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The Chinese people have been known worldwide for their hardworking attitudes when working. They are taught since they were small about the value of time, wasting time would make that person viewed as not discipline, unorganised and unethical in China. Chinese people work in a very long hours and taking a nap is considered a norm in China.
Get original essayIn China, there are a lot of things that Chinese people believed that certain elements that can bring them good luck and fortune in their life. Chinese people they loved number 8 so much, number 8 to the Chinese brings good luck to the person who owns the number. They also believed that if a person does certain things that against their believes. It can bring them bad luck like hitting someone with a broom, the person that hits another person with a broom can suffered from bad luck.
Next, Chinese work culture is difference in their style of communication comparing to the western world. In China, workers are not open to express ideas and thoughts or any conversation that is too upfront or strongly opinionated in your way of speaking. If you committed on upfronting the way you communicate, you might make yourself looks rude and disrespectful to the Chinese people.
Chinese people they have strong sentimental value when it comes to job loyalty. They have implemented to have this value and inherit workers that work in their company sense of belonging and loyalty to the company they are working at. After working, they will spend their time with all the workers drinking, sports and even travelling.
They believed that if a person has the sense of belonging to the company they are working, they are likely willing to stay loyal, committed and happy being a part of the community. This is also known as intrinsic motivation, a type of motivation that motivates people in a sense of value not with physical rewards.
In China, especially in industrialisation napping in working hours are considered as a norm that happened there. People in China work in a very long hours, they considered napping as a process where they can maintain a phenomenal work-life balance. They believed that having that short rest or break can help them reenergise back so they are able to continued working efficiently.
Most of the big companies out there like Google, Mercedes-Benz and Nasa have allowed napping in working hours, they see this as a way how they can increase their workers productivity rate for their company and feeling satisfied working there.
Chinese work cultures are entirely different than the western world in many perspectives. In China, the situation is entirely different, they can bring personal life matters into business conversation which happens to be something not common implied in the western world. They believed that by doing this they are able to get closer in terms of doing business with their customers.
China is a traditionally hierarchy society, hierarchy refers to the arrangements of individuals in an organisation within a corporation according to power, status and job position in the company. In China, for someone that earns a hierarchy position, they have to call their position name followed by their name as a sign of respect and you are acknowledge about their position or rank in the company.
This hierarchy should also be kept in mind that when you greet, serve or interact with people professionally even socially. Hierarchy does create quite a distance gap between managers and workers which the Chinese believed that if a person has a position it is something that should be worth mentioning about to all the contribution that the person did for the company. This is commonly known as a part of an incentive scheme that if a person worked hard for the company, they will be rewarded with the rank or position in the company. They are also given respect and acknowledgement from the workers for their hard earn positions that they truly deserved in the company.
Chinese business hierarchy mainly consist of three levels of management. Starting with Higher level management, Middle level management and lower level management. They are all assigned for their credibility and experience on their respective fields. The levels of tiers differentiate the amount of responsibility that a person holds onto.
The Chinese people has good time management skills when doing business. They will always stay punctual whenever they have to attend for a meeting, meetups or any planned activities. If they are late, they normally mention the person waiting about the delay and they will always make sure to offer an apology to that person. The Chinese prefers that every meeting that they had does not involved with any time advancement.
In business, Chinese people would be more impress if the person met them for the first time and convey some Chinese words to start the conversation. They also felt pleased and delighted if you start up your first meeting by giving a light and lingering hand shake, don’t do it too firm as it might bring discomfort to the person who are you dealing with. Greetings and handshakes are a good way on how to start your first journey as a businessman expanding your business in Mainland China.
Starting with a very nice business relationship it is always a good idea to get your business partner a gift in China. The gift should not be too expensive just to a good first impression when meeting up new people. It is better to wrap your gift before handing out to the person so it looks more professional and not a last-minute gift.
When doing business especially in Mainland China, it’s better to appear yourself professionally and sharp. When you have a very sharp and good-looking outfit equipped from head to toe when doing business, it’s going to give out good impression and trust to anyone you are dealing with. Some Chinese businessmen they love to wear expensive brand items when they meetup with a new business partner. Branded items are a good way on how to give indirect message to your business partner that you have reliability, trust and success in running a business. For the business partner, they will feel trusted, secured and reliable on doing business with you.
To summarize, the Chinese has a culture when working in a company, they have a habit of working together and creating environment full of cooperativeness rather than working individually. After working, they all like to chill off together going for drinking, sports and even travelling. They like to have this kind of high sense of belonging in the place where they are working.
Although it could be contended that chivalry and courtesy are essentially aspects of the same code of restraint and responsibility, the romance of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight presents a distinction between the domestic test of the Gawain's chastity and the fantastic challenge of his bravery and mental resolve. Gawain's virtues, symbolised in "the endeles knot" of the pentangle of his shield, are profoundly and religiously interconnected, meaning that his very knighthood, in its attempt to achieve personal spiritual salvation through earthly and social struggle, can be threatened by one of his virtues being strained. Contrastingly, the shorter, simpler and earlier romance of Sir Orfeo far less psychological or symbolic depth and a thoroughly inexplicit narrative causation; the action being driven very little by the decisions of the characters and more by the capricious and inexplicable intervention of the fairies. Although Gawain is an exemplar of knightly virtues, he also has human faults and an arguably inadequate religious sensibility, whereas Sir Orfeo seems to be the victim of wider, uncontrollable circumstances and to rejoice in an unequivocally complimentary presentation.
Get original essayThroughout literature, knights have served as models of the traditional chivalric attributes such as bravery, strength, pride and avarice, and it is characteristic of the genre that these should be clearly delineated and identifiable. The fantastic romantic landscape that knights inhabit allows them to engage with simple moral challenges and face allegorical confrontations in which the didactic subtext is only thinly veiled. When, at the end of the poem, Gawain declares "this is the token of vntrawe that I am tan inne" (L 2509) he has a retrospective view of his sin and can isolate the moral failing, both for the other knights and for the reader. Writing in his book Chivalry, Maurice Keen suggests that "[a]n ideal of knighthood culled from what appears so often to be essentially a literature of escape is scarcely a promising model for a social historian to make much of", indicating that although the misfortunes of the knight are described in detail there is still a beguiling and superficial simplicity to the adventure. Indeed it could even be inferred that the relationship between chivalric romances and the genuine deeds of knights was a symbiotic one because just as the knights may have aspired to imitate their literary heroes, so writers would use the exploits of certain knights as inspiration for their work. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is especially powerful in its demonstration of the corruptibility of man, an especially prominent theme in the fourth 'fit' and the wider themes of Marian devotion. The relatively greater religious intensity of Gawain and the Green Knight as compared to Sir Orfeo allows for a more intense drama of principles in which the hero is left declaring that "mon may hyden his harme, bot vnhap ne may hit" (L 2511). The syllabic balance of the line contributes to its aphoristic sense of definite authority and, indirectly, to the conclusive tone of the last stanza. When Gawain is staying at Bertilak's castle it is courteous loyalty to his host that prevents him from sleeping with Bertilak's wife, whereas his stern resolve to face death without fear arises from a distinctly different article of the chivalric code; the common factor being an inviolable sense of responsibility, truth and fealty. Gawain's character is superficially consistent, like the "[l]arge & courteys" Orfeo, but where Sir Orfeo seems to provide guidance on how to cope with ill fortune, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight seems to deal with the corrupting emergence of vice from within the self. Gawain's act of self-preserving deception in accepting the gift of the green girdle is a practical response to potentially lethal circumstances, but we also witness his repeated attempts to avoid gifts from, or seduction by, Bertilak's wife. His fault is clear, but it is also a mistake which is magnified by the seriousness with which Gawain views his knightly responsibility of being courteous.
Although many knights like Gawain are attractive figures and social role-models, there is frequently a sense that his life is not one of adventurous freedom, but of painful restraint, combined with insufficient self-awareness. For example, directly after "he asoyled hym surely" (L 1880) Gawain goes and "mace hym as mery...as neuer he did bot that daye". (L1883) Gawain's reputation proceeds him, one such instance is when Bertilak's wife says, "so cortayse, so knyçtyly, as çe ar knowen oute" (L1511) and his achievements are proven by his very presence at Arthur's high table. Despite his renown and physical fitness, Gawain is passive for much of the poem and his ideals become the subject of the Green Knight's mockery and contempt. This image of the otherwise perfect knight with the crippling flaw is clear in characters like Malory's Lancelot du Lac, but interestingly absent from his Galahad and Sir Orfeo. Although it could be easily argued that the flaws of the imperfect knight are the subject of the romance, Alan Markman is happy to claim of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight "that the primary purpose of the poem is to show what a splendid man Gawain is". This claim is confusing because the poem not only explores numerous issues with very similar degrees of emphasis, but one of them is Gawain's deviation from the courtly code. To explain the apparent contradiction between transgression and perfection, after an explanation of the girdle incident, Markman later says, "[a]ll the more human for this slight fault, Gawain is a likable man", which seems hard to reconcile with his model virtues and moral perfection. Are we to infer that a knight who never went to war and who sexually indulged himself would be even more perfect because he would be even more human? The conflict between the exemplary qualities of the knight and the meticulous demonstration of fault is extraordinarily more complex and invites a much broader range of responses than Markman supposes.
