Whitmans Masculinity and Femininity in Song of Myself Essay Example

Whitmans Masculinity and Femininity in Song of Myself Paper All Whitmans poems, not merely the Children of Adam poems and the Calamus poems, are love poems of blatant sexuality and amativeness, which was frightening to some of those who read and liked him and was a real bugbear to those who charged him with writing filthi without bothering to read them. However, sex, this rejuvenation or rebirth or new life is taken by Whitman as a proof of the affirmative and ascending nature of Gods world and of humanity itself. Sex is not something debasing or something to be whispered about behind the hand, but deserving the highest celebration. In Song of Myself, masculinity and femininity, the two components of sex, are chanted by Whitman; and whats further, Whitman brings together these two seemingly polar opposites and synthesizes them to form a new wholeness at a higher level where he unlocks his own inner reality and truth. As a start, it is essential to list some of the apparently opposite concepts that are such an integral part of all the poetry of Whitman. Group 1: arrogant, activity, day, sun, life, body and adhesiveness; group 2: docility, passivity, night, moon, death, soul and amativeness. All of the words in group 1 relate to masculinity and those in group 2 to femininity. Strangely, the words in the two groups are not opposite at all in Whitmans poetry, as they would be with most poets; instead, they are dual aspects of a new cosmic self. Whitman is attracted to energy-drawn by its glorious, magnetic charge, which is evidenced in all his poetry. Since reproduction is the prime energizing force in the universe, it would be impossible for Whitman to neglect its power. We will write a custom essay sample on Whitmans Masculinity and Femininity in Song of Myself specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Whitmans Masculinity and Femininity in Song of Myself specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Whitmans Masculinity and Femininity in Song of Myself specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In Song of Myself, masculinity is explicitly depicted: it was the sweating, muscular laborers, not the pale bank clerk that hold Whitmans attention and love. He sings for the carpenter, the pilot, the blacksmith; sings for their strong arms, grimy and heavy chest and their sexual bodies. As well, masculine heroism can find its great expression in Song of Myself: Whitman imagines himself as a mashed fireman, exhausted but not so unhappy; as old artillerist against the attacking cannons, mortars, and howitzers. And further research will reveal that, all these masculine and aggressive elements within Whitmans descriptions relate to Whitmans own image. It was Whitman himself in his unsigned review of Leaves of Grass who depicted its author as one of the roughs, large, proud, affectionate, eating, drinking, and breeding. Clearly, in all these masculinities, there was always a bit of dandy in Whitman and a rather formidable streak of Narcissismiii. Actually, Whitman was in love with the masculine image of himself; and it is the feminine elements of his being, at the very core of his making-up, hold this love. Moreover, penetrating into these masculine physique and vitality, it exposes that Whitmans inner nature is primarily passive and feminine, which might explain why he becomes ecstatic when he describes the masculinity of energetic men, typically, in Section 12 of Song of Myself where the poet is describing the blacksmiths: The lithe sheer of their waists plays even with their massive arms. Besides the firm masculinity and heroism, there are also many instances in Song of Myself where Whitman tends to view himself as Christ. In section 10, the poet is sheltering a run-away slave and showing his democratic (Christ like) brotherly love: Though the swung half-door of the kitchen I saw him limps and weak,/And went where he sat on a log, and led him in and assured him,/ And brought water and filled a tub for his sweated body and bruised feet /I had him sit next to me at table-my firelock leaned in his corner. In section 48, he declares, In the faces of men and women, I see God, and in my own face in the glass. Whereas Christ was masculine in his courage, in his rebellion against the established order, and in his stoical attitude at his crucifixion, Whitman is also feminine in his passive humility, in his tender compassion and love for others and in his ability to calm and to take care of others. A third expression of masculinity is his boastful tone and his masculine outflo w of his innermost feeling. When Whitman speaks in Song of Myself as the cosmic I, as distinct from the personal I, he seldom writes, I said or I think or I state. Like Emerson, he does not qualify and hedge in his statements. He asserts. Few poets who have written in the English language have used the active, concrete verbs with such boldness and artistic excellence. The assertions of Whitman are far too grandiose to be contained by the standard verse forms of his day or to be restrained by rhyme or regular meter. And because Whitman is a spontaneous me rather than an intellectualized me, he must sing, or chant, or carol, as he rises and falls from peaks of ecstasy. His message is not intellectual; it is anti-intellectual; it is not moral; it flows beyond and beneath morality into a beautiful and loving amorality. It springs from a feeling, a fusion, and an accompanying certitude that is at the very core of his being. It is made possible because he is the reconciler of apparent opposites (masculinity and femininity), which are, when properly understood, not opposite at all. iv Therefore, in this stage, it is safe to conclude that, behind all the masculinities he chants in his muscularly assertive tone, Whitmans