Women on Death Row :: Capital Punishment Essays

Women on Death Row The eighth amendment protects Americans from the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment. Many death penalty opponents use this as the backbone to their argument against capital punishment. Other than being cruel, I do not think that the death penalty can be used judiciously in the United States or any other part of the world. Personally, I do not think that human beings are perfect and as such they cannot set up a perfect justice system. In any justice system that is flawed and allows bias in certain cases, the death penalty should not be used as a means of punishment because of its irrevocable nature. When I came across Sarah Hawkins’ article regarding the case of Karla Faye Tucker, I was surprised to see the manifestation of my fears of the biases involved in the use of the death penalty in the case of this woman. Hawkins described how the representations of Tucker as a white, heterosexual Christian woman worked in her favor in the criminal justice system, and how media representations perpetuated the argument for her release from death row. Hawkins made very valid and convincing arguments that representations of â€Å"womanhood† that are expected in American culture can make a large difference in how we perceive criminals, and in certain cases these representations can be a matter of life or death. Of course, we all know from common sense that women are far less likely to be sentenced to death row than men. This should tip us off to the differences that the judicial system discriminates even in matters as important as murder or other capital offences. But within the subgroup of women prisoners there can be a distinction made between the representations of women more likely to be sentenced to death row, or in this case shown compassion while on death row. Hawkins describes this compassion as â€Å"typically extended only to female inmates who fit a certain predetermined societal profile of women†. This definition of â€Å"women† or â€Å"womanhood† is very interesting and deserves to be explored. In my past, I have a conception of women as being sweet and frail; basically incapable of doing wrong because they are too nice or too weak to do so. Women who are too intelligent or too strong are cast off as being masculine or lesbians. When female basketball pl ayers are seen on television, they are perceived as trying to be masculine.

Describe how the British government used propaganda to in fluency the British people in the First World War

Propaganda is information designed to get people to believe a certain point of view. It does not have to be lies. It can be the truth, though it is only one part of the truth. The British government started to use propaganda at the before the world war one. They used it to make the British people dislike the Germans and support the war. Propaganda was used in world war one to promote the war effort. The government used propaganda for many deferent reasons. The government used propaganda at many different times in the war for many different reasons and some of the propaganda was not needed by the end of the war like recruitment poster. Recruitment propaganda was used from the start of the war until conscription was introduced in 1916 .The British government made many recruitment posters to get people interested in signing up to fight in the war. The government used many different and my favourite one is a man sitting in an arm chair and has his daughter asking him â€Å"daddy what did you do in the Great War?† this was made to get a normal family to sing up for the war it had a very big impact on many family men it would make them feel a bit guilty to his family that he did not help to protect the country. The government made theses posters to get people to sigh up for the war because the British army was very small about 250,000 men compared to the French and German army what where conscription army's. We need help to beat the evil Germans so we put up posters asking people to join the army. Women were also the target from propaganda either. Propaganda was targeted at them to try and get them to take up work in the places left by the vast number of men what went to fight in the war. Or to try and make their husband, fight in the war. The news papers published Atrocity stories about atrocity stories what happened in Belgium. This stories where to tell to build up hate toward the Germans. It was based on true fact and most of it was real but got mixed on the way to your ears. But other stories are just made up. They were successful because people wanted some thing to hate the Germans for and this was a good thing for the British government. A British spy was killed by the Germans what was a very good piece of propaganda .But the newspaper told us that she was a middle aged nurse working at the western frontline serving our troop in the war in the Germans lines. It was in all of Germany power to kill her because she was spying and helping British solider in prisoner of war camps escape to the frontline .It was a great pieces of propaganda for the first world war . But after the war the Germans did emit that it was a very big mistake to kill her but she could have been put in a prison. Raising money for the war became increasingly difficult throughout the war. The government tried many different ways of raising money. At first they simply spent less money elsewhere in the county or raised taxes a bit. However as the war kept on growing they didn't have enough money to fund the war. The government found its self, borrowing money from other countries to fuel the war. They decided to issue an appeal for money in the way of propaganda to get the wealthier families and households to donate money to them. They asked people to take out war bonds that could be paid back at the end of the war. This was also coped by the US in WW2. The British army did have a secret weapon of the First World War it was the tank. The Tank was a propaganda persons dream their was many new stories about it in the paper and many different pictures of it in the paper at first it was not that impressive in the war. But after time the army used them goodly and did much damage with them but. The tank did build up much national pride and gave British people hope that we where going to win the war. The government did not only want to influence the views of Britain, but also those of friends and enemies abroad. America would be a great help if they would join the war for the allies. To help mobilise America for war the Foreign Office, who were in charge of propaganda to neutral audiences, printed hundreds o books and leaflets to send to American newspaper editors. When the Luistania was sunk by a German U-boat's torpedo in 1915, British propaganda made sure it was told about a lot. Without the propaganda the country would might not have won the war. It helped us many way . It was one of the crucial factors of us winning the war although be may of gave up on the war but the government used their ever growing wisdom in know what we want to see and hear about the war (was better wisdom in them days).

