enables Matalan to use direct marketing and to target customers with catalogues and tailored clothing lines to meet demand (Rowley and Haynes, 2005) The potential of the discount clothing market remains significant. Marginally larger than its leading competitor, New Look, Matalan looks relatively well placed to make the most of burgeoning opportunities in the discount sector. However, the recent slowdown in the clothing market does not appear to have been to Matalan’s advantage . The company should be in a position to benefit from trading down by consumers in the event of economic down-turn, but recent figures suggest that consumers are shopping elsewhere to get the best deals on designer names, and that Matalan’s bargain image now counts against it in the increasingly celebrity image-driven fashion markets Next is one the major success stories of the upper end of the UK clothing mid-market. A retailer of fashionable, moderately priced clothing, for trendy men, women and children, Next offers products targeted at the top end of the mass market, and aims to combine individual styling with quality and value for money. Resisting the temptation to be overly trend setting, opting to differentiate itself by offering sensible and stylish clothing, rather than highly fashionable items, Next has maintained strong consumer loyalty. Since the early 1990s, Next has resisted all attempts to increase the number of clothing brands that it operates, convinced that diversification would ultimately be to the detriment of the Next brand. The success that it has achieved over many years as a result of product development, the progressive move to larger stores and the increase in the number of home shopping customers has convinced both the retailer itself and investors that it is right to continue with this marketing mix (Datamonitor, 2005) c) Your marketing recommendations for any organisation wanting to enter the market. In 2009, the United Kingdom apparel retail industry is forecast to have a value of $45.8 billion, an increase of 18.5% since 2004. The compound annual growth rate of the industry in the period 2004-2009 is predicted to be 3.4% (Datamonitor, 2005). This indicates that there will be space for new retailers to enter the market for clothing. However, consumer purchasing of clothing and footwear is now moving away from traditional outlets, such as department stores, variety stores and high street specialists, towards grocery supermarkets and discounters. This reflects a general move to out-of-town shopping, with consumers particularly attracted to the convenience of purchasing all their clothing items at the same time, and in the same store as they regularly buy groceries (Global Market Information Database, 2005) The brand name of an item of clothing also acts as a strong influence on the purchase decision, particularly among younger consumers. Peer pressure means that it is critically i mportant to be seen wearing the â€Å"right† brand of sportswear, and sales of children’s wear have been boosted by this fact in recent years. At the same time, parents are typically enjoying a greater degree of disposable income during the review period, which is increasingly focused on spending on fashion items for their children (Coughlan, 2006). Equally, the downward pricing trend in the UK fashion retail industry has led many retailers to focus upon profitability, rather than sales growth in recent years. Companies are continually trying to cut costs by utilizing measures such as larger retail formats, and by shifting production or changing their suppliers to lower cost regions in Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Some retailers have cut production and entered into niche markets in an attempt to add value to their business and improve margins. The UK retail industry is thus undergoing significant changes; traditionally dominated by high street retailers, supermarket chains such as ASDA and Tesco are expanding their clothing lines aggressively and gaining an increasing share of apparel sales. Originally the supermarkets purely focused on price to make their apparel attractive to British consumers and subsequently there was a certain stigma attached to their garments. However, as time has passed and supermarket labels have beco me more widely accepted, they are moving their range of clothes more upmarket, placing increased pressure on to traditional apparel retailers. Given this, any organization wanting to enter the UK fashion retail market is likely to have to differentiate itself based on brand, rather than quality or price. As new entrants will almost undoubtedly lack the buying power and reach of MS, Next, Matalan or Tesco, they would be better advised to concentrate on building a profitable niche, and the best way to do this is to make themselves a desirable brand. Given the preference for the latest fashions, at reasonable prices, with clothes only intended to last for the season they are purchased, the ability to react rapidly to changes in the market is also vital for any new entrant. This would differentiate them from the large chains, which often have structured, lean, and slow supply chains. Finally, although the need to base production facilities abroad, to take advantage of low labour costs, is now widely recognised as being vital to profitability, there have been high levels of negative publicity over potential â€Å"sweatshop† working practices. As such, a significant advantage can accrue to an organisation which differentiates itself on the basis of providing good wages and working conditions to its overseas workers, provided that the price of the clothes can still be kept competitive. References: Coughlan, S. (2006) Spoilt for choice. BBC News Magazine. Accessed 14th June 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5071222.stm Datamonitor (2005) Apparel Retail Industry Profile: United Kingdom. Global Market Information Database (2005) Clothing and Footwear in the United Kingdom. Euromonitor International. Rowley, J. and Haynes, L. (2005) Customer Relationship Management: The Matalan Way. Marketing Review; Vol. 5, Issue 2, p. 175. Strategic Direction (2005) Will the real Marks Spencers stand up?: Searching for that winning brand. Vol. 21, Issue 9, p. 28.