In discussing the validity of the titular assertion it is imperative to recognise that the presence of the word 'although' indicates a simultaneous acceptance of the role of courtesy and chivalry as ideals, and the penitential element in the poems. The characteristics of the romance genre are not presented in a state of mutual exclusivity, but as surprisingly co-existent properties. However, the word 'penitential' can itself be ambiguous. The romances could be penitential as an extension of their didactic function, in the sense that they inspire penitence through demonstrating a correctly remorseful response to transgression. Alternatively, the romances could be understood as penitential through a greater concentration on the subject of penitence than on the instructive presentation of knightly or chivalric virtue.
The symbolic pentangle on Gawain's shield seems to have an overt moral message, but as Maurice Keen observes, "[v]irtue is a characteristic of the inner man, of the mind or the soul: external marks, such as heraldic devices, cannot be expected to take account of anything more than virtue's outward manifestation, in life and act" (pg 163). If Keen is correct and virtue describes an interior ethic of ontology then it must in some way be connected with inner religious purity and a prescriptive exploration of the 'virtue of penitence' quickly ensues. On the other hand, penitence is a significant element of Gawain and the Green Knight with some critics observing that the conversation between the Green Knight and Gawain at the Green Chapel takes the form of a confession. 'Confession scenes in Gawain and the Green Knight', John Burrow claims "[t]his scene follows, clearly though informally, the pattern of the confessional, with Gawain again the penitent and the Green Knight playing the part of the confessor".
Burrow also describes parallelism between the scene at the Green Chapel and Gawain's confession at Bertilak's castle in which Gawain "neither makes restitution...by returning the girdle nor resolves to sin no more". In each case the confession signifies that Gawain has made a mistake and that he has fallen short of his supposed perfection. It could even be argued that by going to confession Gawain is renouncing his ties to the physical world and acknowledging the prominence of the divine and transcendent in the task that faces him. The Green Knight even says to Gawain at the chapel "know I well thy cosses, and thy costes als" (L 2360) in which the word 'costes' can mean 'ways' but also manners or courtly behaviour and this highlights the social nature of Gawain's failure. His only failure of martial conduct is that he "schranke a lytel with the schulderes for the scharp yrne" (L 2267) and this chivalric shortcoming is amended by a true confession which concludes "I schunt onez, and so wyl I no more" (L 2280) showing real resolve. Penitence is a prominent theme, but as the confession scenes and their causation show, it is almost indistinguishable from any didactic depiction of positive character traits.
In analysing the chivalry and courtesy in Sir Orfeo it must be acknowledged that a modern understanding of what chivalry meant to knights in the fourteenth century is partly inferred from romance literature. Maurice Keen argues that "the romances do indeed help, in one obvious way, toward a definition of chivalry's elusive ethical implications...we find the romantic authors habitually associating together certain qualities". The Gawain Poet was clearly aware of a tradition of set chivalric virtues, but he manipulates expectations such as when Gawain, in attempting to strike the Green Knight in place of the king, finds a conflict between the need to be loyal to his king and to defend the honour of his knightly order. He begins "[w]olde çe, worthilych lorde....bid me boçe frp this benche, and stoned by yow there, / that I wythoute vylanye myçt voyde this table, / and that my legge lady liked not ille" (L 343) which clearly demonstrates his self-conscious honour and constrained enthusiasm. The politeness of his speech acknowledges all the usual courteous conventions but, when given at such a time, is clearly desperate. In Gawain and the Green Knight the language and the content reveal the piece as a romance immediately whereas in Sir Orfeo the first verse-paragraph seems to say explicitly that the tale is romantic, "[w]hen kinges miçt our y-here / of ani meruailes that were, thai token an harp in gle & game / & maked a lay" . This seems to indicate that contemporary readers would have been happy with the poem's identification of itself as part of the romance genre. Although Sir Orfeo supports Keen's claim that medieval romantic literature is characterised by an exhibition of knightly virtues in hermetic fantasies there are also several riddling situations in the poem that, although less subtle and psychological than those in Gawain, do create some problems. A reference to the question is needed here.
An apparent deviation from normal chivalric standards occurs in Sir Orfeo when, upon his return, he decides to test his steward to see if he is loyal, and although he employs deception he does so with the pragmatic objective of proving the virtue of another. Even when the steward has the intelligence to recognise the harp and ask where it came from Orfeo replies "[i]n vncouthe thede, thurth a wilderness as y çede ther y founde in a dale with lyouns a man to-torn smale, & wolues him frete with teth so scharp; bi him y fond this ich harp". Orfeo seems to be indulging himself here by the creation of a complex and grisly narrative and even if it is an affective way of testing the steward it seems to be uncharacteristic of chivalric behaviour. Earlier on when the king of the fairies is attempting to withdraw from a promise, Sir Orfeo pushes him with appeals to traditional chivalry, "[g]entil king, çete were it wele fouler thing to here a lesing of thi mouthe", which again, along with the elevated tone here, indicates Orfeo's cleverness. There is no attempt made in Sir Orfeo to depict any interiority or psychological struggle and this massively weakens the capability of the poem to engage with the issue of penitence, just as its fantastic, non-Christian setting cannot evoke a sense of immediate spiritual crisis like that in Gawain and the Green Knight. The penitential aspect of Gawain and the Green Knight also ties the hero to a context that would have been uniquely familiar to the contemporary audience meaning that Gawain's faith could have direct correspondence to a reader of the poem. Some romances do not deal with penitence at all because although it was standard church practice it requires an advanced level of psychological realism to portray in a poem. Say more
Chivalry and courtesy comprise the domestic and martial aspects of the knight's code, the former dictating strength, courage and fair play, the latter loyalty, trust and justice. In Gawain and the Green Knight the hero is faced by simultaneous and interrelated challenges in these areas in which a triumph of courtliness results in his own death and a triumph of chivalry is impossible. Sir Orfeo's protagonist stops at nothing to reclaim his wife and suffers enormous pains for her loss. In both poems the undeniable didactic purpose is tightly bound up with other notions, be they pragmatic or religious. Gawain's shame itself becomes a virtue because he is educated by his experience at the Green Chapel and he is a better knight as a result. No knight can be truly perfect (because of the fall of man and the stain of original sin) because part of the purpose of the Christian knight is to emulate Christ's transcendental through the actions and heroism of the body. Sir Orfeo presents a clearer narrative in which the plot, the style and the virtues of the pragmatist are more prominent than any penitential theme. Indeed, Sir Orfeo, based as it is upon the Greek myth of Orpheus, could even be taken as a huge metaphor for the power of music and the aesthetic to change the world, rather than through violence and sword play, areas in which Sir Orfeo demonstrates no particular skill.
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Get custom essayRomances concerned with interior morality, the interaction of abstract righteousness and the individual and worthiness in the eyes of God, are rare within the genre and this is one of the means by which Gawain and the Green Knight stands out. The penitential subtext does not detract from the excitement of the adventure, but rather humanises the quasi-ethical struggle and makes the fantastic accessible. The knights of romance have been enduring symbols of mental toughness, chivalric heroism and perfect social grace since their conception in the Middle Ages. However, their attraction finds itself at its most profound and palpable when the superhuman talents of the knight are held in direct contrast with the spiritual incompleteness and unavoidable failings of the flesh.
As is the case with almost every example of romantic epics, and certainly every story concerning King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, the characters carefully observe a strict code of ethics, or chivalry. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain and his peers hold values such as courtesy, loyalty, and honor in high esteem. This respect for the chivalric code is apparent in many instances throughout the poem, such as when King Arthur accepts the dangerous challenge from the Green Knight to save face in front of his knights and the strangers, as well as to live up to his name as a brave man. It is even more obvious in Sir Gawain's wish to take his king's place in the Christmas game that the knight has great veneration for honor and loyalty. Sir Gawain attempts to live his life morally, humbly, and in accordance with Christian teachings. Such reverence for civilization and society's order falls apart in the second half of the story when Sir Gawain visits the castle of Lord Bercilak.
