Finance questions Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Account questions - Speech or Presentation Example Different contemplations incorporate the recurrence of single drills, just as the quantity of drill meeting every week. The meeting should start by crosschecking the wellbeing thought. Players ought to be free and all around rested. They ought to be liberated from wounds in the appendages and arms that require working out (Mcardle, 2000). After effective wellbeing contemplations, the meeting ought to continue with a warm up. Start by joining dynamic and static warm to accomplish every single alluring outcome (Mcardle, 2000). Players ought to do start by slight running, circumventing the court multiple times, making a couple of extending and running and Plyometric hops. Warm up serves two capacities. In the first place, it plans muscles for the unstable plyometrics. Besides, it is one of the primary phases of familiarizing with plyometrics, particularly for the fledgling (Taylor and Beashel, 1996). This preparation involves dropping on grounds from an upper surface, trailed by a bounce up. A drop-down during the offbeat stage offers the muscles the pre-stretch, just as an enthusiastic upward drive during the withdrawal stage. The viability of the activity is just viable if the time that the feet contact the ground is short. The activity stacking is dictated by the dropping stature, which ought to be about 0.7 to 1.1 meters (Taylor and Beashel, 1997). Three arrangements of hops ought to be played out, each with 10 redundancies. In bouncing, larger than average steps are utilized for the running activity while time is spent noticeable all around. Bound that include two legs limit the suffered sway. The force might be expanded by jumping or even single-leg bouncing. Upstairs’ bouncing improves the even of development. Three sets jumping and leaping ought to be played out, each with 10 reiterations. Hand applauds and press ups, done in modifications, is one manner by which the chest and the arms can be molded. Pre-stretch happens as the hands swing back to the ground and as the chest sinks. This

Early Childhood Curriculum Essay

While being in this course I have found out about the distinctive educational programs, ways of thinking and speculations. In this paper I will talk about how to build up a suitable educational plan for preschool kids. This paper will incorporate the accompanying points: the hypotheses and additionally methods of reasoning of Montessori; ideas learned all through this course, how to apply them into a youth homeroom concentrating on the understanding segments to structure an educational program for a preschool study hall dependent on ages 3 to multi year old kids. First let’s talk about the ways of thinking of both Maria Montessori and Jean Piaget. Maria Montessori thoughts and convictions are implanted all through each youth program and her effect on our contemplating educational program has been significant. She was an enthusiastic kid advocate and accepted that all youngsters merit appropriate training. Montessori demanded that through legitimate early training, oppressed and psychologically hindered kids could be effective on the off chance that they were allowed to learn. She was one of the first to set up a preschool for poor and intellectually impeded kids in Rome; these preschools were called â€Å"Casa dei Bambini†, which deciphered in English as â€Å"Children’s House.† Dr. Montessori suggested that youngsters that are in danger and the thought that society had an ethical obligation to dedicate assets to early kid mediation. Our reading material expresses that. â€Å"Montessori grasped and extended Froebel’s kindergarten idea; she felt that kids were regular students and should drive quite their very own bit learning. She stated that kids ought to be assembled in multiage (2  ½ to 5 years) classes to permit adaptability and open doors for peer tutoring. Montessori built up a broad arrangement of â€Å"didactic† materials and exercises int ended to be alluring to youngsters and utilized by educators to show explicit ideas and aptitudes. She adjusted furniture to youngster size as a signal of regard for the extraordinary needs of early learners† (Jaruszewicz, 2012). I concur with her way of thinking and hypothesis, since kids do require the opportunity to learn at their own pace and not to be forced to do what they see other kids do. It is likewise significant the study hall learning condition to be attractiveâ so that it will attract the youngsters to be there and learn new and energizing things. So as to utilize the showing technique, the instructors must be prepared to work with all youngsters and comprehend that nobody kid builds up equivalent to another. The other thinker that I will talk about is Jean Piaget. A contemporary of both Montessori and Dewey, Swiss clinician Jean Piaget proposed a hypothesis of subjective improvement that started a constructivist perspective on educational program (Jaruszewicz, 2012). Piaget directed a few examinations with small kids that demonstrated that their psychological ideas are found out through experimentation encounters. Little youngsters will keep on doing things that they have been advised not to do, until the result of their activities has been reached. For instance, when a parent advises their kid not to stack the structure obstructs high or they will fall on them which could prompt them being harmed; the kid keeps on doing that something very similar again and again to check whether what their parent said is valid. When the youngster has seen the structure squares fall over on them is the point at which they have discovered that they don’t need to do that. His work affirmed early taking in as unmistakable from other formative periods, inferring, consequently, that materials and exercises for little youngsters ought to mirror the peculiar manner by which they think and procedure boosts (Jaruszewicz, 2012). Piaget recommended that intellectual advancement happens in four distinct stages, three of which happen during youth. In the sensorimotor stage, newborn children and babies process understanding and start to facilitate development through tactile investigation. Preoperational considering preschoolers rises unexpectedly, as they are inside persuaded to understand their condition by testing thoughts and speculations in play and investigation with materials (Jaruszewicz, 2012). Piaget and Montessori are the primary ways of thinking that stood apart to me in this course the most. Next I will talk about the Core information preschool arrangement educational program and the territories inside it. With solid spotlight on testing, yet suitable substance, the Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence and Teacher Handbook is one of a kind among youth programs. It diagrams a total and intelligent movement of information and abilities in every single formative zone and incorporates formatively suitable practices for both substance and guidance. Utilizing the