Indian Contributions :: essays research papers

President Bush â€Å"The strength of our Nation comes from its people. As the early inhabitants of this great land, the native peoples of North America played a unique role in the shaping of our Nation's history and culture. During the month when we celebrate Thanksgiving, we especially celebrate their heritage and the contributions of American Indian and Alaska Native peoples to this Nation.† The contribution of the American Indian to the English language is something that is often overlooked. These words range from such common English words as "raccoon," "moose," "quahog" and "mackinaw" to literally thousands of place names: "Chicago," "Tallahassee," "Cheyenne," "Hackensack," "Keokuk," "Rockaway," and many others. Historians point out that the first settlers on American shores discovered many things they had never seen before and which appeared nowhere else in the world. To get the English words for an Indian objects the settlers simply spelled out as best they could in English their impression of the Indian sounds. Understandably there were often various spellings. An early spelling for skunk was "squuncke," a persimmon was first spelled "putchamins" and the Niagara was the "ongniaahra." One political word widely used today, "caucus,&quo t; appeared in several of the Indian languages. A case can be made that contact with American Indians actually served as one of the catalysts for the Scientific Revolution in Europe. In 1571 King Philip II of Spain commissioned physician Francisco Hernandez to document the medicinal seeds, plants, and herbs that the Aztec used. Spanish physicians exploring indigenous American cures soon published three textbooks based on this information including one on surgery. Although more than 200 of the plants that American Indians (from North, Meso-, and South America) used as remedies became part of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, an official listing of all effective medicines, the originators of these remedies often remain unacknowledged. Freeze-dried food, syringes, rootbeer, rubberized clothing, beef jerky, and many of the tenets of the United States Constitution are only a few of the independent inventions and original discoveries that American Indian people gave to the world. American Indian agriculture has had a significant effect on worldwide agriculture and economy. Jack Weatherford, in his book Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World, pointed out that Indians cultivated over 300 food crops, and contributed to the world three- fifths of the crops now in cultivation. The Indian farmers of North and South America gave the world corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beans, pumpkins, squash, chocolate, vanilla, papayas, persimmons, jicama, pecans, chilies, hickory nuts, peanuts, cassava, sunflower seeds, maple syrup, tapioca, and avocados.

