Free Essays on Robert Frost, Tuft Of Flowers

Being a farmer, Robert Frost was able to experience nature first hand and up close. Frost felt attached to nature on an intimate level which inspired him to write poetry. He strongly believed that man was detached from nature. While farming, Frost would wish that farmers would take advantage of their personal responsibility and be a little but more imaginative and creative when tending to nature. The poem written my Frost, Tuft of Flowers is about a farmer who wrote about the things he saw and experienced while farming. Early in the morning a farmer goes to his field to do his work. Once there, he realizes that the high grass has already been mowed so he turns the grass to dry. The mower gone and out of sight. This triggers feelings of loneliness and solitude. He feels that the mower who mowed the field was unaccompanied and out of sight by any other being. He feels that now he stands alone in the empty field with no one watching him and no one to be with. This feeling of lonely is not just a feeling of unaccompanyment but the loneliness of the entire human race. Then a butterfly comes by looking for flowers but all of the flowers are gone because the mower mowed them all down. The butterfly is drawn to a â€Å"tuft of flowers† by the river which was left by the mower. He left them because he thought they were pretty and it brought him gladness. Then the farmer began to feel the previous mowers spirit because he could feel the mowers passion for nature. This empowering feeling awakens the farmer’s senses and he realizes that he is not working alone. The flowers dispel his loneliness and he now feels in the company of the mower. At first the farmer feels alone and unsatisfied with the world, then as his day progresses and certain events happen he does not feel alone anymore. Now he feels that people are not really alone and people do things that give them and others pleasure. Emerson’s poetry inspired the ... Free Essays on Robert Frost, Tuft Of Flowers Free Essays on Robert Frost, Tuft Of Flowers Being a farmer, Robert Frost was able to experience nature first hand and up close. Frost felt attached to nature on an intimate level which inspired him to write poetry. He strongly believed that man was detached from nature. While farming, Frost would wish that farmers would take advantage of their personal responsibility and be a little but more imaginative and creative when tending to nature. The poem written my Frost, Tuft of Flowers is about a farmer who wrote about the things he saw and experienced while farming. Early in the morning a farmer goes to his field to do his work. Once there, he realizes that the high grass has already been mowed so he turns the grass to dry. The mower gone and out of sight. This triggers feelings of loneliness and solitude. He feels that the mower who mowed the field was unaccompanied and out of sight by any other being. He feels that now he stands alone in the empty field with no one watching him and no one to be with. This feeling of lonely is not just a feeling of unaccompanyment but the loneliness of the entire human race. Then a butterfly comes by looking for flowers but all of the flowers are gone because the mower mowed them all down. The butterfly is drawn to a â€Å"tuft of flowers† by the river which was left by the mower. He left them because he thought they were pretty and it brought him gladness. Then the farmer began to feel the previous mowers spirit because he could feel the mowers passion for nature. This empowering feeling awakens the farmer’s senses and he realizes that he is not working alone. The flowers dispel his loneliness and he now feels in the company of the mower. At first the farmer feels alone and unsatisfied with the world, then as his day progresses and certain events happen he does not feel alone anymore. Now he feels that people are not really alone and people do things that give them and others pleasure. Emerson’s poetry inspired the ...

