Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale Essay example -- Atwood Handmaid

Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale In "The Handmaid's Tale", Margaret Atwood tells a saddening story about a not-to-distant future where toxic chemicals and abuses of the human body have resulted in many men and women alike becoming sterile. The main character, Offred, gives a first person encounter about her subservient life as a handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, a republic formed after a bloody coup against the United States government. She and her fellow handmaids are fertile women that the leaders of Gilead, the Commanders, enslave to ensure their power and the population of the Republic. While the laws governing women and others who are not in control of Gilead seem oppressive, outlandish and ridiculous, they are merely a caricature of past and present laws and traditions of Western civilization. "The Handmaid's Tale" is an accurate and feasible description of what society could be like if a strict and oppressive religious organization gained dominant power over the political system in the United States. Of course, one does not need to try to predict the future in order to get a picture of what life would be like if such a strict and oppressive religious organization obtained a stranglehold on our political system. The Holy Roman Empire and various kingdoms of the not-to-distant past, ruled by kings appointed by God through birthright, are packed with stories of poor treatment of those who oppose them and have a consistent theme for foul treatment of women. Few, if any, religious conquests were as gruesome and devastating as the Inquisition. Starting in the 13th century, monarchs from all around Europe, with approval from the Popes during their reigns, anointed inquisitors to track down a certain group of he... ...omen than men and more stories of women succeeding in business and government, one might think that society has evolved from the mediaeval, torturous times of the Inquisition. However, we mustn't forget that the Inquisition did not end until the early 19th century, and that most Western Civilizations did not make strides towards equal rights for women until the 20th century. "The Handmaid's Tale" is a shivering warning about the brutality that humans can enact upon each other, given the opportunity. Many of the religious sentiments expressed during the story are echoes of today's events. From the Inquisition to toxic waste dumps poisoning hundreds of people in a small town to abortion clinic bombings, some of the outrageous and unbelievable events of "The Handmaid's Tale" have already been taking place for centuries, but are hopefully not a omen of what is to come.

