Analysis Of Donald Barthelme s The School - 1724 Words

Maria Coquioco September 19, 2015 Greg Christensen New Criticism Essay â€Å"The School† is a short story written by Donald Barthelme and published in 1974 in The New Yorker. Donald Barthelme is a post-modernist writer known for his deceptively simple yet powerful and insightful short stories. â€Å"The School† is a story that takes a good hard look at the sensitive topic of death. The theme of this story is about the cycle of life and how death is an integral part of it. The story is written in first person narrative. The narrator here is the teacher and he talks about how he and his young students of 30 kids encountered death throughout their time together in class. He uses edgy humor and a conversational tone in his seemingly complex plot with a surprising effect that will stick with the reader long after they are done reading it. The context of the plot found in â€Å"The School† presents the readers with the timeless question of the meaning of life. However, this question does not seem to present itself immediately to the r eader. In order to appreciate Barthelme’s work in this piece, it is crucial that one utilizes the New Criticism’s approach to reading. New Criticism was first developed in the 20th century and it makes reading and interpreting literature a systematic activity. New Criticism as an analytical tool helps the readers to understand and gain insight into all forms of the written works through sheer understanding and by reading closely. This means that our focusShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Donald Barthelme s The School1308 Words   |  6 PagesThe Darkness That Lies Within Throughout life, death is an unavoidable circumstance. Although death may seem avoidable at times, no person is strong enough to withstand its grasp. In Donald Barthelme’s short story The School, he contrasts the essence between life and death using the innocence of children. Throughout the story this motif of death is masked by emotions such as happiness, fear, uncertainty, and sympathy. Therefore, the irony that develops throughout the story raises the question of

Social Anxiety And Avoidance Behaviors - 848 Words

Moreover, White et al. (2014) explain that deficits in ER impact behavioral factors that have been shown to cause anxiety manifestations. These ER deficits contribute to anxiety symptoms in that conditioning and avoidance behaviors are impaired. The inability to control emotion related to distress or fear contributes to conditioned fear responses. These conditioned fears perpetuate the necessity to engage in avoidance behaviors, which is core feature of social anxiety and is classified as a maladaptive ER strategy. Sensory issued in individuals with ASD have long been thought to be linked to anxiety, and White et al. state, â€Å"sensory symptoms correlate with anxiety severity in children with ASD† (2014). Sensory issues in anxious individuals with ASD are likely linked to hyper-vigilance to their environment, as well as the potential for an additional common causal factor such as functional abnormalities in the amygdala. This is due to the role of the amygdala, integrating a nd responding to sensory input relating to perceived threats. While not all individuals with ASD experience hyper-arousal of sensory pathways, this over-responsivity provides preliminary evidence that directly links sensory issued to anxiety (White, et al., 2014). Diverting from factors of which have been shown to potentially contribute to the appearance of anxiety in individuals with ASD, additional research has been done to explore the notion that common ASD features directly result from comorbid anxiety.Show MoreRelatedSchool Avoidance Behavior And School Behavior1420 Words   |  6 PagesSchool avoidance behavior occurs when students avoid attending school based on intrapersonal and psychological conflicts. Children coping with moderate levels of anxiety or stress may find it easier to avoid the educational setting if within it holds the triggers to their distress. Students often display avoidance behavior in an effort to escape settings in which they have previously felt levels of crippling stress and anxiety. In order to successfully manage a child displaying school avoidance behaviorRead MoreInfluences of Attachment Theory on Personality Development 1148 Words   |  5 Pagesstyles of behavior. Research conducted by Festa and Ginsburg (2011) examined the impact of parental and peer factors on the development of social anxiety amongst children. Further research conducted by Li and Chan (2012) examined the specific impact of anxiety and avoidant attachment styles on the development of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral indicators in determining the quality of romantic relationships amongst adults (Li Chan, 2012). Individuals that possess social anxiety disorder (SAD)Read MoreAccording To The National Institute Of Mental Health, Social1315 Words   |  6 PagesMental Health, social anxiety is a mental disorder with a lifetime prevalence of 12%. It is characterized by a persistent, intense and chronic fear of being scrutinized by others when engaging in, as well as a fear of, social interactions. In this form of anxiety, individuals are afraid of saying or doing something that will embarrass or humiliate them and have unrealistic appraisals of the negative consequences of social encounters. There