Elizabeth Vigee LeBrun

Elizabeth Vigee LeBrun Elizabeth Vigee LeBrun Facts Known for:  paintings of French notables, especially Queen Marie Antoinette; she depicted French royal lifestyles just at the end of the era for such livesOccupation:  painterDates:  April 15, 1755 – March 30, 1842Also known as: Marie Louise Elizabeth Vigee LeBrun, Elisabeth Vigà ©e Le Brun, Louise Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun, Madame Vigee-Lebrun, other variations Family Mother: Jeanne Maissin, hairdresser from LuxembourgFather: Louis Vigee, portrait artist, working in pastels; member of the Academie de Saint Luc Marriage, Children: husband: Pierre LeBrun (married 1776, divorced; art dealer)children:Julie (born 1780) Elizabeth Vigee LeBrun Biography Elizabeth Vigee was born in Paris. Her father was a minor painter and her mother had been a hairdresser, born in Luxembourg. She was educated at a convent located near the Bastille. She drew early, getting in some trouble with the nuns at the convent. Her father died when she was 12, and her mother remarried. Her father had encouraged her to learn to draw, and she used her skills to set herself up as a portrait painter by the time she was 15, supporting her mother and brother.   When her studio had been seized by authorities because she did not belong to any guild, she applied to and was admitted to the Academie de Saint Luc, a painters’ guild which was not as important as the Academie Royale, patronized by more wealthy potential clients.   When her stepfather began spending her earnings, and after her she married an art dealer, Pierre LeBrun.   His profession, and her lack of important connections, may have been the main factors keeping her out of the Academie Royale. Her first royal commission was in 1776, commissioned to paint portraits of the king’s brother. In 1778, she was summoned to meet the queen, Marie Antoinette, and paint an official portrait of her. She painted the queen, sometimes with her children, so often that she became known as the official painter of Marie Antoinette.   As the opposition to the royal family grew, Elizabeth Vigee LeBrun’s less formal, more everyday, portrayals of the queen served a propaganda purpose, attempting to win over the French people to Marie Antoinette as devoted mother with a more middle-class style of living. Vigee LeBrun’s daughter, Julie, was born in 1780, and her mother’s self-portraits with her daughter also fell into the category of â€Å"maternity† portraits which Vigee LeBrun’s paintings helped make popular. In 1783, with the help of her royal connections, Vigee LeBrun was admitted to full membership to the Academie Royale, and critics were vicious in spreading rumors about her.   On the same day Vigee LeBrun was admitted to the Academie Royale, Madame Labille Guiard was also admitted; the two were bitter rivals. The next year, Vigee LeBrun suffered a miscarriage, and painted few portraits.   But she returned to her business of painting portraits of the wealthy and the royals. During these years of success, Vigee LeBrun also hosted salons, with conversations often focused on the arts. She was the subject of criticism for the expenses of some of the events that she hosted. The French Revolution Elizabeth Vigee LeBrun’s royal connections became, suddenly, dangerous, as the French Revolution broke out.   On the night, October 6, 1789, that mobs stormed the Versailles palace, Vigee LeBrun fled Paris with her daughter and a governess, making their way to Italy over the Alps.   Vigee LeBrun disguised herself for the escape, fearing that the public displays of her self-portraits would make her easy to identify. Vigee LeBrun spent the next twelve years self-exiled from France.   She lived in Italy from 1789 – 1792, then Vienna, 1792 – 1795, then Russia, 1795 – 1801.   Her fame preceded her, and she was much in demand for painting portraits during all of her travels, sometimes of French nobility in exile.   Her husband divorced her, so that he could retain his French citizenship, and she saw considerable financial success from her painting. Return to France In 1801, her French citizenship restored, she returned to France briefly, then lived in England 1803 – 1804, where among her portrait subjects was Lord Byron. In 1804 she returned to France to live for her last forty years, still in demand as a painter and still a royalist. She spent her very last years writing her memoirs, with the first volume published in 1835. Elizabeth Vigee LeBrun died in Paris in March of 1842. The rise of feminism in the 1970s led to a revival of interest in Vigee LeBrun, her art and her contributions to the history of art. Some paintings by Elizabeth Vigee LeBrun Marie Antoinette – etching based on Elizabeth Vigee LeBrun portraitMadame de Stael PortraitSelf-Portrait With DaughterSelf-PortraitMaria Christina of Bourbon-Naples

