Book Reports / Academic Research Essay: Critical Analysis on Hamlet, Prince of Denmark [2]

@ Didgeridoo

Or anyone can review my essay... I want to cut some redundancy of this essay, but fail...

Prompt: Wirte a 2000-2500 word (8-19 pages) academic research essay that explores and analyzes Hamlet's learning throughout the play. He return from University of Wittenberg back to Denmark as a very good philosophy student, but perhaps not such a good student of life. In your essay explore WHAT he learns and HOW he learns it. You may also want to add what he fails to learn.

Once you have consider what Hamlet learns in the play named for him, take your thinking one step further and begin considering what we as readers and viewers learn rom both Hamlet the character and Hamlet the play by William Shakespreare. How are we changed by the end of this play (consider by Marvin W. Hunt as being "without parallel, the greatest play ever written")? Add these considerations to your essay as you revise and expand it to include them.

Essay

In his famous tragedy Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, William Shakespeare tells us a bloody and mournful story of the royal family of Denmark. The play involves love, friendship, and political faith, and heroism. Its theme is unfolding and revenge. Prince Hamlet, the protagonist of the story, in front of the choices of "to be or not to be", chooses "not to be".

According to Allan Massie's "Prince of Self-pity," Prince Hamlet is "an indecisive and self-questioning Romantic intellectual (the Gielgud interpretation), or as a mixed-up kid, immature, uncertain of himself, veering from self-love to self-loathing by way of self-pity". I partly agree with this opinion because it only correctly describes Hamlet's personality at the beginning of the play. However, Hamlet completely changes at end of the story.

Hamlet is a philosophy student in University of Wittenberg. We know that during the Renaissance, Wittenberg has a close connection to Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation. Absorbing the ideas from the Protestantism, Hamlet develops his own philosophy and is able to thinking critically. However, in worldly wisdom, he is still a callow child. When he hears his father's death and goes back to Denmark, he is very angry and depressed to discover that his mother remarries with his uncle Claudius, the new king of Denmark. His father's sudden death and his mother's quick remarriage drive Hamlet insane. In his first soliloquy, he reveals his mourning and irrational emotion, which fully demonstrates his helplessness and immaturity.

Hamlet decides to revenge when the spirit of his father reveals the detail of his murder at the hand of Hamlet's uncle, Claudius. At this point, revenge becomes the clue of the play. During his revenge, he learns to understand romantic love, about what genuine friendship is, heroism, and death.

Hamlet learns how to decisively deal with romantic and parental love in order to revenge. He selflessly sacrifices his romantic love to Ophelia because he has made up his mind to revenge for his father. He does love Ophelia. He writes romantic poem and show great affection to her. In Act III Scene I, when Hamlet realizes that they can no longer stay together, he suggests both of them should not get marry with other people and wants Ophelia to go to a nunnery to demonstrate her chastity. His love to her is sincere, faithful, and fanatic. Moreover, in Act V Scene I, in Ophelia's funeral, Hamlet bravely stands out, fights with Laertes, and vows to everyone that "I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love." However, he fails to learn to understand the feeling of Ophelia and does not even have any compunction for Ophelia's death. In fact, he constantly hurts her and finally makes her crazy and kills herself. Their romantic love should have been sweet, but unfortunately his revenge makes it a tragedy, as David Smith says, "Hamlet's cruelty to Ophelia is one of the most powerful and moving dramatic gestures anywhere in Shakespeare".

For parental love, Hamlet carries responsibilities as a son. He tries to finish the ghost's wish, become independent from his mother, and persuade her to confess her "incest" and get away from the King. Initially, Hamlet is indecisive. He obeys his mother's request to stay in Denmark instead of going back to Wittenberg. However, as he knows the truth of his father's death, he attempts to change his mother's thought rather than follow her instruction. In order to confirm whether Claudius kills his father or not, Hamlet, regardless of his mother's feeling, puts on the play of Murder of Gonzago in front of her and Claudius. Later, in their conversation, he bravely points out her faults and tells her the truth of his father's death. However, he fails to control his resentment, loses his manner, and makes his mother feel guilty. With his father's spirit's remind, he calms down and successfully convinces his mother to defy Claudius. In fact, Hamlet loves his mother and understands his mother's love to him. However, in order to fulfill his father's wish, he has to become an unethical and disobedient son. Nevertheless, this experience shapes him into a responsible, brave, and decisive man.

