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The ANZAC legend is a term used to describe the stories, myths, and imagery associated with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) soldiers who fought in World War I. The ANZACs landed on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey on April 25, 1915 and the event is still celebrated as ANZAC day, a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand. The ANZAC legend is the key term for this essay, its causes and results are discussed in the next paragraphs. 

Conflicts involving European nations were fuelled by nationalism and led to World War 1 in 1914. Australia had become independent in 1901 but they were Britain’s ally and automatically agreed to back Britain. The first Australian recruits left Australia in late October 1914 but instead of going to Britain the ships were sent to Egypt as it was believed the Australian soldiers would not be able to survive the English weather. The ANZACs landed on the Gallipoli peninsula on the 25th of April 1915 to try capture the Dardanelles and an open sea route to Constantinople. The attempt was a failure and many lives were lost as well as the not reaching military victory. The ANZAC legend is now a huge part of Australian culture as it is a reminder of the amount of lives that were lost in Gallipoli. Although the Battle on the Western front was equally as courageous but does not get the same amount of attention and historians may argue that during the battle of Fromelles, soldiers personified the ANZAC qualities “resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship, and endurance that will never own defeat” Even though the Gallipoli campaign influenced the ANZAC legend, the battle at Fromelles is just as influential to the ANZAC legend.

The battle against the Turks in Gallipoli was the main inspiration for the ANZAC legend. Approximately 27,000 ANZAC soldiers landed at ANZAC cove on April 25th, 1915. The Gallipoli campaign was an establishing moment for soldiers as they displayed great courage, endurance, initiative and discipline. The war correspondent Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett described the landing at Gallipoli: “They waited neither for orders nor for the boats to reach the beach, but, springing out into the sea, they waded ashore, and, forming some sort of rough line, rushed straight on the flashes of the enemy’s rifles.” This quote gave the ANZAC soldiers the image that they were courageous and would risk their lives for their countries. The battle at Gallipoli was recognised by the Turks as they share the sense of pride and mateship that was forged in the battle at Gallipoli. This famous message displays the esteem in which the ANZAC soldiers were held: “Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore, rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmet’s to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours ... you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.' – Turkish Ruler Kemal Ataturk. The battle at Gallipoli was the main influence in the ANZAC legend. And was recognised more than the nettle at the western front and Fromelles.

The ANZAC legend was forged in Gallipoli when many ANZACS fought and lost their lives to the Turks. The Gallipoli campaign involved British soldiers, French soldiers and ANZACs against the Turks and Germany. The Gallipoli campaign was being planned over months, but the first major event happened on April 25th, 1915 when the ANZACS landed at Gallipoli between 4:30 am and 4:445 am. The campaign was launched to pressure Germanys ally (Turkey) out of the war but the campaign failed as the warships were unable to force their way through the straits known as the Dardanelles. The conditions at Gallipoli were terrible, there was no showering facilities and u barely had chances to clean yourself. This resulted in diseases spreading throughout the Turkish and ANZAC forces. They could contract diseases such as dysentery, Tetanus or septic and many soldiers would be evacuated from the battle due to inability to fight as a result of the lack of good hygiene. The Gallipoli campaign had a huge impact on Australia as so many young Australians lost their lives fighting the Turks and the campaign influenced the ANZAC legend and became the centre of the legend. 

To end up, in modern Australian culture we remember all the soldiers that lost their lives on remembrance day or better known as ANZAC day as we have a minute of silence to pay respects. The ANZACs fought for Australia and will never be forgotten for the huge sacrifices they made.

The most intriguing character of Henry IV Part I is Prince Harry. This troubled young man struggles with his father’s expectations, his destiny to assume the throne, and his wild friends. Initially he seems little more than a rebellious youth, but he ends the play in a very different manner. This essay examines connection to commonmen, appearance, and honour in battle as attributes that lead Henry to become a competent and trustworthy monarch.

One of the most important lessons Hal learns in the play relates to his connection to common men. His time with his friends in Eastcheap is particularly advantageous in teaching him this skill. Many princes who are brought up in royalty have lived a pampered life, protected from reality. This would make for out of touch, oblivious monarchs. Hal is an exception to this since he spends his youth in taverns with the commoners, learning their priorities and their struggles. This comes primarily from Falstaff, with whose instruction he is becoming acquainted with the underground scene in London, and Hal takes this knowledge very seriously. This is an advantage that many leaders, from ancient monarchs to modern Prime Ministers, have been deprived of. When Prince Harry becomes king, he can take into account how his decisions will affect the common people, and have first hand knowledge on how his rulings will be received by them. For example, in the beginning of Act II Scene IV, Hal has been talking with the bartenders in a tavern in Eastcheap. It is clear that he has learned their names: “[I] can call them all by their Christian names, as Tom, Dick, and Francis” (Shakespeare, 2.4.7-8). He has also learned their slang: “They call drinking deep, dying scarlet; and when you breathe in your watering they cry ‘hem!’ and bid you play it off” (2.4.14-16). From this we can tell that he spends quite a bit of time with the common people and is not ashamed to be on familiar terms with them. This scene, although seemingly inconsequential, represents how important Hal feels it is to construct an alliance with the commoners. He knows that this will be helpful to him as king. This attitude is quite in contrast with his father, who believes that his son, “being daily swallowed by men’s eyes, they surfeited with honey and began to loathe the taste of sweetness” (3.2.70-72). This is meaning that by being well acquainted and spending every day with commoners, Hal will become tiresome to them, and end up being hated. In his eyes, this would not be a good way to begin his rule as king. However, this has not happened yet. In fact, the commoners have embraced Hal entirely: “They take it already upon their salvation that, though I be but Prince of Wales, yet I am the king of courtesy, and tell me flatly I am... a lad of mettle, a ‘good boy’” (2.4.8-12). Harry clearly intends to use this to his advantage, saying “when I am king of England I shall command all the good lads in Eastcheap” (2.4.13-14). Hal’s vision is clearer and more modern than his father, and this will make him a more than adequate ruler.

In his famous manifesto, The Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli said that as a ruler, “Everyone sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are” (Machiavelli, 81). Throughout the play, Hal uses appearance to his advantage. In Act I Scene II we meet him in a tavern in Eastcheap. He is a part of a plan for highway robbery with his friends. It is hard to believe he is the son of a king and one day intended for the throne. However by the end of the scene, his monologue reveals his true intentions. He says that his dishonourable conduct so far has been nothing more than a disguise. The lines “My reformation, glitt’ring o’er my fault, shall show more goodly... than that which hath no foil to set it off” (Shakespeare, 1.2.191-3), reflect how intentional his actions are. This show that he is staging by pretending to be wild has a purpose. Obviously it would impress his existing supporters, but it could also appear so spectacular to his adversaries that they would forget all his past wrongdoings. We learn that Hal intends to redeem himself at a calculated time. He takes this opportunity in Act III, when visiting his father. Upon stern condemnation from the king, he promises to start acting like a better prince, more worthy of his imminent title. He says “I shall hereafter, my thrice gracious lord, be more myself” (3.2.92-3). At this point, the audience realizes that Hal has been playing so many different roles that it is unclear who Hal really is. When he says he will be more “himself,” meaning that he will be a more respectable young man, it is confirmed that his unruly behaviour is no more than an act, and his decent character is his true self. This performance by Hal is a very deliberate strategy.