The Awakening Critical Analysis - 1596 Words

The Awakening by Kate Chopin Critical Analysis The novel, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, was written during the late 19th century, when the feminist movement was in its infancy. During that era, the novel was yet to be discovered and the few considered it as a disgrace. Many thought that it portrayed a negative example of how a women should think and behave. Women during that era expected the book to be more â€Å"sophisticated† and â€Å"ladylike,† but Chopin had a different view of how women should be portrayed. Today, this novel is a famous classic, read in many schools, and praised by many feminist. Readers can easily surmise the story’s theme: finding one’s identity is not easy. The characters and the setting in this novel contribute to†¦show more content†¦In order for her to do this, she is inspired and influenced by two main characters who help shape the â€Å"Inner Edna.† Two characters that play a significant role in Edna’s life have a positive and a slightly negative effect in her awakening. The first character that has a positive and slightly negative effect in Edna’s life is Adele Ratignolle. Adele was a Creole woman who cared for her three children, loved her husband, was beautiful, followed society’s norms, and was respected in her society. Adele positively influenced Edna’s life when she acted as a â€Å"mother† towards Edna, by often worrying about her and giving her advice. However, Adele was a negative influence in Edna’s awakening because she tried stopping the â€Å"Inner Edna† from coming out. In the novel, Adele advises her to â€Å"think of the children (Chopin 170). She urges Edna to consider the power of motherhood as a special virtue. Adele knew that Edna wanted to be free and liberated from following society’s norms and knew that Edna wanted to be completely independent. T his meant that if she chose to let the â€Å"Inner Edna† come out she would leave behind her husband and two children, because either way Edna never saw herself as a â€Å"mother-women† anyway. In the novel Edna says, â€Å"I would give my money, I would give my life for my children, but I wouldn’t give myself† (Chopin 53). The second character who positively influencedShow MoreRelatedCritical Analysis Of The Awakening1412 Words   |  6 Pagesand desires, reaching untamed worlds. Turning imagination into realism is denounced as an impossible being, but it s in fact the awakening to our lucid dreaming. Edna Pontellier is a woman with a heart that soared beyond the horizons into a limitless world, forced into cage by the inevitable way of life. Kate Chopin through the beautifully sculpted novel â€Å"The Awakening† condemned Edna with a mindset beyond her years, finding meaning through her unsocial actions shunned by the eyes of others. EdnaRead MoreCritical Analysis Of The Awakening1899 Words   |  8 PagesThe Awakening LAP #3 Prompt #3 Ivan Jimenez Period 3 AP Literature and Composition 10/27/17 Just like a coin that is divided into heads and tails humanity is divided into male and female. Both are human just the same but equality is a matter that women have never completely attained. As for almost all of human history women were oppressed by men. Living under patriarchal societies women were forced to conform with their roles as housewives. They were told to keep quiet and were never allowed toRead More Critical Analysis of The Awakening Essay970 Words   |  4 PagesCritical Analysis of The Awakening The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, is the story of a woman who is seeking freedom. Edna Pontellier feels confined in her role as mother and wife and finds freedom in her romantic interest, Robert Lebrun. Although she views Robert as her liberator, he is the ultimate cause of her demise. Edna sees Robert as an image of freedom, which brings her to rebel against her role in society. This pursuit of freedom, however, causes her death. Chopin uses manyRead MoreCritical Analysis: Kate Chopins The Awakening Essay1800 