In addition to love, Hamlet learns to correctly judge friendship as he interacts with his old friends Horatio, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern. Horatio is faithful, selfless and helpful, as Keith Doubt states, "Horatio makes Hamlet aware of the existence of the ghost of his father, which is the first step in healing Hamlet's grief. Concretely, Horatio helps Hamlet see his father's ghost. Metaphysically, Horatio helps Hamlet remember his father's character." Therefore, Hamlet completely trusts Horatio and considers him his closest friend. At the end of the play, Horatio, to demonstrate his honorable loyalty, attempts to suicide as he knows Hamlet will die soon. On the contrary Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are obsequious, selfish and selfish. They follow the Claudius' mission to spy on Hamlet and report his behavior to him. They abandon their friendship to Hamlet merely for their own benefit. Fortunately, Hamlet quickly knows that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern "are sent for" after talking with them and realizes their potential threat on him. Thus, he takes precation against them and angrily berates them that they "play upon him" like an instrument in Act III. Moreover, on his voyage to England, he replaces the official letter from Claudius to kill him with his forged letter to kill Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. They are both killed right after they arrive in England. Because Hamlet rightfully and determinedly trusts Horatio and executes Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, loyalty gets recognition and treachery deserves punishement. It shows that Hamlet is a potentially good leader.

As for politics, Hamlet learns to become wary, wise, and mature. He fully demonstrates his political maturity during his wrestle with the powerful king Claudius. After meeting the spirit of his father, Hamlet, instead of being mad, consciously and composedly makes up a plan to confirm if Claudius murders his father. Before that, he tactically hides himself with his pretended "antic disposition" in front of everyone to lower the vigilance of Claudius, showing his counter-reconnaissance ability. In "Dangerous conjectures: Madness in Shakespearean Tragedy," Duncan Salkeld agrees that "Madness in Shakespearean tragedies is depicted not as a dissolution into the crazed but secure inferiority of its characters, but as a means of personal and political survival." (86) His suspicion that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of "are sent for" reflects his counter-espionage skill. After he knows that Claudius does kill his father, he decides to kill him, get back the crown, and eradicate the corruption in Denmark, as his father's spirits tells him that "Let not the royal bed of Denmark be a couch for luxury and damn incest". (1419) In addition, he crushes Claudius' plot to kill him in England by replacing the original letter to execute him with his forged letter to execute Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Here, he demonstrates political wariness and ability to write political documents. Finally, before he dies, he wisely votes Fortinbras to be the king of Norway and lets Horatio speak with Fortinbras to strengthen the friendship between Denmark and Norway. Hamlet selflessly sacrifices himself to exchange the bright future of Denmark. Politically speaking, he is great and immortal.

Aside from love, friendship and politics, Hamlet learns what heroism, death, and fate mean to him. Hamlet, facing "the sling and arrows of outrageous fortune" (1442) of his father's death and mother's remarriage, initially believes that people, who is afflicted by the cruel reality, stay alive merely because death is unknown. Rationality deprives people's courage. Then he gradually understands the relationship between heroism and death. In the synopsis "Before leaving for Denmark, Hamlet encounters Fortinbras's army bound for Poland. Hamlet Questions the validity of war and certain death. Still, he thinks, if man can accept the risks involved with battle, he can accept the risks involved with revenge," Hamlet knows that for some people, honor is even more important than their life. Later, after talking with the gravedigger, he has a new perception of heroism. He laments that the people are trivial compared to vastness of the world and eternity of the history. Even great heroes like Alexander the Great and Julie Cesar eventually died and became dust or clay. Heroism, in his new opinion, is nothing and cannot surmount the power of death. Hence, Hamlet, after comprehending this philosophy, becomes surprisingly composed to mortality. He agrees to duel Laertes and tells Horatio that "we defy augury" (1501).