center information educational plan assists with making suitable exercises that set up the preschool age youngsters to learn. Kids areâ always prepared to learn; as long as the educator gets that, every youngster will be anxious to learn in new and energizing manners. It is significant for instructors to ensure that the data that they wish to encourage the kids in the study hall is suitable and fun. The Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence Curriculum centers around five unique territories: Social Skills, Early Literacy aptitudes in perusing and composing, Mathematics, Science and Visual Arts. It is significant for kids to figure out how to associate with other kids their age from the get-go in their lives to build up their social aptitudes. One of the numerous things I love about Montessori is that Montessori instructors see the ‘whole’ kid formatively, scholastically, socially, inwardly, and genuinely. There is a legend out there that says essentially putting kids in a similar room and having them do exercises encourages them create social aptitudes. I oppose this idea. Creating social aptitudes should be an incentive in the study hall just as demonstrated by the educators/grown-ups who are around the kids. Utilizing habits, exhibiting what Montessori called ‘Grace and Courtesy’ and continually being aware of the youngster are key fixings to helping a kid create social abilities. There are a few different ways to help grow children’s social abilities. The action that would be utilized to create social aptitudes is have the youngsters sit around on the floor, pass an item around every kid to alternate educating the class something concerning them. Regardless of whether it is there name, most loved shading, guardians name, what number of kin they may have, and so forth. When are playing together in the homeroom they figure out how to alternate, imparted things and playing to others all in all encourages them create social abilities. The improvement of language in youth homerooms is an umbrella for the Montessori educational program. The educators and guardians consider exercises on the racks of the Language region as the core of genuine language learning. The methods utilized in a Montessori homeroom are distinctive with regards to showing language and proficiency. Educators, guardians, and directors need to perceive correspondence as the establishment for the significant advancement of language ideas and aptitudes. Powerful corresp ondence relies upon genuine connections between informative accomplices. Educators have the duty (really, the chance) to create and extend learning associations with small kids. This is really a definitive chance to have any kind of effect. Found in this light, discussions with little youngsters onâ the play area, during field trips, while in transit to the washroom, amidst compromise, during exercises, and endless different occasions make the setting for the advancement of language aptitudes. Connections of trust are worked among youngsters and instructors and among peers. Study hall work further adds to language idea and ability advancement inside this setting of important correspondence. It is critical to talk youngsters particularly babies continually, so they can build up a solid feeling of jargon. Youngsters get on to everything that they may hear. So it is certainly imperative to be mindful what language you use around kids. Pieces of literature and pictures are unequivocally significant in a youth homeroom. These materials make the study hall alluring to youngsters just as make them need to find out about what those pictures and books mean. Phonemic mindfulness is a piece of a reasonable proficiency program, and can be created in a few different ways during shared perusing and shared composition. Common perusing and shared composing normally happen during the language expressions time square, however may likewise happen during content-territory learning. On to my preferred subject any evaluation level or age is science. In a youth homeroom, showing small kids arithmetic to some degree simple and now and again not really. Getting kids ages three to multi year olds to gain proficiency with their numbers and balanced correspondence can be a test, yet it expects persistence to show the youngsters the importance of number mindfulness. Give kids bona fide, hands-on learning encounters DO NOT USE WORKSHEETS. In preschool you should play to the children’s characteristic interests and loo k to your student’s enthusiasm to manage exercise arranging. You are setting up youngsters for a lifetime of learning and you ought to make fervor around what you. Likewise, the more active the movement is, the all the more learning styles you are connecting with, and the more the youngster appreciates it the more they will learn and hold! Make exercises that kids are effectively engaged with gaining some new useful knowledge, for example, how to tally and perceive numbers. Numbers are by all account not the only thing that youngsters can discover that is identified with science. Shapes are the manner by which to see and remember them are significant too. Showing kids shapes and what number of sides every one has includes numbers also. Science and Language go together on the grounds that you are utilizing jargon words to choose the shapes, numbers, and so forth. Taking everything into account, this paper addressed some importan

The Knights Templar

The Knights Templar is accepted to be a strict military request that did its exercises for roughly two centuries during the Middle Ages. The request, which developed quickly in participation and force, had various names and its individuals had various different titles. This Western Christian military request started as a little assembling of priests. As the request expanded its participation over the European nations, its individuals were required to live certain ways of life as Templars.Advertising We will compose a custom paper test on The Knights Templar explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More The request was primarily dynamic from 1119 to 1314 and it got a gift from the Pope in around 1129. The individuals from the request wore white mantles with a red cross and they were principally associated with battle during the campaigns. Its impact was felt all through Christendom and non-warrior individuals from the request put vigorously in different parts of the economy. This exceptionally mysterious association had a job to offer insurance to the pioneers who were setting off to the Holy Land. The principal campaign, which occurred in 1099, made the city of Jerusalem to be kept. From that point, a few strict journeys were made to visit the Holy Places. As much as Jerusalem was securely watched, the remainder of the Outremer locale was not since numerous pioneers were burglarized and killed as they endeavored to make their excursion to the Holy Land. Following these dangers, around 1119, the French knight Hugues de Payens and his closest relative Godfrey