Th Ntur f Pristhd in th Church f nglnd Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Th Ntur f Pristhd in th Church f nglnd - Essay Example Th nly high prist in Gd's systm tdy is in hvn" Christins r prists f Gd. Th pristhd undr th lw ws vry hnrbl nd scrd ffic, Hb. 5:4, "nd n mn tkth this hnr unt himslf, but h tht is clld f Gd, s ws rn." It ws n ccunt f this hnr tht ths prud mn, Krh nd his cmpny, nvid rn; nd Gd ssrtd nd vindictd rn's right t it, by cusing his rd t bud. It ws n hnr which, bfr th giving f th lw, whn vry prticulr fmily ws wnt t ffr scrifics fr thmslvs, th firstbrn usd t clim, nd thrfr th birthright ws s much stmd nd vlud. Thrfr Jcb hd such dsir f hving th birthright f his brthr su, nd su's dspising f it is spkn f s grt instnc f his prfnnss. Prist in th Church f nglnd is sid t b chif mn mng his ppl, Lv. 21:4, "But h shll nt dfil himslf, bing chif mn mng his ppl, t prfn himslf." Bcus th ffic f th pristhd is s hnrbl, it is nticd s wickd cntmpt f it in svrl wickd kings, tht thy md f th mnst f th ppl prists. Pristhd is vry scrd ffic, nd tht bv ll thr ffics. Lv. 21:6, "Thy shll b hly unt thir Gd, nd nt prfn th nm f thir Gd, fr th ffrings f th Lrd md by fir, nd th brd f thir Gd, thy d ffr; thrfr thy shll b hly. Thy shll nt tk wif tht is whr, r prfn, nithr shll thy tk wmn put wy frm hr husbnd; fr h is hly unt his Gd. Thu shlt snctify him thrfr, fr h ffrth th brd f thy Gd, h shll b hly unt th: fr I, th Lrd, which snctify yu, m hly." Church f nglnd blivs tht... Th pristhd nw is n lngr cnfind t n fmily, t rn nd his sns, but ll th tru Isrl r prists. vry tru Christin hs wrk nd ffic tht is s scrd s tht f th prists ws undr th lw, nd vryn is dvncd t lik hnr, nd indd t grtr. But hw vry tru Christin is prist f Gd will ppr in th fllwing things. Undr th nglish Church ll wh hv "btind ccss t this grc in which w stnd" r prists f Gd (Owen, Dorothy, 2002). Ths wh nc wr nmis, whn rcncild t Gd, bcm His ministrs, thrugh Him wh lvs us nd hs frd us frm ur sins by his bld nd md us kingdm, prists t his Gd nd Fthr. N wndr tht clstil vics ris in pn f pris unt Him in th stirring wrds:"Wrthy rt thu t tk th scrll nd t pn its sls,Fr thu wst slin nd by thy bld didst rdm mn fr Gd Frm vry trib nd tngu nd ppl nd ntin, nd hst md thm kingdm nd prists t ur Gd" (Rv. 5:9, 10). Th trms "high prist" nd "chif prist" r fund but 123 tims in th Nw Tstmnt nd thus th pristhd is highly rspctd in nglish Church. Th Grk wrd fr prist is hirus, nd th trm "prist" is fund 33 tims in th Nw Tstmnt, whr it rfrs t th Lviticl prists 18 tims. f th 15 rmining ccurrncs, 8 rfr t Christ, 3 t Mlchizdk, 1 t th pgn prist f Jupitr, nd th thr 3 t th ntir mmbrship f th church f ur Lrd, wh r dsigntd s kingdm, vn prists. In n cs is th trm pplid t spcil ministry r cst in th cngrgtin f ur Lrd. N gspl prchr, bishp, r dcn ws vr rfrrd t s prist in ny distinctiv sns; n such individul ws prist by right f ffic (Best, 1995). S pwrful r th mbitins f mn, nd s wid sprd r th ids f scrdtl cst in th rlm f rligin tht it is virtully impssibl t limint th id f spcil clrgy frm th minds f mn s thy my mk cmplt rturn t pstlic simplicity in wrk nd wrship. Thr is n lmst univrsl id mng th "prists f Gd" tht thy my hir r cntrct with smn f suprir tlnt t pprch Gd in thir bhlf

Writing in the Content Areas Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 12

Writing in the Content Areas - Personal Statement Example During the course of my English 101 category, we learned how to read attentively, how to write a reflective paper, and how to write a passage in context essay. Frankly, I noticed English 101, was easy for me; my instructor was really easy on us, and we were not at all fixed out of our comfort zones. At that particular time, I reflected how fortunately getting easy grades for a little hard work. I was astonished for this result because throughout high school, I always considered college English was going to be much trickier during the course of my English 101 category, we learned how to read attentively, how to write a reflective paper, and how to write a passage in context essay. Frankly, I noticed English 101, was easy for me; my instructor was really easy on us, and we were not at all fixed out of our comfort zones. At that particular time, I reflected how fortunately getting easy grades for a little hard work. I was astonished for this result because, throughout high school, I alw ays considered college English was going to be much trickier Now that with English 101 had ended, I had a task with English 102. Probably due to my approach towards my English 101 category, I deliberated English 102 was going to be alike. I was totally wrong. I can bear in mind the first few days of the course group. The emotion of being prone to the harsh and abrupt reality that I really had to work extremely hard this semester. Uncomfortable at first, I slowly caught on to the quick but the well-organized pace my teacher had set for us. Even though there was an incredible amount of work this time, I reflect back now with a smile. I feel confident now that I could write a victorious essay. I possibly have learned nearly all about writing in present this one semester, then my whole academic profession. In my outlook, I hope to take all of the skills I have learned during my English courses.  