Get original essayAlthough Sir Gawain attempts to adhere to society's standards, the atmosphere of the castle causes the basic needs for food, sex, and a will to live to overcome the desire for structure and civility. The castle of Lord Bercilak is the appropriate setting for this struggle and slackening of chivalric code since it serves two main purposes: one good and one evil. On the positive side, the castle and Lord Bercilak's court are the answer to Gawain's prayer as they appear to him in the middle of the wilderness and provide for him a haven to rest before his battle. In reality, however, the castle is a fabrication of Morgan le Faye, and exists only to deceive Gawain and cause him to stray from his noble ambitions to live up to his word and meet the Green Knight.
The events of the three days before Sir Gawain travels to the Green Chapel illustrate the struggle between a want for a strict code of ethics and instinctual urges. Each day the lord of the castle sets out to hunt and Sir Gawain rests and attends Mass in preparation for his upcoming battle. The agreement that the two men make to share their winnings at the end of each day gives readers the sense of rules and civility, yet what goes on during the hunt, or hunts, is reduced to basic human urges. This hunt is presumably out of entertainment and politeness to his guest, but essentially, the act of hunting is very barbaric in nature. It involves one animal killing another for food (and clothing in the case of humans) and is a task necessary to survival. The hunting party engages in fierce chases and battles to kill the prey, emphasizing their brute manliness. Despite the uncivilized aspects of the hunt, much show and pageantry surrounds the daily hunting, especially when the lord is preparing to leave and upon the party's return. This wildness acts as a setup for the action to follow and could also be foreshadowing the fall from chivalry and order that Gawain later experiences.
One might expect such primal adventures to take place in the wilderness of the surrounding forest, yet inside the castle another hunt is taking place. When the lady of the castle attempts to seduce Sir Gawain every morning, she initiates a second battle between chivalry and basic instincts, namely the knight's morality and the basic urge for sex or procreation. Sir Gawain begins the first of these daily encounters by suggesting that he dress himself and get out of bed, saying, "I should quit this couch and accouter me better, And be clad in more comfort for converse here"? (1220-1). This modesty shows that Gawain is concerned with behaving morally and in the proper fashion as it would not be suitable for a noble lady to converse with a man in his pajamas sitting in a bed. He tries to obey this social norm, but the lady of the house convinces him to stay in this most improper position. This is most likely because it is a more intimate situation and would allow the knight to obey her request for sex, telling him that "My body is here at hand, Your each wish to fulfill" (1236-7). He talks his way out of having sex with Lady Bercilak, but in the end must give her one kiss. This concession shows that Gawain's noble will to always do the right thing is imperfect. The next morning, when she enters his bedchamber again, Lady Bercilak plays on the knight's wish to be polite and chivalrous to get him to have sex with her again. She uses the very virtue that should be a deterrent to promiscuity to attempt to convince him to be immoral. The lady tries to persuade him by saying that "A man so well-meaning, and mannerly disposed" should feel it his duty to be polite and do what she asks of him (1483). At this, Gawain allows her to kiss him again, and once more before she parts â�" one more step away from upright chivalry and one step closer to giving in to desire.
On the third morning, the battle between the lady and Sir Gawain takes on a different air when she offers him the green girdle. Before, it was a struggle between chivalry and desire, but with the introduction of the girdle, the element of survival comes into play and makes it even harder for Gawain to resist his urges to accept the lady's offers. While Gawain was able to fend off sexual advances and only broke down slightly to accept the lady's kisses, when he accepts the invincible girdle, the knight's fear of death proves to be more powerful than his wish to be honorable towards his host. He tries to deny the gift, but once the lady tells him that it is a magic, invincible girdle, it does not take long for Gawain to give in after he "began to muse , and mainly he thought/ It was a pearl for his plight, the peril to come/ When he gains the Green Chapel to get his reward:/Could he escape unscathed, the scheme were noble!" (1855-8). All it takes is for the lady to ask him one more time and Sir Gawain readily accepts the garment and promises to keep it a secret from everyone, especially the lord of the house. Even though he knows that he should give it over to Lord Bercilak at the end of the day, his will to survive in battle against the Green Knight makes Gawain keep the garment secret. Later, he regrets giving in to his instincts rather than following his conscience when he realizes that it was a test of his loyalty, one of the most important aspects of chivalry. The Green Knight, Lord Bercilak in disguise, forgives this breach of promise and loyalty when Gawain meets him to fulfill the rest of the contest by saying, "But that you loved your own life; the less, then, to blame" (2369). Gawain, however, still feels horrible about betraying his word to the lord of the castle. He calls his desire to live cowardice and hands the girdle back to the Green Knight while Gawain continues to berate himself for his misdeed. That the Green Knight forgives Gawain, but Gawain cannot forgive himself, illustrates the difference between the two men as noble knights. The Green Knight, who is in the service of the evil Morgan le Faye, believes that it was permissible for Sir Gawain to betray his morals to save his own life, yet the righteous knight of King Arthur's court does not accept this as an excuse. True chivalrous knights were not supposed to fear death, but to live and battle bravely and in accordance with court and Christian morals, no matter what the consequences.
Sir Gawain's struggle between chivalry and instincts is in some ways as basic as the struggle between right and wrong, yet more intricate in others. The relationship between good and evil deeds gradually becomes more complex as Gawain's visit at the castle wears on. Obviously, when the lady of the castle tempts him with the desire to have sex with a beautiful woman (and another man's wife), the correct, moral choice is clear" that the knight should stand by his ethics and the chivalric code and not give in to his lustful thoughts. When she tempts him with the girdle, however, more is at stake than pleasure and wish-fulfillment. When Gawain sees a way to spare his life in the upcoming battle between him and the Green Knight, he hardly puts up a resistance and abandons his morals and loyalty to Lord Bercilak. Gawain is supposedly the most virtuous and chivalrous knight in all of Arthur's court and, therefore, all of Britain, so readers should take his judgment of his morality more seriously than the opinions of other characters. While most common people would find no harm in this act, once Gawain realizes what he has done, he is ashamed of himself, no matter what the Green Knight or Arthur's own court thinks about the act. Ultimately, most of society, even in medieval time, would expect someone to do whatever he or she could to save their lives, and not have any qualms about justifying it as a necessary act of self-defense. The noble Sir Gawain, however, cannot accept this excuse since he has a higher order of ethics to uphold as a knight of the Round Table. This difference between societal norms and chivalric code is an important distinction since the original purpose of the poem was most likely to entertain nobles at court, and the poet would want to flatter his employer and his virtues as much as possible.
Is the cause of fate an attitude toward life, or is it the people or places one has known? Edith Wharton shows within her book, Ethan Frome, how choices determine one’s fate. Ethan Frome is a story about a man who marries a woman whom he does not love, and he soon falls in love with his wife’s cousin. As the plot unfolds, Ethan is forced to make decisions that will either bring him to the life of love he is looking for, or it will lead him down the path of defeat and failure. The choices he makes will affect the way his future is revealed, and the author, Edith Wharton, examines and explains this through her plot, the conflicts that occur, and the use of irony within the story in order to provide understanding to why this theme is true.
Get original essayThe choices that Ethan makes are main steps in the plot that allow an opening for the next step further in the book. When “He asked [Zeena] to stay with him” (Wharton 29), Ethan creates his first choice that leads to the next. This indicates how marrying Zeena, turns his life around as he takes a different path. In addition to that, instead of falling in love with the girl he did marry, Ethan starts loving Mattie, causing the plot to move even further on. “Oh Matt I can’t let you go!” (Wharton 70) He says as he confesses his love for her. He can’t love his wife, and when he falls for Mattie it changes his whole life. These choices bring the plot further along and cause the rest of the story to rest on them. The author also defines Ethan’s character in the beginning and end of the book to show that his choices lead to his sad life within the plot.
