The Train from Rhodesia †Final Draft Essay Example

The Train from Rhodesia – Final Draft Paper Analyze the use of characterization in The Train from Rhodesia Poverty, prejudice, racism, and white-supremacy, are all controversial topics that Nadine Gordimer, an eminent South African writer, touches on through her writing. Being part of the anti-apartheid movement herself, her writing establishes a lot of the hardships that the native Afrikaans people underwent. The short-story, â€Å"The Train from Rhodesia†, is a perfect example of the manner in which Gordimer discusses controversial topics in her writing. Throughout the story, she elaborates on the great contrast between the white and the native Afrikaans people living in South Africa during the time of the apartheid. By reading this short-story, readers are able to gain an insight on the lives of the natives in contrast to the lives of the wealthy white South Africans. By contrasting the white, the natives, as well as the husband and wife, Gordimer communicates her intention of emphasizing the harsh realities of the natives’ lives and their roles in society through the use of the literary technique of characterization. We will write a custom essay sample on The Train from Rhodesia – Final Draft specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Train from Rhodesia – Final Draft specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Train from Rhodesia – Final Draft specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer By utilizing the characters in the story, Gordimer is able to express how powerless in society the natives are in addition to the severity of their living conditions. In the beginning of the story when â€Å"the stationmaster’s barefoot children [wander] over†(41) down to the track, they are referred to as â€Å"picannins†(41). Not only is referring to the children as picannins pejorative, but the detail included by Gordimer that they are barefoot suggests their poverty and inability to obtain the bare necessities to live sufficiently. As the paragraph progresses, Gordimer writes how the sand â€Å"close[s] over the children’s black feet softly and without imprint†(41). The choice of the diction used to illustrate the children’s feet as â€Å"black† emphasizes that Gordimer is forcefully trying to stress how dirty, thus poor, the natives really are. What Gordimer also deliberately implements is the imagery of the children leaving no im print in the sand. Suggestively, the image created represents how powerless and non-existent they are in this society as they leave without an imprint in the sand. Similarly, new characters are introduced from the train and station to signify the helplessness of the natives and show their astringent lives. Desperately trying to sell their products, â€Å"all up and down the length of the train in the dust the artists [jump about], walking bent, like performing animals†(42). To begin with, the way in which the artists have to perform like animals insinuates that the natives are in great need of money in order to survive. Again, a derogative indication is made when they are referred to as â€Å"animals† which puts stress on their position in society. Seeing as the people that they are performing to are white, they have to act as though they are cheerful although in reality they are starving and unhappy. An example of the mock happiness is represented in the phrase, â€Å"[t]he old man held it up to her smiling, not from the heart, but at the customer.†(42) The old man is just another native trying to sell his products; howeve r, he holds great pride in his work unlike the other desperate natives who hold money as their greatest concern. Thus, this sentence accentuates how hard the natives’ lives are as they have to try so hard to receive such a small amount of income. Since they do not have the means to survive in the environment they live in, they are so helpless and rely on the white people for hope of money. Moreover, many of the natives that are on the platform are young children who say â€Å"give me penny†(42) when they have nothing to sell. Their incorrect English indicates that they are not educated which is the result of their impoverishment. Also, readers feel more sympathy and truly see the privation of the locals as it has come to the point where even young children are begging for some source of money to survive in their infertile environment. Furthermore, Gordimer describes the station master’s children as â€Å"career[ing] over the sand, clutching the bread†¦through the garden in which nothing [grows]†(43). Since food is so scarce for the locals, Gordimer emphasizes the â€Å"clutching† of the bread to prove just how protective they are of the food they have. As the children cannot afford to lose the loaves of bread as they live in â€Å"the garden in which nothing [grows]†, it displays how they live in an uncultivable environment which specifies how much struggle the natives go through. Additionally, the powerlessness of the natives is further emphasized through the old man’s character. When he bargains with the lady and her husband, he refers to the husband as â€Å"baas† meaning master in the Afrikaans language. As the natives were inferior to white people during this time period, the old man calls him â€Å"baas,† indicating the praise and politeness shown to express the due respect for him. To successfully sell his products, the old man is required to belittle himself to make known that he is of a lower status. Once the train begins to leave, â€Å"the yells of the natives, running alongside, [jets] up into the air, [falling] back at different levels†(44). In this particular line, a strong image is depicted of the natives running with the train as a last hope for an exchange of their products. Gordimer purposefully portrays the image of the natives running to force the readers to understand their desperation. Realizing that he has no chance of selling his product for the price he has set, the old man succumbs and says â€Å"Here, one-and-six baas!