Common Application Sample Short Answer on Riding Horses

Common Application Sample Short Answer on Riding Horses Many college applications, including those with supplemental essays on the Common Application, include a short answer section that asks a question along these lines: Please elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. The question provides an opportunity for you to tell the admissions folks a little more about something that you truly care about, or an activity that has had a meaningful impact on your life. As Lauras short answer illustrates, the focus of the essay doesnt have to be a formal school activity or a competitive sport. Laura simply writes about something she loves, and in the process provides a window into her personality and passions. Laura's Short Answer Essay In response to her college applications short answer question on an extracurricular activity, Laura wrote about her love of horseback riding: I dont ride for blue ribbons or Olympic golds, although I respect and admire those chosen few who do. I dont ride for the workout, although my trembling muscles at the end of a good lesson indicate otherwise. I dont ride because I have anything to prove, although Ive proven a lot to myself along the way. I ride for the feeling of two individual beings becoming one, so perfectly matched that its impossible to tell where rider ends and horse begins. I ride to feel the staccato beat of hooves against dirt echoed in the rhythm of my own heart. I ride because it isnt easy to navigate a creature with a mind of its own around a course of solid obstacles, but in that perfect moment when horse and rider work as one, it can be the easiest thing in the world. I ride for an affectionate nose nudging my shoulder as I turn to leave, searching for a treat or a pat or murmured words of praise. I ride for myself, but for my horse as well, my partner and my equal. Critique of Laura's Short Answer Essay Its important to note what Lauras short answer does and does not do. It does not tout a major accomplishment. Her first sentence, in fact, explicitly tells us that this is not going to be an essay about winning blue ribbons. The short answer certainly is a place where you can elaborate on your accomplishments as an athlete, but Laura has taken a different approach to the task at hand. What clearly comes across in Lauras short essay is her love of horseback riding. Laura isnt someone who rides horses in an effort to build up her extracurricular activity resume. She rides horses because she loves riding horses. Her passion for her favorite activity is unquestionable. Another positive feature of Lauras short answer is the writing itself. The tone is understated, not boastful. The repetition of sentence structure (I dont ride.. in the first paragraph and I ride... in the second), creates a rhythmic feel to the essay much like the riding of a horse itself. This type of repetition wouldnt hold up for a longer essay, but for the short answer it can create a type of prose poem. The college is asking for this short answer and the longer personal essay because the school has holistic admissions. The admissions counselors want to get to know you as a person, to see the unique individual behind the grades and standardized test scores. Lauras short answer does well on this front; she comes across as an observant, passionate, and compassionate woman. In short, she sounds like the type of student who would be a welcome addition to a campus community. As far as length goes, Lauras essay comes in at just under 1,000 characters, and this tends to be right around the ideal short answer length. That said, be sure to read the guidelines carefully- the length guidelines can vary from 100 to 250 words (or even more) for this type of essay, and youll want to follow the colleges guidelines carefully. Lauras essay, like all essays, isnt perfect. When she states that she has  proven a lot to [her]self along the way, she doesnt develop this point. What exactly has she learned from her experience with horseback riding? How exactly has horseback riding changed her as a person? In such a limited space, however, the admissions folks wont be looking for too much depth and introspection. More Short Answer Resources By following a few guidelines for writing a winning short answer, you can assure that your little essay strengthens your application. Be sure to pick an activity that is truly important to you, not one that you think will impress the admissions folks. Also make sure every word counts- theres absolutely no room for wordiness in such a short piece. Finally, be careful to avoid some of the most common short answer mistakes. Realize that even a short answer on working at Burger King can be effective if it reveals the value of the work experience. On the flip side, a short answer on starting your own business can weaken your application if the focus and tone are off. How you write your short answer is in many ways more important than what you write about. A Final Word Its easy to pay so much attention to the primary application essay that you rush off responses to the shorter supplemental essays. Dont make this mistake. Each essay gives you an opportunity to showcase a side of your personality and passions that isnt readily visible elsewhere in your application. Indeed, if horseback riding was the focus of Lauras main essay, the topic would be a poor choice for her short answer. If her primary essay has a different focus, then her short answer does an excellent job showing that she is a well-rounded student with a wide range of interests.

Discussion document Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion document - Essay Example He believes in handling challenges head on and rolls up his sleeves to handle the same rather than delegating people to accomplish such tasks for him. He is the ideal leader because rather than him being a boss, he is a team player that has made him to earn respect among those that he works with and also those that he trains. Hal Bagley works mostly with his wife, Baadrea in the many training projects as both of them also head the LGT Executive Coaching. Both of them bring different skills to the table as she focuses on enhancing personal growth and interpersonal skills for clients, which is an essential part of the training program. Therefore, Hal credits most of his success to team effort as working alone can never be a key to achieving the major milestones that one seeks to achieve in the corporate world. Other than being involved in training the leadership of top performing companies and a number of non-profit leadership boards, the Bagleys also run a non profit organization that seeks to give stability to single parents together with their children. The organization is run by a group of about 200 volunteers headed by an executive director and board of directors, which is impacting the lives of hundreds in a significant way. Hal is not involved in improving the corporate world, but he also seeks to help those that that are the bottom of the ladder. So far Bagley’s results from the corporate trainings include influencing the streamlining of employees of an organization, which in turn has helped in simplifying audits by up to 5 times. Further, Hal helped with the integration of privately owned company with a Fortune 100 company, which led the 200 person, company increasing from $36M to $72 million in just two years. Additionally, this company through the guidance of Bagley was able to successfully implement HR systems, IT systems program management processes and AS9100 certification among a list of other