In the very beginning of the book, Ethan is portrayed as a man who has been through devastating events that cause him to have “something bleak and unapproachable in his face...” (Wharton 1). This displays how the reader knows that Ethan’s life is full of tragedy and how his choices lead to it. Ethan’s life is not just defined in the beginning of the book; his life is also wrapped up in the end saying “…It’s him that suffers the most” (Wharton 77). This indicates the effect of all his bad choices: sad and full of suffering. With this in mind, the plot explains Ethan’s life in the prologue and epilogue to begin and end the tough life of Ethan Frome. Ethan’s conflicts within himself cause him to make swift and unsure decisions that end in poor outcomes. His poor choice when he asked Zeena to stay was based on the conflict with himself. “He was seized with an unreasoning dread of being left alone… [And] before he knew what he was doing he had asked her to stay there with him” (Wharton 29). Ethan is fighting with himself because he does not want to be alone and forgotten, so he tries to end that conflict by making the easy choice: he asks her to stay. In addition to that, Ethan has conflict not only with himself but with his life in general. He felt that “The sweetness of Mattie’s avowal… made other vision more abhorrent, the other life more intolerable to return to” (Wharton 71). This caused him to make the wrong choice of killing himself rather than facing his life and ruining what he had in the long run.
The conflict with Ethan’s wife is also the effect of poor decision making in the story. Ethan’s poor choice to hide the broken dish rather than to confront his wife causes conflict with her. When he “…Laid the pieces together… [so] that a close inspection convinced him of the impossibility of detecting…that the dish was broken” (Wharton 36) he opened up a new form of deceit that caused the argument. If he had only told her that the dish broke when she came home, he could have avoided the worst of the conflict with her. Even more so, Ethan falls in love with Mattie which causes conflict with his wife. He has an argument for the first time with Zeena, which is caused by his choice to love Mattie. Zeena jealously states, “’I’ve kep’ her here a whole year: it’s somebody else’s turn now’” (Wharton 49) when she announces that she is sending Mattie away. If Ethan didn’t fall in love with Mattie then Zeena may not have wished to send her away resulting in an argument between the couple. If Ethan hadn’t chosen to commit adultery, then he may have not caused the conflict between him and his wife. The conflict with Ethan’s poverty and bondage leads to poor decisions based on feelings of petulance. Ethan’s choice not to strengthen his relationship with his wife causes the story to grow when they have their first fight. When it is revealed that “it was the first scene of open anger between the couple in their sad seven years” (Wharton 48) the reader finally understands how they were not the best couple. They had never fought before, but they still don’t try to act like spouses when they could have gotten to know one another and fallen in love.
Not only the miscommunication between the couple, but also Ethan’s choice to stay and take care of Zeena rather than going back to college, causes the intensity to rise. Ethan decides to stay and take on the burden of his family members and the farm. “’Somebody had to stay and take care of the folks. There warn’t ever anybody but Ethan.’” (Wharton 2) True, he had to care for them, but he was not obliged to marry Zeena and he could have gone back to college. Sadly, because he decided to bring her into the family, he was taken prisoner and had to live the rest of his days with her at the house. Both his choices to marry Zeena and not to love her cause Ethan to have conflict with her and problems with the rest of his life. The irony of Ethan Frome expands the reader’s mind, causing him or her to have a deeper understanding on decision-making. It shows how decisions may not all be the best even when they seem like it and how the dramatic irony in the end causes the reader to know that Ethan ruins his life by going down that hill. The irony also shows how Ethan himself is ironic as a character. The decisions that he makes seem good at the time, but, ironically, they all turn out for the worst. It seems good for him to fall in love with Mattie because she was a good person, and when they were alone together, “he would have liked to stand… with her all night in the blackness” (Wharton 19) for it seemed right that they should be together. Since he is enamored with Mattie, Zeena’s jealousy grows, causing the couple to plummet into a tragic future.
Mattie is not just another person; she was also lively and that’s just what Ethan needed in his life. Ethan was captivated with Mattie because she was like the bright summer when compared to the wintery cold of Zeena. When “[Ethan] kept his eyes fixed on [Mattie], marveling at the way her face changed with each turn of their talk, like a wheat field under a summer breeze,” (Wharton 38) he knew that he needed the life in her that his wife didn’t have. If he had only tried to make Zeena this way then they could have been happy. Since he fell for Mattie instead, Ethan’s life fell down hill. In the last choice of the book, the reader knows principally how it will turn out, so the dramatic irony reveals Ethan’s true fate rather than the one he was looking for through the choice that he makes. If he had only left Zeena when he had the chance, he would have had a better life. Ethan wrote, “Zeena, I’ve done all I could for you, and I don’t see as it’s been any use…Maybe both of us will do better separate” (Wharton 56). The reader, here, wishes he would leave because they know how his life turns out when Ethan doesn’t. Instead of leaving, though, Ethan makes a different decision that leads him to the next one: committing suicide.
Ethan doesn’t think deeply about the outcome of this choice; he just listens to the girl that he wished he could spend the rest of his life with. When Mattie suggests, “’the coast right off… So’t we’ll never come up any more’” (Wharton 70) Ethan thinks her crazy first, but then realizes that it may not be such a dreadful idea, for he had nothing that he loved back home. He decides that he would be better dead, but the reader is telling him not to attempt suicide because they know that he won’t die. Once he chooses to die rather than running away, he ruins his life because he doesn’t die. Ethan as a character is perceived as a strong-willed, lively man with a dream, but, because of his choices, he ironically turns out to actually be a pushover who allows his sympathy, compassion, and thoughtfulness to cause him suffering. Ethan thinks too much about what will happen to Zeena if he leaves. “But what of Zeena?” (Wharton 56), Ethan asks himself when he debates to leave or not. He should have just left rather than think about the outcome. Ethan also thinks too much about Mattie in the beginning of the book. He helps her because he is too sympathetic and that makes Zeena jealous. When “He did his best to supplement her unskilled efforts” (Wharton 15), he brought upon him the anger of Zeena when he didn’t have to have it. If Ethan hadn’t helped Mattie then he may not have caused his wife to be jealous.
If Ethan hadn’t been a push-over, he could have saved himself from the defeat that binds him in the end. Edith Wharton reveals the theme; choices determine fate, through the plot structure, the conflict, and the irony to give valuable understanding on making choices and to go in depth on how it happens in Ethan Frome. If choices are the thing that determines fate, then decisions should be made wisely, for one may not wish for the fate that the choice provided.
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Get custom essayWorks Cited Wharton, Edith. Ethan Frome. New York: Dover Publications, 1911. Print
Carol S. Dweck is an inspiring author who examines how the significance of an attitude can determine one’s outlook on life through her book, Mindset. The psychological analysis of how a mindset can influence people of all ages in any circumstance reveals to readers the choice one has in dealing with and learning from situations. The growth mindset, as Dweck explains, allows growth and development while its counterpart, the fixed mindset, feeds on judgment and ability. Her research with the two mindsets allows readers to recognize the growth or fixed mindset within themselves and make decisions based on her analysis of the two. Dweck acknowledges the difficulty she undertook writing her book, Mindset, but her thorough examination and application of the mindsets and her friendly and relatable syntax allowed Dweck to motivate readers to pursue the growth mindset effectively.
Get original essayDweck’s credibility is established mainly by her profession in psychology, yet her persuasive skills show that she has authority in writing as well. As a Ph.D. professor at Columbia University, she gains credibility in her topic but she points out how writing seemed to be a challenge for her at first. In fact, the first sentence in the introduction reads, “One day, my students sat me down and ordered me to write this book… it became my number one priority” (Dweck). She was ultimately coaxed into writing this book because she knew, as well as her students, that she had the ability to improve lives with her research, a feat that could inspire and change the way people view success. Her ethos is established by acknowledging the hardships she undertook in sharing her idea of the mindsets and guiding readers to obtain the growth mindset. She explains, “This book is one of the hardest things I've ever done… the information was overwhelming” (Dweck 53). Although difficult, Dweck truly wanted to inspire and teach her conclusions to simple everyday people through her writing, which ultimately establishes her ethos (Nadell 479). Thus, Dweck establishes a sense of authority on her subject by acknowledging the arduous task she undertook, an acknowledgement that gives readers comfort and trust in her premise.
Dweck’s intense research on the mindsets helps her develop a structure for her novel that includes explanations of her study and applications to various relatable situations, a structure that persuades her readers effectively. Dweck depends on examining the mindsets of various well-known figures from Thomas Edison to Michael Jordan, leaning on the ethos of others to support her claim. In her argumentation-persuasion, she conveys the data she has collected in a simple yet efficient way, combining ethos with logos (Nadell 479). From direct quotation of the people who have contributed to her study to conclusions she makes, Dweck shows mastery in her knowledge and argument. However, despite her logos, Dweck is biased in her portrayal of the two mindsets. She purposefully demonized the fixed mindset, detailing the failures it can cause, so that she can ultimately sell the growth mindset to readers. With various scenarios, she examines and applies the results of the two mindsets, usually ending in a favorable conclusion for the growth mindset. For example, she concludes, “The fixed mindset creates the feeling that you can really know the permanent truth about yourself… be aware of the drawbacks of this mindset… robbing yourself of an opportunity by underestimation your talent” (Dweck 50).