Impact of widowhood on elderly women in nigeria

Impact of widowhood on elderly women in nigeria The paper examines the social structured context and implications of widowhood in Southeastern Nigeria. It argues that in spite of the efforts by formal and informal agencies to alleviate the burdens of widowhood, the gender informed discriminatory practice of mourning which exacts a heavy toll on women persists. In this case, widows are exposed to harsh and often cruel mourning practices which are especially tasking for elderly women who have to contend with frail physical health, loss of partners and the mental, psychological and physical stress of widowhood. Therefore, while these practices are norm oriented they expose the elderly widows to psychological and social coping challenges. However, these elderly widows are also often led into activities and social strategies perceived as capable of alleviating the burdens of widowhood. Equally interesting is the finding that widows who are actively engaged and enjoy social support cope better with the challenges of widowhood than other s. In view of the above, the paper argues for a more active role by social workers in informing care provisioning and policies for lessening the burdens of widowhood on elderly women. INTRODUCTION The plight of widows has been a recurrent theme in the efforts to address perceived or real gender imbalance in African societies even in contemporary times. In spite of this the traditional conception of mourning which places a higher burden on women has obviously defied reform efforts. Hence the focus on widows actually derives from the traditional and patriarchal nature of African societies in which women are often regarded as the silent role players. In such a situation a woman who loses her partner may confront culturally structured scenarios different from the case of a man in the same situation. Therefore, the imaginings of widowhood in African societies are socio-culturally structured and reinforced and generate significant gender imbalance. Widowhood, meaning loss of ones spouse whether early or later in life entails a lot of things, mostly problems for the bereaved. Its effects may even be worse when the bereaved is an elderly person. Her self identity also changes in the sense that it brings on an era of identity crisis. This is because the widows feel that the real essence of their being married has been lost by the death of spouses. Coping with this identity crisis depends to a large extent on the individuals capacity and will. For traditionally oriented women, the role of wife is central to their lives, structuring their lives not only in their house holds but also on the job and in answering the question who am I and these women often put wife of at the top of their lists (Atchley, 1996). Social recognition and acceptance also pose a problem to widows because often times, widowhood in African societies goes with the erosion of social recognition. Widows often face problems of declining social recognition and acceptance after the death of their spouses and this can be linked to their losing their central roles of wife. In dealing with the societal attitude, these women get involved in other activities that they think will help them get recognition from the public and this can be seen in their active involvement in politics. The elderly people in the society are often stereotyped as lazy, wicked, hard to please disgusting, sickly and sometimes even diabolical (Korieh, 2005). This can be explained by the fact that they are viewed as burdens and distractions from ones immediate family and responsibilities. This stereotype is wrong because in the society, old people who are kind, peaceful and God fearing can still be found and this shows that one being evil or nice has nothing to do with age but the persons character and dispositions in life. According to Hazelrigg (1977), age by itself is not the cause of anything and it gets meaning only from how we use it to sort people. Thus, although age is used systematically to distinguish and categorize people, age in itself explains very little or nothing at all. The loss of a spouse can be a very traumatic experience particularly for many older women who devoted most of their lives to their marriages, husbands and children. Widowhood has thus been called the exemplar of a stressful life event and perhaps requiring more adjustment than any other life transition. (Hatch, 2000; Gallagtor et al, 1983). In addition to this, isolation and exclusion from the social environment sets in all in the name of widowhood practices and rituals and the woman is not expected traditionally to look after herself or freshen-up. This is often defined crudely as not bathing or combing her hair (See Basden, 1966). He aptly captured this practice in traditional Igbo society. According to him the woman mourning: Moves from her deceased husbands house to a small but in another part of the compound. While dwelling in this hut, she wears no clothes unless perhaps a rag; she must sit on a block or wood and nowhere else. Instead of a sleeping mat, a banana leaf must suffice (Basden, 1966; 278). A prominent theoretical orientation in gerontology, the activity theory of aging argues that normal aging involves maintaining as long as possible the activities and attitudes of middle age (See, Havighurst, 1963; Brehm, 1968). The basic assertion of this theory is that individuals should be just as active and involved in a variety of different roles and responsibilities in their later years as they were in their middle years. Judging by the loneliness and feeling of aloneness these widows experience after living for decades with their spouses and