Hard Times :: Dickens Hard Times Essays

Hard Times In this paper I would like to discuss the possibly affects that this book might have had on the world, the time around Charles Dickens, and the fact that Charles Dickens paid close attention to the world around him. Charles Dickens, born Charles John Huffman Dickens, was born on Feb. 7 1812 in Portsmouth where his father was a clerk at the Naval Pay Office. Four years later his family moved to Chatham and then later moved to London. In 1824 Charles Dickens father went to Debtor's Prison. In 1833 Charles Dickens published his first story "A Dinner at Poplar Walk". In 1838 one of Dickens most popular stories, Oliver Twist, was published in three volumes. In 1851 Charles Dickens father passed away. Next in 1861, another Dickens classic was published, Great Expectations. On June 9 Charles Dickens dies, at the age of fifty-eight. And was buried in Westminster Abbey. This is the Penguin Classics version of Hard Times by Charles Dickens that has be en edited by Kate Flint, who also added the introduction. I was unable to find any information about the editor, other than her name. I believe that Charles Dickens books, this one included, have had a great affect on the world. Not only in the fact that some of the books that he has written are considered to be classic or in the fact that some of these books are required reading in many high schools through out the U.S.. But also in the fact that I believe some of his books had an influence in the way the some of the laws in his time where formulated. The way that Charles Dickens go about doing this is by writing about the social problems within the government or just problems with the way that thing are being done in general. One example that I have found was in chapter 11, page 77, and footnote number 8. The line says "I ha' coom to ask yo, sir, how I am to be ridded o' this woman." When you look at the footnote it says that this line in the book is speaking of a problem that was quite common during Charles Dickens time period. The problem that this line speaks of is that it was all but impossible for a person who was of lower class to get a divorce.

Elements of Religious Traditions Essay

The term religion can bring up mixed emotions in people. Many people have different religious views and their traditions usually follow that religion. Religion is very vast and there are many different forms, views, traditions, and beliefs within each religion. Certain religions are monotheism, some are polytheism, and others are pantheism. Each religion encourages relationships with the divine, sacred time, sacred space or the natural world, and relationships with others. Relationships with the divine According to Molloy (2010), â€Å"All religions are concerned with the deepest level of reality, and for most religions the core or origin of everything is sacred and mysterious† (p 7). Each religion often calls the sacred by name such as Divine Parent, Great Spirit, the Divine, and the Holy to name a few (Molloy, 2010). Monotheism is a term that means belief in one God (Molloy, 2010). Polytheism is the belief in many Gods or Goddesses; the multiple Gods may be separate or a multiple manifestation of the same sacred reality (Molloy, 2010). Pantheism is the belief that the sacred as being discoverable within the physical world, in other words nature itself is holy (Molloy, 2010). Recently there are people who tend to deny the existence of any God or gods which is described as atheism (Molloy, 2010). Relationship with Sacred Time According to Molloy (2010), â€Å"Our everyday lives go on in ordinary time, which we see as moving forward into the future. Sacred time, however, is the time of eternity†(p 43). Many people have different names for this measurement of time such as the Artic people refer to it as â€Å"distant time†, Australian aboriginals refer to it as â€Å"dream time†(Molloy, 2010). Although there are many different names for sacred time they all refer to the time of eternity and each religion has a different theory on sacred time. Some people believe that sacred time is cyclical and returns to its origins for renewal. Others feel that by recalling and ritually reliving the deeds of the gods and ancestors (Molloy, 2010). Indigenous religions even structure their daily lives to conform to mythical events in sacred time which creates a sense of holiness in their daily lives (Molloy, 2010). Certain religions strongly encourage a relationship with sacred time and others tend to not worry about sacred time. Christianity for instance knows that someday Christ will return to earth however most Christians do not center their lives on waiting for this day. However some Christians live everyday as if it will be the day He returns and strive to be worthy in His eyes when that day does come. Relationship with Sacred Space or the Natural World Just like ordinary time there is also ordinary space. Sacred space refers to the doorway in which the other world of gods and ancestors can contact us and we can contact them (Molloy, 2010). Sacred space is often considered the center of the universe where powers and holiness are strongest; where we can go to renew our own strength (Molloy, 2010). In certain native religions sacred space is a mountain, great volcano, or other striking natural site. In Australian aboriginal religions Uluru (Ayers Rock) is their sacred center (Molloy, 2010). Sacred space can also be constructed into a certain shape, special building, or a boundary. For some religions, sacred space is often in the form of a church where people go to worship, pray, and learn about God; some churches are even built extremely tall to be â€Å"closer† to God. Critical Issues What should we study in order to properly understand religions? What attitude should we have when we study the religions of others? How can researchers be objective? These are just some of the complex questions that researchers should ask before attempting to study religions. Some of the issues in the first century included inability to travel, incomplete scriptures, or the translation they depended on were not accurate (Molloy, 2010). One of the main critical issues when studying religion is forming a prior opinion that can create a bias on the research. If a Buddhist is studying Christianity his opinion could be bias because of his own personal opinions on religion or a preference of his own beliefs versus the other. Conclusion Religion is sometimes defined as to join again. According to the common dictionary the word religion is defined as â€Å"a system of belief that involves worship of a God or gods, prayer, ritual, and a moral code† (Molloy, 2010 p 5). Within each religion there are specific beliefs, traditions, and values. Many religions encourage the relationships with the divine, sacred time, sacred space or the natural world. It is also crucial to identify critical key issues when studying religions. Whether someone worships one God, many gods, goddesses, or denies any existence of God or gods it is important to look inside each religion with an open mind. References Molloy, M. (2010). Experiencing the world’s religions: Tradition, challenge, and change (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Reflexive Spanish Verbs With an Indirect Object