Hamlet, after learning about love, friendship, politics, and heroism from his revenge, changes from a helpless, puzzled, and indecisive young man to a mature, judicious, and determined hero. In the article "Hamlet's Heroism," Bert Honback points out that "Hamlet's heroism is in his careful thoughtfulness, in his valiant determination to live by principle rather than by passion." If he were alive and became the king, he would eradicate the corruption, promote loyalty and integrity, and strengthen the friendship between Denmark and Norway. Hence, Fortinbra is certainly correct to say that, "he was likely ... To have proved to be most royal" (1506). However, it is a pity that Hamlet sometimes fails to control his impulse and kills Polonius, which motivates Laertes to revenge and causes his inevitable death.

As the proverb says, "There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes" we readers can learn a lot by looking at different aspects of Hamlet the character and Hamlet the play. We may not have similar experience as Hamlet. However, we should learn to think critically about ourselves as Hamlet does. As long as we still have breath and heartbeat, we should think about why we live in the world. In Hamlet's opinion, people should live or die for something they want. As he says, "To be, or not to be, that is the question" (1442) adversity does not drive him to suicide or live mundanely; instead, he become decisive to face and change his fate. Although eventually he dies, he can say that he lives and dies for what he wants. Life is transient and death is unavoidable. To fulfill our fleeting life, we should learn from Hamlet's determination and courage to defy misfortune and achieve our dreams.

Furthermore, from the wrestle between Claudius and Hamlet, we learn how lust, money, and power erode people's inherent conscience and innocence. Claudius murders his brother old Hamlet to get the crown and the queen. Threatened by Hamlet's revenge, he plots to execute Hamlet in England and abets Laerte in revenge and killing Hamlet with his envenomed foil. Here, his lust drives him from human to a beast, as Hamlet says that he is an "incestuous, murderous, damn Dane" (1504). Thus, in this materialism scoiety, how can we survive, maintain our morality, but not be harmed by vallians? The play Hamlet admonishes us to be moral and believe in justice, as Benjamin Franklin said, "Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor liberty to purchase power". In human history, evil can never defeat justice.

As for Hamlet, we know that rashness is human's devil. Although he has suffient reason to revenge, his revenge is bloody and impulsive because he unintentionally kills Polonius, drives Ophelia to suicide, and causes Laertes's animosity. John Wilks, in his article "The Discourse of Reason: Justice and the Erroneous Conscience in Hamlet," insists that "Hamlet's predicament evokes that of man ... the 'dram of eale' which insidiously corrupts man's virtue and undermines the integrity of his motives" (117).

Thus, at the end of the play, Claudius dies for his evil while Hamlet die for his rash. In fact, when we are harmed by scroundrels, unlike Hamlet's vengeance, we should bravely "revenge" in a legal way.

From Hamlet's death, we also learn that it is improtant to be positive and optimistic in our life. Facing misfortunes such as his father's death, mother's remarriage, and old fellows' betrayal, Hamlet can only see the darkness of the reality. The desire of revenge makes him mad, madness provokes him to do something impulsive, and impulse finally leads to his death. In fact, Hamlet is a conscient man. However, failing to understand the sweetness of his life, for example, Ophelia's love, his madness becomes his enermy. To some extent, Hamlet's pessimism creats this tragedy. Thus, we should learn to be thankful and not let indignation destroy our consciousness and conscience.

From other main characters, their personalities are . Ophelia is a childish and innocent girl. She is always guided by his father and brother. The Queen Gertrude is a typical noblewoman. These two women reflects the vulnerabilty of women in that era. Polonius is a typical cunning and wise old man. Laertes is an immature and unthoughtful young man. He does not have his own judgement, desires to revenge, and is controled by Claudius. Nevertheless, finally, before he dies, he regrets and forgives Hamlet.

As Chinese writer Lu Xun once said, "For viewers, tradegies destroy valuable things while comedies tear apart worthless things." tragedies deeply impress their readers, inspire them to comprehend life philosophy, and guide them to change. The play Hamlet, which begins with murder, incest, and treachery and ends with the death of all main characters except Horatio, seems to suggest that only after the corruption and evil are completely destroyed, can we see the brightness and happiness of the future. Comedy is arising at the end of tragedy.

Book Reports / Critical Analysis of True Marriage in "A Doll's House" [5]

@ Didgeridoo

Or anyone can review my essay... I want to cut some redundancy of this essay, but fail...