The other purpose it serves is to protect his title. Hal has many difficult challenges to face as monarch. His father’s title as king is unstable and perhaps illegitimate due to the deposition and execution of Richard II. During the main action of the play, Henry is being faced by rebels who want him overthrown. In staging his planned reformation, Hal could secure a reputation as an strong, honourable, and democratic leader, whom no one will want to resist. There are many examples of how good Hal is at putting on an act. In Act II Scene V, there is one moment in particular where the audience can see this plainly. Hal and Falstaff stage a role play between King Henry and his son, with Falstaff playing the king. After Falstaff becomes carried away with himself as usual, Hal sees that this is unrealistic and interrupts him, insisting that they reverse roles. Hal fits well into the role of king, which shows how thoroughly he knows his father, and how he can speak and act like a royal. If it is so easy for Hal to play this role despite his rebellious persona, it leaves the audience questioning which of his personalities are real and which are a façade. For example, when speaking with Poins in Act II, Hal divulges that he “is so good a proficient in one quarter of an hour that [he] can drink with any tinker in his own language during [his] life” (2.4.16-18), which is to say that he is so advanced in fitting in with the commoners that in as little as fifteen minutes he can have them feeling comfortable around him and speaking their own language. In other words, he is a wonderful deceiver. Even the bartenders have crowned him the “king of courtesy” (2.4.10), and as described above, he is on familiar terms with all the commoners. Their affinity for him, he claims, is because of his humility. With this talent, he will be able to command the common masses when he is king. Having the support of the common people can be a great asset, however the young prince is not ashamed to call them “loggerheads” (2.4.4) behind their back. This shows that Hal can be quite manipulative, and that he is not afraid of deceiving people to get ahead. Clearly, Hal has a connection with the commoners of Eastcheap. However, when he is king, it is not in his best interest to rule to their wishes all of the time. Therefore, this camaraderie allows Hal to know what is appealing to the lower classes. If, as king, he must make decisions which are not favoured by this group, Hal would know how to make them appear advantageous. In the spirit of Machiavelli, appearing to be an noble king is much more important than actual nobility.

Honour is the final and arguably most difficult lesson for Hal to learn before becoming king. Seemingly rebellious, lazy and always in with the wrong crowd, Prince Hal has not been living up to his father’s expectations. In Act III, King Henry has called his son to court to speak with him, and he begins a long and harsh condemnation of the Prince’s actions. Scathingly, he says that Hotspur, who is the king’s enemy, “hath more worth interest to the state than thou the shadow of succession” (3.2.98-99). He means that Hotspur’s bravery and honour have made him in the king’s eyes more worthy to be the next king than his own son, the prince. He describes Hotspur’s bravery with “He doth fill fields with harness in the realm, turns head against the lion’s armed jaws, and, being no more in debt to years than thou, leads ancient lords and reverend bishops on to bloody battles and to bruising arms” (3.2.101-105). He calls him an “infant warrior” and a “Mars in swaddling clothes” (3.2.112-113). He then says that Hal’s behaviour, in comparison, is so reprehensible to himself that he might as well “fight against me under Percy’s pay... to show how much thou art degenerate” (3.2.126-128). To say that the damage inflicted upon the kingdom by Hal’s behaviour is comparable to taking up arms against it is particularly hurtful thing to say to one’s son. Clearly Hal is affected by this. He confesses that his father’s accusations are true, and says he “will redeem all this on Percy’s head” (3.2.132). He says that the day when “this gallant Hotspur, this all-praised knight, and your unthought-of Harry chance to meet” (3.2.140-141), will be a day of bloody revenge and redemption for himself. This is an important scene, for it occurs in the midpoint of the play. Seeing how disappointed his father is in his actions, Harry swears never to return to his degenerate ways and promises to redeem himself.

This is the moment when Hal will make his dramatic reformation as mentioned previously. From this moment on in the play, there are no more long, silly tavern scenes, there is only preparation for war. The juxtaposition between Hotspur and Harry’s character, made by the king, puts into focus the symbolic relationship between the two. They are mirror opposites of each other. Hotspur symbolizes everything that Prince Hal could be, and Hal symbolizes everything that Hotspur is not. It is clear to the audience that Shakespeare is setting up an unavoidable confrontation between the two, to be culminated in Act V. It is in this Act that Harry begins to show his transformation into maturity. Although Hotspur is his enemy, he says “I do not think a braver gentleman, more active-valiant or more valiant-young, more daring or more bold, is now alive to grace this latter age with noble deeds” (5.1.89-92). Being able to see the truth of a man’s character, unclouded by hatred for him, his a sign of wisdom and levelheadedness. He admits that “For my part, I may speak it to my shame, I have a truant been to chivalry” (5.1.93-94). Admitting his past faults and expressing shame for them shows Harry’s growth. He then politely offers to have a final battle to determine the outcome of the war with a single fight between the two rivals, in order to save lives of soldiers on either side in an all-out battle. We the audience see the beginnings of a mature young man, and Harry’s redemption. His father begins to see this as well in Act V, Scene IV. Henry meets Douglas on the battlefield. As Douglas is a strong, hot-headed fighter and the king is rather aged, they are ill-matched. If their fight were continue it would almost certainly end in the king’s death. Harry sees this and comes to his father’s aid, saving his life. The king says “Thou hast redeemed thy lost opinion, and showed thou mak’st some tender of my life in this fair rescue thou hast brought to me” (5.4.47-49). Finally Hal has achieved his father’s approval. He goes on to kill Hotspur, his adversary and constant over-shadower. This final act is a personal redemption for Hal. He needs to conquer the person he has always been compared to in order to feel equal to Hotspur’s reputation. With Percy’s death, Hal usurps the honour and bravery once belonging to his enemy. He is thus redeemed. As a hero in war, Hal has had a dramatic reformation as promised in Act III, and has proved his ability to govern and to be a competent monarch.

Prince Harry began the play of Henry IV Part I as a struggling, wild, and wayward young man, completely unsuitable to take the throne. We watch him learn many lessons which prepare him for his destiny. Drinking with the commoners, although it seems idle and indulgent, has taught Hal how to be democratic as a ruler, and has gained him the support of a large group of subjects. In a Machiavellian style, Hal has learned how to manipulate appearances in order to gain redemption in the eyes of the people. Finally, Hal has learned that honour and bravery, qualities which he had not previously valued, are particularly important for a king, especially in times of war. These lessons have prepared the prince to be king, and his actions in this play have shown that he will be a capable, ethical, and clever ruler.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. Henry IV Part One. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. Print.

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Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince. New York: Random House, Inc., 2006. Print.

The 1930s: a pivotal point in the birth of literary modernism. After Sigmund Freud’s publication of studies of human emotion through psychoanalysis in the early 1900s, writing was forever changed. Authors added masks of character development which strayed from classic archetypes and relied on individuality. Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God is a product of its time, as is showcased in its unique literary structure. Throughout this work of the modernist moment, Hurston cleverly blends realism, naturalism, and romanticism to create a new genre of writing accurately representative of sociological pressures, natural destruction, and passion for individual freedom.

Hurston’s novel incorporates elements of realism and naturalism through ironic discrimination from the Turners, grounded dialect choices, and Darwinian views of nature’s relation to humanity. To fully embody literary realism, the depictions of racial discrimination and dialect expectations reflect the prominent sociological pressures at the time of Hurston’s writing. Contrary to natural expectation, Mrs. Turner is dark-skinned yet incredibly racist towards African Americans. She is “ a milky sort of a woman” (163) and believes that her lighter skin gives her invaluable status above those darker than her. She complains, “Ah got white folks’ features in mah face. Still and all Ah got tuh be lumped in wid all de rest. It ain’t fair” (166). Hurston’s inclusion of this mentality in her novel is, indeed, accurately reflective of a time when the black community was trying to define itself. The conflict of definition is most clearly demonstrated through the style of writing: the story’s narrative is told in sophisticated, grammatically accurate, developed English while the dialogue is spelled phonetically, based on exactly how it is spoken. While critics like Richard Wright saw this tactic as demeaning, Hurston in no way presents the spectacle of a white author crafting comedy through dialect, as shown with Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Instead, the writing style aims to accurately represent the reality of the community as well as the potential of the community.