Could a seniority Based Pay be used as a Motivation Device (MBA Essay

Could a seniority Based Pay be used as a Motivation Device (MBA DISSERTATION) - Essay Example The purpose of the present research was to establish if the seniority based plan can act as a motivational device. Towards this, a qualitative research was conducted where the managers and the employees were asked to give their opinion about Favourable/unfavourable aspect of the plan, and also to make suggestions to improve it. The responses indicated that employees at Federal Foods Ltd appeared to be approving of the concept of seniority based pay, but were concerned about problems with its implementation. Employees at Federal Foods Ltd appreciated the opportunity to be judged on merit, the money offered by the plan, and the incentive to of raise through seniority; but they were concerned with the quality of the goals that were set and with a lack of fairness or a perception of favouritism in the allocation of rewards. The offered suggestion included an appeal to inculcate fairness in the implementation of the plan, to make relevant goals contingent upon the pay and to involve worke rs in the entire process. The participant observation that was carried out by the researchers revealed that the supervisors who acted as their conduit to the senior managers motivated the workers. Other factors that can be attributed to motivating the employees include, realistic and fair budgets, and the encouragement to exercise self-evaluation. It was also observed that among those hired-with-tenure, Federal Foods Ltd employees with 3 to 15 years of seniority earned approximately 8 to 10 percent more than new hires with tenure; and Federal Foods Ltd employees with 16 or more years of seniority earn over 15 percent more than those with 2 or fewer years of seniority. Among Federal Foods Ltd employees who have exhibited a willingness and ability to change employers there are positive returns to seniority. It was also found that the rising returns to seniority among Federal Food Ltd employees are consistent across gender and across departments. The in depth

Palliative and Hospice for End of Life Care Essay Example for Free

Palliative and Hospice for End of Life Care Essay The notion of death and the process of dying are often experienced as tragedies, especially in the western culture. Thus, the medical model of care performed in our western culture includes life-saving measures and curative treatments. However, there may be a time in a person’s life when a cure may no longer be an option. That is the time when palliative or hospice care can step in to afford the patient and the family the opportunity to maximize the remaining time spent together. This paper will compare and contrast palliative care with the hospice model. In addition, end-of-life care related to physical well-being, psychological well-being, social well-being, and spiritual well-being will be addressed based on my experience as a student nurse with Hospice of San Joaquin. Finally, the views of end-of-life care will be discussed as it relates to the hospice model. Palliative care and hospice care share a common thread. They are both models of care that take a holistic and individualized approach to anticipate and alleviate the symptoms and suffering that arise from chronic and terminal illnesses (Witt Sherman, D. , Cheon, J. , 2012). They both encompass the patient and family as the center of care and provide comprehensive assessments and comfort measures to patients with terminal illnesses. The care continues past the death of the patient and can continue into the bereavement period for family. Hospice will continue to support the bereaved family up to one year past the death of the patient (Hospice of San Joaquin, 2010). Both models utilize an interdisciplinary approach to care with team members that include physicians, nurses, social workers, spiritual members, massage therapists, and home health aids and others. Palliative care can be utilized during any time during the course of an illness and disease process. The cost of cure can be extensive and both palliative and hospice care limit medical interventions that can significantly increase healthcare costs. Data substantiating improved quality of life for the patient and the families as well as improved coordination of care have been identified as valuable outcomes in both palliative and hospice care (Hospice of San Joaquin, 2010). Both models allow for services to be provided in the home, in extended care facilities, hospitals, and community home-based programs and outpatient clinics (Witt Sherman, D. , Cheon, J. , 2012). The differences between the programs are centered on the time the care is available. Palliative care is available during any point of the illness from time of diagnosis through the bereavement period for families. In addition, palliative care may be offered while life-prolonging treatments are being administered (Witt Sherman, D. Cheon, J. , 2012). Hospice care is available during the end of life and typically, but not always, takes place the last six months of the patient’s life. If the dying process exceeds six months, hospice care can be suspended and restarted when the patient’s life expectancy falls below six months (Hospice of San Joaquin, 2010). Hospice care may be offered in all settings previously mentioned, as well as hospice units and residential hospices (Witt Sherman, D. , Cheon, J. , 2012).

