Mr. Stephens Dignity essays

Mr. Stephen's Dignity essays In reading Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day, one is impressed by the apparent control of emotions Mr Stephens, the butler of Darlington Hall, is able to command. This apparent control can be viewed in a variety of ways. Jack Slay, Jr., in his article "The Remains of the Day" writes that Mr. Stephens has performed the ultimate sacrifice, in maintaining his control (his dignity) as his emotions would naturally wish to lead him otherwise. George Watson discusses the myth of the silent servant in his commentary "The Remains of the Day" and portrays Mr. Stephens as wimpy, one could say. I tend to agree more with Mr. George Watson; I see Mr. Stephens' inability to come to terms with his emotions and feelingsor at least to be able to confront them, and realize they are a viable part of his existenceas an important character trait he should work on. Inexperience can signify ignorance, according to Watson, and he feels that the novel portrays servants in a misguided way: he feels they (the servants in the novel) embody the myth that they are to be always-silent, and all-but-invisible beings (481). I can agree with this viewpoint, as Mr. Stephens demonstrates again and again that he is to merely serve the master of the house, and to wait on his guests with perfunctory and immaculate control and manners, despite his personal viewpoints or thoughts. Mr. Stephens does not allow himself to stray from this set commands. Slay also writes that Mr. Stephens "performs his job with selflessness and a ruthless suppression of emotion" (180). Mr. Stephens, at one point in the novel, describes dignity as not taking one's clothes off in public. But I think he means it to be much deeper than that, as expressed in his recollections on his life, when he ruminates on the night of his fathers death, and declares to himself that this was the epitome of his service, a " ...

Lightning essays

Lightning essays Lightning is beautiful, dangerous, and mysterious all at the same time. The flashes that can cause citywide power outages and raging forest fires. While the average lightning bolt is only about five kilometers long and the width of a finger, it heats the surrounding air to a temperature five times hotter than the surface of the Sun and produces enough energy to power a 100-watt light bulb for three months. In this project I plan to make lightning using only aluminum pie plate, ball-point pen, thumb tack, wool sock, and a piece of styrofoam. I first push the thumbtack up through the center of the pie plate. Then I push the end of the pen onto the tack. After that I rubbed the styrofoam quickly with the wool sock. After that I pick up the aluminum pie plate with the pen and put it down on top of the styrofoam. Last I turned out the lights and slowly brought my finger close to the pie plate. Then I heard, felt, and saw a tiny spark. By now you probably wonder what is happening. As I rub the styrofoam, it stole electrons from the wool and becomes negatively charged. Charges that are alike move apart and charges that are different attract. The electrons on the styrofoam repelled the electrons pie plate and pushed them to the top edge of the plate. The pen acts as an insulator, preventing the built-up charge from moving through me to the ground until I was ready. When I brought my finger close to the edge of the plate, the repelled electrons jump across the gap and escaped through my body, giving me a small shock. When I turned off the lights, I was able to see the discharge. The sky is filled with electric charge. In a calm sky, the plus and minus charges are evenly interspersed throughout the atmosphere. Therefore, a calm sky has a neutral charge. Inside a thunderstorm, electric charge is spread out differently. A thunderstorm consists of ice crystals and hailstones. The ice crystals have a plus charge, while the hailstones have ...

Human Development observation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human Development observation - Essay Example It is located fifteen meters away from the main road. On observation, the playground is an ideal place for this activity because there are no trees or many other obstacles that may impede the observation process. The playground is not so wide but enough for the child to be seen. In one corner of the playground are play equipment such as seesaw, swing, slides, and other play equipment for climbing. Physical description of the subject The child involved in the observation is approximately one to two year old boy. On observation, he has all the stamina to climb on some small steps in one corner of the playground. He is chubby with observable fold on his upper extremities. The child has the creativity and imagination to explore his new environment for the moment. He was brought to the playground by an aunt. Although the child tends to have developed muscles, his stomach is observed to be disproportionately bigger and the head larger. Interactions Observed The child and the aunt were alre ady on the playground when I arrived for observation. They were in close proximity. On a distance, I saw the aunt showing the child a stone that she picked from the playground. The child is so curious with the stone that he wants to hold it. However, when the aunt hid the stone at her back the child actively tries to search for the missing stone where it disappeared. This is evident when the child went at the back of his aunt’s back and pushed her away just to locate the stone. This reaction of the child is in congruent with Piaget’s theory where he explained in his sensorimotor stage that the child behaves this way because they have the belief that object continues to exist even if they disappear (santrock & Yussen, p 41). After some time, the aunt started to walk away from the child but the child followed her and tried to hold her hands in protest to be left alone. This shows that the child has still doubts on other people around him or to his environment in general. His reaction explains that he did not yet surpass the first stage of Erikson of trust versus mistrust. In addition, the child showed signs of separation problem as reflected in his anxiety when attempt to leave him is initiated. After a minute, the child and her aunt walk hand in hand toward some plants where there are butterflies. With excitement, the child tries to say something to the butterflies however, the language is not fully understood as he mumbles and can speak two words combination just yet. When other children tried to join him in watching and catching butterflies, he screamed and even tried to kick them to shove them away. The aunt tried to pacify him telling him that the action is something â€Å"bad†. When the aunt was able to catch a small butterfly, the child is so excited but at the same time confused if he is going to hold it or not. His aunt tried to teach him how to do so and explained it would not hurt. Behaviors Observed The behaviors observed in a ch ild include the child’s aggressiveness as he tried to grab toys from other children on the playground. When one child from the playground tried to get the butterfly he was holding, he screamed at them and tried to be aggressive. I believe the child is displaying a normal behavior of an infant who is one and a half years old. However, if aggressiveness continues and becomes excessive, lack of social skill is evident. At some point, as he follows