inner nature is primarily passive and feminine. Because He is an absorber, who receives and accepts all into himself. He is a Cosmic Eye who searches out and seizes all, a Cosmic Sponge who absorbs and contains all. v And after the process of absorption, the poet becomes a translator, I wish I could translate the hints about the dead young men and women. What occurs in Whitmans translation is that he accepts the peculiar and concrete as symbolic or representative-a gigantic beauty of a stallion-and then quickly fuses the particular into a cosmic view where it is elevated and submerged in deeper meanings far beyond its own limitations. vi While the masculine elements Whitman extols, explores and glorifies in Song of Myself is in a variety of its implications-firm muscularity, heroism, and the democratic (Christ like) concept of brotherly love, femininity in this poem is of a very special kind. Women of the ultra feminine, dainty and charming type are totally absent in Whitmans verse. Instead, women in Whitmans poetry are glorified for their masculine strength rather than their feminine delicacy; they are mostly down-trodden and among the laboring classes: females he sings for in Song of Myself are the prostitute draggling her shawl, her bonnet bobs on her tipsy and pimpled neck. and the clean-haired Yankee girl working with her sewing-machine, or in the factory or mill. Another female image in Whitmans poetry is mothers and mothers of mothers. Whitman obviously has an enduring and tremendous respect and praise for them. His deification of motherhood is apparently in section 21 of Song of Myself, And I say there is nothing greater than the mother of men. This veneration for motherhood is understandable, because Whitman owns warm feelings for his own mother and motherhood is the visible evidence of procreation-the force that is vital to life and to his poetry. Such unordinary femininity, for one reason, may be a result of Whitmans widely known homosexuality: as is deduced from his relationships with Sergeant Thomas P. Sawyer and Peter Doyle, Whitman was homosexual and played a passive and dependent role in his unusual instances. Thus, torn apart by these deeply felt emotional attachments, Whitman always appreciates the masculinity of women and is naturally afraid of these very feminine women, because they are rivals for his subconscious love objects. However, a further examination within a wider social background will show Whitmans homosexuality is only a superficial reason for this particular femininity. The decades of the 1850s was the most creative period in Whitmans life and it was also the highlights of the national movement of womens rights. Whitman felt great sympathy, affection, and admiration for the feminists, such as Chilton and Menken; he encouraged them to struggle for womens equal rights to men. Thus, it can be understood that, by depicting women in such a masculine image, Whitman, does not mean to represent them as D. W. Lawrence commented on Leaves of Grasses: muscles and wombs, they need not have had face at all; rather, it is a cosmic or leveling effect Whitman achieves by not making distinction; the masculine image of women actually is a reference which holds the women just as great as the men; and the mother the melodious character of the earth, the finish beyond which philosophy cannot go and does not wish to go. vii To sum up, in Song of Myself, Whitman deals with both the active masculinity and passive femininity and unites them to unveil his cosmic self. The reason that this fusion, the wellspring of his poetry is so complete, so candid, and so persistently exciting is that both the passive (feminine) and the active (masculine) components were blended and united within Whitman. It was his total acceptance and emotional extension of his own identity, with his joyous pride in its inclusiveness that gave America the miraculous volume. In addition to the joining together of body and soul, it was a synthesis of the masculine and feminine within Whitman, which caused the mystical vision and inspired his poetry. viii His poetry can be viewed as a child of this blending; therefore, its rhythms are necessarily sexual, since the fusion itself is emotional, subjective, and sensual rather than logical. Therefore, only by accepting the fact that all things, while still retaining individual identity and dignity, are in a deeper sense symbolic representatives of the same things, and that all things contains not only themselves but their apparent op posites, can the reader lose and then find himself in full freedom of Whitmans cosmic version. Only when we realize that Whitman is not a conscious and deliberate rebel, nor a mere chauvinist, nor a naive optimist, nor a discursive egotist-only when we grasp the wholeness of man and his love and vision-can we finally learn to feel him aright. For Whitmans poetry ranges beyond all studies and analyses; it is to be read aloud, to be sensed, to be absorbed, to be fused with-just as the poet fused the diverse elements of life and the contending elements of his own personality, accepting them in such a way as to create the most remarkable volume of poetry in 19th century in America. Finally it is necessary to be clearly aware that there is really no duality of paradox or ambiguity or opposites in the representation of the various masculine and feminine elements in Whitmans poetry, which has been demonstrated in Song of Myself. Day-man-life is not really separated from night-woman-death. x They all merge to become a whole; all are of equal value; and all lead to new birth and a higher level of a Cosmic self. xi As Whitman himself affirms, Out of the dimness opposite equals advance, always substance and increase, always sex. Or again, the ultimate affirmation: All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses.