Just as importantly, Hurston’s writing not only follows the realistic mentality, but also the naturalist opinion of portraying animalistic tendencies and natural disasters as destructive forces, without regard to humanity. Before the arrival of the destructive hurricane, Hurston writes that ”Some rabbits scurried through the quarters going east. Some possums slunk by and their route was definite… Snakes, rattlesnakes began to cross the quarters. The men killed a few, but they could not be missed from the crawling horde” (181). In this Darwinian competition of survival-of-the-fittest in the midst of relentless nature, animal instincts defeat human instincts. To attempt rationalization by planning and preparing against an uncontrollable storm is useless, because anyone can be a victim. Hurston describes the effects of the storm: “Winters and winters of hardship and suffering. The wheel kept turning round and round. Hope, hopelessness and despair” (195). Much like the violent seas in Stephen Crane’s "The Open Boat," natural forces have no concern for humans and their circumstances.

To create a juxtaposition to the aforementioned realistic and naturalistic qualities, Hurston blends romanticism into her writing by conveying the plot through progressions of husbands, of locations, and ultimately of Janie finding her voice. As Janie travels through marriages with Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Vergible Woods (Tea Cake), Hurston exhibits a romantic timeline in which each husband brings more freedom and more happiness. In her first marriage, Janie lacked all independence, was made to work in the field, and felt absolutely no attraction towards her unromantic husband, Logan Killicks, saying “Ah’d ruther be shot wid tacks than tuh turn over in de bed and stir up de air whilst he is in dere. He don’t even never mention nothin’ pretty” (28). The dissatisfaction leads Janie to run away with Joe, who seemed more adventurous at surface level, yet only cared about ambition, construction, and productivity. He forced Janie to work in the store, a routine which “kept her with a sick headache” (64). When Joe dies and Tea Cake enters Janie's life in the romantic image of a stranger oddly tuning an imaginary guitar, Janie immediately falls in love with Tea Cake's spontaneity and respect for her freedom. This sequence toward a less controlling and more passionate marriage is of the romantic style, and only underscores the multifaceted nature of Hurston's work.

Directly correlated on the narrative's timeline with the sequence of husbands, a sequence of locations attaches romantic themes of hope and escape to each new setting. The plot begins in a small country town in Janie’s childhood and travels through Eatonville, the Everglades, Palm Beach, and eventually Eatonville again. This usage of romanticism contradicts itself in Janie’s final return to Eatonville, yet can be explained and redeemed by the heroine’s possession of seeds with which she will plant her own ideas of hope in Eatonville itself. This place was the least satisfactory of her homes; it was contrived and developed by Joe Starks, a black man who in some respects wanted nothing more than to be “white.” Thus, at the end of the book, Janie "had given away everything in their little house except a package of garden seed that Tea Cake had bought to plant. ...Now that she was home, she meant to plant them for remembrance” (225). Janie is taking all of the freedom and happiness she gained after escaping Eatonville, returning, and planting her seed of passion and independence in order to grow a new culture on top of the broken one. The book's romantic style concludes with a moment of stark, traditionally romantic symbolism.

Given these points, it is irrefutable that Zora Neale Hurston crafted a new literary style. Their Eyes Were Watching God draws upon three diverse literary mentalities (realism, naturalism, and romanticism) and instead of choosing one, fuses these styles to create a medium to voice a range of concerns: proper responses to inappropriate societal expectation, environmental disaster, and the undying drive for the individual’s independence. As Sigmund Freud said, “Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.” Hurston brings hope and optimism to a reality that is honest, and accurately reflects the surrounding society of her narrative world.

According to the National Mental Health Information Center, girls are three times more likely than boys to develop body-image problems in their adolescence. From the advertisements on television to the constant glorification of feminine beauty by the media, adolescent women are being peer-pressured into desperately trying to make themselves look perfect. With this cultural message in mind, adolescent girls who possess physical flaws often feel worthless and inadequate because they judge their self-image purely on physical beauty. For example, in The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, Esperanza characterizes herself as inferior to others because she finds her physical flaws appalling. Esperanza's self-esteem is lacking as she struggles to find any beauty in herself compared to the other women in media. Contrary to Esperanza, the speaker in "homage to my hips" by Lucille Clifton expresses her defiance of the cultural definition of femininity by refusing to let her mindset be controlled by others. By doing so, she shows that feminine beauty should empower women, rather than degrade them. In The House on Mango Street, Esperanza perceives her feminine beauty as inferior to the standard of beauty that society idolizes, while in "homage to my hips", the narrator defiantly expresses her desire to not let her own femininity be defined by others.

In The House on Mango Street, Esperanza perceives her feminine beauty as shameful and inferior to the attributes of others, largely based on her preconception that beauty is based only on looks. Esperanza, critiquing the insecurities on her body, says her legs are "skinny and spotted with satin scars where scabs were picked" (Cisneros p.40). By stating this, Esperanza shows that she perceives herself as ugly and imperfect, further illustrating Esperanza's feelings of inadequacy and poor self-esteem. Similarly, Esperanza, thinking she is the unattractive daughter in the family, states "I am an ugly daughter. I am the one nobody comes for" (Cisneros p.88). Esperanza, feeling inadequate because of her physical beauty, harshly judges her attractiveness in comparison to her "prettier" sister, Nenny. By comparing herself to other women, Esperanza shows the insecurity and lack of self-esteem she feels for her own personal beauty.

Similarly, Esperanza later exclaims in desperation that she wants to feel "like waves on the sea, like the clouds in the wind, but I'm me" (Cisneros p.60). With the phrase "but I'm me", Esperanza shows the reader that she is inferior to the beauty of the "clouds" and "waves". This sense of herself again exhibits her reluctance to embrace her flaws and imperfections as beautiful. Similarly, Esperanza, wanting to be desired by men, states, "I want to be all new and shiny" (Cisneros p.73). Making this remark, Esperanza states that she wants to become an object of desire by using the diction "new" and "shiny" (PrPP). By desperately wanting to become a sexually-desirable icon, Esperanza again emphasizes how she is not satisfied with her current self and body.

In "homage to my hips", the narrator confidently exposes her defiance of the notion that her femininity is defined by society. The narrator, near the beginning of the poem, states "These hips don't fit into petty places"(Clifton 4-5). By saying this, the narrator expresses that she refuses to let her femininity be diminished down to what society perceives it as. By doing so, she exhibits her feelings of defiance and rebellion. Similarly, the narrator later defiantly proclaims that, "These hips have never been enslaved" (Clifton 8). This statement shows that the narrator has never let herself become suppressed or oppressed by the external factors. Thus, the narrator exhibits that she is determined to break free from the cultural stereotypes that could suppress her. Likewise, the narrator continues to express her defiance: "These hips are free hips" (Clifton 5-6). Exclaiming "free hips" exhibits that the narrator refuses to let anything suppress her as a woman (GP). By exhibiting this sentiment, the narrator continues to show how defying cultural expectations empowers her femininity. Analogously, the narrator states that her hips "need space to move around in" (Clifton 2-3). Her defiance evident, the narrator continues to demonstrate how she refuses to let her true feminine beauty be contained or suppressed (AbP).