Dweck undermines the fixed mindset on purpose because her premise relies heavily on the benefits of the growth mindset. She not only wants to explain the mindsets, she wants to convince readers to use the growth mindset in their daily lives. Thus, the fixed mindset is vilified throughout the book until the end. Conversely, her last piece of advice acknowledges that “It’s for you to decide whether change is right for you,” (Dweck 246). After she has given the reader all the information she has researched and concluded with various scenarios of application, she places the decision of choosing one mindset upon the reader while heavily advocating for the growth mindset. This forces readers to become introspective and keep her ideas in mind when making decisions, whether small or big. Dweck’s persuasive skills are effective in this way because her influence is carried on by readers through everyday life choices. Thus, her logos and biases are proper for her premise and readers are left continuously thinking about the growth mindset even after finishing the book.
A writer’s style is characterized by the voice used and the relationship established with the audience, two attributes used by Dweck to motivate her readers. Through her book, Dweck goes beyond proving her idea of the two mindsets by pushing her readers to be introspective and teaching them how to change. Even before the book begins, Dweck establishes an informal tone by stating, “grammar… I haven't always followed it in this book… I've done this for informality and immediacy,” (Dweck). The author does not want to bombard readers with intellectual language and confuse them, she wants to befriend and convince the reader to want to grow through her language. In order to succeed, Dweck uses a comfortable tone that is easy to read and appeals to a broad audience. Additionally, she defines even the simplest terms to make the reader think.
For example, Dweck explains “Potential, someone's capacity to develop their skills with effort” (Dweck 27). Although a simple word, Dweck defines it with a positive connotation as support to her premise, which, in turn, slants toward the growth mindset (Nadell 18). This bias towards the growth mindset is developed throughout the book as Dweck repeats the defining components of the growth mindset and compares them to the disastrous outcomes of the fixed mindset. Through the chapters she develops an extended definition of the mindsets by giving anecdotal examples or comparing and contrasting growth and fixed mindsets (Nadell 436). Even though Dweck is guilty of circular reasoning, her argument for the growth mindset is made annoyingly persistent with repetition. Each chapter of the book applies the mindsets to different situation including parenting, business, relationship, and more, extending to the very end of the book where she again defines the two as “judge-and-be-judged” and “learn-and-help-learn” (Dweck 244).
Each chapter reiterates the definition of the mindsets multiple times throughout the chapters, often adding more or new characteristics to the growth and fixed definitions. However, by being drilled into the readers mind, the growth mindset’s obvious appeal becomes stronger through her casual and humorous yet informative and supportive tone. Additionally, her evidence is heavily anecdotal which makes the whole book more personable and believable. In doing so, Dweck is able to motivate, on top of teach, readers to pursue the growth mindset through her style and voice, creating an atmosphere of trust with the broad audience she appeals to.
Dweck’s goal in writing Mindset is to allow readers to examine and change their way of thinking, to ultimately give them a different perspective on the world through the mindsets. From the beginning where she states, “The mindset change what people strive for and what they see as success” (Dweck 12) to the end where she urges “change from a judge-and-be-judged framework to a learn-and-help-learn framework,” Dweck is arguing for the growth mindset (Dweck 244). Her relatable tone and strong evidence, supported by her trustworthy credibility, pushes the reader to become introspective and think of the mindset they have and the one they want. Through her motivating persuasion, the reader is allowed to choose a mindset to pursue and know the benefits and consequences of both the growth and the fixed mindset.
In The Awakening, author Kate Chopin offers a tale of self exploration and fulfillment in protagonist Edna, who finds herself at odds with the warped society that is her reality. Taking place primarily in Louisiana islands, the Gulf of Mexico is perhaps, the second most important character in the piece. There are countless aquatic descriptions, but they are difficult to analyze as a whole. Depending on the perspective you lend yourself, the sea could seem predominantly male or predominantly female. Given the feminist nature of the novel, I choose to adopt the latter view. That isn't necessarily enough of a limitation, though. Given the setting and Chopin's dedication to regional writing, it's unlikely that she was not influenced or at least exposed to stories of Louisiana witchcraft or maritime witchcraft. While the sea mother characterization is more obvious, the witch helps account for the more sexual, phallic and alluring depictions of the water. Both personifications will be explored in this paper.
Get original essayThe scent of the sea comes up a few times in the book, as does the ocean breeze. Early references to the breeze coincide with discussion of the sensuous aroma of the sea, which could tempt an interpretation of the sea lover characterization. The following evidence is more suggestive of the female embodiment of the water. “The sun was low in the west and the breeze was soft and warm” (1262). The gentleness and warmth of the breeze is clearly maternal. The time of day at the status of the sun could imply a more mystical entity. The twilight is not something that the reader would likely associate with the sea mother figure, but instead with the sea witch.
Next, the sea is given a voice, another trait that continually entices Edna to take a swim and distracts her from her domestic obligations. “Her glance wandered from his face away toward the Gulf, whose sonorous murmur reached her like a loving but imperative entreaty” (1262). The act of murmuring has always seemed more feminine than masculine to me. And historically and culturally, the diminished volume of a murmur would also align itself more easily with the expected behavior of women. Of course, the varied definitions of “sonorous” complicate this reading of the sentence a bit. Despite that, this sentence is reminiscent of the maternal, with a caring and important request. Descriptions of the voice continue. “The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation” (1263). This quote, which returns at the novel's end, shows how the seductive properties of the sea – though primarily thought of as indicative of a male lover – could be more a nod to a witch figure. Sirens, aquatic witches of sorts, have nearly always been portrayed as seductresses with beautiful voices used to lure sailors to their deaths. There are shared qualities in The Awakening. The sea, personified with a voice and seductive characteristics, is eerily similar to the classic siren description. While it is not a witch per se, the siren interpretation does correspond to a darker, mystical reading of the feminine sea. As we read on, there is another alluring description of both the sea's voice. “The voice of the sea speaks to the soul” (1263). Many of the supporting quotes used in this paper have been quite ambiguous in their abilities to be interpreted as relating to the male lover, mother, and witch personifications of the ocean. This snippet seems to only really clearly align with the mystical. Something which connects to the soul in a transformative way and is struggled to be understood could suggest a paranormal power.
In the following two excerpts, Chopin portrays the sea as a reflective and mysterious thing that commands attention. First, “The moon was coming up, and its mystic shimmer was casting a million lights across the distant, restless water” (1272). This idea is repeated at the novel's end, “The water of the Gulf stretched out before her gleaming with the million lights of the sun” (1343). This could be interpreted in many ways, though there are really only two perspectives in which I am interested. One, this is simply another way in which Chopin chooses to make the sea seem more enticing, luring Edna into its grasp, which is fairly evident. However, this focus on the water's surface and its reflective properties combined with the novel's awareness of self-fulfillment may not be coincidental. These two ideas are not mutually exclusive. The author could be forcing Edna's attention to the sea so that the sea can teach her something about herself.
The fundamental reason that I struggle to read Chopin's sea as strictly maternal is the repeated simile comparing wave crests to serpents. “The sea was quiet now, and swelled lazily in broad billows that melted into one another and did not break except upon the beach in little foamy crests that coiled back like slow, white serpents” (1274). This is seen at least twice in the novel. Serpents and snakes are generally ominous and, when described through the gender binary, phallic and therefore male. However, snakes often have significance in witchcraft, both in voodoo and other practices. The juxtaposition of sea and serpent also reminds me of the Hans Christian Andersen classic, The Little Mermaid. There, the sea witch is assisted and protected by sea snakes. Medusa, an icon of Greek mythology, also shares water and snake imagery. According to the myths, she lived on an island, had snakes for hair, and also had wings. Birds and wings are frequently employed as metaphoric tools in The Awakening.
The second to last page of the story is ominous. “All along the white beach, up and down, there was no living thing in sight. A bird with a broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water” (1343). While this could simply be a foreshadowing tool to hint at Edna's fate, the mangling of the bird and it's attraction to the water being indicative of its imminent death again offer a darker, more sinister look at the sea. Also, birds were frequently used in voodoo practices in Southern Louisiana. Simply the use of an omen argues a mystical influence that does not fit with the sea mother ideal.