losing them when their companionship is most needed- at retirement one would agree that the activity theory to a large extent captures the situation of these widow (See Atchley1996). Thus, according to Brehm (1968), except for the biological and health changes older people have essentially the same psychological and social needs as middle aged people. From our study, it was discovered that this activity theory is of very great significance as a reasonable number of elderly widows used in the study agreed that active involvement in occupation helped them deal with widowhood and its related stress. For them, it helped them overcome loneliness, provide them with resources and kept time moving. This is in live with the contention of Kunkel (1979), that working class widows adjust better during bereavement than those sick, jobless or incapacitated. Based on both the likely erosion of social recognition and insurmountable loss which widowhood occasions, widows have often had to face socio-psychological challenges. These challenges result from both the societal attitude to widows and more crucially the psychological and even physical health of widows. As the above discussion shows, the case of elderly women may be worse given the unexamined stereotype about their attitudes and behaviour (See Korieh, 2005). Therefore this study sought to ascertain the socio-psychological impact of widowhood on elderly women in a typical traditional setting in Nigeria. Such an exercise has undoubted policy and research implications since discrimination against widows form part of the much decried harmful traditional practices against women. Hence the outcome of this study may be instrumental in informing social policies for protection of women as well as pinpointing empirical and theoretical social work response to the problems of widowhood. The study was conducted in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. Three quarters in the local government area viz Nkpunano, Nru and Ihe-owere were purposively chosen for the study. A total of 500 respondents were chosen through purposive sampling in the above three quarters. All the respondents were identified elderly widows above fifty years of age in these communities. The multi-stage sampling technique was used in actually selecting the above respondents while the questionnaire and interviews were used as instruments of data collection. The findings of the study reported below was based on a total number of 448 elderly women who fully responded to the study instruments. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTAL/EMOTIONAL STRESS AND WIDOWHOOD IN ELDERLY WOMEN IN NIGERIA. One glaring socio-psychological impact of widowhood identified in the study sample is mental/emotional stress. In the case, quite a good number of the respondents reported experiencing this type of psychological imbalance. As the table below indicates, the enormity of responsibilities widowhood lays on them triggers off mental/emotional stress in addition to physical stress. Table i: Distribution of Respondents by Nature of Health Stress. Stress Respondents Percentage Mental Stress 7 1.6 Physical Stress 280 62.5 None 161 35.9 Total 448 100 From the table above, apart from the 161 widows (35.9%) who declared they had no stress at all, 280 (62.5%) suffered from physical stress while 7 (1.6%) suffered from mental stress. This was as a result of the weight of responsibilities handed down to them after the death of their spouses. As has been indicated in the literature (See Basden, 1966), the isolation of the widow and the shabby treatment meted out to her in the name of culture in Igboland can generate and heighten emotional and mental stress. In fact as one of our respondents stated, most of the times I fall sick, it is because I think of how to care for my family and I dont seem to come up with any solution. Therefore in the Igbo area of Nigeria generally, as our study reveals, widows are confronted by social practices and observances such as disinheritance, and isolation which have adverse effects on their mental and psychological balance. Mental/emotional stress is a situation in ones mental well being or emotional state occasioned by tragedy (See Atchley, 1996). According to Atchley this stress can be manifested in the form of extreme anxiety, worries, frequent head-ache, high blood pressure, insomnia, heartache and regular hospital visits precipitated by mainly by worry. In patriarchal societies, especially where the widows are suspected of killing their husbands widows are left entirely without social support (see Korieh, 1995). This is usually worse for the women who do not have adequate educational background or who were prevented from obtaining further education. According to one of our respondents, a close relative of her deceased husband tried justifying the treatment meted out to her by asking her how come it was our brother who died? Therefore, the death of a womans spouse in Igboland is usually a great psychological and physical challenge to the widow and her children. The woman who is bereaved is usually expected to be the chief mourner, assisted by relatives and friends, the wailing, weeping and hysteria are expected to go on for days before the mans burial and even afterwards (Afigbo,1989). As has been reported in the literature such wailings and bitter lamentations are culturally expected (Basden, 1966; Meek 1937 cf Afigbo, 1989). This practice of prolonged wailing and anguish enforced by culture may often affect the psychological and mental balance of the woman (See Afigbo, 1989). In addition to this, widowhood may also occasion psychological and mental imbalance in some women especially older women whose