de Saint-Omer, chose to shape a mystery society to ensure the pioneers. At the point when the veterans of the primary campaign introduced this proposition to King Baldwin II of Jerusalem, he permitted them to make the religious request. They at that point built up their base camp at Al Alqsa Mosque, on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, which was believed to be the remains of the Temple of the Old Tes tament King Solomon. Along these lines, the request was known as the â€Å"Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon,† or â€Å"Templar† knights (Ralls, 147). At the point when the association started, it had just nine individuals and they were exceptionally dependant on gifts for doing of their exercises. The exercises of the individuals were bound to the promises of neediness, modesty, and loyalty to the Grand Master or president, furthermore their ordinary dressing style, they wore chainmail while in fight (Williams, 104). They boldly took on numerous conflicts, for instance, against the Saracens, with regards to what they had faith in. The poor status that the warrior priests were living in didn't proceed for quite a while. One of the family members of the establishing knights, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, figured out how to persuade the Pope about its exercises and the Church embraced it in 1129. After this proper gift, the Templars were currently guaranteed of the kindness from the congregation. Consequently, it began to enroll more individuals and numerous individuals offered gifts to help the warrior priests in securing the travelers. Different rulers additionally preferred the Templars, for instance, King Alfonso of Argon gave them thirty-three percent of his Spanish Empire before he passed on and in 1139, Pope Innocent II liberated them from faithfulness to the nearby guidelines. Since it had an away from and huge measure of assets, the impact of the Templars developed tremendously.Advertising Looking for article on history? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The Templars possessed land in different places across Europe and some went along with them with the goal of getting rich. In any case, a few people scrutinized them. The pundits felt that their brutal murdering of numerous people was not in accordance with Christian ethics. A large portion of their gatherings were held stealthily and nobody comprehended what unfolded during these gatherings. As the subsequent campaign was going to occur, the Templars was the primary armed force on the Christian side and they got support from all over Christendom. They boldly struggled against the Muslim gathering called the Assassins, who battled more cruelly than they. As the fight proceeded, Christians were being crushed and in 1187, at the clash of Hattin, Islamic soldiers sorted out under Saladin enormously vanquished the dwarfed Christians. After this annihilation, the Templars were constrained to move to different urban areas. Some went to Acre and some fled to Limassol. They at that point chose to leave battling and participate in different exercises. They possessed houses, completed financial administrations to the explorers who dreaded being ransacked, and accompanied voyagers utilizing their armadas of boats. The request began to include in legislative issues where they served in different limits in reg al advisory groups and gatherings. The obligation of the request was part: towards the east, they despite everything secured the travelers, and towards the west, they took different occupations. Subsequently, the Knights Templars expanded in riches and influence. This is what is thought to have prompted their disintegration. It is accepted that the association had incredible insider facts, which could have enormously destabilized Christianity on the off chance that they had been known. Others believe that they had some incredible relic, for example, the crown of thistles, which Jesus wore on the cross, and the head of John the Baptist. It is obscure whether they really had the antiquities. Philip IV of France begrudged the abundance of the request and he planned methods of disposing of the Templars (Steiner and Jonas, 54). Since he would not like to pay for an advance he had taken from them, he dishonestly blamed them for conspiracy, vulgar ceremonies, homosexuality, blasphemy, and different wrongdoings (Dafoe, para.14).Advertising We will compose a custom article test on The Knights Templar explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More When the charges were brought before Pope Clement V, in view of Philip’s impact in the congregation, he permitted him to take out the individuals from the request. As the circumstance intensified, on Friday, October 13 1307 (a day by and by thought about unfortunate) Philip requested for the capture and detainment of the Templars. Philip assumed responsibility for the greater part of their framework. At the point when the pioneer of the Templars, Jaques de Molay, was captured and summoned before a huge large number, he decried all the admissions he had made before. On March 18, 1314, the last Grand Master was singed alive and with his final words, he reviled the people who were answerable for his demise. Inside a year, both Philip IV and Pope Clement V. had passed on. The pope requested the migration of the abun dance of the Templars to one of their adversary arranges, the request for Hospitallers. As the request for the Templars was broken down, a considerable lot of its individuals were consumed by the request for Hospitallers. Right now, it is imagined that the Templars are existing under another name. From the mid eighteenth century, the Freemasons are accepted to have joined some of the Knights Templars images and ceremonial practices. A large number of these are available inside a Masonic body called by other various names. This gathering right now works either self-rulingly or as a segment of the York Rite in many pieces of the world. Works Cited Dafoe, Stephen.†Who were the Knights Templar.† TemplarHistory.com. 31 March 2010. Web. http://blog.templarhistory.com/2010/03/who-were-the-knights-knight 2/Ralls, Karen. Knights Templar reference book : the basic manual for the individuals, spots, occasions, and images of the Order of the Temple. Franklin Lakes, NJ: New Page Book s, 2007. Print. Steiner, Rudolf, and Margaret Jonas. The Knights Templar : the secret of the warrior priests. Timberland Row: Rudolf Steiner Press, 2007. Print.Advertising Searching for exposition on history? We should check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Find out More Williams, Paul L. The total idiot’s manual for the campaigns. Indianapolis, Ind.: Alpha, 2002. Print. This article on The Knights Templar was composed and put together by client Deborah Yates to help you with your own investigations. You are allowed to utilize it for research and reference purposes so as to compose your own paper; be that as it may, you should refer to it in like manner. You can give your paper here.