Words   |  8 PagesIn the novel The Awakening, Kate Chopin (2005) uses deep symbolism to show how the main character, Edna Pontellier, discovers her own independence in the society in which she lived. Edna was a traditional mother and wife seeking freedom and independence throughout her adult life. Chopin portrays Edna as being a rebel against her own life. The story takes place in the 1960s when women were to follow certain rules made by the society they lived in . Chopin also foreshadows the things that occur in Edna’sRead More Essay on The Awakening712 Words   |  3 PagesCritical Views of The Awakening      Ã‚  Ã‚   The Awakening, written by Kate Chopin, is full of ideas and understanding about human nature. In Chopins time, writing a story with such great attention to sensual details in both men and women caused skepticism among readers and critics. However, many critics have different views with deeper thought given to The Awakening. Symbolism, the interpretation of Ednas suicide, and awakenings play important roles in the analysis of all critics.    SymbolismRead MoreWolffs Analysis of Chopins The Awakening647 Words   |  3 PagesWolff’s Analysis of Chopin’s The Awakening In her essay Un-Utterable Longing: The Discourse of Feminine Sexuality in Kate Chopins The Awakening, Cynthia Griffin Wolff creates what Ross Murfin describes as a critical whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. (376) By employing a variety of critical approaches (including feminist, gender, cultural, new historicism, psychoanalytic and deconstruction) Wolff offers the reader a more complete (albeit complex) explanation of Edna PontelliersRead More A Deconstructionist Critique of Chopin’s The Awakening Essay536 Words   |  3 PagesA Deconstructionist Critique of Chopin’s The Awakening The multiplicity of meanings and (re)interpretations informing critical studies of The Awakening reveal a novel ripe for deconstructionist critique. Just as Chopin evokes an image of the sea as symbolic of Edna’s shifting consciousness (â€Å"never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander in abysses of solitude,†138), likewise the deconstructionist reading of a text emphasizes fluidity over structure: â€Å"A text consistsRead MoreSt. Louis And New Orleans1606 Words   |  7 PagesLouisiana, Chopin was still far from having established herself as a writer whose work was commercially profitable. Under the advice of editors that a longer work would have a broader appeal, she turned again to the novel form, publishing The Awakening in 1899. The Awakening, however, received uniformly unfavorable reviews, and in some cities it was banned from library shelves. In St. Louis, Chopin was dropped by friends and refused membership in a local fine-ar ts club. Chopin had never expected such a stormRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne And The Awakening1416 Words   |  6 Pagesdiscriminated against, but the people close to them as well. This is demonstrated through the novels The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Awakening by Kate Chopin. The Scarlet Letter follows the story of a woman named Hester Prynne who is forced to wear a scarlet letter â€Å"A† on her chest as punishment for her crime of adultery. The Awakening follows the story of a woman named Edna Pontellier and the struggle that she faces when she has an affair and separates from her husband and her familyRead MoreEdna Pontellier and Elizabeth Bennet: Challenge of 19th Century Conventional Methods1344 Words   |  6 Pagesnineteenth century. Both women often challenged conventional societal methods within their works, which inherently caused these literary geniuses to write in complete secrecy. Chopin and Austen gave birth to characte rs such as Edna Pontellier in The Awakening, and Elizabeth Bennett, the renowned protagonist of Austen’s novella Pride and Prejudice. While noble in their respective ways one can easily mistake Edna and Elizabeth to be selfish creatures of society because of their ardent pursuit of happiness