On the final page of the novel, there are aquatic references that are suggestive of both the sea witch and the sea mother characterizations. Again, the reader sees the more sinister and mystical snake imagery. “The foamy wavelets curled up to her white feet, and coiled like serpents about her ankles” (1344). This bewitching description is followed by the more welcoming mother evocations. After Edna strips away her clothes, there is a strong set of neonatal – maternal descriptions. “She felt like some new-born creature, opening its eyes in a familiar world that it had never known” (1344). Here we have Edna, the newborn babe, naked and vulnerable. “The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace” (1344). The softness and embracing nature of this sea offers a far more maternal disposition to Chopin's sea. Once again, the water's “enfolding” combined with the two aforementioned features suggests a safe, womb-like place for Edna to surrender herself to.
The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, offers a fascinating look at gender dynamics and expectations in coastal Louisiana in the late nineteenth century. While the primary issue of the novel is the self-discovery of Edna Pontellier, the ocean plays a crucial role in that journey and the protagonist's demise. A close reading of the descriptions of the sea demonstrates that the sea is certainly not there merely for scenery, but as a personification of something, or someone. Many believe it to be an idealistic male lover, but a reading more focused on the feminine shows that it could personify a female entity. However, with a mixed bag of maternal imagery and similarities to darker myths, it's difficult to determine what the intended nature of this character is.
Martin Luther, one of the most remarkable scholars in Christian history, is responsible for starting the Protestant Reformation. To some sixteenth-century Christians, he was hailed as a spearheading safeguard of truth and strict opportunities; to other people, he was charged as a heretical pioneer of religious freedom. Today, most Christians would agree that he impacted the state of Protestant Christianity more than some other people. The Lutheran section was named after Martin Luther. So let's research the connection of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation.
Get original essayAs Martin Luther submerged himself profoundly in the study of Scripture, particularly the letters composed by the Apostle Paul, Luther came to the overwhelming belief that he was 'spared by grace through faith' alone. When he started to educate as a teacher of scriptural philosophy at the University of Wittenberg, his freshly discovered excitement started to overflow into his talks and conversations with staff and people. He talked enthusiastically about Christ's job as the main go-between among God and man, and that by elegance and not through works, are men defended and excused of wrongdoing. Salvation, Luther presently felt with all affirmation, was God's unconditional present. It didn't take long for his extreme plans to get took note. After this, not exclusively would these disclosures transform Luther, they would perpetually alter the course of chapel history.
In 1514, Luther started to fill in as a minister for Wittenberg’s Castle Church, and people rushed to hear God's Word lectured more than ever. During this time, Luther scholarly of the Catholic Church's act of selling extravagances. The Pope, as indicated by his prudence from the 'treasury of benefits from the holy people,' offered strict merits in return for assets to remake St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The people who bought these indulgences were guaranteed a reduced punishment for their sins, for the sins of dead friends and family, and now and again, all out pardoning from all sins. Prodded by the corrupt acts of John Tetzel, a priest living in close by Saxony, Luther freely questioned this training, which he discredited as unscrupulous and maltreatment of chapel power. On October 31, 1517, Luther nailed his acclaimed 95 Theses to the University's announcement board—the Castle Church entryway—officially testing church pioneers on the act of selling guilty pleasures and plotting the scriptural regulation of avocation by effortlessness alone. This demonstration of nailing his 95 Theses to the congregation entryway has become a vital turning point in Christian history, representative of the introduction of the Protestant Reformation. Luther's vocal reactions of the congregation were viewed as a risk to ecclesiastical power, and he was cautioned by the Cardinals of Rome to recant his position. Nevertheless, Luther would not change his stand except if somebody could guide him toward scriptural proof for some other attitude.
Luther made a translation of the New Testament into the German language, allowing ordinary people the chance to read God's Word for themselves and appropriate Bibles among German individuals just because. Although a splendid spot in his profound journey, this was a dim time in Luther's enthusiastic life. He is accounted for to have been profoundly grieved by abhorrent spirits and evil presences as he played out the interpretation. Maybe this clarifies Luther's announcement at the time that he had 'driven the fallen angel away with ink.' Stunning the two companions and supporters, Luther was hitched on June 13, 1525 to Katherine von Bora, a sister who had surrendered the religious community and taken asylum in Wittenberg. Together they had three young men and three young ladies and drove a cheerfully hitched life in the Augustinian religious community.
More than some other church reformers in Christian history, the effect and impact of Luther's commitments are difficult to sufficiently portray. His inheritance, however, profoundly disputable, has walked on through a procession of similarly fanatical reformers who demonstrated Luther's enthusiasm for leaving God's Word alone known and seen by each man. It's no misrepresentation to state that pretty much every part of present-day Protestant Christianity owes some segment of its profound legacy to Martin Luther, a man of radical confidence.
This essay discusses the meaning of a Christian mission and highlights the activities of Christian missionaries, such as Amy Carmichael, William Carey, and David Livingston, who proclaimed the gospel to all those nations where people never heard it before, and converted people to Christianity. The essay also explores the tension in broadening the definition of the Christian mission too widely and narrowing it down to a very limited understanding of the mission.
Get original essayWhen we start our sessions with my postgraduate students we ask them what is mission? They immediately reply to us saying that mission includes evangelism, social work, liberation, and dialogue. They assume that we are asking the question about Christian Mission as such. They often confuse themselves with the meaning of the word mission because very often this word is misused and misunderstood. Mission according to the Chambers dictionary is an act of sending to perform some functions. It can refer to a flight with a specific purpose such as bombing on a target (page 951).
Therefore, the word mission is a bit more than an act of evangelizing or an act of charity. Then we ask the question what makes a mission Christian? We mean what is Christian Mission that is distinct from that of a mission. So we show them the pictures of Amy Carmichael, William Carey, and David Livingston and ask them, do you consider them as Christian Missionaries? Surprisingly the first and immediate answer was ‘yes’. Some of them were aware of the colonial issues and connections that these missionaries had and were critical of their mission activities. However, the majority in the classroom agreed that we could consider them as Christian Missionaries. Then my question was why? In addition, what are the activities that they carried out in order to call them Christian missionaries and identify their work as Christian mission?
For this question, they tried to answer that they came and proclaimed the gospel in all those nations where people never heard it before. They obeyed the great commission of Jesus to go, to proclaim and to make disciples of Jesus Christ. That is a Christian Mission. More than William Carey and Amy Carmichael promoted education among the downtrodden people and uplifted them. One can hear more comments about the particular missionaries such as though they did not support the colonial power openly they did not publicly engage against them either.
Some of the students commented that they are clearly Christian Missionaries. For them what they did was to proclaim the gospel to all those nations and converted people to Christianity. They also used a variety of methods to proclaim the gospel and enabled the Christians and non-Christians to become better human beings through education and social development programs. Some students commented that their education was too western, too modern and was not much relevant to their context at times. One of them referred to an interesting statement particularly in relation to African contexts, while missionaries and local natives prayed together before the prayer the Africans had land and the missionaries had Bible and after the prayer, the Africans had the Bible and the missionaries had the land. This metaphorically highlights the colonial agenda with which some missionaries operated in some parts of the world.
In some parts of the world, the missionaries encouraged the local people to be passive and thus not to go against the colonial rulers. In the Indian context, the missionaries and British Raj Company came into collisions very often. The British raj company and the colonialists did not want the missionaries to convert the locals and in fact banned conversion in many places. In some cases, the colonialists banned missionaries too. The colonialists did not want any revolts in the name of religion in India. In some contexts, British missionaries not only encouraged people to join the nationalist movement but they also educated the public towards such activities. This discussion went on a bit towards the next set of pictures and we asked them whether they would consider the people in these pictures as missionaries.
These pictures included Mandela, Gandhi and Mother Theresa. My question was the same: Can you consider them as Christian Missionaries? They had a discussion among themselves. Some of them were not sure about my question and some of them were confused. One of them came back saying yes one may consider them as Christian Missionaries from a different perspective. Some of them have agreed on Mother Theresa can certainly be considered as a Christian missionary from a charity perspective. None of them questioned about her denomination through none belonged to Roman Catholic denomination in my session. We begin to see how our definition of Christian mission begins to widen a bit, though there was a bit of argument on this. Then when it came to Mandela nearly all of them agreed that he was a Christian and was part of a mission towards an independent South Africa.