Why did Charles I decide to dissolve parliament in 1629 Essays

For what reason did Charles I choose to break up parliament in 1629 Essays For what reason did Charles I choose to break up parliament in 1629 Essay For what reason did Charles I choose to disintegrate parliament in 1629 Essay Paper Topic: History There were numerous variables that added to the breakdown in trust between Charles I and his Parliament in 1625-29, which at long last prompted his choice of dissolving Parliament. I mean on focusing on the principle key elements, which developed over a particular course of events, and give evidential and accurate recommendation and investigation to show that Charless choice was not unjustified, yet mistaken on his benefit, where he is at fault. The principal subject, which was Charless generally irksome in adding to encourage issues, and Parliaments most compelling influence, was Parliaments hesitance to allow Charles cash. Charles required cash from Parliament in 1625 for conceivable war against Spain. They offered I 140,000, yet this was deficient. Charles was disappointed as he trusted Parliament would be as co-employable as the past. This in itself wasn't right as Parliament were not educated regarding the genuine size of cash needed and the particular time to be advertised. Tonnage and poundage was customs income (charge) customarily allowed to the King by the principal Parliament of his rule and gave a huge segment of his pay. In 1625 this turned into an issue since Charles didn't get full sum and as Parliament were stressed over the issues to which it would be utilized, and furthermore they needed to change the framework this would forestall him allowing more, consequently constraining his capacity. This in actuality was an off-base proceed onward Parliaments side as it drove Charles further away. This likewise brought about additional issues as Charles continued gathering. Charles was dubious about Parliament, as he was unable to comprehend why they would not back a war that they had affirmed. They likewise accused Buckingham for misusing the meeting and the Kings undertakings; Charles viewed this assault as an endeavor to subvert his position. He at that point accepted that plotters wishing to sabotage illustrious authority were driving the Commons adrift. The other way around, Parliament was confounded at Charless refusal to haggle with them in the standard way. They had discovered reason to question his statement in breaking the guarantees of war and marriage arrangements. Neither Charles nor Parliaments activities for this situation were advocated. There was away from of Parliaments worries, as they didn't intend to affront. Somewhere in the range of 1625 and 1627 Charles fund-raised by making sure about an advance against the Crown Jewels, and selling Crown land. Charless choice on a constrained advance was dubious as it made the Crown more unfortunate in the long haul and was unlawful and left individuals despondent. The evidential end to this was the event of the Five Knights case. This end up being significant, as the dissidents attempted to test the lawfulness of their detainment, which would then test the legitimateness of the constrained credits would need to be tried in court. The Attorney General (illustrious lawful official) on Charless side attempted to change records, on Charless solicitation, so when this story rose Charless notoriety was harmed. This was a choice Charles ought to have lamented that left Parliament fuming. In 1628 Parliament offered five endowments and tonnage and poundage. This was just dependant upon an understanding of the job of Parliament. Charles collected additional cash he required in 1628 by holding onto merchandise from dealers who had wouldn't pay tonnage and poundage, one of whom was a MP. These techniques expanded Parliaments doubt of him, as they needed some security for what's to come. The hesitance to concede Charles cash in understanding to the initial three focuses was Parliaments significant destruction, which could be the biggest commitment to the disintegration of Parliament in 1629. The second compelling subject in the disintegration of Parliament was Parliaments aversion of the Duke of Buckingham, which was brought about by international strategy disappointments. As far as international strategy in 1625, Charles and Buckingham planned to set up an enemy of Spanish front to constrain the Hapsburgs to reestablish the Palatinate to Charles brother by marriage. They planned to accomplish this point through: 1) a collusion with Christian IV of Denmark in return for budgetary help from England, whereby he would assault the Catholic Hapsburgs in north Germany. 2) Financially supporting the Dutch in a similar reason. 3) An English armed force of 6000, to be accommodated the German Protestant soldier of fortune leader. 4) An ocean war against Spain to attempt to remove its provisions of gold and silver from South America. These means when completed were a disappointment for a huge scope, which left Charles humiliated. Britain landed itself in war with both Spain and France. Buckinghams choice to support the Huguenots, attacked by the French was appalling. He drove the tragic military landing, which completed in a retreat in ships without helping the safeguards of La Rochelle, who in the end gave up to the French. Fundamental sign and rationale propose that this choice was awful for all and another cross on Charless accomplishments. The Duke of Buckingham turned into a focal point of MPs discontent by the 1626 Parliament since he was powerful on court and Charles. He had additionally moved towards Arminianism, which was dubious when joined with careless requirement of the laws against Catholics. Buckinghams control of the military incited fears that he was meaning to hold onto control of the Government and set up a Catholic state. The house distinguished him as a source off the entirety of its anxiety and would not work with Charles while the Duke was in office. Charles response to this was disturbance and the excusal of