Free Essays on Microsoft Legal Issues

Microsoft’s Legal Audit Microsoft, manufactures, licenses, and supports a host of software products for a number of computing devices. Their software includes operating systems for â€Å"intelligent devices, personal computers and servers; server applications for client/server environments; knowledge worker productivity applications; and software development tools. They also license consumer software programs; sell PC input devices; train and certify system integrators; and research and develop advanced technologies for future software products.† Should there be a reference here? Microsoft's ambitions are anything but small. The world's #1 software company provides a variety of products and services, including its Windows operating systems and Office Suite software. The company has expanded into markets such as video game consoles, interactive television, and Internet access. With its core markets maturing, Microsoft is targeting services for growth, looking to transform its software applications into Web-based services for enterprises and consumers. Microsoft has reached a tentative settlement to end an ongoing antitrust investigation, agreeing to uniformly license its operating systems and allow manufacturers to include competing software with Windows (Company Information). The following issues involving Microsoft were researched and analyzed in preparation for the production of this audit report. The three issues that were picked involve Microsoft’s employment discrimination troubles, anti-trust/monopoly problems, and revenue reporting investigations by the SEC. Following the legal audits, the appendix contains basic financial statements, a 5-year stock chart, and the 20 most recent insider trades as of March 2003. Employment Discrimination When it rains, it pours. The Associated Press headline and story lead-in of January 2001, announcing Jackson v. Microsoft, must have caused the hearts of anti-trust-weary Microsoft su... Free Essays on Microsoft Legal Issues Free Essays on Microsoft Legal Issues Microsoft’s Legal Audit Microsoft, manufactures, licenses, and supports a host of software products for a number of computing devices. Their software includes operating systems for â€Å"intelligent devices, personal computers and servers; server applications for client/server environments; knowledge worker productivity applications; and software development tools. They also license consumer software programs; sell PC input devices; train and certify system integrators; and research and develop advanced technologies for future software products.† Should there be a reference here? Microsoft's ambitions are anything but small. The world's #1 software company provides a variety of products and services, including its Windows operating systems and Office Suite software. The company has expanded into markets such as video game consoles, interactive television, and Internet access. With its core markets maturing, Microsoft is targeting services for growth, looking to transform its software applications into Web-based services for enterprises and consumers. Microsoft has reached a tentative settlement to end an ongoing antitrust investigation, agreeing to uniformly license its operating systems and allow manufacturers to include competing software with Windows (Company Information). The following issues involving Microsoft were researched and analyzed in preparation for the production of this audit report. The three issues that were picked involve Microsoft’s employment discrimination troubles, anti-trust/monopoly problems, and revenue reporting investigations by the SEC. Following the legal audits, the appendix contains basic financial statements, a 5-year stock chart, and the 20 most recent insider trades as of March 2003. Employment Discrimination When it rains, it pours. The Associated Press headline and story lead-in of January 2001, announcing Jackson v. Microsoft, must have caused the hearts of anti-trust-weary Microsoft su...

Celebrate Veterans Day - History and Origin of Veterans Day

Celebrate Veterans Day - History and Origin of Veterans Day People sometimes confuse the meanings of Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Memorial Day, often called Decoration Day, is observed the last Monday in May as a remembrance of those who died in military service of the United States. Veterans Day is observed on November 11 in honor of military veterans. The History of Veterans Day In 1918, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day in the eleventh month, the world rejoiced and celebrated. After four years of bitter war, an armistice was signed. The war to end all wars, World War I, was over. November 11, 1919 was set aside as Armistice Day in the United States. It was a day  to remember the sacrifices that men and women made during World War I in order to ensure a lasting peace. On Armistice Day, soldiers who survived the war marched in a parade through their home towns. Politicians and veteran officers gave speeches and held ceremonies of thanks for the peace they had won. Congress voted Armistice Day a federal holiday in 1938, twenty  years after the war ended. But Americans soon realized that the previous war would not be the last one. World War II began the following year and nations great and small again participated in a bloody struggle. For awhile after the Second World War, November 11 continued by be observed as Armistice Day. Then, in 1953, the townspeople in Emporia, Kansas began calling  the holiday Veterans Day in gratitude to both the World War I and World War II veterans in their town. Soon after, Congress passed a bill introduced by Kansas congressman, Edward Rees renaming the federal holiday Veterans Day. In 1971, President Nixon declared it a federal holiday to be observed on the second Monday in November. Americans still give thanks for peace on Veterans  Day. There are ceremonies and speeches. At 11:00 in the morning, most Americans observe a moment of silence, remembering those who fought for peace. After the United States involvement in the Vietnam War, the emphasis on holiday activities has shifted. There are fewer military parades and ceremonies. Veterans gather at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.   