mental faculties and emotions have been weakened by the challenges of living. Another key practice of widowhood in Africa which affects a womans psychological balance is the compulsory period of seclusion and isolation (Nwoga, 1989). In this case, the woman is isolated from the community for a specified period. According to this scholar, the isolation is combined with a regime of total neglect of the hygiene and body needs of the woman and incidentally, the practice of widowhood known as Igba-nkpe has also been noticed among Islamic communities. According to Trimmingham (1959), this period is known as iddat or idda among the Moslems and covers an average period of four months and ten days but in Igboland, the period lasts full 12 calendar months though radical Christianity has reduced it in some cases nowadays to six months. Due to their ages also, there are more reports of depression, poor health or new or heightened illnesses among these widows than there is among non-bereaved elderly widows and some of them do not live longer than one year after the deaths of their spouses (Gallagher and Thompson, 2001). This is because depression sets in at the loss of a spouse and most of them tell themselves that there is nothing to live for anymore. At some other times, married women friends see these widows as threats to their own still existing marriages and as a result terminate their relationships with these widows at the death of their spouses. ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT IN OCCUPATION AND COPING WITH WIDOWHOOD AMONG ELDERLY WOMEN Women across the globe have shown enviable courage, resourcefulness and residence in carrying on despite the trauma caused by widowhood, the isolation imposed on them by widowhood and the difficult tasks of earning a living and protecting themselves and their dependent family members. These women work outside the home as the breadwinners, make decisions, head their households and sometimes organize other women in areas of public life (ICRC, 1999). The above is no less the case with elderly widows in Southeastern Nigeria whose burden may have been doubled by the reality of aging. However, the women as our findings indicate see maintaining a sense of balance through engagement in occupation or meaningful economic activity as critical to surviving the coping challenges of widowhood in old age. Therefore, as can be noted from the table below, most of the widows were actively involved in one form of occupation or the other in order to earn a living for their families, and maintain some le vel of socio-economic functioning considered necessary to coping with widowhood: Table ii: Distribution of Respondents by Perceived influence of Active Involvement in Occupation on Coping: Active Involvement Respondents Percentage Yes 399 89.1 No 49 10.9 Total 448 100% It can be noted that 399 respondents (89.1%) stated that active involvement in occupation helped them deal with the stress of widowhood. This is in agreement with the literature which asserts that active involvement in occupation assists widows to deal with widowhood (See Kunkel, 1979). These widows when further questioned expressed different reasons for their involvement in active occupation but given that finance usually is a big problem to widows, 126 (31.6%) and 154 (38.6%) respondents respectively believe in active involvement because it provides money for the upkeep of the family and prevents too much thinking for the widows: Table iii: Distribution of Respondents by Importance of Active Involvement in Occupation. Importance of Active Involvement Respondents Percentage Prevents loneliness 56 14 Prevents thinking 154 38.6 Provides money resources 126 31.6 Keeps time moving 63 15.8 Total 399 100 Apart from involvement in occupation, these widows engaged themselves in some sort of social activities. These they did most times to get their minds off their problems especially at those periods the pains of loss of a love one and maltreatment by in-laws were very intense. The table below goes to show that a reasonable number of widows get themselves occupied socially in one thing or the other as a way of avoiding being engrossed in the throes of pain or endless contemplation of life without ones partner: Table iv: Distribution of Respondents by Social Strategies Adopted by Elderly Widows: Social Strategy Respondents % Active involvement in meetings 77 17.2 Stepped up interaction with family 42 9.4 Move involvement in religion 259 57.8 Introversion 14 3.1 Just keeping busy 56 12.5 Total 448 100 Given that most of the respondents were Christians, it was not out of place to discover that majority of them adopted or resorted to prayers as a social strategy to cope with widowhood. In the interviews as well, it was observed that a good number of them adopted church activities as a solace from the loneliness and difficulties associated with widowhood. Apparently, the widows as the interviews revealed held strongly to the popular notion that when all things fail, God never fails. One of them said in vernacular, Ekpere bu ikem. Chukwu bu onye nkwado m. This simply means in English, Prayer is my strength, God is my provider. From the foregoing therefore, the study revealed that most of the elderly widows at one point or another adopted economic strategies to help them cope the hardship associated with widowhood. Such strategies ranged from petty trading down to taking up additional jobs. On the other hand, they also adopted social strategies to assist them in their daily affairs as widows. These womens involvement in occupations and church activities as means of coping or overcoming widowhood are largely in agreement with the views of some scholars