Parliament. Parliament had again made another mistake by declining to work with the Duke, as there may could have been a simpler arrangement, after the entirety of their principle objective as Parliament and King is to guarantee the smooth activity of the nation and give the best prosperity and society conceivable while making a solid economy. Charles reprimanded Parliament for the death of Buckingham in 1628 in light of the fact that Felton said he had been motivated by the criticism, which named Buckingham as the reason for the countries ills. This may just be a minor factor, however was a significant commitment genuinely notwithstanding Charles previously developing misery with Parliament. Another key factor in the extensive rundown in why Charles broke down Parliament in 1629 was Parliaments fears of the Kings backing of Arminianism and Charles fears of Puritan MPs. Charles helped the Arminian High Church gathering to turn out to be increasingly conspicuous through his kindness and decree, which assaulted the Puritan standard of the Church of England. He further bothered Parliament and the Church of England (which to be noted he was head of) by permitting disputable and prohibited lessons to be distributed. This was disagreeable with the Archbishop who was then suspended, which incensed many. An impractical notion was evident through supplanting the Arch Bishop with a man who had impact and who could advance the Arminians, and assault Calvinist puritan clergymen. The Arminian High Church advanced the awesome right of the King, bolstered the constrained credit and utilized Gods delivery person as a guarded gadget. The King in this occasion went with what he needed, however what was not really best for the nation. This absence of thought and examination of a sensitive circumstance which he could of ventured down from or brought down his help recommends that his actual goal and job as King was not met and just exacerbated circumstances for himself. The last theme with some particular centrality to why Charles broke down Parliament in 1629 was Parliaments endeavors to stop what they saw as maltreatment of illustrious forces, and Charless response to these. To result that the Privy Council tailed him in any event, when Parliament didnt, Charles wiped out adversaries, which limited the scope of supposition spoke to on the Council, which additionally stopped to offer elective guidance after an open conversation. This subtle type of deviation caused hot threatening vibe and a noticeable demonstration of contrast between the court and Parliament. What the court, Privy Council, and honorability needed was regularly unique to Parliament. Respectability were protected from the truth of consistently life in the place where there is the normal individual and along these lines coherently we can examine that their choices may have been inaccurate for the perfect arrangement. For Charles sake, this was an unmistakable misstep. The Petition of Right presented in 1628 by MPs was the meaning of conventional privileges of the subject, which had existed break of brain. It spread out focuses expressing the wrongdoing of the constrained advances, that no liberated person ought to be detained without noble motivation appeared, that officers ought not be billeted on private people without wanting to, and conjugal law was unlawful. The MPs presented this since it went about as a shield, with the power of law. Charles didn't acknowledge this perspective on the job of Parliament and saw the discussions with profound disapproval. He needed articulations of supreme trust and steadfastness not limitations on his opportunity of activity. Parliament were just estranging his expressions of love further. At the point when Charles attempted to dismiss Parliament in 1628 after he was not conceded customs, the speaker went to ascend from his seat toward the finish of the meeting and was met with power by being held somewhere around two MPs while another got out three goals. Sir John Eliots three were as a capital adversary to the King and ward 1) any individual who advanced development in religion, popery or Arminianism 2) any individual who advised the assortment of tonnage and poundage without Parliamentary assent 3) any individual who deliberately paid the

Story Series #1 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

New SIPA Student Photo/Story Series #1 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog We kick off the 2014 new student summer photo (and story) series today with a photo submission from incoming MIA student, Supriya Kumar.   Ms. Kumar, a global nomad who has lived in five countries on three continents will be joining SIPA this fall. Photo taken at the Taj Mahal, in Agra, India Here is a photo of my friend Susan and I at the Taj Mahal this June. Words cannot really describe the overwhelming beauty of this structure it is quite surely a sight that has to be seen in person to really appreciate, and Im so grateful that I was lucky to pay it a visit this summer. - If you are an incoming SIPA student and have photos or stories you would like to share with our community, please send them to sipa_new@columbia.edu.

Story Series #1 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

New SIPA Student Photo/Story Series #1 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog We kick off the 2014 new student summer photo (and story) series today with a photo submission from incoming MIA student, Supriya Kumar.   Ms. Kumar, a global nomad who has lived in five countries on three continents will be joining SIPA this fall. Photo taken at the Taj Mahal, in Agra, India Here is a photo of my friend Susan and I at the Taj Mahal this June. Words cannot really describe the overwhelming beauty of this structure it is quite surely a sight that has to be seen in person to really appreciate, and Im so grateful that I was lucky to pay it a visit this summer. - If you are an incoming SIPA student and have photos or stories you would like to share with our community, please send them to sipa_new@columbia.edu.