Prompt

For your third English 1B wirting assignment I want you to write a critical analysis of what Henrik Ibsen says about love and marriage in A Doll's House. What question does he raise about marriage (true marriage and otherwise)? And how does he answer these questions in the play? In writing this essay, please consider all love and marriage relationships, including those of Mrs. Kristine Linde and Nils Krogstad as well as of Nora and Torvald Helmer. What do you think Nora (or Ibsen through her) means by "true marriage"?

Essay:

In "A Doll's House," Henrik Ibsen tactically manipulates the relationships between Nora and Torvald Helmer, Kristine Linde, Nils Krogstad, and Dr Rank to make readers question what true marriage is. He uses Nora's forgery to reveal the personalities of each character and answer this question.

At the beginning of Act 1, Nora, the protagonist of the play, is a typical Victorian housewife who believes that ture marriage is based on obedience. She demonstates filial piety as a daughter, fidelity and obedience as a wife, and responsibility as a mother. When Torvald tells her not to eat too macaroon, she says, "I wouldn't dream of going against your wishes" (1602). On the contrary, her husband Torvald is a confident, powerful, and successful man. He will become the manager of bank after the new year. In his opinion, to have true marriage, a husband should be the model of his wife and breadwinner. To show his dominance, he frequently calls Nora "Little squirrel," "Little skylark," or "Little songbird."

However, is Nora just a little helpless animal? Ibsen says, "No." Torvald wants Nora to completely obedient to him and not have opinion of her own, but she does have her own thoughts, even if she never expresses them to Torvald. Nora somethimes reveals a desire to defy Torvald. Although Torvald forbids her to eat macaroons, Nora loves them and finds excuses to let herself eat more.

Despite her little struggle for personal space, Nora really loves Torvald. When both her father and husband are very sick, she chooses to save her husband instead of her father. She raises money on her own for a trip to Italy to save him. However, in fact, her father does not leave any money for her. Nora forges his signature in order to borrow money from Krogstad. She then lies to Torvald by saying that the money is her father's inheritance. Here, we can see Nora is willing to violate the law and jeopardize and reputation to save her husband. She is not a helpless and delicate squirrel but brave eagle.

As the plot develops, the conflict gradually manifests itself. Nora is blackmailed by the antagonist Krogstad because he is going to be fired by Torvald. He wants Nora to persuade her husband to retain his job. Nora promises that she will because she does not want him to reveal her secret to Torvald. However, despite her efforts, she fails to convince Torvald to retain Krogstad's job. Because Torvald cares so much about his career and reputation, he thinks that a true marriage should be all about him too. From their diologues, we know that Torvald considers his reputation more important than everything else. He regards Krogstad as dishonest, immoral, and tricky because he has a reputation for committing forgery. He also cannot tolerate Krogstad calling him by his first name at the bank, even though they used to be good friends. Now that he has decided to fire Krogstad, he knows that his reputation will be affected if he rescind his decision. Although Nora is the one he loves, he cannot sacrifice his honor for her. In fact, he loves his career more than he loves Nora. His final decision to fire Krogstad puts Nora into a hopeless situation. Krogstad puts a letter revealing Nora's secret into the mailbox. Before Torvald knows everything, Nora tries to remain composed, seeks for help from Kristine, and speculates that a miracle will happen. Korgstad's blackmail also drives her to think more deeply about her own marriage and makes her more mature.

In Act 3, after the masquerade ball, Torvald brings Nora home early and says, "Why shouldn't I look at my dearest treasure? At all the beauty that is mine, all my very own?" (1640). Ibsen implicitly questions how should a husband treat his wife in a true marriage. Here, Torvald obviously treats Nora as his beautiful doll, which to leads to their seperation at the end of the play.

When Torvald discovers from Krogstad's first letter that Nora forged her father's signature to borrow money, the play reaches its climax. His internal selfishness, meanness, and hypocrisy emerge, as Dr. Rank once states, "Helmer's sensitive nature makes him completely unable to deal with something ugly" (1626). Instead of thanking Nora for her sacrifice to save his life, he furiously censures her and considers her as a criminal. He does not even allow her to raise their children.