Then we challenged them by asking this question: what would make Mandela a Christian Missionary? Because of general, popular and public perception of Mandela, no one in the classroom question him being a Christian missionary. Then we provoked them asking was he not using violence as part of his strategy. Then they defended him saying he was in prison and used later dialogue as a way forward for independence. Then they began to argue whether we should categorize Mandela as a Christian Mission as they did to Mother Theresa or William Carey. It is interesting to note at this time postgraduate researchers began to see two sides of an argument. In addition, they expressed difficulty on the one hand in narrowing down the definition of Christian Mission and on the other hand in widening it to include everything as the mission.
Bishop Stephen Neil (1959) stated that ‘if everything is mission nothing is mission’. Many of our students recognise the tension in broadening the definition two widely at the same time in narrowing down to the very limited understanding of mission as well. At the end, we have to come to some kind of broad description of Christian Mission while recognising the fact that there can be more than one definition for it. We have highlighted a few relevant points relating to Christian Mission as follows:
We discussed together on Christian Mission as highlighted by David Bosch in his famous book on Transforming Mission.
At some historical point, some interpreted Christian Mission as expansionism. (Kirk 1999, Cardoze 2002)
Then we discussed and identified a few possible areas that can help us to recognise the broader definition of Christian Mission though we accepted our limitations in doing a universal and unchangeable of these two words. We put together what can be the possibilities of explaining Christian Mission from the life and words of Jesus. Though the majority of my students agreed to the main points such as evangelism, they disputed other points including witnessing and emptying because at times churches may lose their identity in doing such mission activities.
Then we looked at the way different churches, mission theologians and others look at Christian Mission before we try to describe the idea behind Christian Mission.
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Get custom essayIn conclusion, the definition of the Christian mission is a complex and often debated topic. While most people understand it as the act of evangelizing or engaging in charity work, it is much more than that. Christian mission involves the sending of missionaries to a particular place, the activities they carry out, the geographical area where they work, the propagation of the gospel, the expansion of the reign of God, the conversion of non-Christians, and the founding of new churches. The definition of a Christian mission is not set in stone and can be broadened or narrowed depending on the context. It is important to understand that if everything is a mission, nothing is a mission. Therefore, it is crucial to define the Christian mission clearly, while also acknowledging that there may be more than one definition for it.
“But man is not made for defeat…A man can be defeated but not destroyed”. These eternal lines from Hemingway’s novel, The Old Man and the Sea reflect the strong Christian motif of hope and resurrection that is present as a strong undertone in the novel. The usage of Christian symbolism elevates the text to the level of an allegory, almost parable on the indomitable will of man that manages to remain undefeated, even in the midst of earthly losses. Therefore, God exists in the novel not in the form of Immanent Will, neither benevolent nor malevolent but it is the struggle of man in the fashion of Christ’s passion that commands the utmost significance and not the outcome of that quest.
Get original essayThe Christian symbolism that pervades throughout the text is directed prominently at Santiago to delineate him as a modern day Christ who keeps up with his faith towards his struggle. In fact, Hemingway writes that the old man gets on suffering from headache and blood spits while struggling with the marlin which is highly reminiscent of Christ’s pain during crucifixion. In fact, His passion finds a direct reference when the novelist says, “Ay…feeling the rail go through his hand and into the wood…” This sentiment is recreated when Santiago reaches his bed with his “arms out straight” and “palms of his hands up”. All these reflect a Christ-like endurance on the part of the old man and his transcendence to the knowledge of life and existence on the sea of “being”.
Even the fish forms a very legitimate symbol of Christ which bears the philosophy of the sacrifice-sacrificed phenomenon, leading to the acceptance of Trinity. Joseph Waldman observes, “the phenomenon closely parallels the Roman Catholic sacrifice of the mass, wherein a fusion of the priest-man with Christ takes place…” The repeated use of the numbers three and seven and forty, like the old man goes without a catch for eighty seven days reminds the readers of such key numbers in the New Testament, revealing the Passion of Christ in such duration of time.
The reference to forty days finds a parallel in the Christian liturgical calendar where the intervening period between Ash Wednesday to the Ascension Thursday if forty four days. This actually points out to the extreme struggle that Santiago has to undergo, almost as in the Pentecost, but he finally emerges as the undefeated. The time span of the “salao” phase of eighty seven days followed by three weeks of fruitfulness (upon catching the Marlin) for Santiago suggests the liturgical mystery of Incarnation as it commemorates Christ’s claim as the son of God. Similarly, in Hemingway’s parable, Santiago claims himself as the hero incarnate – “I may not be as strong as I think…But I know many tricks and I have resolution”.
It seems distinctly that Manolin’s faith in Santiago is founded on the three weeks of miracle, which he refers to as the “great record” just as Christ’s life on earth, as portrayed in the Gospels. The old man responds to this praise of Manolin by saying, “It could not happen twice”, underlying the uniqueness of his incarnation. The importance of all this is to be found in the theological concept that only through the Incarnation of Christ can his sacrifice have redemptive value for mankind. In Hemingway’s parable, the “great record” is juxtaposed with the three days of struggle of Santiago on the sea, followed by his spiritual triumph that lends more meaning to his earlier redemptive virtues.
The period of the three day struggle leading to the apparent defeat of Santiago has been compared by many critics to the Mystery of Redemption, especially when the old man carries the mast like the Crucifix – “Then he shouldered the mast and started to climb”. Even the reference that his left hand had always been a “traitor” recalls the fact that Judas sat left to Christ during The Last Supper. Finally though, Santiago receives a triumph amidst apparent defeat like Christ, as he triumphs over the dentuso without diminishing his individual heroism. Like Christ himself, Santiago returns to his disciple Manolin to describe his heroic deed. He not only returns to safety physically but also brings back a plethora of resources on human endurance which results in his mental and spiritual upliftment.
As Christ returned with His earthly ministry on the Ascension Day, Santiago’s sojourn is completed by his message of redemption. Joseph Campbell described Christ as the “hero with a thousand faces” and Santiago goes through the same pattern of discovery when he realizes, “I went out too far”, and meets a trial like the dragon battle and the Crucifixion and returns from the Promised Land like St. James of Galilee. The hero endures the test like St. James who floated on the sea for many days, as his return was hailed from the Holy Lord, and Santiago concludes his epic battle with his intrinsic recognition of the natural world- “I have killed the fish that is my brother”.
Thus, Santiago comes across as the hero, who achieves meaning of his Incarnation by full commitment to his world and his relationship with the world’s creatures. Even Manolin is recognized as the diminutive of St. Matthew who acts as Christ’s redeemer. In fact, St. Matthew had to “leave his father” in order to follow the spiritual faith of Christ, much like Manolin who went against his own biological parents to accompany Santiago in his fishing expeditions and also bring him food and other necessities much to their objection. In conclusion, Santiago, with his disciple’s commitment if finally able to become one with Nature and as Wilson notes, it is a triumph that brings about a redemptive message for all.
Christianity is the best vested with distinctive worshippers, including schemes despite the highest representation of the loyalty to present. Adverse to this, religiosity is seen as offering hope since conviction is not blind but an open eyed loved. Despite the fact, it has been the root of some plenty of horrible myths in the past, and a few that are happening even today in some denomination. At times thousands of this communion disagree collectively, involving what we right taken in bible as a marker for life, and what should be left.
Get original essayHowever, despite what churches they follow, they have one common factor of belief in one supreme. So, religion is grounded on dogma, wonders of a redeemer and the entity of Jehovah that invented the instinctive nature from the onset of creation. This essay will majorly focus more on the origin of Christianity.
Religiosity is a persuasion rooted in man and doctrines of a redeemer (birth, death, and rebirth) or its conviction and practices. Therefore, Christianity originated in the survival and concept of Jesus of Nazareth, during the formation of the early making, in Roman-occupied Palestine of the Roman regime.
The early century was faced with many political instabilities, disobedience, and anguish where many Jews thought they rested in the 'last days, ' days of misfortune. They glanced at the creator to ruin the enemies of the Jews and institute a regime of justness and uprightness, to be the authority of Christ. Most Jews hoped that the maker decision on evacuating the Romans and that his messengers, the redeemer, would come out to rule the new universe. They admitted the king would be a majesty or a troop commander from the clan of King David, as foretold in the Bible. Today it is the largest synagogue in the nature and has widely influenced law, personal morality, and philosophies.
The scripture states that prior to the commencement of universe, the maker brimmed up the distress, and bid Jesus as a link to reconcile transgressors. Prophesier Isaiah operated from principalities of Zion in the provenance B. C and is the concluding critical foreteller in the old testimonials. He reigned during King Hezekiah, Ahaz, and Joram, and foretold nearly the approach of an upright ruler from the mansion of David. He said redeemers to be born of a virgin woman and named Immanuel.