are many factors that contribute to social anxiety such as sexualRead MoreThe Core Tenets Of Social Defense Theory Essay1156 Words   |  5 Pagescauses for a number of psychological concerns (Dozier, Stovall-McClough, Albus, 2008). The development of social defense theory, however, provides an entirely new interpretation of attachment – that all attachment dispositions (secure, anxious, and avoidant) have access to different cognitive schemas that provide advantages in dealing with a threatening situation (Ein-Dor, 2015). Further, social defense theory suggests that groups made up of all three dispositions are ultimately more effective thanRead MoreCognitive Behavioral Therapy ( Cbt ) And With Exposure Therapy1556 Words   |  7 PagesSpecific Aims Social anxiety is usually treated with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and with exposure therapy. However, I think that integrating components of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) would improve the efficacy of the treatment for social anxiety. I am proposing to incorporate a skills training group and a mandatory diary in addition to the CBT and the exposure therapy; I also plan to really focus on creating a life worth living. I think that aggregating these two components will improveRead MoreCase Study : The Social Anxiety Or Phobia Can Be Defined As An Excessive Fear Of Social Situations1079 Words   |  5 PagesStudy 1: Marla Marla is a 24-year-old woman who recently graduated from college and began a new job at an advertising firm. She suffers from extreme fear of social situations. In college, she avoided parties and large gatherings and tended to keep to herself. Now that she is working, it is becoming increasingly difficult for her to avoid social situations. Her boss and co-workers expect her to attend office functions and client parties as networking is a large part of the job. Marla is very artisticRead MoreAn Interpretation Of Two Behavior Therapy Methods For Patients With Social Phobia1317 Words   |  6 Pagesinterpretation of two behavior therapy methods for patients with Social Phobia Social Phobia is the fear of being embarrassed or being judged by others. This fear restricts the person from living their everyday lives. It is also characterized as a type of anxiety disorder. A greater part of patients who inhibit this disorder report encountering adverse images, these negative images are connected to memories from the past in which the person experienced a traumatic event. The behavior therapy used in thisRead MoreImpact Of Autism And Anxiety On Children And Adolescents1349 Words   |  6 PagesImpact of Autism and Anxiety on Children and Adolescents One regarded as rare, autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) – which includes autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), have received a great deal of professional and scientific attention (White, Oswald, Ollendick, Scahill, 2009). ASDs are characterized by impairment in social communication as well as the presence of repetitive behaviors and restricted interests (American PsychiatricRead MoreStuttering Is A Communication Disorder That Involuntary Effects The Fluency Of Speech1479 Words   |  6 Pagesnon-typical disfluencies in order to assess their fluency of speech. Secondary behaviors including physical tension, frustration, and avoidance can be accompanied by disfluencies in speech. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition provided diagnostic criteria for children who stutter. Although frequency can differ dependent on the day and the child’s environment, there are certain behaviors that can impact the child’s communication. Feeling pressure to talk, unfamiliar

Documentary Films Why Nature and Technology Cannot Overstep Boundaries free essay sample

Documentary films, throughout the years, have portrayed the relationship of nature and technology. Some of the films expressed how some people managed to live in nature and get disconnected from technology and civilization, while other films expressed the destruction technology has brought to nature. Yet these separate kinds of films still have the same theme: humans and nature are separate entities that cannot overstep boundaries. In the documentary film, Nanook of the North (1922), the film portrayed the life of a tribe of Alaskan natives who lived completely away from technology. While it did show the tribe living happily with nature, the film in a sense mocked them and portrayed them as primitive human beings who are like borderline animals. One example in the film was when they were introduced to the gramophone and the leader of the tribe bit on the disk; like a baby teething on something foreign and unfamiliar to him. We will write a custom essay sample on Documentary Films: Why Nature and Technology Cannot Overstep Boundaries or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Even though the depiction of the natives were inaccurate and indirectly racist, the film illustrates how living in nature has disconnected them from the reality of a technology filled world and thus made them appear naive. The fact that they were mocked for living with nature, directly reflects on the man who created the documentary: he believes that living completely in nature can make a person wild and disconnects them from reality completely. A similar message is portrayed in the 2004 documentary, Grizzly Man, which told the story of