†(44). He then proceeds to â€Å"[fling] his lion†(44) to the man in the moving train even though, initially, the lion is so precious to him. His pride in his work along with his dignity has been diminished as a result, displaying the lack of social power the locals possess. In addition, after the exchange has been made between the husband and the old man, he â€Å"[stands], breath blowing out the skin between his ribs, feet tense, balanced in the sand, smiling and shaking his head†(44). The image revealed shows how thin the old man is to the point where his ribs are protruding from his body. As readers, there is a sense of understanding of how the lives of the natives are corrupt as they are malnourished and persevering for survival. The old man smiles and shakes his head because he was able to sell his product; yet, he has not gained much to survive which reverts to the former idea that white people are more affluent compared to the inhabitants. However, despite the seriousness of his reality, the man opens his palm and appreciates the little money he receives. To conclude, the natives, including the old man, play a great role in communicating Gordimer’s intention, which is to display the true difficulties of the natives’ lives in addition to their lack of power in the apartheid society. In contrast to the natives’ poverty and suppressed position, Gordimer applies characterization through the white characters to accentuate their authority and greater wealth in society. In the story, when the old man comes to sell his products, the woman urges, â€Å"[n]o, no†(42) and leans down towards him while she commands her hand to the lion. The way she is leaning down to him and commanding her hand shows that she is asserting her power over him as she is from a higher status. Even the position of the woman being above him explicitly indicates her status which is above his. Pursuing this further, the young woman says no to the old man and explains that it is â€Å"too expensive, too much† as she â€Å"[shakes] her head and raise[s] her voice to [him]†(43). The readers know that the young woman has enough money to pay the price the old man is asking for; therefore, it shows a great contrast in her wealth and his poverty. In the same way, the manner in which she raises her voice to him affirms the authority and control that she has over the helpless old native man. Also, the young woman’s husband loudly insists, â€Å"Three-and-six?†(43) as though he is extremely shocked with the high price of the lion. Although he is capable of buying it for its original value, he knows he has a chance to reduce the price and pay for a lesser value. Blatantly, he tries to bargain with the man which again confirms the poverty and lack of power. With regard to the white people, it is apparent that they are not concerned with the wellbeing of the locals which puts emphasis on their irrefutable reality. For instance, in the story, â€Å"a girl [collects] a handful of the hard kind, that no one like[s], out of the chocolate box, and throw[s] them to the dogs†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (43). Although the white girl is relatively young, she is oblivious to the fact that she is wasting precious food that the natives would greatly appreciate. Instead of giving the chocolate to the native children or to the natives in general, she throws them to the dogs. Through this excerpt, Gordimer is trying to imply that the inhabitants are treated commensurate to lower life; thus, have a low status in society. Another example is when a man passing by the train notices the â€Å"faces, behind glass, drinking beer, two by two†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (42). Whilst all the hustling, bargaining, and begging of the natives is occurring outside the train, inside the train the white people are enjoying their time by indulging in activities like drinking beer together. The contrast between the lifestyle of the white people and the lifestyle of the natives is made clearer through the actions of the white people in the train. In addition, during the train stop, â€Å"a few men who had [gotten] down to stretch their legs [spring] onto the train†¦safe from the one dusty platform†(44). This line stipulates that the stop is merely just a break for the white people to get off, â€Å"stretch their legs†, and have some fresh air. For them, the stop is not meaningful; however, the natives treasure the time they have while the train is still on the platform as it is their one and only hope to make money. Detectably, Gordimer shows the white people being uncomfortable of the natives through the image of them wanting to get off of the d usty platform to further emphasize their different statuses. Evidently, the lack of care the white people have towards the native’s stresses their nonexistent importance in society. As a final point, the difference in the value of money for the white people and the value of money for the natives are shown when the young woman’s husband â€Å"fumble[s] wildly down his pocket, [bringing] up the shilling and sixpence and [throws] them out†(44). Since the young man insouciantly holds the coins in his pocket, it indicates that the money is not extremely valuable to him which is in contrast to the old man’s view of that money. Also, the way the young man ‘throws’ the money out of