Leadership Communication Styles Inventory Essay

As a manager or leader of an organization of any kind, the power and ability to effectively lead others are in the choices made to build a healthy, motivational, and productive relationship with people on your team. We all influence others in some way, its Just that we seldom realize that we do or how we do it. Power in the workplace has traditionally been defined as force, dominance, assertiveness, strength, invincibility, and authority. In forward thinking corporations, power requires a commitment and a plan of action (Hale, 2010). Power and influence are somewhat interchangeable. Power is the capacity of a person, team, or organization to influence others. Power is not the act of changing someonws attitudes or behavior; it is only the potential to do so. You might feel powerful or think you have power over someone else, but this is not power unless you truly have the capacity to influence that person (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). One of the hardest lessons of management is that practically everything that has to be done must be done by others. Manager ¤Ã‚ ¬ws duties not only include directing employees ut controlling the budget, assets, and other Jobs within the organization as well. Leadership is the ability to get people to do what they don ¬wt want to do and like it. In other words, the core problem for leaders in any organization involves getting others to do what is required to accomplish the organization ¤es goals (Michelson). The concept of power and its application to leadership and management has gotten a bad reputation. Terms such as power hungry, abuse of power and corrupted by power have diluted powerws real use and meaning and deprived some leaders f the opportunity to understand and use various forms of power to good purposes (Wood, 2010). I like to believe people misuse their power simply because they have it and are unaware of it. When used in a positive, moral, and ethical manner, power is an excellent resource. It requires the perception of dependence, so people might gain power by convincing others that they have something of value, whether or not they actually control that resource. Consequently power exists when others believe that you control resources they want (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 010). People rely on their emotion more frequently than they realize to make decisions, so to become a more powerful influencer, it is wise to consider othews values, personality, and intelligence and express confidence in the personws ability to accomplish the Job. The type of power applied affects the type of influence the power holder has over the other person or work unit. Everyone has power and I d believe that to be a bad thing. The issue becomes what kind of power a person has and how it is used. The most powerful source is based on one osition within an organization and the authority given in that position (Wood, 2010). An abusive boss can lose respect and influence from their team members. As a leader, your influence and power are not only about getting the Job done, itws about the relationships you develop in the workplace. A supervisor on my Job is retiring in a couple ot months and it seems ner whole attitude and demeanor nas changed. She seems to be on a quest to get all the people she wants out of the company and all that she wants promoted before she leaves. The influence and respect that she once possessed is no longer apparent or given to her and the orale in the office is very low. Her tactics to get the Job done are threatening, humiliating, and demeaning for some of the employees. They are afraid to go above her for the fear of retaliation, so they wait and hope that their Jobs are safe until she retires. French and Raven, social psychologists, identified five sources of power – legitimate, coercive, reward, expert, and referent – that help the dependent person directly or indirectly achieve his or her goals. Legitimate, reward and coercive are sources of power granted formally by the organization and informally by co-workers; hey are positional powers (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). Legitimate power is an agreement among organizational members that people in certain roles can request certain behaviors of others. It depends on mutual agreement from those expected to abide by this authority (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). True and lasting power comes from being a leader worthy of respect and admiration. If you treat people with dignity and respect, you will build a trusting relationship and people will look up to you, listen to what you say, and want to be like you. Reward power derived from the person ability to control the allocation of rewards valued by others and to remove negative sanctions. Managers have power over the distribution of organizational rewards such as pay, promotions, time off, vacation schedules, and work assignments (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). This power comes with the position and can be taken away if the position is removed. Coercive power is the ability to apply punishment. Employees also have coercive power to ensure that co-workers conform to team norms (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). You have this kind of power when youwre in a position to punish others if they don ¬wt do what you want. People fear the consequences of not doing what has been asked of them. Expert and referent powers are based on an individuws personal power. These powers are based on charisma, likeability, and positive feelings the leader generates among subordinates (Wood, 2010). There is research suggesting that charismatic leadership is negatively related to harmful behaviors in the workplace. For example, transformational leadership was negatively associated with safety accidents which harisma is a large component of (Hale, 2010). These powers originate from the power holders characteristics and are power bases brought to the organization. Expert power is an individualws or work uws capacity to influence others by possessing knowledge or skills that others value (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). This power is based on what you know and will quickly gain you respect and influence in the workplace. It is all about knowing your Job and doing it well and not being afraid in learning all that you can. It could potentially be the basis for a managerial role for an employee. Referent power is a function ofa perso ¬ws interpersonal skills which allows others to identify with them, like them, or respect them and is associated with charismatic leadership (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). People are well liked and are considered role models because of their connection and concern for other people. People who are well-liked and respected nave a tremendous amount ot reterent power. A wise leader knows now and when to apply the right amount of power to influence an individual, group, or situation to move an agenda forward (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). In order to be an effective leader, a person cannot rely solely on either of these positions of power. Leading by example, offering rewards, or threatening punishments all can be used as power tools to accomplish goals, however more power can be gained by sharing it among the team in a more subtle and counterintuitive way (Wood, 2010). If you want your team to be ethical and respectful of each other, I believe the example should start from the top. Using influence tactics well requires a healthy combination of interpersonal, communication, presentation, and assertiveness techniques, verbal skills such as asserting, probing, ersisting, speaking conversationally, and willingness to ask for favors ( (Selling and Persuaion Techniques ). Influence refers to any behavior that attempts to alter someonws attitudes or behaviors (McShane, Steven L, Mary Ann Von Glinow, 2010). You may try to exert your influence through coercion and manipulation and you might even get things done but that isn ¬wt really influencing. Thatws forcing people to do what you want them to do and often against their will. Effective leaders use combinations of various strategies for different purposes under different onditions which can be classified under three categories: retribution, reciprocation, and reason (Michelson).