Positive And Negative Impact In The School Education Essay

The National Centre for Parents defines Parental engagement as the engagement of parents in every aspect of kids ‘s instruction and development from birth to adulthood, acknowledging that parents are the primary influence in kids ‘s lives.Who is a ParentParents in this context can be referred to as kids ‘s closest health professionals or members of their drawn-out households.Types of Parental Involvement1. One type is home-based engagement which includes activities that takes topographic point between the kid and parent outside the school scene. This entails assisting child with prep, revising for trial, monitoring of kid ‘s advancement, supplying enrichment activities pertinent to school success and matching with kid ‘s instructor on a regular footing. 2. The other type is school-base engagement which includes activities wherein parents focus on their single kid in the school scene. These activities include parent-teacher conference, in-class observation of kid, informal treatments with instructor, go toing school events and volunteering to help on category field trips.Barriers to parental engagementRearing manners have both positive and negative impact in the school and wider society.Authoritative parents are warm but steadfast, attentive and sensitive to their kids ‘s demands. Authoritarian parents appear cold and rejecting and often degrade their kids by mocking and seting them down. Permissive parents are overindulgent, inattentive and have small control over their kids ‘s lives. Uninvolved parents have small engagement in their kids ‘s lives, are emotionally detached and frequently depress. 2. Busy 3. Frustrated 4. Too tired 5. Having other siblings to care for 6. Economically deprived 7. Disinterested 8. Burdened by different jobs 9. Fear being involved, non to the full understanding what they can make and how valuable their part is to their kids ‘s academic accomplishment. Parents besides fear that they do non hold the ability to assist their kids. 10. Misgiving by instructor 11. Bing individual parents being poorer, less educated, and younger than is the instance of two parents in two-parent places.Benefits of Parental InvolveBenefits for kidsMotivated to accomplish and experience justified in sharing accomplishment Children tend to blossom Cognitive and physical development is enhanced Child develops greater problem-solving accomplishments and a important addition occurs in the kid ‘s receptive and expressive linguistic communication accomplishments Greater reactivity to both school and place environments Achieve academic success and well-being Students benefit by acquiring higher classs, better attending, and acquiring more prep done which builds their self-pride. Children whose parents are involved in their instruction are more motivated to larn. Motivated pupils tend to be more involved in category, more concerned about prep and more successful academicallyBenefits for parentsIncrease communicating Increase volunteerism Better school support Better attitudes Parents learn a great trade about kid attention from their early kid attention and instruction programmes as they learn their places benefit enormously as they become more intellectually exciting. This is as a consequence of parents following activities and ways of interacting that they encountered at the schools their kids attends. Parents can besides develop more positive attitudes towards themselves including greater feelings of assurance, self-worth and competency Develop a better apprehension of kid development which expands their apprehension of the place as a topographic point for larning. As a consequence of this parents are better able and more willing to assist their kids at place. When parents are involved they will better understand the importance of their function in the educational procedure. Develop a better apprehension of the ends set for both the school and pupils and the programs for accomplishing those ends.Benefits for instructorTeachers develop a greater apprehension of parents, their challenges and their cultural heritage With a better apprehension of a household ‘s state of affairs, instructors are more likely to be more supportive of the parents and less likely to be judgmental of them Valuable resources in the schoolroom, if schools assist with the go oning instruction of parents, they will increase and heighten their resource Improve morale among instructors Higher evaluations of instructors by parents and more support from householdsSchemes for bettering parental engagementFor parents who are illiterate, ask for them in and explicate work kid is soon making, so they can help kids at place. Supply on the occupation preparation for parents who work as voluntaries in the schoolroom. Established proper and early communicating with parents often and non merely when kid is giving problem. Make communicating more meaningful and regular between the place and school. Welcome parents as voluntaries, and seek their advice since they know their kids better than anyone else. Aid parents to understand the educational procedure and their function in back uping pupil ‘s accomplishment. Allow parents to assist with determination doing as they are full spouses in their kids ‘s instruction, and have many thoughts that can be shared with the school. Schools should supply grade degree meeting chances for parents to larn about rearing and child-rearing. This can be done through workshops, usage of picture tapes and phone voice messages. Provide parents with suggestions on how to better place conditions that support their kids ‘s acquisition. The school can besides assist by supplying preparation or educational classs for parents that will assist them to acquire occupations Direct parents to back up programmes for wellness, nutrition and other services Assist parents in set uping place environments to back up kids as pupils Thatch parents activities that build self-esteem and competency in their kids Encourage parents to give kids duty, so kids can take duty for their acquisition Host grade-level parenting workshops to discourse kids ‘s advancement Conduct place visits as this is an effectual scheme for affecting parents particularly in the inner-city where parents conceal from the school. Initiate community meetings to assist households understand schools and to assist schools understand households Thatch parents about kid development and what to anticipate from kids at different ages. Teach parents behavior alteration schemes so they can train their kids without force Aid parents to develop ways they can excite their kids ‘s rational and emotional growing While parents are waiting to roll up their kids show pictures about how kids learn and how to work with kids with particular demands Aid parents educate their kids by guaranting that parents understand constructs being taught. . . Offer parents chances to familiarise themselves with schoolroom stuffs and discourse grade-level course of study Provide parents with approaching subjects to be taught, so they can fix their kids for that acquisition or activity.Relationship foremost, instruction secondGet down the twelvemonth with a â€Å" parent-only † meeting before the first twenty-four hours of school. The underlying subject for this first meeting: that both pedagogues and parents are the kid ‘s instructors. Agenda â€Å" Parent-only † meetings through the twelvemonth to construct and keep parent relationships, align instructor with parent, and keep parent instruction.Create partnership between instructors and parentsSupply hebdomadal parent instruction tips that explain the constructs being taught and supply support stuffs that allow parents to assist at place. Provide parent prep and a method of hebdomadal communicating between parent and instructor. Record the attempts of parent engagement on each kid ‘s study card, so parents can see the importance of their work and the value you place on it.Harness the endowments and energies of your pupil ‘s parentsAsk parents to chair and be after household events and category fundraisers. Empower them to do this their kid ‘s best twelvemonth of larning. Their engagement establishes â€Å" buy-in † and a sense of ownership in the schoolroom. Offer Parenting/Teacher Education Classs Set up school-wide parenting and instructor instruction categories. Arrange parenting categories, supply child-care at the school, so parents are able to portion issues and concerns with other parents and relieve feelings of isolation.Use Your Datas to Establish Future Goals for Both School and HomeCommunicate appraisal ends and day of the months. Share the consequences of appraisal with parents. Use a assortment of assessment informations to set up future ends for both place and school. Provide parents with the stuffs and instruction they need to help their kid.Encourage ParentsOffer encouragement instead than praise by giving specific illustrations of a occupation good done.DecisionIn decision, it is apparent that, parental engagement is of import to the school, parents and the kid. There can besides be definite betterment in kids ‘s academic public presentation if parents are involved in the procedure. Despite the obstructions, the parents and school should guarantee that they each do their portion in advancing parental engagement. It is besides of import that the school take the enterprise in developing a positive relationship with parents. The key to taking the barriers to effectual parent engagement is the instructor who can accomplish this before school Begins and Foster it throughout the school twelvemonth. Parental engagement can profit the school to a great extent which will in consequence benefit the pupil ‘s academic public presentation. " State me and I forget, learn me and I may retrieve, affect me and I will larn † .Jeffrey Thompson