the train shows how little that money is worth to him. If that money is so irrelevant to him, then it is not necessary for him to bargain for the product. This again shows the difference in position of power. The young man knows he can bargain, thus he takes advantage of his authority in order to bring down the price. Indeed, the use of characterization through the white people in the â€Å"The Train from Rhodesia† shows Gordimer’s intent, which is to stress the fortune of the white people to show the penury of the natives. Admittedly, Gordimer’s use of characterization to show the contrast between the two main characters of the story, the husband and wife, further accentuates her intention to show the devastating lives of the natives and their misfortune. Throughout the story, readers are apprised that the young woman is the more understanding character as opposed to her husband who is inconsiderate and thoughtless. Even though at first the woman refuses to buy the lion the man was selling, she did not insist or try to bargain with him. In fact, when she says â€Å"No, never mind†¦leave it†(43), she is realizing that the old man takes pride in his lion; therefore, deserves a customer who would appreciate it for its set value. She understands the importance of his dignity as she can infer that they are not wealthy. In contrast, her husband’s actions show disrespect towards the natives. After his bargain with the old man, he â€Å"[swings] in from the corridor, breathless†¦shaking his head with laughter and triumph†(45). The young husband’s breathlessness lays emphasis on his excitement for being able to get the lion for a cheaper price. His feeling of triumph for getting the lion cheaper shows how insignificant the lion is to him than the actual bargaining for it. His ignorance to the reality of the struggle the natives face every day to survive shows his insensitivity. Not only does he feel triumphant in his bargain, but he particularizes by saying, â€Å"I was arguing with him for fun, bargaining – when the train pulled out already, he came tearing after†¦One-and-six baas! So there’s your lion†(45). The fact that he argued for â€Å"fun† implies that he cannot empathize with the natives and does not realize the sadness of the reality. He thinks it is simply a form of entertainment and acts as though he wants his wife’s approval and felicitation; however, he cannot comprehend the gravity of the situation for the man as it is a matter of survival for him. Therefore, the young husband’s insolence represents the way society treats the local inhabitants and how inconsequen tial their existence is. Furthermore, the true hardships that the black people face are accentuated by the wife’s disgust towards her husband’s actions and behaviour. For example, when she realizes that the man she has just married is â€Å"for good now†(44), she feels odd as though she does not truly know him. Her difference of opinion separates her from him and all the other white members on the train. Thus, she is the only person who can truly empathize with the natives. In the line, â€Å"her face was drawn up, wryly, like the face of a discomforted child. Her mouth lifted nervously at the corner.†(45), her appearance of disfavor reflects on her feeling of guilt. This guiltiness is caused by the fact that she, being the only one, can see how her husband’s actions can be detrimental towards the old native man. Following this further, she says, â€Å"If you wanted the thing†¦why didn’t you pay for it? Why didn’t you take it decently, when he offered it? Why did you have to wait for him to run after the train with it, and give him one-and-six? One-and-six!†(45). Evidently, she is extremely angry at her husband for putting the suffering old man through another distressing situation when he already has nothing to begin with. The young woman’s respectability and morals indicate that she understands the hardship of the black natives in this society. What makes her particularly infuriated and remorseful is that she knows they are much wealthier compared to the natives and still her husband chooses to bargain for the lion. Consequently, her husband is â€Å"shocked by the dismay of her face†(45) as if he believes that he has done nothing wrong. Although she sees his callousness for being entertained by a bargain, he is confused by her shock which implies that the natives are that insignificant to him. Just like most of the white people in South Africa during th e apartheid, he believes that there is nothing wrong with the corrupt black natives. Thus, his enjoyment is his prime concern instead of the awful lives the natives live. In conclusion, the contrast between the husband’s coldness and the wife’s compassion towards the natives, expresses how unimportant the natives are which emphasizes their struggle in this society. In final analysis, Gordimer uses the literary technique of characterization as a tool to develop her intention that the natives’ role in society and their exigent reality are partial. She shows this through through the white characters and the native characters. Gordimer’s influence from the anti-apartheid has permitted her to strengthen her messages of prejudice, racism, and poverty in her writing. Through her stories including â€Å"The Train from Rhodesia†, she has been able to transfer the struggle the natives faced during the apartheid movement and illustrate how much of a contrast there was between the two races. Every day, people are spreading anti-racist messages to improve the society humans live in. Now, owing to Nadine Gordimer, readers can take this information in to fully understand the struggles of those who are victims of prejudice.