Timothy Treadwell, who lived with bears for ten summers. Treadwell connected with bears on a deep, emotional level. He would educate people about bears and even documented his encounters with bears on a video camera. As the documentary gets deeper into Treadwell’s life it is revealed that he is mentally unstable and disconnected with reality. He claimed to be the protector of the bears. He truly believed the bears in the Alaskan wilderness he was camping in, were in danger of humans, even though the area was a protected sanctuary. He began treating the bears as people. He would talk to them, expecting them to understand him, and even considered them his friends. The narrator, Wernon Hertzog even stated in the film that Treadwell became disconnected from the harsh reality of nature hinting that he felt Treadwell truly believed the wilderness to be his true home. Treadwell treated the sanctuary, in many ways, as a town. The animals were its citizens and he himself was their sheriff. Many times he scolded the bears if they behaved â€Å"naughty† and another time, he spied on other people who visited the sanctuary whom he perceived as intruders. Even though he said he was protecting the bears, in the end he indirectly causes the death of two of them. He and his girlfriend gets eaten by bears. Not too long after their deaths, two bears who had eaten them were shot and killed. The conclusion of the film was that living in nature is hellish and chaotic for humans and that crossing the border between man and nature will lead to destruction. Another example of why man cannot fully depend on nature without sacrifice is The Plow That Broke the Plains (1937). In the film, the narrator told the story about the heavy reliance people had on the Great Plains for their wheat. Eventually the cultivation and harvesting on the wheat lead to a big booming business. People in the Great Plains eventually used more advanced harvesting technology on the wheat which could harvest several bales of wheat at a time. This of course sucked the life as well as the wheat from the Plains and left it dry and dusty by the time of the Great Depression. Because of the lack of resources and the deplorable living conditions, people had to relocate and left the lifeless Plains. In the end of the film, one could conclude that both man and nature lost in the end as a result in the interference of nature. Another great example of the toll of interference with nature is the documentary film, The River (1938). This documentary was about the Mississippi River and how it contributed to both a temporary breeding ground for big business to a place of total chaos. When the Mississippi River was discovered, people relied on it to transport bales of cotton. Eventually people began tearing down the trees surrounding the river and built towns around it. People began altering the river to suit their needs, eventually leading to pollution and floods that destroyed homes, left many people diseased and in poverty. The 2006 documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, according to author of Documentary Films: A Very Short Introduction, Patricia Aufderheide, it focuses on how humans are causing global warming and how disastrous it will be if they continue to not be environmentally friendly. The film depicted melting ice and showed simulations of rising water flooding Manhattan as well as a polar bear drowning. This, according to Al Gore who was the narrator, would be a result of human-caused global warming. Once again, this depicts a toll on the abuse of Earth and the destruction that was a result of interfering with nature. The last documentary, Samsara (2011), was more of a glimpse of a solution to the constant battle between nature and the technology of man. It showed videos of Buddhists and Hindus leading a peaceful and enlightened life with nature. It depicted an African tribe living with their entire family in a couple of huts, closely knit, wearing nothing but items of clothing whose articles were made from what they managed to find in nature. All seemed peaceful, wise and content. As the film progresses, the focus shifts on technology. A human like android sitting next to its alive duplicate is depicted. Then comes the image of chickens and pigs being processed for meat in a factory. Suddenly the African tribal family holds guns and then an American suburban family with children are seen holding guns in comparison. This indicates that if nothing is done, everyone will conform to a technologically advanced society leading to destruction. In a society full of technology it is often difficult to fully appreciate nature. This is what many documentaries reflect. It also reflects on how humans and nature cannot overstep boundaries. Grizzly Man and Nanook of the North shows that fully living in nature could lead to detachment from society and the loss of reason and reality. The Plow That Broke the Plains and The River shows that if man oversteps their boundaries by using nature heavily for commercial purposes and not giving back, it will lead to a destructive and chaotic battle between nature and the technologically advanced man. Yet there is a solution to this problem, as Samsara and An Inconvenient Truth points out. If people can have a perfect balance between man and nature and pursue a life of enlightenment, they will live peacefully and prosperously and destruction and chaos would be lacking.