Comparative Essay - World Issu essays

Comparative Essay - World Issu essays If we were to take a moment to step back and look at the community that we are a part of, what would we see? We would see building after building making money and providing jobs, corporations contributing to our community. We would see people traveling to work everyday, which helps provide a stable income for the family so that they will be able to enjoy another month of meals and feel safe in the warm comforts of their homes. We would be privileged with the availability of health care and education. The luxuries that we can obtain and enjoy are well developed than other nations, so why, with war, do we want to limit the growth and development of other countries? Do we find thrill or satisfaction in achieving greater power and status? Our leaders must influence to better their nation with money, awareness of their people, justification and alertness for potential dangers. All we insist that Congress be wise with your money, were going to make sure we spend enough to win this war. (Bush: Saddam Throwing Last Chance Away) President George W. Bush insists that in order to allow the oppressed people of Iraq, whose lives we care about, to live in freedom and liberty, (Bush: Saddam Throwing Last Chance Away) the only resolution is to rid Iraq of Saddam Hussein. Bush also states, we dont believe freedom and liberty are Americas gift to the world. We believe theyre Almightys gift to mankind. (Bush: Saddam Throwing Last Chance Away) If this was the case why not direct more money to better build the world instead of using money for destruction. Pentagon estimates say that an invasion of Iraq could led to the deaths of 10 000 innocent civilians. (10 Reasons To Oppose The War With Iraq) There are greater contributions that one can offer in life, one that destroys this opportunity, ruins the chance of future development. CBO estimated that the...

Aphasia; an impairment of language function Essay Example

Aphasia; an impairment of language function Essay Example Aphasia; an impairment of language function Essay Aphasia; an impairment of language function Essay The ability to comprehend words processed non-auditory, suggests that the entrap semantic representation of words is intact, but the auditory lexicon input is detached from previous semantic knowledge. This results in a patients ability to process speech sounds, and reproduce them both orally and to dictation but have no comprehension of the words meaning. Laptop and Funnel (1981 ) argued this selective impairment to be of great theoretical significance because it indicates that there must be separate processes for written language and phonological encoding, otherwise written comprehension would be just as impaired as auditory comprehension, in all asses of aphasia. This essay will explore a case study of abstract word meaning deafness, firstly by describing how the case study was conducted and what pattern of results was found. The text will then evaluate whether the findings reliably imply a separate proves for phonological input and written abstract word processing through orthographic analysis, therefore providing evidence for Patterson Shells (1987) argument for auditory and visual processes in their lexical processing model. Finally this discussion will weigh the strength of the experiments findings and claimed implications, against issues of method, alternative implications and additional research to form a developed conclusion on how far abstract word meaning deafness can reliably illuminate functions of healthy language. Franklin S, Howard D, Patterson K (1994) ran extensive tests over a two year period on a patient that exhibited damaged auditory comprehension of abstract but not concrete words to test how the patients performance could reflect Patterson Shells 1987 processing model of lexical organization, by identifying a specific phonological semantic processing fault. The patient (DRY) suffered a stroke aged 54 causing a left middle coverall infract, Drys hearing and IQ was undamaged and was found to be normal. The patient underwent TV0 years speech therapy three times a week before the experimenters began a through 2 yearlong examination of Drys impairment. Franklin et el ran multiple tests aiming to establish the patients impairment at an auditory- semantic level. Key experiments tested auditory lexical decisions by getting ORB to match words with pictures. Analysis Of ORBs errors indicated whether e was making phonological errors (such as selecting a picture of an iron for the word lion,) or semantic errors (such as selecting a picture of a cat for the word lion. Further tests were conducted to test auditory, written, and speed( sound interpretation abilities of semantic proves through word repetition AR written dictation. The experimenters established DRY had an impaired auditory understanding of abstract words (such as love) but not concrete words, (e. G. Chair) with a full comprehension of all types of written words. The as shown in Drys ability to match abstract words with pictures, suggesting access to semantic lexical