From flowing hair to radiant skin and trimmed eye-brows, physical attractiveness emblematizes how society defines beauty today. With today's definition of beauty prioritizing air-brushed filters and photoshopped models, young girls are pressured from the media into thinking that feminine beauty is dependent entirely on their sexual appeal. All these young girls desperately aspire to get the "perfect body", eventually realizing somewhere along the way that the body-standards they desire are unattainable. Much like these girls, Esperanza desires to look beautiful and sexually appealing, without understanding what feminine beauty really means. However, she feels that her so-called beauty is inferior to that of the other women in her life and in the media, leading her to feel insecure and depressed about herself as a woman. This then shows how the media has twisted the definition of femininity from empowerment to insecurity. Using Esperanza's struggles to symbolize her message, Cisneros argues that true femininity is not about physical beauty, but rather about the ability to be confident about and content with yourself as a woman.

Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto and Samuel Johnson’s The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia both make excellent examples of the roles of women in the eighteenth century, including what those roles were supposed to be and what they actually were. Both texts treat women as generally fearful or timid with some acts of bravery or intelligence. However, of the two, Otranto treats women as incapable and depicts them without any rights while Rasselas treats women as intellectual equals for much of the book. However, when reading fictional tales such as these, one must remember that everything the characters do is a reflection on the author’s thoughts, feelings or intentions.

Unlike real life, things are not said or done by chance. Every action is a deliberate intention of the author. Therefore it is possible that Johnson’s female characters were exemplifying to their female readers how beneficial it is to use their intelligence in life. Walpole’s work, although it presents a stereotypical view of women on the surface, could have an ulterior motive as well. Perhaps it was excessively stereotypical so as to satirize society’s expectations for women in the eighteenth century. It was at a time when women were expected to be submissive, timid, and obedient to husbands and fathers. But at this time certain feminist issues were coming to light. Women were becoming more involved in work outside the home, either directly or by helping their husbands. They were looking for equal rights in education, the workforce, and in the public sphere. However, since women’s equality was a controversial subject, many authors such as Walpole and Johnson portray women to be weak, timid, fearful, and incapable of surviving without men on the surface. The out-of-character acts of courage or intelligence show an undercurrent of feminism reflective of what was going on in Eighteenth-Century English culture. Women were supposed to be weak, timid and helpless, and they were not supposed to break out of the roles of wife and daughter. This was starting to change, and the authors’ work reflected that.

To a certain extent, both Otranto and Rasselas portray women as mothers, nurturers, wives, and as helpless, silly creatures in need of masculine protection, which were the typical roles women were supposed to play at the time. Nekayah and Pekuah of Rasselas are often shown as fearful throughout their adventures. This behaviour is contrasted several times to the valiant nature of the male characters. When the characters leave their Utopia for the first time, “The princess and her maid... considered themselves as in danger of being lost in a dreary vacuity.... The prince felt nearly the same emotions, though he thought it more manly to conceal them” (Johnson, 2700). Johnson again highlights the fearfulness of women when the group is about to enter the pyramids.

Pekah is too afraid to enter them, and because of this she is kidnapped by Arab robbers (2719-20). Here Pekuah’s timidity costs her her freedom. Walpole also portrays women as weak and fearful at several times throughout The Castle of Otranto. The character of Bianca perfectly embodies this. She is superstitious, anxious, and ineffectual. When talking with her lady Matilda on page 37, she is interrupted by a noise and becomes so frightened that she begins swearing to St. Nicholas. Matilda assures her, “It is the wind... you have heard it a thousand times” (Walpole, 37). Bianca is eventually driven from the castle by her fear of the supernatural occurrences. Matilda also expresses fear when she faints upon learning that Theodore was to be executed (Walpole, 49).

The female characters of these two works did not only represent feminine fear, but also their dependency on men. Matilda, always cast aside and mistreated by her father, still acts as the dutiful daughter. Ferguson Ellis notes in the excerpt from Otranto Feminized, “Earlier in the novel, and again on her deathbed, [Matilda] is a picture of obedience, declaring that “a child ought not to have to ears or eyes, but as a parent directs” (59). This characterization reflects the most important role of the eighteenth century woman: to marry and bear children. After this task, women held little interest for their male counterparts. A woman had to consider very carefully how her actions would affect her father or husband before doing anything. Bianca also encourages the stereotyped roles of women and counsels Matilda to take a husband because “A bad husband is better than no husband at all” (37), propagating the idea that every woman needs a man in order to survive, even if he is cruel to her.

A woman in 2012 reading this might ask why a woman, subject to the authority of a cruel man, should be better off than supporting herself and living as she desires. However, the culture of the eighteenth century was such that it was not economically or socially possible for a woman to support herself and live on her own. Therefore it was expected and often necessary for a woman to take a husband, however uncaring. Isabella epitomizes the powerlessness of Eighteenth Century women. Throughout the novel she is barely treated as a human, and more like a business transaction. Her marriage situation is negotiated time and again, starting with Manfred usurping her for a wife to his son, and then trading his own daughter in marriage to Isabella’s father so that he may possess her himself. Though unhappy about her circumstances, Isabella will obey her father’s demands.

Hippolita has the weaker qualities of the other female characters in the extreme. When Manfred wants to divorce her for another woman, though she has been nothing but faithful to him their entire lives, she willingly accepts, saying “It is not ours to make election for ourselves; heaven, our fathers, and our husbands, must decide for us” (80), even though her acquiescence will force her daughter-in-law into an unfavourable position. Ferguson Ellis quotes Hippolita saying “It is my duty to hear nothing that it pleases not my lord that I should hear” (58). Hippolita acts very similar to Matilda in this respect.

She has no eyes or ears but what Manfred would want her to have. This is an exaggerated version of the position of every wife and daughter in the eighteenth century. All of these female characters have an unquestioning acceptance of the way things should be, which leads them to be submissive and passive about their situation in life. This is the role that women had to play. The exaggerated sillyness of Hippolita and other Otranto women makes one wonder, what is the author trying to illustrate? Walpole might be of a misogynist mindset. Or he might be satirizing the cultural norm by exaggerating this behaviour in the characters of Hippolita, Bianca, and some instances of Isabella and Matilda. Readers know that women are not really like this. To assume that women agreed to the roles put upon them by men and society is to assume that women were fundamentally different in the eighteenth century from how they are today, and that is just not possible.

If the Gothic heroine was supposed to be more feminist than other ladies of literature, Otranto fails in that respect. Hippolita is not a strong character at all, Bianca is overpowered by her timidity, and while Matilda and Isabella show instances of bravery, their actions are overall subject to the will of the men in their lives. Rasselas has a theme with more equality between the sexes. Johnson argues that women of his time were taking on the roles prescribed to them by society, obedience, passivity, deference et cetera; but that their circumstances would greatly improve if they could throw off these shackles and use their independence and intelligence to their advantage. Both Nekayah and Pekuah are quite fearful and cowardly in the beginning of their adventure from the Happy Valley, but their characters evolve drastically.

This is exemplified in the women’s interactions with the astronomer. He is originally disinclined to talk to Nekayah and Pekuah, but he turns out to be impressed by their knowledge and wit. “She told her tale with ease and elegance, and her conversation took possession of his heart... He looked upon her as a prodigy of genius... They came again and again, and were every time more welcome than before. The sage endeavored to amuse them, that they might prolong their visits, for he found his thoughts grow brighter in their company” (Johnson, 2737). In fact, both he and Pekuah’s kidnapper value the women’s conversation so much that they are unwilling to see them go. Here Johnson again demonstrates how women can use their intelligence to their advantage in the world.