How Does Mill’s Principle of Liberty Contribute to Progress free essay sample

The concept of liberty seems to have been consistently analysed and re-structured throughout history by ambitious philosophers keen on creating a ‘better world’. John Stuart Mill, a British philosopher of the XIX century, is not an exception from this trend. With his thought-provoking work â€Å"On Liberty†, he sets a basis for what he believes will lead to the development of the human being and contribute to its progress. This gives way to his Principle of Liberty, which illustrates that only a free person, and by default also the society, has the opportunity for growth through searching the truth by questioning and debating. It may be agreed upon that a strong barrier to any form of progress is the avoidance or omission of the truth. Mill goes even further and argues that an opinion may be wholly true, wholly false, or partially true, and all three benefit the common good. The only way to attain this truth is through discussion, as â€Å"If all mankind minus one, were of on opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. We will write a custom essay sample on How Does Mill’s Principle of Liberty Contribute to Progress? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This quote is a prominent example of the importance of seeking the truth through thought and expression, and is one of the factors contributing to individual liberty. The world a human being grows up in shapes his opinions, and while this is acceptable for initial formations of thought and awareness, Mill argues it is dangerous to rely only on it and not reflect on other ‘worlds’. Not only would such an attitude impair the total formation of one’s mental capabilities and capacity, it would also lead to seeing yourself as infallible. After all, if a person surrounds himself with people of the same convictions as him, then it is plausible to presume that he will believe many things as issues that are no longer doubtful. This in turn results in the line between opinion and fact getting blurred due to the inexistence of debate, causing many future errors which could have been omitted otherwise. â€Å"The suppression of opinion based on belief in infallible doctrines is dangerous†, whereas any silencing of discussion is, according to Mill, an assumption of infallibility. Treating truth as a relative concept by refusing to hear what one considers a ‘false’ opinion is â€Å"assuming that their certainty is the same things as absolute certainty†. Humans should keep their mind open to criticism of their belief and listen to a variety of views on it in order to understand it and be able to defend against it. A clash of conflicting opinions enables us to find ‘fuller’ truths. The only way we may know if a belief is true or not is to challenge it. If a doctrine â€Å"is not fully, frequently and fearlessly discussed, it will be held as a dead dogma, not a living truth†. Mill seeks to point out this fundamental issue which, due to its simplicity and obviousness, is often underrated. â€Å"No wise man ever acquired his wisdom in any mode but this; nor is it in the nature of human intellect to become wise in any other manner†. Of course, a major problem in attaining the truth is that it may remain in â€Å"narrow circles of thinking and studious persons among whom they originate, without ever lighting up the general affairs of mankind with either a true or deceptive light†. This is precisely what Mill wants to avoid. Moreover, he wants to advance the discussion to a higher level of clarity without an individual’s actions and beliefs being restricted by bonds of custom and conformity. He notes that the most venerable beliefs arise from a person’s own critical assessments and reasoning. The Principle of Liberty illustrates his argument that freedom is indispensable to originality of character as it is the means by which a person can develop as an individual. And, Mill claims, â€Å"The free development of individuality is one of the leading essentials of well-being†. This line of reasoning leads us to an important aspect of Mill’s Principle, i. e. how it contributes to individual and, in the long run, social progress. We have already established that seeking the truth provokes the mental development of an individual. The cultivation of individuality will result in human happiness as it requires making choices that one thinks is most beneficial to their life. â€Å"First, Mill argues, even though people do make mistakes, individuals are still more likely to be right about what would make them happy than anyone else. It is essential to help one another distinguish between