They place gifts at the names of their friends and relatives who fell in the Vietnam War. Families who have lost sons and daughters in wars turn their thoughts more toward peace and the avoidance of future wars. Veterans of military service have organized support groups such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. On Veterans Day and Memorial Day, these groups raise funds for their charitable activities by selling paper poppies made by disabled veterans. This bright red wildflower became a symbol of World War I after a bloody battle in a field of poppies called Flanders Field in Belgium. Ways to Honor Veterans on Veterans Day It is important that we continue to share the significance of Veterans Day with younger generations. Try these ideas with your kids to help them understand why its important to honor our nations veterans. Teach your children history of the holiday. Passing on the history of Veterans Day and ensuring that our children understand and remember the sacrifices that servicemen and women have made for our country is a meaningful way to honor our veterans. Read books, watch documentaries, complete Veterans  Day Printables, and discuss Veterans Day with your children.   Visit veterans. Make cards and write thank-you notes to deliver to veterans at the VA hospital or nursing home. Visit with them. Thank them for their service and listen to their stories if they’d like to share them. Display the American flag.  The  American flag should be  displayed at half-mast for Veterans Day.  Take time on Veterans Day to teach your children this and  other American flag etiquette. Watch a parade.  If your city  still holds a Veterans Day parade, you can honor veterans by taking your kids to see it.  Being there clapping on the sidelines  demonstrates to the men and women in the parade that we still remember and recognize their sacrifices. Serve a veteran.  Take time on  Veterans Day to serve a vet. Rake leaves, mow his or her  lawn, or  deliver a  meal or dessert.    Veterans Day is much more than simply a day when the banks and post offices are closed. Take some time to honor the men and women who have served our country and teach the next generation to do the same. Historical facts courtesy of Embassy of the United States of America Updated by Kris Bales

Human Resource Managment Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Human Resource Managment - Term Paper Example A distinctive capability that creates high value and differentiates an organization from its competition is a core competency. Human Resource Management policies help to define the approaches that are adopted in the organization both in developing employment practices and in implementing them; and constitute specific guidelines for managers, facilitating â€Å"empowerment, devolution and delegation† (Armstrong, 2006, p.147). Human resource or employment policies help to establish corporate values, shape corporate culture and provide frameworks to promote consistent and equitable decisions on the management of employees. To increase an organization’s competitive advantage, one of the important goals of human resource management in an organization is to promote employees’ motivation towards achieving increasing productivity. Similarly, changing the organization’s culture to one that is more empowering for employees, helps to attain organizational objectives. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the importance of Human Resource Management in helping an organization to achieve competitive advantage. HRM Strategies for Achieving Organizational Competitive Advantage Human Resource Management strategies are approaches that are adopted in the organization for both developing and implementing employment practices; they are based on policies or specific guidelines for managers facilitating â€Å"empowerment, devolution and delegation† (Armstrong 2006, p.147). Human resource strategies aim to establish corporate values, shape corporate culture and provide frameworks to promote consistent and equitable decisions on the management of employees. According to Burke and Cooper (2005), traditional views on competitive advantage focused on barriers to entry as â€Å"economies of scale, patent protection, access to capital, and regulated competition† (p.3). More recent perspectives have emphasized a different sour ce of competitive advantage, a company’s human resources and human capital. Organizations are confronted with new demands arising from increased competition, globalization, and technological advances. These phenomena make creativity, innovation, speed and flexibility vital for organizational efficiency. These assets are abstract, do not appear on a balance sheet, but exist in people and management systems. The role of human resource strategy to optimize organizational performance is being reconsidered. Rather than seeing the HR function as a cost, it should instead be seen as an investment, â€Å"a strategic lever for the organization in creating value† (Burke & Cooper, 2005, p.3). Thus, there is an increasing trend for human resources to be considered as the main differentiating factors contributing to a company’s competitive advantage. This underscores the belief that the knowledge and skills of employees is much more difficult to imitate, as compared to other resources. Thus, Human Resource Management believes employees to be valued assets, with the potential to ensure competitive advantage based on their commitment, adaptability and high quality skills. A study

Desire2learn (D2L) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Desire2learn (D2L) - Essay Example Current data is converted according to the new system and transferred into the new database. This phase will further facilitate any additional feature is required by the user of the system (Anonymous, 2007). Even after intense analysis during system development and implementation there is a change of some feature might have been left out. The importance of these requests should be analyzed carefully to make any decisions to implement the changes instantly or to record them for future development. This activity will be performed occasionally to check the system in an operational environment. A representative from all the relevant departments will submit progress reports to discuss about the project status, problem reports (if required) and one technical specifications report after the end of the testing phase. The following reports must be submitted within the mentioned period: Staff in all of the departments are co-operating with the TUI team in order to transfer of data, information about data requirements, establishment of new policy procedures, application support, information about working procedures, etc. Steering Committee members should meet at the beginning of the project implementation and every quarter hereafter. This will assure that all stakeholders are agreed with the outcome of the project (Anonymous, 2007). As we all know that implementation is the key process of the analyzing phase of the software. Planners are assisted with planning software for the implementation of the projects. Project Desk planning software is an option to difficult planning tools. Project Desk reduces overfed unnecessary complications and entirely eliminates the requirements to install and manage hard to understand, implement and maintain project management tools.  Its benefits include cost effectiveness, team management, no specific hardware requirement, enhanced communication and free technical