The Romantic Era

The Romantic era can be understood as the period which spurred the artistic sensibilities of individuals. By doing away with the established norms of conducting things, people were given a considerable stretch of freedom in expressing their innermost feelings and perceptions of their surrounding world. Not only were individuals granted with full access to their potentials with only their imagination to limit them, the Romantic era also â€Å"highlighted a great transformation of the society† (Lenneberg, 1994, p. 619). While individuals exploit the liberty to express their selves to the fullest extent, the various sectors of the society reaped rewarding benefits in various ways. For example, visual artists were not anymore confined by the boundaries set forth by the previous Classical period. Their artistic horizons grew and their artistic boundaries melted down.In terms of music, it can be said that the virtuosos gained exceptional popularity and social acceptance. Singers, pi anists and violinists, for examples, have exceeded the expectations of their audiences during their performances largely because they performed with such great passion and intensity. Part of the reason why the expectations of their audiences were exceeded is the fact that most of the pieces played were challenging, if not extremely difficult to master.The dawning of the Romantic era spawned a great deal of new art forms which were relatively unknown in earlier times. Symphonic poems and art songs are just some of the new artistic avenues introduced at the height of the Romantic period. It takes little effort to realize that, indeed, the rising of a new period would consequently usher in a new set of artistic forms. On the other hand, the opposite can be also true. That is, the realization of new artistic forms and styles in certain disciplines could also be reasons to the proliferation of the Romantic era.Experimentation was a key factor in the realization of these new artistic aven ues during the Romantic era. It can be said that, as people began to acquire more and more freedom, individuals became more accustomed to the thought and practice of transcending the works of their predecessors. Experimenting with what has already been established during the Classical period could have even been the pastime for most artists. In essence, the relative success of the Romantic era for the artists can be directly linked with the substantial increase in their liberty to practice their craft and master their skills.With the thought of experimenting, people especially artists of the Romantic era may have been constantly seeking their fantasies and reassuring that these fantasies come to life in their artistic works. Perhaps the artists during the Classical period were strongly delimited by the standards of the society during those times, which is why the manifestation of their fantasies rarely materialized although the waves of artistic fantasies ripple right through the ve ry hearts and minds of these artists.As an apparent result, artists grew more and more creative in ways unimaginable, at least in the context of the time during the Classical period. The increased abundance of creativity during the Romantic era paved the way for â€Å"the self-realization among individuals that not everything can be or should be categorized under the label formal† (Perkins, 1990, p. 131). In many ways, the Romantic period has substantially dissolved the formality of art. As creativity significantly erased the pre-established artistic frames upon which virtuosos showed little to no regard, the following eventually came at a steadily increasing pace, not only popularizing the term ‘Romantic’ but also establishing it as a great movement in the history of mankind.By the term itself—movement—one is already inclined to assume that the Romantic period is a sort of a period of transition in the development of man. From the formal boundaries to the full realization of humanity’s freedom, the many varied parts of the Romantic period may not have altogether been the end itself during the time. Rather, the Romantic period only served as a time to prepare man for the complete attainment of freedom, at least in terms of artistic freedom.Prior to the Romantic era, it can be said that the disciplines were formal and constructive of the way in which man should conduct his affairs. Everything was done in a more or less, or even in a precise uniform manner. Perhaps the artists during the Romantic era have found something in the Classical era which they frowned upon. What else could this ‘something’ be than the fact that the Classical era has been predominantly defined by the formal and uniform means of defining what is artistic or socially acceptable from what is not? Of course, the vastness of the Classical period can hardly be altogether defined by a single description precisely because there, too, are many different disciplines during that time. Yet to claim and argue that there is no factual difference between the Classical era and Romantic era is to entirely miss the point.Nevertheless, it is a hardly debatable thought that the Classical era is an era which can be easily differentiated from the Romantic era and vice versa. Apart from the fact that new art forms were introduced during the Romantic era, there was also the increasing response towards the realization of artistic and intellectual freedom. Lest one becomes confused, one should be reminded that the struggles to break from the coherent and limiting system during the Classical period were not as forceful and widespread as compared to those during the Romantic period. Perhaps there was no existing social stimulus to ignite the sensibilities of people at the height of the Classical period. Perhaps the efforts undertaken during those times were not forceful enough or lacked the momentum to instigate a widespread social change. Nonetheless, the Romantic era has made its significant mark in the history of humanity, and continues to do so even to this day.ReferencesLenneberg, H. (1994). Classic and Romantic: The First Usage of the Terms. The Musical Quarterly, 78(3), 619.Perkins, D. (1990). The Construction of â€Å"The Romantic Movement† as a Literary Classification. Nineteenth-Century Literature, 45(2), 131.