It’s not that the Eighteenth Century woman is not smart, it is that she has been trained not to show her knowledge, especially publicly. When Imlac says that the astronomer will think her too stupid to converse with, Pekuah defends herself by saying, “My knowledge is perhaps more than you imagine it ... by concurring always with his opinions I shall make him think it greater than it is” (Johnson, 2737). Not only is Pekuah smart, but she is manipulative enough to deceive a learned man. This is the kind of intelligence women were not supposed to have let alone display in the company of men. By giving this to Pekuah, Johnson is asserting that women are capable of this level of intelligence and can benefit from its use. Education for women was also a priority for this author. At the end of Rasselas, Nekayah expresses a desire to start a college for women. This is an astounding inference to make at a time where women only went to college to secure husbands or learn to be good housekeepers. Johnson was advocating for women to be educated, intelligent and virtuous, and he argued that these women made better wives and mothers and contributed more to society.

Walpole’s female characters are not nearly as emancipated as Johnson’s. However, they display the odd moment of bravery and sense. Isabella, when threatened by Manfred with a proposal, does not acquiesce and flees through the castle to avoid the disastrous fate. This effort to escape shows the determination and self-possessiveness that the other females lack. However, Matilda’s courage surpasses Isabella’s when she frees Theodore: “Though filial duty and womanly modesty condemn the step I am taking, yet holy charity, surmounting all other ties, justifies this act. Fly; the doors of thy prison are open” (Walpole, 64). Even in her moment of courage, Matilda is concerned with how she is betraying her father despite his lifelong mistreatment of her. So why does Walpole bother to give his female characters any bravery when he’s made them helpless in the rest of the novel? Women have always been smart, capable creatures, and yet they have been portrayed otherwise in art and literature. Around this time women were starting to stand up for themselves and speak up for their rights. But it was still uncomfortable for authors to portray and people to read about women as fully put-together, independent people. Perhaps this is why you see them portrayed as mainly helpless with these few instances of cleverness.

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The role of women in eighteenth-century England was a limited one. It included high expectations for behavior, and restrictions on intelligence and opinion. However, it is hard to believe that women accepted these roles without contention. Women have always been as strong and intelligent as they are today, but in the Eighteenth Century, this fact was just coming to light. It is clear from these arguments that while both texts illustrate women as useless and dependent, it is not without a purpose. Johnson does so briefly and only to show how much the women’s lives improve once they change this behavior as an example to the women of his time. Walpole does so excessively so as to mock and criticize the roles women were supposed to carry out in eighteenth-century society. At this point in history, it was becoming more and more apparent that these roles were not practical nor fair, and authors like Samuel Johnson and Horace Walpole were beginning to speak out against them in this implicit manner. One must keep in mind the historical context while reading novels of this time. When doing this, one has a better view of eighteenth-century literature and history as a whole.

Works Cited

1. Johnson, Samuel. “The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt and M. H. Abrams. 8th Ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2006. 2680-2743. Print.
2. Tinkham, Audrey. "Notes on Samuel Johnson (1709-84), Rasselas (1759)." University of Arizona. N.p.. Web. 4 Nov 2012.
3. Robertson, Julia. "“No Woman is the Worst For Sense and Knowledge” : Samuel Johnson and Women." University of Maryland. N.p.. Web. 4 Nov 2012. <http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/7645/1/umi-umd-4918.pdf>.
4. Cengage, Gale . "Feminism in Literature." eNotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Nov 2012. <http://www.enotes.com/feminism-criticism/women-16th-17th-18th-centuries>.
5. "Depiction of Women: A Review of "The Castle of Otranto"." Bookstove. N.p., 14 2008. Web. 4 Nov 2012. <http://bookstove.com/book-talk/depiction-of-women-a-review-of-“the-castle-of-otranto”/>.
6. Walpole, Horace. The Castle of Otranto. London: Penguin Books, 2001. Print.
7. Ferguson Ellis, Kate. Excerpt from “Otranto Femminized.” The Contested Castle. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1989. 58-61

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Horatio is Hamlet's trusted friend and confidant. When we first see Horatio in Shakespeare's Hamlet, he is called upon by the castle guards to address the ghost that they have saw. Horatio is a smart intelligent man, and when he sees the ghost makes him deeply uneasy. But Horatio is not afraid of the ghost, only of what it portends - that something is not well with Denmark. He is calm resolute, and rational as he demands that the ghost tell him whether it has come to confess some ill deed or to predict the future fate of Denmark.

Horatio is not afraid to speak his mind to Hamlet, either when Hamlet meets the ghost for the first time, Horatio makes it clear that Hamlet's choice to follow the ghost in hopes of learning the reason for its appearance is ill-advised he is honest and forthright in his arguments and seems genuinely worried that Hamlet might be tempted to lose his reason and be drawn into madness, which, Horatio tells him, will lead to thoughts of suicide.

When Hamlet follows the ghost anyway, learns that King Hamlet was poisoned, and is sworn to avenge his death, Horatio allows himself to be sworn to silence and keep Hamlet's secret. Horatio is not only an honest, but a loyal friend, and the secret of Hamlet's father's ghost is the first of many secrets that Horatio will keep for Hamlet.

As the play progresses, Horatio questions Hamlet's judgment twice more. Once is when Hamlet tells him of a letter from King Claudius that he has found in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's pack, telling the King of England that he must have Hamlet killed. The second instance is when Hamlet tells Horatio that he will fight Laertes, son of Polonius, who Hamlet killed earlier in the play. Horatio loves Hamlet with all his heart, but he is governed by a more sensible disposition, which compels him to speak the truth to his friend, despite the fact that Hamlet never once heeds Horatio's warnings.

In fact, there is only a single point in the play at which Horatio loses his sensible outlook, and it is but a momentary loss. At the end of the play, when Hamlet is killed in his fight with Laertes, Horatio, in his grief, offers to kill himself with his own sword. It is Hamlet's dying request that Horatio tell Hamlet's story, and let the truth of it be known, that keeps him from doing so. Horatio's sense of loyalty to, and love for, his friend, has won out and brought him back to himself and his own, more grounded, sensibility.

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Table of contents

1. Leadership Theories and Frameworks
Transactional leadership TheoryTransactional leadership StrengthsTransactional leadership WeaknessTransformational Leadership TheoryTransformational Leadership StrengthsTransformational Leadership Weaknesses
2. Authentic Leadership Theory
Authentic Leadership StrengthsAuthentic Leadership Weaknesses

Leadership Theories and Frameworks

The purpose of this essay is to examine the main components of the Transactional leadership, Transformational leadership, and Authentic leadership theories. Then identify three strengths and three weaknesses of each of the theories for understanding leadership behaviour.

Transactional leadership Theory

The term transactional refers to the fact that this type of leader essentially motivates followers by exchanging rewards for performance. Transactional leadership motivates followers by setting up social or financial transactions that persuade them to act. For example, a transactional leader might offer bonuses to sales staff for exceeding quotas. The bonus is a form of motivation. Transactional leadership often is set in opposition to transformational leadership, which is a leadership style that relies on inspiring followers that a particular vision is worth working towards.

Transactional leadership Strengths

Transactional leadership motivates followers by setting up a rewards system that motivates them to do the task at hand. For example, a transactional leader might offer bonuses to her sales staff for exceeding quotas. Transactional leaders provide distinct advantages through their abilities to address small operational details quickly.