Play in Early Childhood | Theories

Play in Early Childhood | Theories Nature and role of play in early childhood. Not only play therapists, early interventionists, social workers or sociocultural researchers like for example Gà ¶ncà ¼ (1999) have focused in the last four decades on child play but also all major developmental theorists like Piaget, (1962), Vygotksy, (1976), Bruner (1972) or Erikson, (1977). Today, therefore the essential role that play possesses in the development of an infant during childhood has been acknowledged by most theorists and developmental psychologists strive to help mentally ill children with different play therapy techniques. Despite the fact that there is neither a satisfactory definition of play nor consent about its purpose, as maintained by Bundy (2001), one can describe and define children’s play behaviour as pleasurable, personally directed, intrinsically motivated and voluntary activities which are conducted in a safe, spontaneous, goalless context (Hughes, 2001) and which involve â€Å"much repetition and variation as the child explores the range of possibilities of behaviour† (Butterworth Harris, 1998, p.140) in contents and intents where the child possess a sense of control. Child play is both performed in solitary or in social groups and it is always more intrinsically then extrinsically motivated even when children are eagerly and seriously engaged in play activities which are rule governed. It also may to serve to explore inanimate objects or to explore human relationships and social roles (see Butterworth Harris, 1998). Thus, child play is not only a straightforward term for simple actions but includes manifold activities with manifold purposes. It also has many diverse facets as it for, instance, represents reality in as-if or what-if term (symbolic nature of play) while at the same time connecting or linking different experiences (meaningful nature of play). As it includes so many diverse aspects many definitions have arose in the past with each definition providing a different understanding and interpretation of children’s play. In general, the play theories are divided into classical theories of play (e.g. Hall’s Recapitulation Theory, 1920; Groos’ Pre-Exercise Theory, 1984) and modern theories of play (Mellou, 1994). Classical theories of play originated in the nineteenth century and tried to explain the existence and purpose of play (Mellou, 1994). However, this brief paper intends to investigate and discuss the nature and role of play in early childhood with reference to theories of development and will focus on contemporary theories (e.g. Psychoanalytic theory, Cognitive theories) which were mainly devised after the 1920s and which try to explain the role of play in child development (Saracho and Spodek, 1995). Psychoanalytic Theory Freud (1938) and colleagues developed the Psychoanalytic theory of play which arose through therapies which examined repressed memories of patients. In this sense, Freud concluded that child play is a way of replacing negative feelings and emotions in a cathartic way with positive emotions. Thus, accordingly, children who do not play sufficiently will remain traumatized and possess destructively negative feelings throughout the rest of their lives. Freud (1938) believed that playing represents not only a catalyst of negative feelings but serves also as a facilitator for grasping and comprehending unpleasant and agonizing experiences and represents, additionally, a tool for children to express their feelings and emotions (Wehman and Abramson, 1976). Psychotherapists like Takhvar (1988) or Erikson (1963) have modified and altered Freud’s initial theory by relating ego processes, fear, anxiety, and wish fulfillment to play activities in children. Conflict solving and the dramatisation of both past, present and future were, additionally, identified by Erikson (1950) as the main characteristics of play and he, consequently, transformed Freud’s psychosexual development stages into psychosocially relevant stages. Peller (1952) concluded that adult roles are imitated in children’s fantasy play which, in turn, provides children with a sense of mastery that empowers them to deal with difficult real life situations an d experiences. It was Murphy (1962) who concluded that in addition to all the mentioned benefits of child play, the acting out elements of play enable children not only to understand negative experiences from the past but allow for processing of positive or everyday experiences (see Saracho Spodek, 1995). Play Therapy Acting out is one of the pivotal elements of play therapy which can be regarded as an offspring of these psychoanalytic ideas (Axline, 1974). Play therapy has been predominantly employed in children with emotional difficulties and distortions and intends to minimise and diminish children’s mainly destructive emotions (e.g. anxiety, fear, insecurity) through acting out these emotions. Observation of a child during guided play situations provides the therapists with insights about the emotional problems and difficulties faced by the child and enables the therapists to explore ways for reestablishing the child’s security and mastery of self, situation and sentiments. Cognitive Theories From Piaget to Vygotski The most influential figures for cognitive theories are Piaget (1962) and Vygotsky (1978) who both attempted to comprehend the precise relationship between cognitive developments and play behaviour in a child. In order to understand Piaget’s ideas on child play one has to be first acquainted with his cognitive development theory in which assimilation and accommodation are the two most important and prevailing factors. Assimilation involves the process of a child assimilating and integrating external information from the outside world into pre-existent mental structures while the ultimate goal is to obtain a state of equilibrium where the cognitive balance is maintained. This is reached by children continuously adapting and accommodating their imperfect and imbalanced mental structures in order to improve their reception of real world information. This explains partly why children enjoy playing as they do not need to adapt their cognitive schemes to the world anymore when they play but rather the world has to accommodate to the universe which they have created according to their own simple rules. Playing can be consequently seen as opposed by imitating where in contrast assimilation predominates over accommodation.   