worthy and unworthy pursuits through persuasive argument and use of liberty in a sensible way to fully develop as free individuals. † A second reason for liberty is that it will not only lead to better decisions in the long run, but also that the exercise of freedom of choice is itself vital to the full development of human nature. Those who are slave to customs, Mil l suggest, will never develop into rounded, flourishing individuals; not necessarily because they will be nhappy, but because they will fail to develop one of their most distinctively human capacities, the capacity for choice. † Consequently, one can argue that since individuality is a positive thing, it is necessary to build social institutions that contribute to that individuality. A functioning society whereby individuals are able to learn from others’ ‘experiments of living’ is, according to Mill, human progress at its best. â€Å"Liberty is vital as a condition of experimentation† , for without it peoples’ rational would not be used and thus would not develop. When a person becomes more valuable to himself, he immediately becomes more valuable to society. It is necessary, however, to stress the limit of liberty, also known as the Harm Principle. As long as one person’s actions do not harm the interests of another, society should not interfere. Mill identifies ‘the permanent interests of man as a progressive being’ as his interests in autonomy and in security. Furthermore, when a human being does not intrude on another person’s freedom, that person can develop accordingly, and incidentally become a role model showing others how (not) to live. This is how the â€Å"less creative† individuals of society can make informed decisions on leading their own lives, i. e. learning from experimenting, which is â€Å"quite the chief ingredient of individual and social progress†. Nevertheless, critics of Mill’s Principle are quick to notice that his ideas rest on the optimistic outlook that human beings are capable of learning from experience, indeed, that they even want to do it. Yet as history shows, humankind is consistent in failing to learn from mistakes. â€Å"Progress is the cornerstone of Mill’s doctrine† , yet if humans are not prepared to learn, how do they differ from ‘children and barbarians’? Liberty is a means to progress; incapable of free speech and debate, children and barbarians do not benefit from liberty and hence it does not apply to them. Thus we may assume that a certain attitude towards life is needed for Mill’s Principle to succeed, that is to say it strongly relies on humans having the capacity of making moral progress. He believes this can be trained by society in the early stages of human life. It is throughout childhood when society has the biggest influence over a person, when it should strive to embed values it hopes to see materialize in adulthood. The knowledge a child accumulates should then be left free to be interpreted in any way the adult sees fit after reaching maturity. After all, non scholae, sed vitae discimus. Moreover, â€Å"if the person fails to accept those values, or remains immature, it is societys own fault†. Precisely this point has been the target of much criticism, seen as the crux of Mill’s idealistic vision for an improbable future that goes against human nature. For if everyone remained ‘immature’, then how is liberty to contribute to individual and social progress? If this were the case, the entire ideology would be abolished in an instant and in lieu of it in modern times, other beliefs would dominate. Yet liberty continues to be epitomized as the best answer to a free, happy society. As previously stated, ‘bonds of conformity’ are considered by Mill to be a restraint on liberty. The reason behind this is twofold. First of all, relying only on traditions and treating them as your moral guide by which you live your life, a form of dogma which one accepts without question, hinders your decision-making abilities. Mill places great emphasis on the importance of choice. By narrowing someone’s choices and making them complaint to a certain lifestyle, you take away their freedom. Secondly, such forced conformity denies the existence of diversity. This is a key factor in human development, for by â€Å"seeing people’s dissimilarities (†¦) one learns about one’s own weakness†. Mill is eager to draw attention to the potential opportunities that arise with this, for example, by improving oneself: you have the freedom to make mistakes, assert falsehood, and interpret the experience as you see fit. Whatever conclusion one comes to is still a form of human progress, but this is only possible thanks to an open