who have written on widowhood (see, Kunkel, 1979; Atchley, 1997). SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE AND THE ALLEVIATION OF PROBLEMS OF WIDOWS IN NIGERIA. As the study revealed, widowhood in Southeastern Nigeria poses a variety of problems to women ranging from low social prestige, disinheritance, and forceful remarriage amongst others. Widows in Southeastern Nigeria often encounter the most severe forms of these discriminations in spite of the increasing modernity of all spheres of the society. One dimension of this gender discrimination is that once the man dies, the widow faces the incidence of disinheritance by in-laws. In western societies, a woman is entitled to all she ever had or shared with her deceased husband but as this study found out in Southeastern Nigeria widows, though preferring to continue to work on the lands owned by their late husbands cannot do so because land inheritance is impossible for them as a result of cultural norms which forbid this (Korieh, 2005). According to Oluwa (2005), though in paper the statutory and customary laws indicate that widows should inherit or be sole beneficiaries of their dead husbands properties (especially where children exist), this does not apply in practice. Rather in some cases where the woman is desperate for these lands and property, she is forced to conform to the tradition of widow inheritance. In this case, the woman is treated as part of the properties of the dead men and is also available for inheritance. She b ecomes the legal wife of her inheritor and the children inherited and those born by the inheritor are considered to belong to the new husband (Evans Pritchard, 1951). The study also discovered that for fear of ostracism and related punishments, widows suffer in silence, especially when they are denied traditional sources of support. This usually causes economic hardships and deprivation. They lose their honour and respect as soon as they lose their husbands. Their husbands being traditionally their main sources of honour and respect, once dead gives room for them to be treated with disregard as humans especially by in-laws (ICRC, 1999). This can be explained by the popular Igbo adage which says that Di bu ugwu nwanyi, (a husband is a womans honour). It was further discovered that widowhood in Igboland is usually a great psychological and physical challenge to the elderly widow. The wailing, weeping and hysteria are expected to go on for days, before the mans burial and even after wards; as is obvious in the literature, such wailings and bitter lamentations are cultural expected (Basden, 1966, Meek, 1937 of Afigbo, 1989) and this prolonged wailing and anguish enforced by culture may often affect the psychological and mental balance of the woman. The list of problems is almost in exhaustible and these call for the intervention of social work services to help alleviate if not eradicate them entirely. From the study it was noticed that those widows who involved themselves in occupation cope better than those who did not. Social workers should therefore take cognizance of the need to sensitize the idle widows to get busy in order to overcome both the financial and emotional hazards of widowhood rather than wallowing in self pity. In this case social workers can go the extra mile of linking widows with systems or organizations where these jobs no matter how small can be found. They can also act as advocates for these widows on the issue of in-laws maltreatment. This role of advocacy should be extended to the policy makers bringing to their notice the ills suffered by the widows especially the elderly ones so that ways of enforcing already existing policies will be found and new ones established. These policies should cover areas such as Medicare for widows, living arrangements (this can be achieved by building low cost houses), changing or eradication of harmful widowhood practices etc. Perhaps beyond the above public policy responses is the critical need for a widow oriented social work practice which while cognizant of the socio-cultural and psychological burdens of widowhood in Southeast Nigeria sees the elderly widows as a special group. Basically, aging and its resultant physical infirmities and socio-psychological withdrawal makes the elderly widow particularly vulnerable to widow induced stress. Hence, social workers acting in their capacities to function as enhancers of coping capacity, linking agents and promoters of effective humane operation of social systems (see, Ekpe Mamah, 1997 on the functions of social work) can do a lot to improve the situation of elderly widows in a male dominated society like the Igbo Southeastern Nigeria. The re-examination of the main findings of this study indicates that the situation of elderly widows can be explained along the lines of the popular continuity theory in social work. According to this theory the individual in the course of growing older is predisposed towards maintaining stability in the habits, associations, preferences and lifestyle that he/she developed over the years (Peterson, 1976; McCrae and Costa, 1984). According to these Scholars, peoples habits, preferences, associations, states of health and experiences will in large part determine their ability to maintain their lifestyle while retiring from full time employment and perhaps adjust to the death of a loved one. Therefore in accordance with our findings in the study, it can be inferred that activity at old age helps the elderly overcome loss of their loved ones especially their spouses and this activity if possible should be in the areas preferred and chosen by the individual with which he/she had been accustomed to over time.