Transactional leadership Weakness

The followers’ loyalty to the transactional leader’s hinges on their continuing ability to harness their followers’ self-interest. A transactional leader generally does not look ahead in strategically guiding his followers to a position of leadership. A transactional leader elicits cooperation rather than faith.

Transformational Leadership Theory

The transformational theory focuses on a leader’s ability to inspire followers, through concentrating on team-building, motivation and collaboration with his followers to accomplish change for the better. Transformational leaders set goals and incentives to push their followers to higher performance levels while providing opportunities for personal and professional growth for each employee.

Transformational Leadership Strengths

Transformational theory encourages the follower’s high growth through positive motivation, even if monetary and other benefits aren’t offered by the leader because they will be inspired by his vision. Transformational leaders set goals and incentives to push their followers to higher performance levels while providing opportunities for personal and professional growth for each follower. Transformational leadership focus on team-building, motivation and collaboration with followers at different levels of to accomplish change for the better.

Transformational Leadership Weaknesses

The theory is based entirely on the ability of the leader. The leaders have to put in their best to encourage their followers. A transformational leader might not be forthright with her followers. For example, a business owner might motivate her workforce with stirring speeches about the nobility of hard work, while her real aim is to increase production for personal gain.

Authentic Leadership Theory

An authentic leader is more interested in empowering followers rather than in rewards like the transactional leader. Moreover, just like the Transformational leader, an authentic leader is guided by compassion and heart in everything they do but they are honest, ethical and practical. Their behavior reflects the ethics and values he promotes, such as transparency and fairness. While many authentic leaders may have natural abilities, through hard work and developing their leadership qualities. Authentic leaders are dedicated to the continued personal growth and committed to building lasting relationships with their followers.

Authentic Leadership Strengths

The leader is more able to maintain trust and cohesion among his followers. Followers develop trust in an authentic leader’s vision and intentions.

Authentic leadership builds positive and rewarding relationships between the leader and his follower's Authentic leadership tends to guarantee the ethical and moral standards are high.

Authentic Leadership Weaknesses

The moral component can cause contradicting objectives between the leader and their followers’. The leader’s values might not always align with what is right for the followers. Authentic leadership might hinder the ability for a leader to make quick decisions on his followers. While there are still many questions left unanswered about leadership theories, and many possible truths to be drawn from their ideas. The aim in this essay is to establish an understanding on different leadership behavior.

Transformational leadership might sound preferable because the leader doesn’t cynically harness the self-interest of their followers, as the transactional leader. While An authentic leader is not afraid to admit mistakes and work to overcome shortcomings. By facing their weaknesses and refusing to compromise with them, authentic leaders can find ways to overcome their weaknesses and this makes them stronger leaders. Moreover, the transactional theory pays close attention to the motivations behind the actions of their followers. The transactional style has been popular, and it can be effective in creating meaningful relationships between the leader and their followers.

Running through the freezing pitch black night, pain enveloping you. Thousands of bodies pushing you from behind. How will you survive? The holocaust was a very hard and rigorous time for a lot of people. They had to find things or methods that would help them survive. They desperately needed these factors to survive. These things could be as small as a piece of silverware or as big as a family. In Elie Wiesel’s Night, Elie and his father are put through the horrific experience of being prisoners in the holocaust. Somehow, Elie found himself to be free in the end because of his factors of survival. Elie Wiesel survived because of his love for his family, his and other people's humanity, and his health and appearance.

Elie Wiesel had so much love for his father and kept on telling himself he had to survive because his father could not live without him. He knew his father was weak and he could not live without the help and love of his son. “‘Come, Father. It’s better there. You’ll be able to lie down there. We’ll take turns. I’ll watch over you and you’ll watch over me. We won’t let each other fall asleep. We’ll look after each other’”. Elie and his father were running for endless miles through the dark and freezing night. If someone fell asleep there was a good chance they would never wake up again. Elie was protecting his dad when he said they should look after each other. He couldn’t let his father die so he made himself stay alive to help his father. Furthermore, Elie comforts his dad while he is crying. “‘The world? The world is not interested in us. Today, everything is possible, even the crematoria…’ His voice broke. ‘Father,’ I said. ‘If that is true, then I don't want to wait. I'll run into the electrified barbed wire. That would be easier than a slow death in the flames.’ He didn't answer. He was weeping. His body was shaking.” This is when the Jews had left the ghettos and had been transported to Auschwitz. When his father is torn up about his wife and daughters, Elie tries his best to comfort his father because he knows he can’t lose all his family. He is telling his father that he will fight for what’s right or he shall die because he knows he cannot live without him.

Another factor of survival Elie had was humanity. He knew he needed to do things to stay humane. “He reached the first cauldron. Hearts were pounding harder: he had succeeded. Jealousy devoured us, consumed us. We never thought to admire him. Poor hero committing suicide for a ration or two or more of soup… In our minds, he was already dead.” The prisoners were rarely fed and Elie knew he needed food. He knew that he had to go past his limitations to survive which he did. He had to put himself in danger to stay humane. A lot of times, Elie and the rest of the prisoners would have to stare death in the face just to barely stay alive. Elie's survival doesn’t have to do with only him being humane but with other people in his life too. For example, the very nice French girl Elie encountered. “She looked straight into my eyes. I knew she wanted to talk to me but that she was paralyzed with fear. She remained like that for some time, and then her face lit up and she said, in almost perfect German: ‘Bite your lips, little brother…Don't cry. Keep your anger, your hate, for another day, for later. The day will come but not now…Wait. Clench your teeth and wait.’” The French girl found Elie after he was beaten up by Idek. Elie was in very bad condition and the French girl took care of him and even gave him food. For Elie to survive, he was not the only one who had to have humanity. Other people who had humanity and helped Elie also contributed to his survival. As you can tell, the French girl greatly contributed to Elie’s survival. There was another man who helped Elie and his father at the first camp. “‘Hey, kid, how old are you?’ The man interrogating me was an inmate. I could not see his face, but his voice was weary and warm. ‘Fifteen.’ ‘No. You're eighteen.’ ‘But I'm not,’ I said. ‘I'm fifteen.’ ‘Fool. Listen to what I say.’ Then he asked my father, who answered: ‘I'm fifty.’ ‘No.’ The man now sounded angry. ‘Not fifty. You're forty. Do you hear? Eighteen and forty.’” This is when Elie and his father arrive at the first camp. The man who was telling them this knew that if they lied, they would not be sent to the crematoria, but instead put into hard labor. This man helped Elie and his Father tremendously.

One more factor that contributed to Elie’s survival was his health and appearance. Elie was a young and healthy boy, which if you were a prisoner in the holocaust means you avoid immediate death. In no time, I stood before him. ”Your age?” he asked, perhaps trying to sound paternal. ”I'm eighteen.” My voice was trembling. “‘In good health?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Your profession?’ Tell him that I was a student? ‘Farmer,’ I heard myself saying. This conversation lasted no more than a few seconds. It seemed like an eternity. The baton pointed to the left. I took half a step forward. I first wanted to see where they would send my father. Were he to have gone to the right, I would have run after him. The baton, once more, moved to the left. A weight lifted from my heart.” The SS officer had seen that Elie was in good health and at a young age. This saved Elie from being sent to the crematoria right off the bat. Another time Elie’s health saved him again. “I was putting one foot in front of the other, like a machine. I was dragging this emaciated body that was still such a weight. If only I could have shed it! Though I tried to put it out of my mind, I couldn't help thinking that there were two of us: my body and I. And I hated that body. I kept repeating to myself: ‘Don't think, don't stop, run!’ Near me, men were collapsing into the dirty snow.” While the prisoners were evacuating their camp, they had to run many, many miles in the freezing cold. Many of the prisoners dropped dead in the middle of the evacuation. Since Elie was a healthy young man, he survived the run. If he wasn’t healthy, he wouldn’t have survived the run.