Torvald knows that he must find a way to appease Krogstad in order to maintain his reputation at the bank. He never takes Nora's feeling into account. Ironically, throughout the whole play, he often claims that he will sacrifice everything to protect Nora. For instance, he says, "Nora, I've often wished you were in some kind of serious danger, so that I could risk everything, even my own life, to save you" (1642). Yet when Nora's crime comes to light, he only thinks of how he can save himself. However, when he knows that Krogstad returns the debt note, his attitude completely changes. He happily says, "I am saved!", demonstrating his selfishness.

The play comes to its resolution. After seeing how Torvald behaves, Nora realizes that Torvald never loved her; instead, she says "You just thought it was pleasant to be in love with me" (1646). Here, Nora realizes that true marriage is not tolerance or obedience, but understanding and respect. She has transformed into a mature, independent, and determined woman. She is brave enough to express the unhappiness in her eight-year marriage to Torvald and points out why she does not love him anymore. she stresses that she is a human and not a doll. She no longer wants to be played with by Torvald or live in this "doll's house." She decides to leave Torvald and her children in order to start her new life. When Torvald hears that Nora has decided to leave him, he attempts to negotiate with her to stay with him like a brother and sister and admits his fault; he does this to keep his reputation as a good husband in people's eyes. Nevertheless, he fails. By the end of the play, he has undergone a metamorphosis from a successful man to a sad man. Torvald realizes that only having a successful career and good reputation cannot bring him happiness; true marriage is as important as a successful career.

Nora and Torvald look like a sweet couple but end up separating. In fact, their marriage is naive because they do not understand each other. According the whole play, we can see that Nora focuses on reality while Torvald focuses on appearance. They are inherently incompetible. Ibsen uses their story to answer that true marriage is not tolerance or obedience, but mutual understanding and respect. (I need this paragraph as a conclusion of the marriage of Nora and Torvald)

As for Kristine and Krogstad, their experience is completely different from that of Nora and Torvald. Kristine, who is the foil of Nora, is a mature, responsible, and hard-working widow. After her husband dies, she has to work all day to support herself. Krogstad, the antagonist of the play, is a widower with children who works at the bank. Though he initially blackmails Nora to retain his job, he is not really a villain. Like Nora, he commits forgery and sacrifices his reputation because he needs money to support his family.

Kristine and Krogstad used to be lovers. However, Kristine selflessly chooses filial piety. Accodring to Kristine, she leaves Krogstad because she needs money to raise her younger brothers and take care of her mother. At the beginning of Act 3, Ibsens questions that should marriage be sentimental or rational? Kristine and Krogstad tell us that it should be rational. Both Kristine and Krogstad are shipwrecked people. They finally come together because they can support on each other. Kristine earns money for the family while Krogstad takes care of his children. Therefore, their marriage is mature and rational. Here, Ibsen implies that true marriage does not need to be sweet, but it does need to be practical.

Kristine and Krogstad seperated a long time ago, but finally reunite. Their marriage is mature and stands the test of reality. They both lose their spouses, depend on each other for survival, and are candid to each other. Unlike Nora and Torvald, they both confess their past and understand what each other needs. Krogstad, unlike Torvald, does not feel ashamed to lose his job and look after his children at home. And even though Kristine is a woman, she is willing to work and support Krogstad and his children. They are both selfless and responsible. Hence, Ibsen uses the story of Kristine and Krogstad to answer that true marriage is sacrifice and responsibility.

Undergraduate / We had a hard life; Cal Summer Experience [7]

Prompt: Why do you want to participate in the Cal Summer Experience Program and what personal achievements and circumstances qualify you to be in CSE?

Introduction of Cal Summer Experience Program:

My family immigrated to America after I finished high school in China. As new immigrants, my family has struggled adapting to a new life and culture [Why did your family immigrate to America?]. Due to my parents' poor English and our unstable financial status, we had to live in a very small apartment in poor conditions. I worked part-time as a waiter to help my family. From this job, I became more mature and independent as I learned how to manage my money.