The foreteller tells us Christ intends to take over David talent and that of his dynasties, and the “Keys to be delivered to Him”. Nonetheless, prophesier, Isaiah was very particular over Jesus mission during his return. After that, the visions were fulfilled over the life after, and rebirth of the Messiah.
Isaiah was a foreteller among the lineage of Judah, so it is only natural to demand on the prediction of Judah and its future. As a young gentleman, Isaiah received his calling to the prophetic ministry through an encounter with God in the temple. As a matter of fact, we can’t fool God, He knows all our motives and the attitude of our heart. Hence, the lineage of Judah had twisted their backs on the deity, and they progressed to be evil doers.
Isaiah still enlightens us about the liberation that Yahweh offers; if one hurt is convicted, God turns them, as they received salvation. Secondly, those who rebel will face jurisdictions while the faithful to God experience renewal of heart. Thus, it’s expected we turn our ways to God with true contrition and also seeking to live as obedient as the offspring of almighty.
John the Baptist demonstrated a critical role in the origin of Christianity, as majority regarded him as a powerful foreteller before the forthcoming of the monarch. He was a Jewish prophet who preached the coming of God's final perception, had several disciples, and baptized several nations. John the Baptist gained recognition as a prophet, had several converts and baptized several families, including son of man, confer to the scripture.
Above all, the parents of John, the Baptist was related to Mary mother of Jesus. However, John the Baptist goal was to make a path for the coming of the monarch. Therefore, he placed his role as an agent of purification and contrition for sin. Thus John the Baptist came calling on nations to repent of their sins, but he also introduced the symbol of baptism to show that the guilt of their sins had been washed away.
Matthew reveals that Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea when Herod was the ruler and had ordered a census to be conducted. Jesus was the source of Christianity, but Jesus was a Jewish rabbi, well known for his oral doctrines. He brought up in Nazareth, Galilee, and headed a religious movement during his adult life. Jesus preached the word with several critical topics that emphasized love and courteous treatment of all humans, regardless of their nationality, beliefs, or even moral behavior.
Jesus also encouraged forgiveness, honesty, respect, generosity, and humility throughout his teaching using the parables. After visiting Jerusalem, opposition to his. teachings began to rise where he accused Jewish elders of being hypocrites and made prophecies of future ruin. These things did not make him popular with the authorities, and he was taken into custody. He was accused of claiming to be the Messiah and the monarch of the Jews, which was seen as a threat to the authorities.
Jesus' death and rebirth contribute a lot to the origins of Christianity, where Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilate, who was uncertain how to proceed. After Pontius pirate was pressured to by Jewish leaders he gave an order to kill Jesus since he was alleged guilty of many crimes, including blasphemy. He was beaten and crucified, and three days after his demise, Jesus' tomb was found empty.
The reappearance story is central to the devoted beliefs of the sanctity of Christ and life after. Most Jews rejected the notion of Christ as their messiah. In the years that followed Jesus' afterlife, and rebirth, most disciples and non-disciples believed in His doctrines. This and its aftermath formed the provenance of Christianity movement that led to the conversion of other converts. The Bible says the resurrected Jesus ascended to heaven since then it is evident that there has been growth in Christianity.
Saints affirm in the existence of sole maker, who formed the entity and the universe. This sanctification consists of three parts: the begetter (God himself), the begotten son (Jesus Christ) and the character of God. Apostles believed that God sent his begotten son, the prince of peace, to save the universe. Contrary, some saints sometimes behave as if they accredit in three Gods and at other times as if they affirm in one.
The Bible speaks of the Father as God, Jesus as God, and the Holy Spirit as God. Therefore, these are just three different ways of looking at God or only ways of referring to three different roles that God plays. Trinity has all of the attributes of God, and no one Person has any qualities that are not possessed by the others. Nonetheless, while recognizing roles that each Person has, we should never think of their roles as so separate that the other Persons are not involved.
There is a standard view among most churches today that Jesus came to abolish the Old Testament laws and that Paul taught keeping law was not necessary. The early Church miraculously began when the members were assembled on the Feast of Pentecost. The church gathered daily with one accord in the temple. Peter taught that God gives His Holy Spirit to those who obey Him.
A considerable number of priests became obedient to the faith where they saw no contradiction between Christianity and their roles as priests. On the next Sabbath, almost the whole city came together to hear the gospel taught by Paul and Barnabas. Therefore observing the teaching of Paul on the Sabbath, there is a need to keep the Sabbath as commanded. Paul preached the truth and planted churches throughout the Roman regime, Europe, and Africa and is said to have authored 13 of about 27 writings in the scripture.
It is paramount to note that fellowship among the believers brings us close to God as we experience his power and presence. The early sanctuary was committed to the apostles teaching. Hence they listened as Peter, James and John and others repeated to them the teachings of Jesus. The church was founded on the teachings of the Bible, and so also our lives be based on the doctrines of the Bible. Secondly, the early church was devoted to fellowship as it was by what Jesus said in.
However, Fellowship does not always come easily to the church, and perhaps it did not also come easily even for the very first group of believers. Thus the church today needs to persistently continue having fellowship even in the difficult times. Thirdly, the early church was devoted to the breaking of the bread and also prayers; hence, the born again believe in devotion to the Lord’s Supper is a thirst for god in their lives.
The earliest saints did not have church buildings neither did it have public ceremonies that would introduce them to the public. Paul walked many miles preaching to some empires even though some homes were poor and had desperate people. Although the followers of Jesus were working hard to spread the gospel, there were still very few devoted in Rome. Today, many believers have acknowledging to the Puritans to, “walk in the old paths, ” of God’s words, to continue to proclaim the truth that glorifies Yahweh.
The Spirit is everywhere where He will be forever and will never be in any other place since He is infinite. Devout can understand ways of the palace and help the believer to pray effectively bestow to god desire. However, the presences of the spirit in the anointing Christ work in the convention of mercifulness. Intended at amending the views and habits of the ecumenical Church. It is religious aspects which are supplemented by ambitious rulers who wanted to extend their power and control at the expense of Christ body.
The Reformation ended in the 16th c the unity imposed by medieval saints and, in the eyes of many historians, signaled the onset of the modern era. The early missionaries and saints suffered persecuted for their faith by both Jewish and Roman leaders. Christianity was identified established at first with Judaism, but people quickly came to see it as a different religion. Some persecution followed under a few other emperors, but the fire was almost out on the old Roman Empire. However, the spread evangelism came under the ecumenical Church, which was an ancient religious institution boasting over a billion members worldwide.
Catholicism is a Christian religion, a revival of the Jewish faith that follows the teachings of the savior. The Pope, or Bishop of Rome, operated as the head of the Roman ecumenical Church. Ecumenists expressed a sincere devotion for the Virgin Mary, recognized the seven sacraments, and famous relics and sacred sites.
Ecumenists also believe that since our first parent disobeyed deity in the enclosure of garden, all humans are born with original sin, which can be cleansed by baptism only. So the whole view centers on doctrines that humanity view is between the two worlds of matter and inner man. Catholic belief in the ending source of reality rooted in the first words of the Bible. Catholics affirm in the continuity of one deity as three being, the Trinity: God the Father; God the Son, who through his incarnation in Jesus, acts as redeemer.
One thing a Christian will do is look for a local church somewhere they can comfortably fellowship with other believers. At the same time, Christian has different doctrines about the manner of worship in the specific denomination. Worship is done differently, for instance: singing, praying, preaching, and reading the Bible. As a matter of fact, Worship not only honors deity, but it also empowers the worshiper.
However, as denomination continues to be formed, other non-Christians don’t join any of the doctrines though are still regarded as devours. Therefore, a church is the cornerstone to a believer’s growth where hope is nurtured, and the presence of majesty is manifested in eternity. Hence, Christ guaranteed security of staying near the apostles so that he can guide them.
In conclusion, Christianity remains the widest symbol of spirituality in creation. Hence Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have distinctive concepts of worshipping, fasting, festivals, and tradition. In all these practices, one compelling factor these major religions are believing in one deity and accept his formation. Serving is the best faith which can make mankind a devoted man in helping the poor family and orphans by offering necessary facilities of daily life. Being a believer will not be the end of all your trouble, even Jesus found himself killed and hated.
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Get custom essayHowever, Christianity grew out of Jewish traditions and was shaped by Roman cultural and political structures for many years. Practicing faith resulted in severe punishments, but as the Christian religion began to gain popularity and influence by Roman government and allowed religion to be practiced freely.