Although it was almost impossible to survive the holocaust, love for his family, humanity, and his health and appearance helped Elie Wiesel survive the holocaust. All of these things contributed greatly to Elie’s survival. His experience as a holocaust prisoner is beyond anything we can imagine. Elie did come out of the experience without any living family members and even got food poisoning three weeks after he was liberated. Elie came out a stronger person as well and even wrote this book about his holocaust experience. 

Horror movies and stories have been very popular in American culture. Many people do not realize that their favorite scary characters would not have been thought of if it had not been for a certain writer; Stephen King. King has put in much of his time and talent to give us our most beloved stories that we tell around a bonfire with our friends. King was able to take our most terrifying fears and input them into his stories. Stephen King has been and still is a huge inspiration to the world of horror. The horror genre would never be the same again. Stephen Edwin King was born on September 21, 1947 to Donald King and Nellie Pillsbury in Portland, Maine. King was the couple’s first child, but they later adopted their oldest son, David (Ramsey). When King was only two years old, his father deserted his family. For the next few years, King and his family moved from place to place constantly until they finally settled down in 1958 (Ramsey). While in high school, Stephen King worked for a local paper. It was in 1965 that King sold his first short story, I Was a Teenage Grave Robber, which was later changed to, In A Half-World of Terror (Ramsey). In the following two years, King successfully published two ameteur novels, one of which is considered to be the start of the King era. Stephen King attended the University of Maine on a full scholarship (Ramsey). There he worked part-time at the school library where he met Tabitha Spruce, who would later become his wife (Ramsey). Even with all of his accomplishments at such an early age, Stephen King’s legacy had just begun.

From an early age, Stephen King was able to have a few of his short stories published. Now, it was time for his career to take flight. In 1973, King wrote and published his first novel, Carrie, a story about a young teenage girl who gets revenge on her classmates. The novel soon became a success, paving the way for King’s career to fully bloom. Salem’s Lot was released soon after Carrie. Many of King’s early works were hits, including, The Shining (1977), Firestarter (1980), Cujo (1981), and the infamous IT (1986) (Stephen King). However, worried that people would not accept multiple books by the same author a year, King decided to make pseudonyms (Stephen King). He used Richard Bachman (Boman), and John Swithen (Stephen King). Even with different names, Stephen King’s novels never lost their touch. Some people wonder how a person could write such frightful deadly stories. What they do not know is that Stephen King actually had a near death encounter. In the summer of 1999, King was struck by a driver and thrown 14 feet in the air (Ramsey). He was hospitalized for many weeks and sustained many injuries such as a collapsed lung, broken ribs and bones, and even multiple fractures in his legs (McCann). King also underwent many procedures. Nevertheless, Stephen King used his misfortunes as inspiration. In the final book of the Dark Tower Series, The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower King named a character Bryan Smith, after the man who hit him (McCann). He took almost every detail of his accident and inserted it into that novel, down to the part where Bryan almost hits a person, named Stephen King, with his car after being distracted by his dog (McCann). Some of the interaction between the two characters in the book are based on the real dialogue that took place between King and Smith (McCann). Stephen King used his story to make his novel unique. Stephen King has written many books, some of which have been adapted to the big screen. There are many speculations on which of King’s books are the best. The top ten list of his best works consist of the novels Misery, The Shining, The Dark Tower Series, The Green Mile, Carrie, The Stand, The Dead Zone, Salem’s Lot, 11/22/63: a novel, and the classic, IT (Greene). However, none of those novels are King’s favorite. When asked what his best book was, King answered, “Lisey’s Story… because it was about marriage, and I’d never written about that,” (Greene). There is no doubt that Stephen King’s novels have influenced many things in more than one way. King’s books have shaped many American horror stories into what they are today. Stephen King has been an inspiration to many horror films and topics today. Imagine what today’s horror world would look like without him. The world wouldn’t have IT, the story of a crazy clown which was made into a film in 1990, and again in 2017. Theatres wouldn’t be able to put on the musical Carrie. Tv shows like Under the Dome, Haven, and Bag of Bones would not have been released if King had not come up with them first. Movies like The Shining made in 1980, and The Dark Tower made in 2017, would never have been thought of if it had not been for the brilliant mind of Stephen King. King has changed and continues to change the face of American horror stories forever.

Stephen King was able to make a legacy out of his talent at such an early age. 86 novels later and King still has the same influence on the horror genre that he had when Carrie was released. King is the epitome of horror in today’s society. King’s horror novels are the reason some people fear clowns and the dark. Stephen King is a writer whose works will be remembered and read for many years. His reign of terror continues today as strong as it was when it began.

A plague is an infectious disease caused by Yersinia Pestis, a bacterium that is transmitted from rats to humans by the “oriental rat flea” (Xenopsylla cheopis).Transmission of Yersinia Pestis is possible through any of the following scenarios: droplet contact (coughing or sneezing upon another person), direct physical contact (touching, including engaging in sexual contact with, an infected person), indirect contact (typically the touching of a contaminated surface), airborne transmission (only for organisms that remain in the air for long periods of time), fecal-oral transmission (typically through the consumption of contaminated food or water), vector borne transmission (carried by insects or other animals).

Archeologists have found plasmids of Yersinia pestis in the teeth of seven corpses dating as far back as 3000 BC. In history, there have been three major “plague pandemics.” The “first [plague] pandemic” occurred in the Early Middle Ages. Also known as “The Plague of Justinian,” this plague is the first known recorded instance of a mass bubonic plague outbreak. Thought to have originated in China, the disease went on to kill approximately 5,000 people in Constantinople per day at the plague’s peak.

The second plague pandemic, and ultimately one of history’s most well known disasters, is the 1347- 1351 spread of “The Black Death.” This pandemic was also believed to have originated in China; spread along the Silk Road; and then infected mass populations in all of Asia, Europe, and Africa. As a result of the plague, Africa lost approximately ? of its population, Europe lost approximately ? of its population, and China lost approximately ½ of its population. In the end, approximately 100 million people lost their lives as a result of The Black Death; thus, The Black Death reigns as the obtainer of the largest death toll for any non-viral epidemic in history.

The third major plague epidemic occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries. Once again, the disease began in China (particularly in China’s Yunnan province) in 1855. This pandemic caused the deaths of more than 12 million people in China and India alone. Based upon the casualty patterns of this particular case of plague, infection came in the following two separate waves: bubonic plague and pneumonic plague. Advancements in modern medicine during the 19th and 20th centuries allowed scientific researchers to identify plague vectors and plague bacterium, contributing to the first effective modern treatments of plague.

There are three primary forms of plague infection that depend on the route of infection: pneumonic plague, septicaemic plague, and bubonic plague. Pneumonic plague (also known as lung-based plague) is the most severe, but least common, of the plague forms. Pneumonic plague is often split into two types: primary pneumonic plague and secondary pneumonic plague. If someone inhales droplets of moisture containing plague bacteria, the result can be primary pneumonic plague. Primary pneumonic plague can happen when an infected host coughs or sneezes into the air. Cats are typical contractors of pneumonic plague and can transmit it to humans when they cough or sneeze.