While I had to face many challenges [Like what?], my desire to acquire knowledge and my passion for Physics never diminished. I went to local libraries and read about various topics in undergraduate-level Physics such as heat conduction, particle diffusion, and quantum mechanics. Despite my family's financial disadvantage and cultural conflict, I work very hard to achieve my goals and contribute to my community. I joined CCSF Honors Program and completed my Math Honors project. I got a 3.80 cumulative grade point average and was placed on CCSF Dean's Scholarship List. Moreover, I participated in the AMATYC Competition and won the first place among all CCSF participants and the 15th place among 353 competitors in the west region. I won the AMATYC scholarship from math department for my outstanding accomplishment in the competition.

Last semester, I volunteered at the YMCA three hours per week to teach Chinese immigrants basic English. This semester, I mentor Asian immigrant students in LERN 50 and help them understand various math and science concepts. I develop my leadership skills and improve my teaching and communication abilities through these activities. Next semester, I plan to volunteer as a tutor in Asian Pacific American Student Success Program (APASS) to help students with their class materials and homework. I want to demonstrate my commitment my community and improve my communication, teaching, and leadership skills.

I plan to transfer to UC Berkeley and continue my upper division studies in Physics. However, because I am a first-generation immigrant and first-generation college student who did not attend high school in America and enrolled in a community college, I did not complete the A through G requirements and know little about the academy, its research opportunities, and campus life at UC Berkeley. Moreover, since I come from a low-income family, I need financial aid and scholarship information, as well as an evaluation from the college. Therefore, I believe the Cal Summer Experience will help me understand the campus's resources and upper division course requirements, preparing me to succeed at UC Berkeley.

Scholarship / "Knowledge is power", said Sir Francis Bacon; Personal Stament -SCHOLARSHIP [3]

When I was three, I learned read and write. Meanwhile, I showed great talent for math and was able to calculate some arithmetic problems. Later, as an elementary school student, I used to spend a lot of time solving math problems and learning advanced math knowledge. As Sir Francis Bacon once said, "Knowledge is power,", knowledge can not only change my life, but also change the world. Therefore, knowledge is important to me. I wanted to use my knowledge to change the world.

My interest for physics developed when I was in high school. I organized a group to research on physics. We not only discussed theoretical problems, but also investigated into practical problems. In my Junior year, I discussed with some group members about how we could apply kinematic theory to analyze the factors of car accidents and provide feasible solutions to avoid the tragedies. We decided to do a project on it. First, there are ten people in our group. I arranged three people to search and collect information, two people to analyze and write a summary, four people to do model experiments (regular road, wet road, and broken road), observe each phenomenon and write a report, and one person to print out all materials. I gathered all material from them, selected useful information, analyzed the reports, and wrote a research paper. This paper included data, charts, graphs, analysis, and conclusion. After I finished the paper, I gave it to my physics teacher to review. To my delight, he was satisfied with our paper and encouraged me to give a presentation about our project in front of the class. Proudly and Confidently, I gave an excellent presentation and won much applause from my classmates. After that, I became more passionate in research and decide to major in physics.

After I finished high school, my family immigrated to America. As new immigrants, my family had a very hard life. Due to my parents' language limitation and our financial disadvantage, we had to live in a very small apartment with poor condition. I had to do part-time jobs as a waiter to help my family. From this job, I became mature and independent and learned how manage my money. While I had to face a lot of challenges, my desire to acquire knowledge and my passion in physics never diminished. In order to keep the pot boiling, I went to libraries to read books on various topics of physics such as heat conduction, particle diffusion, and quantum mechanics.

Last summer, I volunteered as a lab aide in City College of San Francisco. My job was to understand the labs, arrange everything for Physics 2AL and Physics 4AL, and fix some broken equipment. From this work, I learned the laboratory rules, how to set up the equipment, where the equipment should be replaced, and how to identify and fix the broken equipment. In addition, because I worked with another volunteer and the supervisor, I developed my communication and cooperation skills. As my career goal is to be nuclear physics researcher, I plan to intern in a national lab on nuclear project. Thus, this experience will be very helpful to improve my research abilities. Last fall, I joined the physics club and visited Berkeley Lawrence National Laboratory. Influenced by the research atmosphere, my desire to conduct nuclear physics research got stronger. Moreover, I participated in the AMATYC Competition and got the first place among all CCSF participants. I won the AMATYC scholarship from math department for my outstanding accomplishment in the competition. This semester, I am working as a lab aide in both Ocean and Chinatown campus and continue to improve my experimental and management skills.