O Pioneers!

O Pioneers! Was written by Willa Cather and was first published in 1913 and it is a literary fiction. This book is about all the hardships of living in the planes or even just the hardships and challenges that people had to endure in the life of a pioneer. O Pioneers! takes place between the late 1800s and the early 1900s in Hanover Nebraska. The main character in the book is Alexandra a strong, young woman who bests the difficult lifestyles of living in the great planes. Some of the themes shown in O Pioneers!  Could be self sacrifice, building a civilization out of nothing, and Imagination of pioneers. An example of self sacrifice is Alexandra, she gives up most of her childhood to making sure her farm flourishes and learning more effective methods of farming. Pioneers must have imagination because they have to be able to look at an empty plot of land and imagine the city that could spring up from the area or what their farm could potentially yield. Also pioneers build their civilization out of nothing on the frontier. Its originally just a bunch of grass and planes but farmers work the land and produce crops, and eventually it attracts more people. Life in the great planes was extremely difficult for multiple reasons. The great planes didn't have very many trees, and without trees there was no wood to build houses, so most pioneers built their houses out of sod. The winters were long and cold and the summers were hot and dry. Farmers had to plant crops that didn't require much water because they had to carry their water from nearby streams to their crops. There were many droughts and grass fires often started because it was so dry. Also there weren't that many people out in the great planes yet so they had to develop new technology making new farm equipment that would help make their farming easier. Women also play different roles in O Pioneers than the usual roles of women. The women work, and cross different gender lines on the frontier and for some women its a refreshing taste of freedom. In O Pioneers! Alexandra owns land on her own instead of the men in her family. This is an overall interesting book to the general public, it is ostly accurate in the depiction of how life was for pioneers in the late 1800s early 1900s or maybe even for the life of a pioneer in general, except for It shows the successful side of pioneering. Most pioneers ended up in debt by picking the wrong plot of land or just using the wrong farming techniques. But it does show the drought that made the majority of people in Hanover sell their land which Alexandra later invests in. O Pioneers is a useful book for the general audience in depicting some of the hardships of life in the great planes.

Essay on Contrasting Kand and Hume on Morality - 1510 Words

Morality is central to all rational beings, whereby a moral action is one determined by reason, rather than our personal desires as suggested by Kant (1785) in contrast to Hume. (1738). Furthermore, Kant suggests that an action is moral only on account of its being reasoned, therefore the moral worth of an action is determined by its motives and not by its consequences. Exploring the works of Hume (1738) and Kant(1785) on morality and ethics, we will ask the question whether we should do what is morally right, even when you could profit by doing something wrong, and furthermore, we shall discuss morality as a type of game, yet something you cannot opt out of, as something Foot describes as inescapable. (Foot 1972: 311). Morality and†¦show more content†¦For Hume, reason alone can determine how something is useful to us. He distinguishes between artificial and natural virtues; with artificial virtues depending on social structures, such as chastity, and natural virtues which are created in nature and are more universal for example friendship. A major argument for Hume is that reasons do not govern our actions, in fact reason is a slave to the passions.(Hume in Signer 1994). Hume says that in fact our actions are cause by a combination of value and emotion. In fact, reason influences our actions in only two ways: by guiding passions to focus on objects and by uncovering connections between events that will in fact create passions. The judgments a person makes about relations of ideas or about ideas themselves may be reasonable or unreasonable, but the judgments do not result in anything other than opinions. For the moral method to work, the judgments must stir up passions, which then lead us to act. If we are to consider both Kant and Humian ethics, the differences are many from their very definitions. Kantian ethics rely on rationality, whilst for Humian ethics assert that reason alone is not enough to ensure action, instead its our passions. So the qu estion is, why should we act morally good if we could profit from behaving morally bad? Kantian ethics would say that we have a duty to act morally good, but where