Piaget (1962) has, in total, identified three stages of play and has described the sensorimotor stage as the first followed by the symbolic and games with rules stages. A child experiences the different stages in a sequential order while every single stage includes different types of play (see Stagnitti, 2004). According to Piaget (1964) children indulge more in physical activities (e.g. play fighting) in the sensorimotor stage which often involve objects but since playing with objects is too practical as to be concerned for the symbolic stage it solely occurs in the first stage of play development. The second stage evolves when children are approximately two years old and involves symbolic or making-believe play. One object representing another is a characteristic of symbolic play and represents a qualitatively new form of behaviour which is a pivotal evidence for the transition from early childhood to a new stage. Symbolic processes also enter into the playful exploration of social roles, as when children play at being bus drivers, nurses, teachers, or mothers and fathers. Unlike the simple practice of physical skills, symbolic play therefore involves imaginary reality. According to Baldwin (1905; in Butterworth and Harris, 1998), imagination is the general power of having mental images. Baldwin distinguished reconstructive imagination (as when one imagines a man on a horse from previous experience) from compounded imagination (as when one imagines a centaur from the previously separate memories of a man and a horse). Children enter the â€Å"games with rules† stage when they are about seven years old and this end stage of child play is complementary to Piaget’s concrete operational stage of development.   In this stage, children become more and more interested in having social interactions while playing (e.g. chess, cards), according to Piaget (1968), and choose writing down fictional stories instead of dramatic play. Physical or symbolic games are still played throughout one’s life although one chooses predominantly to play games which have tangible rules and which also satisfy the need in everyone to socialise and which come as close as possible to reality (see Goldman, 1998). Nevertheless, referring to Lloyd and Howe (2003) one of today’s principal and chief theoretical debates in the study of play is whether solitary play represents either an advanced or immature type of play. As a matter of fact, Piaget’s (1968) view that the frequency of solitary play does significantly decline with age is not supported anymore. Moore and colleagues (1974) have rather discovered that solitary play persists throughout different stages and becomes even more mentally mature with age In a similar vein, Rubin and collaborators (1983) reported that children below 5 years of age were yet not able to engage themselves in sophisticated solitary games as much as 5-year-olds were and while children going to kindergarten were found to prefer solitary-constructive play, preschoolers play observably more functional solitary games. Consequently, in contrast to what has been assumed by Piaget (1968) one can impossible one’s social maturity by purely looking at the amount of social interaction and neglecting relevant cognitive aspects (Lloyd and Howe, 2003, Stagnitti and Unsworth, 2000). In sum, Piaget (1968) believed that changes in cognitive development underlie changes in forms of play with only mirroring the achieved cognitive developmental stage but without play helping to lead to more mature cognitive developmental stages. He was recently criticised by Elkonin (2005) as he did not offer any details about the essential child-adult interactions during his experiements but completely omitted them. Piaget’s (1968) viewpoint stands in stark contrast to Vygotsky (1976) who strongly believed that play facilitates and accelerates cognitive development in children. Vygotski’s approach was not only dissimilar to that of Piaget but also to those of Freud as he focused on normal problems in children’s development whereas Freud took more the extreme cases of traumatised children into consideration. His ideas were, nevertheless, in accordance with many other well-known theorists like for instance Bruner (1972, 1999) or Russ (1995) who like him saw sociodramatic play which is discovered by 2-year-oldsas essential for emotional, cognitive and emotional development. In his eyes, sociodramatic play serves as a tool to imitate the adults and thus enabled children to experience situations and activities for which they were actually too immature in order to experience them in real life situations. â€Å"In play the child functions above his average age, above his usual eve ryday behaviour, in play he is head high above himself† (Vygotsky, 1976, p.552). Similarly, in sociodramatically play situations objects can be better defined by children and social norms are more successfully internalised and behaviour can be steadily accommodated according to these norms. An existing imaginary situation and rules are the two factors that distinguish this self-regulatory play from other early childhood behaviour (see Elias and Berk, 2001). The imaginary situation includes children acquiring the skill to make a distinction between cognitive mind and physical action from external stimuli. As a consequence, children control external stimuli and objects in play situations as they voluntarily determine the significance and identity of the situations and stimuli. The child, for example, decides independently whether a stick represents a telephone, a sparrow, a snake or anything else which he or she uses in make-believe situations. This independent power to select and create one’s own universe above the existing reality transforms impulsive actions of