Sample Literary Analysis Essays For High School Topics

Sample Literary Analysis Essays For High School TopicsSample literary analysis essays are one of the best ways to get your students interested in reading on subjects that interest them. However, if you use the sample essays in high school topics and literary topics too, you may have a hard time convincing your students to pay attention.The best way to get your students excited about reading on topics that interest them is to let them show their own writing by helping them write their own literary analysis essay. This is what we call a 'sample' literary analysis essay. These types of essays can be adapted from other subjects and topics and can be used in several subjects such as science, politics, religion, literature, language, and others.Using samples for your student works the same way as you would with a sample literary analysis essay. In fact, you may use it for more than one subject. You will just need to know which topics you will choose to help your students learn more about t he subject.If you want to read a good sample essay on a subject, try to find a topic that you would want your students to understand the most. If you want to write on a subject that is not related to the one that you are teaching, you should try to choose a topic that is about the topic that you teach. This way, you can get your students interested about the subject, as well as help them to read the topic in a more interesting way.There are some common topics that can be used in your literary analysis essays. One example is history. This is a subject that you can use for any topic that you would like to include in your students' studies. Other topics that can be used for this type of essay are art, literature, and more.Another important topic that you can use is science. If you want to write an essay on the subject, you can use science subjects or topics as sample essays.The best thing about using samples for high school topics is that you will be able to see the original essays and let your students learn from your work. You will also be able to learn how to write properly. This way, you will be able to help your students understand the importance of making use of samples when writing literary analysis essays.