With my talent, passion, involvement, experience, knowledge, and skills in math and physics, I will be able to make an impact on nuclear physics. I hope one day I can find an applicable way to generate nuclear fusion to solve the Energy Crisis.

Book Reports / Critical Analysis about Family Dynamics in "the Metamorphosis" [7]

Please Help Mr Check the Grammar of this Essay. I just need Grammar help. It will be great if you can also provide me some content or organization feedback!

In the story "the Meatmorphosis", Franz Kafka abruptly narrates that the protagonist Gregor Samsa transforms into a giant insect in bed and the subsequent events in the family. In this story, the main characters are Gregor, Gregor's sister Grete, and Gregor's father Mr. Samsa. The family dynamics among these three characters is interesting and intricate. Gregor, though transforming into an insect, still always worries about his family and wants to return to his work. Grete changes a lot throughout the story. She transforms from a childish, dependent, and submissive girl to a mature, responsible, and assertive women. Meanwhile, her attitude towards Gregor also changes from pity to resentment. Gregor's father Mr. Samsa is a harsh and ruthless old man. Form the beginning to the end of the story, he shows no love but violence to Gregor. He considers Gregor as a burden and often attacks him. Therefore, I totally agree with Nabokov's opinion that "Gregor is a human being in an insect's disguise; his family are insects disguised as people" (280).

Gregor Samsa, the protagonist of the story, is a responsible and hardworking young man. His appearance of a large dung beetle does not diminish his internal human conscience. Although he has transformed into an insect, he still retains humanity. He can think and talk. To readers' surprise, when he realizes that he has transformed in to an insect, he feels calm and does not look for ways to fix this problem. He never complains about his misfortune and still wants to go back to his traveling salesman position, pays his father's debt, and plays the role as a bread-winner in his family. He attempts to persuade the manager to retain his job, but fails. As time goes by, Gregor gradually adapts himself to his new body and forgets his original human habits. He enjoys hiding under the couch, hanging from the ceiling, and eating putrid food. However, his insect behavior does not affect his humanity. When his sister and mother move the furniture out of his room, he wants to stop them. Although he can move more freely without the furniture, he has a nostalgic feeling for it and want it to stay in his room. His desire to keep "the picture of the lady all dressed in furs" (336) drives him to crawl up on it regardless of the aftermath that his appearance has frightened his mother to faint. At this point, it is evident that Gregor still has an emotion of human being. He tries his best to protect the picture, which is psychologically important to him. In the last segment, Gregor shows his humanity again. When his sister Grete performs violin in front of the boarders, he gets out of his room and approaches Grete. He appreciates her music and speculates his original plan to send her to the Conservatory. Before he dies, he still recalls his happy moments in his family and is ashamed of giving a lot of trouble to his family. Throughout the story, Gregor worries about his family members and wishes to contribute himself to his family finance though it is not possible. Hence, Gregor is a human being in an insect's disguise.

Grete Samsa, Gregor's younger sister, undergoes a metamorphosis from a girl to a woman. At first, Grete behaves like a callow girl. Accroding to the story:" in the room on the right his sister began to sob" (323), Grete is worried that Gregor will lose his job and that nobody will be able to support the family, which obviously reflects her unsophistication to face challenges. However, as Grete knows that Gregor has become an insect, she takes the responsibility to take care of him. She begins to play a more important role in her family. Initially, she show great sympathy to Gregor's misfortune and provides him with special care. However, as she continues doing this work, her love to Gregor gradually fades. She is tired of taking care of Gregor and considers it a daily routine. Especailly when she sees Gregor crawling on the picture and making her mother faint, she "raises her fist and glares at him,"(336) fully demonstrating her unhappiness with Gregor. Finally, in the last segment, her attitude toward Gregor completely changes. When Gregor ruins her performance for the boarders, she shows great resentment to Gregor and wants to get rid of him. She regards Gregor as an animal instead of her brother and says,"this animal presecutes us, drives away our boarders, obviously it wants to take over the whole apartment and make us sleep in the gutter" (345). In the meantime, aside from taking care of Gregor, Grete also works a salesgril in a store to support the family. She has become mature and assertive. She is no longer a little gril and carries more and more responsibilities for the family. Thus, at the end of the story, her parents believe that:"it would be time to find her a good husband" (348). At this point, we can see Grete's metamorphosis from a girl to a woman, and her attitude to Grefor changes from human to insect.