a child into self-regulation (Vygotsky, 1978). According to Elias and Berk (2002) with increased age the children’s imagination becomes stronger and stronger and the more they grow up the less they need an object to be as similar as possible to the real world in play situations and thus they can correspond in more self-regulatory ways with both the real and fantasy world. The obeying of rules during play is congruent with the child’s desire to adapt to the social environment which demands acting alongside socially accepted and internalised norms and values. Hence, Vygotsky (1978) concluded that the adherence to rules during play is a central catalyst of satisfaction which children gain from playing. In sum, one conclude that sociodramatic play provides children with the â€Å"greatest self-control† possible (Vygotski, 1978, p. 99) as it demands from children to steadily fight against prompt and incarnated impulses while stressing â€Å"social rules and coordination of goals and behaviour with those of others† (Elias and Berk, 2002, p. 218). Many researchers have attempted to test Vygotsky’s (1978) sociadramatic play theory. The results of Elias and Berk’s (2001) study, for instance, in which they investigated complex sociodramatic play (CSD), solitary dramatic play, and dramatic play in preschool children, demonstrated that those infants are benefiting significantly from CSD play who are most in need of improving their self-regulatory abilities. This finding was congruent to Vygotsky’s claim that self-restraint is very strongly related to sociodramatic play and that playing children constantly resist present impulses in order to adhere social norms that exists in the make-believe context. Kraft and Berk (1998) offered more support for this theory in revealing that infants try to control their behaviour to act according to their thoughts and mental images as CSD was positively correlated to the utilisation of self-guiding private speech. In sum, one can say that today Vygotsky’s notions about play in early childhood have received significantly more support than Piaget’s ideas. However these are by far not the only influential figures in developmental psychology and many theorists hypothesis about child play had to be left out due to the brief nature of this paper (Gà ¶ncà ¼, 1999). Another major idea of Vygotski (1978) which had great influence on child play research concerns the so-called zone of proximal development (ZND) which can be described as the difference between what a child can achieve with and without the help of parents (adults or peer groups). Vygotski viewed the adults as facilitating and potentialising opportunites for the child to learn quicker and more effective in play situations as infants’ knowledge evolves much better through experience of parents leading and directing the child towards more ideal and mature solutions to problems (see Butterworth and Harris, 1998). However cognitive development is limited to a limited time span in one’s life which falls precisely into the ZND. This theory has been very influential in the language acquisition research. As children interact and play with peers particular models of expression, explanation and communication are developed. This generated language use is regarded by many (e.g. Good man and Goodman, 1990, Tharp and Gallimore, 1988) as the foundation for literacy. Jerome Bruner (1973, 1999) basically agrees with this notion that cognitive development is highly related to the systematic social interaction between a child and a parent, peer or teacher. Nevertheless, Bruners theory of cognitive development can be more linked to Piaget’s theory. Bruners postulated the idea that children evolve through different modes of represention in their intellectual development. He introduced three modes of representing understanding, namely, enactive, iconic and symbolic. The iconic representation stage involves using images, pictures or photos that encapsulate or outline action to represent knowledge while the more primitive enactive mode involves representing knowledge solely through physical actions and thus is very compatible to Piaget’s sensorimotor stage. The symbolic mode, however, includes using, for example, symbolic or pretend play for representing cognitive advancement. Bruner’s theories have been very influential in child pla y and music instructing sessions and represent a conclusive bridge between Piaget and Vygotski’s theories (Atterbury and Richardson, 1995). References Atterbury, B. W., Richardson, C. P. (1995). The experience of teaching general music. New York: McGraw-Hill. Axline, V.M. (1947). Play Therapy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Baldwin, J.M. (1905). Dictionary of philosophy and psychology. London: Macmillan. Bruner, J.S. (1972). Nature and Uses of Immaturity. American Psychologist, 8, 687–708. Bruner, J. S. (1973). The growth of representation processes in childhood. In J. Anlin (Ed.), Beyond the information given: Studies in the psychology of knowing (pp. 313-324). New York: Norton. Bruner, J. (1999) Folk Pedagogies. In J. Leach and B. Moon (eds) Learners and Pedagogy. London: Paul Chapman. Bundy, A. (2001). Measuring play performance. In: M. Law, D. Baum W. Dunn (eds) Measuring occupational performance supporting best practice in occupational therapy. Thorofare, NJ: Slack Inc. p. 89–102 Butterworth, George and Harris, Margareth (1998). Principles of developmental psychology. Hove: Psychology Press. Elias, Cynthia L. and Berk, Laura (2002). Self-regulation in young children: Is there a role for sociodramatic play? Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 17, 216-238. Elkonin, D.B. (2005). Theories of play. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 43(2), 3–89. Erikson, E. H. (1985). Play and actuality. In: J. S. Bruner et al.   (eds) Play: its role in development and evolution. New York, NY: Penguin Books. p.668-704 Freud, S. (1938). The basic writings of Sigmund Freud, New York: Modern Library. Freud, S. (1961). Beyond the pleasure principle. New York, NY: Norton. Goldman, L. (1998). Child’s play: myth, mimesis, and make-believe. Oxford: Berg. Gà ¶ncà ¼, A. (1999). Children’s engagement in the world: sociocultural perspectives. New York: Cambridge University Press. Goodman, Y.M. and Goodman, K.S. (1990) Vygotsky in a whole language perspective.In L. Moll (Ed.) Vygotsky and Education: instructional implications and applications ofsociohistorical psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Groos, K. (1916), The Play of Animals. Zeitschrift Psychologie, 133. Groos, K. (1985). The play of animals: Play and instinct. In: J. S. Brunner, A. Jolly K. Sylva (eds) Play: its role in development and evolution. New York, NY: Penguin Books. p.68–83 Hall, G. S. (1920). Youth. New York, NY: A. Appleton. Hughes, B. (2001) Evolutionary Playwork and reflective analytic practice. London: Routledge. Lloyd, Bronwen and Howe, Nina (2003) Solitary play and convergent and divergent thinking skills in preschool children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 18, 22–41 Mellou, E. (1994). Play theories: A contemporary review. EarlyChild Development and Care, 102, 91–100. Moore, N. V. et al.. (1974). Solitary play: some functional reconsiderations. Developmental Psychology, 10, 830–834. Murphy, L.B. (1962). The widening world of childhood. New York: Basic Books Peller, L.E. (1952). Models of children’s play. Mental Hygiene, 36, 66-83. Piaget, J. (1962). Play dreams and imitation in childhood. New York, NY: W. W. Norton. Rubin, K.H., et al. (1983). Play. In: E.M. Hetherington (ed.) Mussen’s Handbook of child psychology. New York: Wiley. P.693-741 Russ, S. W. (1995). Play psychotherapy research: State of the science. In T. H. Ollendick and R. J. Prinz (eds.) Advances in clinical psychology, 17. New York: Plenum. P.365–391 Saracho, Olivia N., Spodek (1995). Children’s play and early childhood education: insights from history and theory. Journal of Education, 177(3), 129-148 Stagnitti, K. (2004). Understanding play: the implications for play Assessment. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 51, 3–12 Stagnitti, K. Unsworth, C. (2000). The importance of pretend play in child development. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63, 121–127. Takhvar, M. (1988). Play and theories of play: a review of the literature. Early Child Development and Care, 39, p.221-244. Tharp, R. and Gallimore, R. (1988) Rousing minds to life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Vygotsky, L. S. (1966). Play and its role in the mental development of the child. Voprosy Psikhologii, 12, 62–76. Vygotsky, L. S. 1976 ‘ Play and its role in the mental development of the child’ in J. Bruner,A. Jolly, K. Sylva (eds), Play: its role in development and evolution, New York: BasicBooks. p6-18 Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: the development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Wehman. P. and Abramson, M. (1976). Three theoretical approaches to play. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 30(9), 551-559

Rhetoric

Scott started a seminal debate within the rhetoric community with his essay, â€Å"On Viewing Rhetoric as Epistemic. † His argument – rhetoric is epistemic – has been analyzed and/or criticized by many scholars. Scott himself followed up in 1976 with an article titled, â€Å"On Viewing Rhetoric as Epistemic: Ten Years Later† in order to address some of these concerns, and add to his original thoughts. Despite this follow-up, authors still continue criticize and defend his work.This essay will focus on three responses in particular, each focusing on a different aspect of Coot's argument, in order to prove that rhetoric is in fact epistemic. First, Brunette's, Three Meanings of Epistemic Rhetoric (1979) will examine three possible meanings and implications of Coot's claim. Second, Harping's What Do You Mean, Rhetoric is Epistemic? (2004) will hone in on the debate between Scott and Cheerier and Haskins, defining the positions of each.Finally, Banshee's The C artesian Anxiety in Epistemic Rhetoric: An Assessment of the Literature (1990) will address four key positions within the debate, and bring them together with his Bernstein term, â€Å"Cartesian Anxiety. From these responses it will become clear that while many scholars agree that rhetoric is epistemic, their definitions and viewpoints still vary. Before Jumping into the responses of other scholars, it is probably worth examining Coot's own response, especially since it predates the essays soon to be examined.In this essay, Scott attempts to address three questions: â€Å"Is there one way of knowing or many? What sort of knowing does rhetoric strive to achieve? Is rhetorical relativism vicious? † (1976, 259). He states that there are many ways of knowing, emphasizing the lyricist nature of Ways of knowing. ‘ He believes that rhetoric should strive to achieve an actuality, or an agreed social construction (later it will become apparent that this facet of his argument is the one sparking the most debate).Finally, he attempts to dispel the positivist argument against him, that rhetorical relativism is vicious. This leads to some deeper discussion on the nature of subjective knowledge, of which his defining argument seems to be: â€Å"Relativism, supposedly, means a standard-less society, or at least a maze of differing standards, and thus a cacophony f disparate, and likely selfish interests.Rather than a standard-less society, which is the same as saying no society at all, relativism indicates circumstances in which standards have to be established cooperatively and renewed repeatedly' (1976, 264) Brume seeks to offer up what he deems to be the three prevailing philosophies on epistemology. The first is what is considered the positivist view, which is essentially that there is a truth out there, and that people are either right or wrong about what they think is true. He emphasizes that rhetoric is the path to reaching that truth.The second is the classic interpretive approach, that different groups have different realities, and there knowledge within them. This means that within a group, someone can be wrong, although that doesn't necessarily mean they're wrong in all groups. Finally, he addresses the view that the world is much too complicated for humans to understand, which is evidenced by our need to define and label everything. Harping focus on defining terms, as he sees this as the most critical step in defining hitherto as epistemic.Specially, he examines the nature of â€Å"certainty' and the implications of various definitions and views. Next he examines the term â€Å"rhetoric,† whose definitions has implications not Just in this debate, but for all rhetorical theory. Here he addresses the pros and cons of defining rhetoric in a broad or specific sense. Finally, Harping examines Justification, and how various scholar use justification within the realm of epistemology. Bingham compares four positions within à ¢â‚¬Ëœrhetoric as epistemic' literature.