The Illusion of Sovereignty in the Wife of Baths Tale - Literature Essay Samples

Long before enlightened women of the 1960s enthusiastically shed their bras, in an age when anti-feminist and misogynistic attitudes prevailed, lived Geoffrey Chaucer. Whether Chaucer was indeed a feminist living long before his time, or whether he simply conveyed an alternate and unpopular point of view, is inconsequential. His portrayal of the Wife of Bath in The Canterbury Tales is a compelling study of medieval feminism. Ostentatious, domineering, deceitful, and self-serving, the Wife, or Alisoun, systematically defies the notion that women should be subservient to their magisterial husbands. As a seemingly radical feminist, the Wife discards even moderate feministic ideals that hold both sexes in equal regard, and instead dwells in a utopian existence where women govern their gelded husbands. She does not stop here, however. The Wife resents any form of traditional authority, and weaves her tale in such an eloquent- though somewhat disjointed- manner that the listener is compelled to believe that the Wife is spotless as new snow. In reality, she is mud stained road slush at best, and never quite attains the maistrye that she so desires. Despite all her faults, the Wife is certainly an astute student of human behaviour, and is quite content, so long as she believes that women have sovereignty over their male counterparts.It is important to note that the term feminism as we know it did not exist during the time that Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales. Today, we assume that a feminist is one whom believes that males and females are created equal, and therefore deserve to be treated equally. This was not the case in fourteenth-century England. Women had very few social rights, and there were no organized movements to increase womens civil liberties. So then, when we describe Chaucer or the Wife of Bath as a feminist, we simply mean that he or she recognized that there were power disparities, and that men did not necessarily have the right to co ntrol womens everyday activities. Though some might argue that the Wife of Bath, or Alisoun, wants to completely discredit all authority figures, Mary Carruthers, in her article, The Wife of Bath and the Painting of Lions, argues that Alisoun does not deny authority when authority is true She does insist, however, that authority make itself accountable to the realities of experience (209). Carruthers makes an interesting point, but it is hard to validate, as The Wife of Bath never does divulge to the reader a source of experienced authority that she respects, other than herself, of course. The authority that she struggles against belongs almost exclusively to male philosophers and poets. In order to undermine the tyranny of authority the Wife of Bath feels the need to lay claim to a certain kind of authority herself, by establishing her experiential credentials at the outset of her discourse (Gottfried, 208). She makes the valid point that Experience, though noon auctoriteeWere in this world, is right enough for meTo speke of wo that is marriage (1-3).Because she has married five times since the age of twelve, the Wife of Bath certainly has more practical knowledge of that particular institution than so-called authorities, such as the apostle Paul. To defend her many marriages, she rightfully argues that Paul himself advised people to remain chaste, but to marry if their lustful passion became unbearable. However, what she does not acknowledge is that this advice only gives people licence to marry, not to copulate freely with all sorts of men, be they short, or long, or blak, or whit (624). That the Wife of Bath is an astute student of the Bible is undeniable; it is also obvious that she possesses the mental agility to skew the scriptures in order to best suit her needs. For example, she likens the multiple marriages of Lameth (Lamech), Abraham, Jacob, and King Solomon to her specific situation. She conveniently does not mention that all of these men lived before the birth of Christ, in a time when different biblical guidelines applied. Alisoun does, however, also present some very logical arguments. It is true that the belief of many male authority figures, that Christs attendance at only one recorded wedding was indicative that people should marry only once, was a gross misinterpretation of scripture. It is also true that if every person was meant to remain a virgin, the world would be devoid of human life in a very short matter of time. Though she has the tendency to misinterpret scriptures herself, in pointing out the misinterpretations of others, the Wife of Bath deliberately challenges the notion of the passive and uneducated female.As previously stated, Alisouns self-perceived authority derives directly from her experience. She has found out, through years of experience, that the only way for her to achieve sovereignty is through economic independence. One of Carruthers strongest arguments is:As Alisoun knows from e xperience, the true fruits of marriage are described neither in Jerome nor in the deportment books but are set in the marriage bed. Its important spoils for her are neither children nor sensual gratification but independence. Marriage is the key to survival, and that is what Alisoun seeks and findsŠ The root of marital maistrye is economic control The logic is clear: sovereignty is the power of the purse (214).The Wife of Bath, then, seeks sovereignty through a combination of experience and independent wealth. The only reason that she is freer than other women is that she is not beholden to anybody. We know from the general prologue that she is an accomplished weaver, one of the most lucrative occupations in England at the time. Normally, her husband would have control of all the money that she makes, but, because she is a widow, she is allowed to possess independent wealth. To Alisoun, this, combined with her worldly experience, grants her the right to claim authority.For the Wife of Bath, authority is of paramount concern. In each of her marriages, Alisoun achieves sovereignty over her husbands through a sordid succession of lies and deceit. She counter-complains about her husbands