Spanish often uses reflexive verbs  in a way that seems unfamiliar to English speakers. And they can seem downright indecipherable at when they are in sentences include two object pronouns of a single verb, a phenomenon that is unheard of in everyday English unless those pronouns are connected by and or or. Here are three examples of sentences that include two object pronouns that have different grammatical functions (that is, that arent joined by a conjunction such as y or o). Translations given arent the only ones possible; alternatives are explained below.) Se me rompià ³ la taza. (The objects are se and me. My cup got broken.) ¿Se te olvidà ³ el tomate? (The object pronouns are te and me. Did you forget the tomato?)La espiritualidad es algo que se nos despierta en cierto momento de nuestra vida. (The object pronouns are se and te. Spirituality is something that awakens for us at a certain time of our lives.) Why Two Objects Are Used You may have noticed that the three translations above took different approaches—but that none of the translations are literal, word-for-word ones, which wouldnt make sense. The key to understanding these sentences grammatically is to remember that the se in each of these cases is part of a reflexive verb, and that the other pronoun is an indirect object, one that tells who is affected by a verbs action. Basically, a reflexive construction is one in which the subject of a verb acts on itself. An example in English would be I see myself (Me veo in Spanish), where the person speaking is both seeing and being seen. In Spanish, however, it is possible to think of a verb acting on itself even when we dont translate it that way in English. This can be seen in the first example, where the most common definition of romper is to break. So we can think of romperse (romper plus the reflexive pronoun se) as meaning to break itself, (The translation to be broken might also be used.) The other pronoun, in this case me, tells us is affected by that breaking. In English, we might translate the indirect object me as me, to me, or for me. So a fully literal meaning of the sentence might be something like The cup broken itself to me. Obviously that doesnt make much sense. So how do we translate such a sentence. Normally, if a cup breaks and it affects me, its probably my cup, so we could say My cup broke or My cup got broken. And even I broken the cup would be fine if that fit the context of what happened. The other sentences can be analyzed in the same way. In the second example, olvidarse typically means to be forgotten rather than the literal to forget itself. And if the forgetting of the tomato affects you, you are probably the person who lost it, and the the translation given. And in the third example, despertarse usually means to wake up or to awaken. Without the nos in the sentence, we could could think merely of spirituality waking up. The for us is used to clearly indicate who is a beneficiary of the verbs action, although awakens us could be used. Note how in all these sentences, the se is placed before other pronoun. Se should not be placed between a verb and any other object pronoun. Other Sample Sentences You can see how this pattern is followed with the other sentences. Again, the translations given arent the only ones possible: Estoy agradecido no se me ocurrià ³ antes. (Im grateful it didnt happen to me sooner.) ¡El cielo se nos cae encima! (The sky is falling on us!)Pedid y se os darà ¡. (Ask and it will be given to you.)Que se te moje el telà ©fono mà ³vil es una de las peores cosas que puede pasar. (Getting your cellphone wet is one of the worst things that can happen to you.) Key Takeaways The reflexive pronoun se can be used along with indirect object pronouns that indicate who is affected by the action of the reflexive verb.Se is placed before the indirect object pronoun.Sentences using se and an indirect pronoun can be translated in at least three different ways.