When a case of pneumonic plague is due to the spread, from infection, of an initial bubonic plague form, this form of plague is called secondary pneumonic plague. Secondary pneumonic plague is typically not as contagious as primary pneumonic plague because those who contract primary pneumonic plague have a tendency to be healthy and active. Due to such vitality, these seemingly-healthy contractors of primary pneumonic plague can produce a cough with enough strength to propel disease-infected droplets of moisture through the air, infecting others. Meanwhile, hosts with secondary pneumonic plague are increasingly sick by the time the bubonic plague infection has reached their lungs, thus, their cough’s are not as strong enough to propel the disease-infected particles of moisture into the air to infect others. Pneumonic plague causes the typical symptoms of pneumonia such as high fever and a bloody sputum-producing cough.

Due to its highly contagious nature, pneumonic plague, in theory, would be the most likely disease used as a biological weapon. It has even been reported that during World War II, the Japanese military dropped bombs of infected Xenopsylla cheopis over China’s mainland. And untreated pneumonic plague has a very high case-fatality ratio.

The second primary form of plague is the septicemic plague. The septicemic plague occurs when infection spreads directly through the bloodstream without forming a bubo. It is very likely that cases of septicaemic plague result from not only bites, but direct contact with infective material through cracks in the skin. Septicaemic plague can also be formed by advanced stages of bubonic plague that have lead to the direct spread of Yersinia Pestis through in the host’s blood. In instances of septicaemic plague, plague bacteria and toxins in the blood overwhelm the body’s immune defences, causing high fever, abdominal pain, and general exhaustion. When left untreated, this form of plague can leave the immune system with irreparable damage, organ failure, and death.

The final, and most common, form of plague is the bubonic plague (also referred to as “The Black Death” by those of mediaeval Europe). This form of plague is caused by the bite of a host infected Xenopsylla cheopis. After invading the host, the Yersinia Pestis bacteria then travels to the lymph node ( an oval-shaped organ that occurs in the area closest to where the bacteria entered the skin) in closest proximity to itself using white blood cells to transport. The lymph node will then begin to experience swelling due to the overwhelming presence of bacteria and the endotoxins (a toxin that is present inside a bacterial cell and is released when the cell disintegrates) within their cell walls. The lymph node then becomes increasingly painful and turns into an egg-sized bubo (an inflammed lymph node) over a matter of days. It is after the occurrence of buboes that the body’s natural immune defences finally begin to act, causing high fever, chills, muscle pains, and overall weakness in an attempt to kill the infecting bacteria.

The formation of buboes differ depending on the location of the initial flea bite. If bitten on the arm or hand, the buboes form in the axillary lymph nodes beneath the arm; if bitten on the leg or foot, the buboes form in the inguinal lymph nodes in the groin; if bitten on the head, the buboes are formed in the neck and jaw; and if bitten on the torso, the buboes are able to form, undetected, in the abdominal cavity of the host.

Xenopsylla cheopis has a particular physical trait that allows it to efficiently transmit plague bacteria--- the flea’s digestive system can become blocked by a large mass of plague bacteria.. When a blocked flea bites a host, it often then regurgitates plague-infested blood back into the bite wound that it has created. Even if the flea’s digestive system is not experiencing blockage, the flea is still capable of transmitting bacteria to the host it bites if carrying bacteria on the areas surrounding its mouth at the time. The bacteria then suppresses the host’s body’s natural inflammatory response and uses proteins to protect itself, thus making the host (and its internal system) unaware that anything is wrong.

In humans, the infectious dose of Y. pestis has been estimated to range from 100 organisms to 20,000 organisms. The incubation period of the bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic plague types ranges from 2-6 days. Y. pestis colonizes macrophages, reaches lymph nodes, escapes the macrophages, and proliferates extracellularly. Left untreated, Y. pestis is able to spread to the bloodstream and cause secondary infection as well as septicemic plague in rare cases. Y. pestis is also able to colonize lung tissue as pneumonic plague.

The majority of mammals are capable of being infected with plague. Colonization and growth of Yersinia pestis in the flea proventriculus (the valve between oesophagus and midgut) blocks the passage of food, it is this blockage that gives way to an efficient transmission by means of the flea bite. Though Phospholipase D is not exported, it assists the bacteria in withstanding immunity in the flea midgut. Haemin storage locus (hms) is necessary for colonization and for the formation of biofilm within the flea. Yersinia pestis disseminated from the infection site within macrophages (which requires a plasminogen activator) encoded by pPst plasmids. Once phagocytized (having ingested the bacteria or other material by phagocytes and amoeboid protozoans), the disease progresses. There are two stages of Yersinia pestis rapid production within the host. Neutrophils kill the bacteria, but macrophages phagocytize them but do not kill them and there it grows intracellularly within spacious vacuoles.

The reason that dogs are unaffected by plague is because dog macrophages fail to release the bacteria from the spacious vacuole. In susceptible hosts, infected macrophages are carried to the lymph nodes --hence, buboes-- and the liver and spleen, where the bacteria cause the macrophages to lyse. Then, the bacteria grow extracellularly. Extracellular growth requires plasmid pCD/pYV encoded TTSS and translocation of YOPs. Yops interfere with immune cell function and can cause immune cell death by apoptosis. LcrV (V antigen) has anti-inflammatory activity via CD14 and TLR-2 to raise IL-10 levels. pFra capsule is anti-phagocytic, preventing extracellular bacteria from being phagocytosed. LPS is less toxic than other Enterobacteriaceae to facilitate high grade bacteremia. Collectively, these virulence factors allow massive extracellular proliferation of the bacteria in affected tissues.

“A 70-kb virulence plasmid (sometimes called pYV) enables Yersinia spp. to survive and multiply in the lymphoid tissues of their host. It encodes the Yop virulon, a system consisting of secreted proteins called Yops and their dedicated type III secretion apparatus called Ysc. The Ysc apparatus forms a channel composed of 29 proteins. Of these, 10 have counterparts in almost every type III system. Secretion of some Yops requires the assistance, in the bacterial cytosol, of small individual chaperones called the Syc proteins.These chaperones act as bodyguards or secretion pilots for their partner Yop. Yop proteins fall into two categories. Some are intracellular effectors, whereas the others are ‘‘translocators’’ needed to deliver the effectors across the eukaryotic plasma membrane, into eukaryotic cells. The translocators (YopB, YopD, LcrV) form a pore of 16–23 Å in the eukaryotic cell plasma membrane. The effector Yops are YopE, YopH, YpkAyYopO, YopPy YopJ, YopM, and YopT. YopH is a powerful phosphotyrosine phosphatase playing an antiphagocytic role by dephosphorylating several focal adhesion proteins. YopE and YopT contribute to antiphagocytic effects by inactivating GTPases controlling cytoskeleton dynamics. YopPyYopJ plays an anti-inflammatory role by preventing the activation of the transcription factor NF-kB. It also induces rapid apoptosis of macrophages. Less is known about the role of the phosphoserine kinase YopOyYpkA and YopM.”

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Though plague appear to simply be a disease of the past, it is still rather relevant in today’s society and poses as a severe disease for humans. In the year 2013, 783 cases of plague were reported from around the world with a death toll of 126. The most recent reporting of a plague victim occurred in Portland, Oregon on October 24th, 2015 in which a 16-year-old girl likely acquired the disease from a flea bite during a hunting trip five days before her hospital admittance. It is due to modern medicine, sanitation, and general awareness that plague pandemics do not occur on a widespread and severe scale.