complaints about her, and even concocts false accusations to counter those directed at her. She proudly states that I pleyned first, so was oure werre ystynt.They were ful glade to excuse hem blyveOf thyng of which they nevere agilte hir lyve.Of wenches wolde I beren hem on honde,Whan that for syk unnethes myghte the stonde (390-394). Ironically, Alisoun designs her allegations from the very actions of which she is guilty. Invariably, her husbands respond with all the vigour of impotent field mice; they acquiesce, and humbly bow to her authority. Alisouns most difficult challenge is her fourth husband, which is likely why she holds him in such low regard. Even after his death she has little respect for him, and considers it but wast to burye him preciously (500), t hough she certainly has the means to do so. The Wifes previous three husbands are much older then she is, and she sees them as geriatric dotards as they cater to her every whim. The fourth husband is more of a match for her. He is younger than the others, and frequently visits his mistresses. His refusal to be lorded over infuriates Alisoun. In retaliation, she flirts aggressively with another man, whom she denies any involvement with, yet marries shortly after number fours death. The Wife of Bath presumes that she has ultimately triumphed over her husbands authority, yet much of her story betrays this sentiment. Alisouns narrative begins to fall apart in her description of her fifth marriage, to a clerk named Jankyn. Alisouns first four husbands are quite wealthy, and it is for that reason alone that she marries them. Jankyn, however, is a student, and is consequentially not rich. For the first time, the Wife of Bath is interested in somebody for reasons other than financ ial gain. Independently wealthy, Alisoun is physically attracted to Jankyn, and thought he hadde a paire/ Of legges and of feet so clene and faire/ That al myn herte I yaf unto his hoold (l. 597-599). At precisely this point, the Wife of Bath begins to lose her sovereignty. Before this juncture, Alisoun has never surrendered her heart, nor anything else to a man. She does not fully realise the consequences of falling in love. In any relationship, the partner that loves the most is in a vulnerable position. Obviously, Alisoun is in that unguarded position in her relationship with Jankyn. Jankyn seems aloof to her at best, and bitter and hateful at the worst, but Alisoun still cherishes him and holds his memory dear, even though he beat her so hard that her ribs still hurt. Though she claims that in the end, she was able to tame Jankyn, and he began to treat her as kynde/ As any wyf from Denmark unto Ynde (823-824), some say that this perception is a complete fabrication of Al isouns.Near the end of her prologue, Alisoun relates the story of her final fight with Jankyn. Jankyn has been reading aloud from his book of wikked wyves, which infuriates Alisoun. She retaliates by ripping three pages out of the book, and striking him on the head. Jankyn responds by hitting her in the ear, causing it to go deaf. Alisoun chastises her husband: O! hastow slayn me, false theef.?And for my land thus hastow mordered me?Er I be deed, yet wol I kiss thee (800-802). All of this is perfectly clear and entirely plausible. What follows, however, is not. Directly after this, Alisoun breaks into a new paragraph, and Jankyn undergoes an abrupt change of character. It is from this point on that D.J. Wurtele believes that Alisoun is lying. In his article, Chaucers Wife of Bath and the Problem of the Fifth Husband, he argues thatIt is precisely at this point that the Wife may be shifting from fact to make-believe For now Jankyns malicious nature is seen to change at a str oke. According to Alisouns story, he begs forgiveness for striking her, and swears never to do so again It corresponds all to closely with the fairy-tale ending to the Loathly Lady exemplum that Alisoun offers the pilgrims as a variation on the same theme of wifely sovereignty (119).That Alisoun is modifying the ending of her story of her relationship with Jankyn to suit her specific worldview is very probable. She may even believe the ending that she has construed has actually occurred. She so wants sovereignty that if she cannot attain it, she alters reality in her mind so that she does attain it. According to Wurtele, Alisoun is ultimately frustrated in her quest for sovereignty.Some people are more forgiving of Alisouns apparent contradictions. She admits that she must struggle for control over two of her husbands, and this revelation alone causes Anne Laskaya to respect her. In her book, Chaucers Approach to Gender in the Canterbury Tales, Laskaya says that For the Wife, an accurate representation of marriage includes an account of the inequities of power and the struggles for power she knows exist within marriage, rather than some sort of formulaic gender hierarchy (181). In other words, Alisoun is not simply a power-monger. She simply refuses to subscribe to the ideal of a dominant husband-submissive wife relationship. Realistically, this situation does not exist. The balance of power is constantly shifting from one spouse to the other. Peggy Knapp seems to support many of Laskayas sentiments. Knapp feels that the Wife of Bath does not want to completely usurp masculine power, but simply desires some sort of self-definition and justification. She sees the loathly lady in Alisouns tale as a form of herself, and neither personality is out to get men. Knapp says this about Alisouns tale: embedded deep in this story is the idea that men must learn from women The loathly lady contrives to have a husband with whom she can share both authority a nd experience (49). Knapp and Laskaya believe that Alisoun is willing to compromise in her relationships, but what they both fail to recognise is that while Alisoun does admit that at times she does not have compete control in her relationships, and while the loathly lady ends up obeying her husband in every thyng, Alisoun is completely miserable when she is not the one in power, and never chooses to relinquish even a small part of her sovereignty if she can prevent doing so in any way.Though it appears as though Laskaya is only partially