Getting ahead planning your retirement in your 20s

Getting ahead planning your retirement in your 20s Have you ever heard the old saying that it’s never too early to start planning for the future? If so, you may have decided to ignore it, or just worry about it later- after all, when you’re young you feel as if you have an endless amount of time to plan your life and that your time is better spent having fun and living for the moment. But the truth is, the future is coming faster than you might realize. When it comes to retirement planning, the phrase â€Å"never too early to start planning† can be the best advice you’ll ever get. Sure, there are a lot of reasons why it’s especially tricky to start planning for such a far-off notion like retirement. The truth is, you’re likely just getting started in your professional journey, and you may have little to no idea where your climb up the career ladder will take you. Also, if you’re like most of us, the money you’re earning when you’re new to the work world doesn’t exa ctly leave you with a ton of options for saving and investing for the future. On top of all this, it is much more fun to be carefree and live for the moment when you’re young, and many of us make a deal with ourselves to start taking money matters seriously when we reach a significant (and distant) milestone in our lives (age 30? 40? 70?).That said, you really don’t have to completely overhaul your life or give up on fun in order to start planning for retirement but the more prepared you are for this inevitable end to your career journey the more confident and relaxed you’ll be about money matters at every phase of your life until then. Taking baby steps toward greater financial responsibility while you’re in your 20s will bring you that much closer to whatever your retirement goals turn out to be- and help you avoid (or at least minimize) the amount of fear, worry, and anxiety you feel when you’re focused on your financial health and future. And t rust us, if those days aren’t here yet, they’re right around the corner.If you’re ready to take the next step and get serious about your retirement planning, then consider the following strategies to move you in the right direction.4 steps to planning for retirement now1. Develop a saving mindset.Sure, when you’re in your 20s it’s hard to take savings seriously. Most likely, your main focus is on getting your bills paid and being able to afford the basics, and that makes total sense. However, even saving just a little bit can go a long way.Let’s take a look at a small example- suppose you enjoy a mid-afternoon latte each workday. The average price of a latte is around $2.50. Now, instead of buying the latte, imagine taking that money and dropping it into a savings account- in 5 years, you’ll have saved $3,250 just by making this one small life change. Are there other small savings changes you can make to help you build your nest egg? Probably, and the more money you’re able to divert to savings the better off you’ll be- both for short-term needs and for long-term health as you creep closer to retirement. But perhaps more importantly, just getting into a savings mindset early on in life will set you up for being a more financially responsible adult as you get older- and your ability and desire to save and spend wisely will set you up for a great financial future.2. Take advantage of work resourcesMost of us aren’t thrilled to have to work, but one of the good things about having to hold down a job is that it can often come with some useful employee benefits- which may include a retirement benefits plan. These days, more and more companies are offering a 401(k) plan to help employees save and prepare for retirement, which often provide some incredible perks like employer fund matching (which is as close to free money as most of us will ever get).Taking advantage of investing in a 401(k) is so universally recognized as beneficial (and often essential) that many companies automatically enroll employees in plans to help them start saving their money wisely. If your company offers this benefit, there is absolutely no good reason not to take advantage of it- even if it’s just a small percentage of your paycheck. Don’t worry if you don’t plan on staying at your current job forever- you get to take your money with you.3. Explore other investment optionsIn addition to the retirement benefits that your employer may offer, consider exploring other investment options available to you: IRAs, mutual funds, CDs, and the stock market. Sure, it’s a little scary to jump into the world of investing as a newbie, but there are a wealth of resources available to you, including online tools, wise and trusted friends and family members, and investment professionals tied to your bank (assuming you have a savings or checking account- and if you don’t, consider opening one). Do some research and start small. You’ll be amazed by how well a few wise investment decisions early on in life can set you up for a comfortable retirement.4. Decrease debtDebt is not your friend. Even though it’s often an unavoidable part of adulthood, be sure to make every effort to decrease your debt burden as you move closer and closer to retirement age. The truth is, some forms of debt- like a home mortgage- are indicative of financial stability and solvency. But other forms (like credit card debt) are best left avoided or eradicated as quickly as possible. If you have a credit card (or multiple cards), avoid using them unless it’s an unavoidable emergency, and pay off what you owe as quickly as possible. Nothing creates a financial headache and panic attack faster than an unwieldy amount of unhealthy debt- so be sure to avoid drowning here.

Kickstarter Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Kickstarter Analysis - Assignment Example The only requirement and the prerequisite for your business idea to be picked is for it to be something out of the world and unique. If you can make your project sound appealing, there’s a bright chance an investor would pick your project up and back it with finance (Kickstarter website, 2013). Kickstarter launched in 2009 and since then have been able to have funding done for over 35,000 projects. The one figure that would be the biggest encouraging factor for aspiring entrepreneurs is that over $500million have been promised to projects through this platform. All one needs to do is create an independent profile of your business idea on Kickstarter. This is like the face of your project and hence it needs to be absolutely top notch in order to for to appeal to a potential investor. The more creativity it oozes, the higher will be its chances of being picked up by a financer. Once the page is complete, creators make the page available to the community and hope it attracts funds (Levy, 2010). Kickstarter makes money every time a funding deal is brokered for a project on the website. They charge a 5% fee of the total fund that is won by a project. That is not only very reasonable but also justified considering they make the business idea available to a vast number. They heavily rely on their website, the community they have developed and word of mouth for marketing and communication of their services. They have achieved high success since their inception so the website has been thriving on the positive word of mouth and referrals they receive. Not only do aspiring entrepreneurs trust them, the investor community also believes they will find good ideas on the website (Villano, 2010). The webpage has heavy traffic and has more than 3million registered users. The funding rate of projects is also impressive with as many as 44% of the projects successfully landing interested investors. This shows the traffic not only

Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Project - Assignment Example The Agile method was developed to provide solutions to the shortcomings of the waterfall methodology. It gives a project an incremental approach as opposed to a sequential one (Measey and Berridge, 39). Developers begin with a simplified design for the project and then proceed to work on the small modules. Developers work on these modules either in weekly sprints or in monthly sprints. When each sprint ends, the developers evaluate the priorities of the project and run tests. The option to work in sprints gives developers the ability to incorporate feedback from the customer into the project’s design before they begin another sprint. The Agile methodology can be applied in our individual project because it is flexible and allows for changes in the design after the completion of the initial plans. With this method, we can also incorporate additional features by introducing new technology into the project (Measey and Berridge, 44). Agile also allows for thorough testing of the

Fiction and Literary Works Essay Example for Free

Fiction and Literary Works Essay With that said, it is important to remember that all literary works cannot always be easily classified into a single genre. Moreover, literary works which might be classified as belonging to one genre might possess many qualities more typical of other genres. For example, Shakespeare’s Macbeth is classified as drama, but in many respects takes the form of poetry. In other words, sometimes the differences between categories like drama, poetry, and the short story are not so easily defined. Often a short story might contain poetic or dramatic qualities, or a poem might include narrative and dramatic features. In your post, summarize the major similarities and differences between the forms of drama, poetry, and the short story. Demonstrate your ideas with textual examples from the course readings. In your response, include at least one example of each literary form. If you wish, you may also point to examples which indicate the blurring of literary genres (e. g. , the poetic qualities of Macbeth or the dramatic elements of Gift of the Magi). There are so much to say when it comes to similarities with drama, poetry and a short story. Personally I see that all three have some subliminal message for the audience whether it is lessons learn or an experience personal to the writer. In literary perspectives, like mentioned above, sometimes a poem or short story can merge with another genre such as drama. An example of a short story that can be drama is perhaps â€Å"The Necklace† because the story is about a lady who borrows and loses something her friend lent her and went through so much trouble to replace it instead of coming clean with the friend. A drama is meant to have characters that perform and we see this is a short story known as â€Å"I’m Going† where we see the characters clearly speaking and also we get narrative information to help the audience understand the plot and setting. Poetry is written in different formats or rhythms but can also tell a story but does not always have a plot. All have some sort of tone to set the seriousness or relax humor of the literary work. â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† is a poem which tells a story of a father and son yet there are also dramatic features as the story is told.

Elegy, Written With His Own Hand In the Tower Before His Execution and

Comparing Metaphors in Chidiock Tichborne's Elegy, Written With His Own Hand In the Tower Before His Execution and William Blake's To See A World In A Grain Of Sand Chidiock Tichborne's "Elegy, Written With His Own Hand In the Tower Before His Execution" and William Blake's "To See A World In A Grain Of Sand" contain several fascinating metaphors that produce two impressive verses that capture our imagination. Both of these elegies deal with life and the contrasting ways it surfaces from within the poet's mind. These metaphors (an analogy between two things that give us insight into the unrevealed part) create an image within our minds that maintain our attention throughout the verse. In Blake's, "To See A World In A Grain Of Sand," every line is a metaphor that secures our attention and blazes our imagination. Blake expresses a metaphor wisely when he asserts "†¦Hold infinity in the palm of your hand†¦" (Blake 125, line 3). Humans have always grasped onto time, as if by gripping it tightly, we can control its outcome: multiply time, making time stand still, and so forth. Blake...