culture. This stance is severely criticized by communitarians, who see Mill is an iconoclast. They argue that we are too interconnected to simply untie society’s ‘bonds’, and nor is there any reason why we would want to- after all, humans are social creatures and individual separation is not the key to freedom. A counter-argument to this may be that culture is an evolving process as well, and rapid cultural transgressions do occur frequently, especially in terms of technological and scientific progress. Of course, some morals are static and universal, but if we were to perpetually follow a form of customs of society, we would remain immobile. What is more, there is a lack of consistency in communitarians’ perception of freedom, simply because they do not considerate the full extent of how subjective traditions tend to be. What is customary for one person may not be for another, and enforcing one’s traditions onto another human being, especially if it is done by society, truly harms the minority. Such a repressive form of society is deemed by Mill as a regression of individual progress, a halt to â€Å"create the ultimate good in the future, human progress†. The above mentioned arguments illustrate clearly why Mill was so keen on defending the concept of liberty, what he considers the only way in which progress can be enforced without impinging on others’ freedom. It is, he argues, the fundamental human right. â€Å"The sole end,† Mill states, â€Å"for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively†¦ in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection†. Wolff comments on this by saying that â€Å"this will enable each to seek his or her own best; it will liberate a diversity of interests to the benefit of the individual and of all; and it will nurture moral freedom and rationality. With the latter comes creativity and the means of social and intellectual progress. † Such liberty contributing to progress is more so beneficial due to what it entails, i. e. the individual’s freedom of thought and discussion. Mill protests against any stifling of opinion, for even if it were false, we would not recognize its wrongness without contrasting it with the truth. One will never reach the highest levels of self-development without debate and constant awareness of one’s fallibility. Critical assessments of beliefs and opinions are necessary, and only when they â€Å"survive the struggle as it were in the â€Å"marketplace of ideas†, then, and only then, will one be entitled to accept them as justified† . Even then, however, we may be in the wrong. As history has showed us, men who we see now as ‘evil’ and ‘immoral’ were not in their time, as they were acting accordingly to the rules of the society they were brought up in. Thus the debate must be on-going and never lead to a â€Å"deep slumber of a decided opinion†. Furthermore, â€Å"mere shock to tender sensibilities can never be weighty enough harm to counterbalance the case for free expression of opinion. † Nevertheless, it is imperative to keep in mind the statements that Mill is being too optimistic and naive. After all, his whole Principle balances on the assumption that human beings are capable of progress. Even if we concede to that, Mill’s Principle still put forward an essential aspect of human growth. How? Let us look at a quote by George Bernard Shaw: â€Å"progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything†. The importance of free speech and debate reverberates throughout the whole of â€Å"On Liberty†. Mill is always eager to encourage seeking the truth; his Harm Principle states that we cannot harm others’ interests, yet he does not rule out persuasion. Through persuasive arguments and by taking advantage of our freedom in intelligent ways, we develop both ourselves and those we come in contact with and pave the way for progress. Bibliography 1. Bartleby Editors . (2012). On Liberty. Available: . Last accessed 15th Dec 2012. 2. Feinberg, Joel (1980). Rights, Justice, and the Bounds of Liberty. Essays in Social Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 3. Gray, J (1996). Mill on Liberty: A Defense. London: Routledge. Chapter 3. 4. Honderich, Ted. (2005). John Stuart Mills On Liberty, and a Question about Liberalism. Available: . Last accessed 15th Dec 2012. 5. Lacewing, Michael. (2012). Mill on Liberty. Routledge: Taylor and Francis Group. Available: . Last accessed 15th Dec 2012. 6. Mill, John Stuart (2001). On Liberty. Kitchener: Batoche Books. 7. Sparknotes Editors. (2012). On Liberty. Available: . Last accessed 15th Dec 2012. 8. Wilson, Fred. (2007). John Stuart Mill. Available: Last accessed 15th Dec 2012. Chapter 4.