Mr. Samsa, Gregor's father, is a harsh old man in debt. He fails in his business and has Gregor pay his debt. Mr. Samsa only focus on the family's finance and does not have a good relationship with Gregor. Realizing that Gregor has become an insect and can no longer earn money for the family, he considers Gregor as a burden and starts to badly treat him. He attacks Gregor twice and makes Gregor wounded. At the first time, he "gave him a hard blow that was truly a deliverance" (328). At the second time, he throws apples at Gregor and one apple "imbedded istself in Gregor's back"(338). He winds Gregor seriously. From these scenes, we can see the ruthlessness of Mr. Samsa. Therefore, though in human's disguise, Mr. Samsa acts and behaves like an insect.

Gregor's metamorphosis completely changes his family's structure because he cannot work, and their attitudes to him.because he cannot express himself. Grete is the only character who has a first name except Gregor. Among all family members, she has the most contact with Gregor and is the only person who Gregor wants to talk with. It is pity that she is unable to understand Gregor's love to her and finally abandons him. She plays a more important role in her family after Gregor' metamorphosis. Gregor's mother does care about Gregor. Nevertheless, her constant fear of Gregor overshadows her love to him. Mr. Samsa is indifferent to Gregor and always cares about the finance of the family. Though he is old, he still has to work long hour to support the family. When Gregor dies, his family do not show any sadness or arrange a funeral for him; instead, they become relieved and seem to drop the burdens. They believe that their future is bright and that their life will be easier. It appears that money is more important to them than love. Moarlly, they lose human conscience. Hence, I totally agree that "Gregor is a human being in an insect's disguise; his family are insects disguised as people" (280).

Work Cited

Kafka, Franz. "The Metamorphosis." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th ed. New York: Pearson, 2013. 319-48. Print.

Scholarship / They are in need of science education; Scholarship - How You Give Back to Community? [4]

In 500 words or less, please describe how you plan to give back to your community and help fulfill the needs of your community after you've completed your education. How would your plan impact not only your immediate community, but also a broader one?

My community is in great need of science education. A lot of adults, especially seniors, have limited science knowledge because they were not well educated in China. They have difficulties in understanding electrical appliance manuals, installing computer equipment, and surfing the Internet. They often ask me for help. One day, my neighbor bought an AT&T Internet device but did not know how to set it up. I followed the instructions from the manual and easily completed the installation. Also, I helped him register a user account and chose the payment method. He told me that he did not understand the how the equipment worked and how to surf the Internent. I patiently explained him every question and taught him some basic Internet skills. In addition, many children in my community have problems in their science classes. When they are confused with their math and science homework, I am always willing to tutor them. I often teach them creative mathematical methods and explain confusing and complicated scientific concepts to them in clear and easy ways. With my help, they improve their performances in math and science classes and develop strong interest in exploring the nature.

With the experience of helping people and tutor children, I realize that science education is of paramount importance to improve the life quality. Hence, after I have complete my education, I plan to popularize scientific knowledge not only in my community, but also around the country. I want to change people's opinion about science, let more people master basic scientific knowledge and skills, and develop children's interest and understanding in scientific research. I will organize a group to improve science knowledge of my community. In this group, I will cooperate with community colleges to teach local people simple but useful scientific skills to deal with daily problems. Moreover, I will do funny experiments in front of people to stimulate their interest in science, encourage them to think about phenomena in daily life, and motivate them to read scientific magazines and fictions. As we know, children is the future of our country. I will also provide free tutorial service for children and develop their interest in learning science. My goal is to let more people familiar with science methods and use basic science knowledge to solve problems. If possible, I would like to expand this group to a nation-wide organization with the mission of popularizing science knowledge and skills in the United States, especially in some remote areas. I will recruit people with strong passion of science into my program. In this way, we can not only spread science knowledge and methods to our community, but also improve our teaching, research and leadership skills. I believe our country will become stronger and wealthier if it has a higher rate of science popularization.