information was intact through the visual proves. However DRY made semantic errors when the same words were presented through auditory information. The lower the instability and more abstractness of the word resulted in more semantic errors. Furthermore the lack of phonological errors in correct auditory lexical decisions implies the impairment of comprehension is semantic rather that phonological. Word frequency and familiarity had no significant effect on correct phonological 01 mantic decisions. This pattern of impairment of auditory semantic comprehension and preserved phonological abilitys and written word comprehension matches the symptoms of pure word meaning deafness specified in the introduction. However the patient Was unable to write or repeat non-words indicating an impairment of the process of speech sound! Which would not be expected in a perfect case of abstract word meaning deafness as full phonological encoding should be completely intact with only) semantic comprehension impaired. That said the majority of these findings purport an abstract word meaning deafness diagnosis providing evidence FCC a word meaning deficit. This condition establishes an argument for separate; auditory and written systems within models of language, thus supporting Patterson Shells 1987 processing model of lexical information. This model defines the process of auditory comprehension of words in a three part system. There is an initial auditory analysis of speech sounds, which the provides access to correct word forms in auditory input, allowing aces to word meaning within the cognitive system. The model identifies an process for written word comprehension begging in orthographic rather that auditory analysis. Franklin et al argues Drys pattern of impairment could BC explained in terms of damage to the second stage of auditory input, consequently denying access to word meaning through the auditory process ± but allowing access to the same words meaning through the preserved written word process. Conversely Drabs inability to reproduce non words could indicate an issue with the early phonological encoding that the experiments tests were too insensitive to find. This would suggest a potential overlap between phonological and semantic encoding, disproving Patterson et alls model. The experimenters counterbalance this argument bi suggesting that this impairment is a separate deficit resulting from the stroke which could be reasonably expected as stoke induced aphasia patients often suffer multiple language deficits. Caber, Tare A. -Z. K. Parsons, Fay Augusta Vides 2011) However although this suggestion could be consider viable HTH F-rankling et al accepts no empirical evidence can be offered to prove the explanation of the patients inability to process speech sound within the context of Patterson model, and consequently the theory requires further case studies of word meaning deafness to provide a reasonable argument fool word meaning deafness. Supporting evidence can be found in Hall and Riddances (1997) case study of an aphasia patient (K) with impaired auditor) comprehension with intact written comprehension mimics Drys pattern of symptoms and supports Franklins findings. Unlike DRY the patient was able to repeat and correctly write both real and non-words regardless of impression, demonstrating an isolated impairment of auditory semantic aces. These findings strengthen Freidmans argument for DRY having a separate language deficit which would account for his inability to reproduce non words. However due to the rare nature of word deafness research into this field is not large enough to be conclusive as external variables could be skewing the results. One potential issue in methodology is the assumption 0 full patient motivation when recording the results. DRY underwent extensive amounts Of language tests which would be hugely demanding on a covering aphasia patient. Most of the failed comprehension tests were responded to by dont know, stating he cant hear the word. But the experimenter acknowledges it is unlikely his comprehension is all or nothing. This contradiction between the experimenters expectation and the patients direct reports indicate that DRY s results may not completely reflect his abilitys as he could have lacked the motivation to try and access more difficult processing information. Nevertheless the study was incredibly thorough, a very detailed analysis of Drabs abilitys in over fifteen different sets in over two years is likely to accommodate for most i ssues of low motivation, as the pattern of abilitys was established across a great wealth ii texts. Furthermore this experiment was one of the first language studies not to only focus on the correct or incorrect answer but test how difficult DRY found responding by tests of word fluency in comparison with a healthy control group, thus proving a far more accurate representation of the patients impairment than previous research. As the study was began two years after the stroke occurred it would have been of interest to complete a allow up study 5-10 years later to review what impairments have been recovered.