correct in the previous argument, she does point out the significance of Alisouns deafness. Though most people simply see her damaged hearing as a sort of war wound from her abusive relationship, Laskaya sees it as something more. She sees her the Wifes deafness as a sort of shield, or weapon, for, If she is struggling against the discourse of a patriarchal culture, what better defence than an inability to hear? If Alysoun cannot hear the aweso me and oft-repeated voice of anti-feminism in her culture, she cannot be easily persuaded of its truth either (182). Alisouns deafness, then, becomes a sign of her resistance to the misogynist culture in which she lives. She is no longer constrained by the verbal definitions of what she should be, and is free to interpret her own life as she chooses. Others believe that Alisoun has little, if any, freedom at all. To Richard Griffith, though the Wife of Baths tale seems a straight-forward statement of the case for female dominance there is a good deal of mitigation in this position (109). Alisoun still loves and obeys Jankyn after their horrible fight, and even Arthurs queen must beg her husband to spare the rapist knights life. At the end of her tale, the wifes obedience and the couples happiness is stressed (Griffith, 111). This is curious, because from her prologue, one would never suspect that Alisoun would subscribe to the ideal of the obedient wife. Alisoun may want to believe that she has attained sovereignty, but in reality, the only sovereignty she has, is that which men have allowed her possess. Alisoun not only lacks the sovereignty that she claims she owns, but she also is not as confident of the morality of her actions as she claims to be. In her prologue, the Wife of Bath proudly boasts of all the tricks she has played on her lovers, and encourages others to do the same:Now herkneth hou I baar me properly,Ye wise wyves, that kan understonde.Thus shulde ye speke and bere hemWrong on honed;For half so boldely kan ther no manSwere and lyen, as a woman kan (224-228).She sees nothing wrong with lying to her husbands and intentionally tormenting them, as long she ultimately achieves a position of authority. Martin Pushvel questions the sincerity of her outward confidence. If she feels justified in her actions against her husbands, she should take no offence when Jankyn reads from his book of wikked wyves. Surely, she applauds the wives behav iour. Acknowledging all of this, Pushvell raises an important question: why react in such a furious manner to his bookish exercise if her conscience is clear? (308). If Alisoun is truly proud of her actions, she would not take such great exception to Jankyns book. Her violent reaction betrays her hidden anxieties. She does not truly believe that she has the right to dominate and control her husband, and, in an attempt to suppress this realisation, she acts out in aggression.Alisouns overbearing and domineering attitude could easily rouse feelings of repulsion, yet she also evokes feelings of pity. She struggles against patriarchal society, yet does not realise that she has lost the fight before she has even begun. Perhaps Barbara Gottfried says it best:Even as she attempts a deconstruction of patriarchal literature in an experiential revision of it, the Wife necessarily falls short of the goal of overcoming authority because she can only define herself in relation to that aut hority. She does not speak simply about herself, but realizes herself through her relationship to the various manifestations of patriarchy. Not only does she borrow her categories and the terms of her self-evaluation from the literature she condemns; patriarchal authority determines the fundamental bases for her self-definition (203).So, no matter how much authority the Wife of Bath thinks she has, she is always confined within patriarchal system. In order to be truly sovereign, she must completely discard the literature and world-views that she attempts to adapt to her specific situation, and replace them with her own ideals. According to Gottfried, she does not accomplish this. Womens roles are primarily established in relation to their marital status, and the Alisoun does nothing to counter this belief. In fact, The Wife herself not only concurs, but encourages her audience to judge her on the basis of her wifely success, the measure of her matrimonial experience (205). Sa dly, Alisoun has no inclination of what it will take to truly attain the sovereignty she so desires.Some argue that the Wife of Bath has an unjustified unsavoury reputation. She reacts solely out of necessity, and is actually a champion for opposing an oppressive patriarchal society. Others maintain that she is a malicious, power-hungry tyrant, who achieves her ends through fallacious speeches and dastardly deeds. Whatever the argument, the Wife of Baths prologue and tale bears to mind the centuries-old struggle of who controls whom. In Chaucers time, men are clearly in control of society. Most quietly accept this, and some, like Alisoun, vehemently oppose it. What she does not realise is that she has really accomplished nothing. While the Wife of Bath desires sovereignty above anything else, and indeed, even believes that she has attained it, she still aligns herself within a misogynistic worldview, and is bound within this vision.Works CitedCarruthers, Mary. The Wife of Ba th and the Painting of Lions. PMLA 94 (1979): 209-222.Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Ed. A. C. Cawley. London: J. M. Dent, 1999.Griffith, Richard R. A Critical Study Guide to Chaucers The Canterbury Tales. Los Angeles: Littlefield, Adams Co., 1968.Gottfried, Barbara. Conflict and Relationship, Sovereignty and Survival: Parables of Power in The Wife of Baths Prologue. The Chaucer Review 19(3) (1985): 202-224.Knapp, Peggy A. Alisoun of Bathe and the Reappropriation of Tradition. The Chaucer Review 24(1) (1989): 45-52.Laskaya, Anne. Chaucers Approach to Gender in the Canterbury Tales. Suffolk: St. Edmundbury Press Ltd, 1995.Pushvel, Martin. The Wife of Baths ÂÅ'Remedies of Love.' The Chaucer Review 20(4) (1986): 307-311.Wurtele, D. J. Chaucers Wife of Bath and the Problem of the Fifth Husband. The Chaucer Review 23(2) (1988): 117-127.