Injuries and Ailments of Hamsters :: Hamsters Animals Veternarians Essays

Injuries and Ailments of Hamsters In general, hamsters (especially those in the wild) are robust little animals and aren't affected by many natural diseases. But, they are very susceptible to the infectious diseases of other animals, including humans. Many of the problems and ailments now associated with hamsters are a direct result of captivity. Because they are small, a minor illness can rapidly become major if immediate treatment isn't pursued. Since they are nocturnal many of the early signs of illness are not noticed. To insure good health, hamsters should be checked regularly: to include eating habits, exercise habits, teeth, limbs, body check for lumps, cuts and abrasions, etc. etc. A sick hamster generally becomes irritable and "bitey." They frequently become lethargic or walk almost stiff-legged if forced to move or may sit in a "hunched" position. The eyes are usually dull, sunken and sometimes watery. And, they don't eat much, which results in weight loss. SYMPTOM POSSIBLE CAUSE Blood in Urine Bladder & Kidney Infection Bloody Diarrhea Intussusception Breathing Heavy Shock - Colds & Influenza Broken Limb Broken Limb Bulging Anus Constipation - Intussusception - Rectal Prolapse Closed Eye(s) Impacted Pouch - Irritated Eyes Constipation Endoparasites Crusty Lesions in ears, face, feet Ear Mites Cuts & Bites Abscesses - Cuts & Bites Dragging Hind Quarters Broken Limb - Cage Paralysis - Hind Limb Paralysis Dry Scaly Skin Demodicosis - Mange - Mites - Ringworm - Sarcoptic Mange Eating Babies Cannibalism Eggs in Feces Endoparasites Excessive Drinking Bladder & Kidney Infection - Diabetes Extreme Diarrhea Tyzzer's Disease - Wet Tail Eye Rupture Eye Prolapse

Essay on dickin’s journey to niagra Essay

Dickens felt transported by the sublimity of Niagara Falls when he visited it on his 1842 journey to the United States and Canada. In a letter to Forster (26 April 1842), he said of Horseshoe Falls (the Canadian side of Niagara) that â€Å"It would be hard for a man to stand nearer God than he does there† (Letters 3: 210). Dickens proceeds to effuse over the beauty and majesty of the falls in a passage that forms the chief part of his description of his experience in American Notes, although the letter actually offers the superior account: There was a bright rainbow at my feet; and from that I looked up to –great Heaven! To what a fall of bright green water! The broad, deep, mighty stream seems to die in the act of falling; and, from its unfathomable grave arises that tremendous ghost of spray and mist which is never laid, and has been haunting this place with the same dread solemnity–perhaps from the creation of the world (Letters 3: 210-11). In this essay, I analyze Dickens’s reaction to Niagara Falls in the context of other British travel narratives from the previous decade, and examine how Niagara speaks to Dickens of life after death (as he describes it above, the falls die and then rise again in ghostly mist). His profound experience at Niagara Falls shaped his treatment of climactic, transcendent moments in subsequent novels; in particular, from this point on Dickens repeatedly uses water imagery (especially seas, swamps and rivers) as symbols of death, rebirth, transformation and of being disturbed with â€Å"the joy of elevated thoughts,† to use Wordsworth’s phrase in â€Å"Tintern Abbey.† But Dickens’s reaction was more than just a typical Romantic experience, similar to those of other nineteenth-century British travelers; it was in part shaped by his overall disappointment in America and his relief to be on English ground again. Niagara Falls fulfills several definitions of the sublime. Philosophers since Longinus have used the term â€Å"sublime† to refer to experiences that go beyond the everyday, that inspire awe, that involve a sense of grandeur, that elevate one’s thoughts and feelings and that exceed the capacity of human descriptive powers. Longinus, of course, used the term in reference to rhetoric, but later philosophers found many of the same qualities in sublime scenes of nature. Edmund Burke in his Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757) emphasized the role of terror in the sublime, for only the presence of fear, he felt, could account for the complete overwhelming of all other thoughts and sensations in experiencing sublime scenes in nature. Alexander Gerard in â€Å"An Essay on Taste† (1759) stressed the importance of physical immensity in the experience of the sublime: â€Å"When a large object is presented, the mind expands itself to the extent of that object, and is filled with one grand sensation, which totally possessing it, composes it into a solemn sedateness and strikes it with deep silent wonder and admiration† (11). Similarly, the Romantics, and particularly Wordsworth, felt that natural scenes that impress the viewer with their immensity and particularly their power, such as mountains or waterfalls, create sublime sensations that feed the soul and the poetic imagination both at the moment and in the future by the aid of imagination and memory. Niagara Falls embodies all the qualities traditionally associated with the sublime–its immensity, power, and beauty overawe viewers, reminding them, particularly in nineteenth-century accounts, of the presence of other awe-inspiring forces such as death and God. Niagara Falls, oddly enough, fits even the scientific definition of sublime, which is â€Å"to cause to pass from solid to the vapor state by heating and againcondense to solid form.† Not by heating but by motion and pressure the falls turn water into vapor, the ever present mist that surrounds them, and the vapor eventually returns again to the falls, a cycle that led Dickens to use death/resurrection imagery in the description quoted above (i.e. â€Å"The broad, deep, mighty stream seems to die in the act of falling; and, from its unfathomable grave arises that tremendous ghost of spray and mist which is never laid†). It is the never-ending presence of great volumes of spray that leads to the ever-present rainbows in descriptions and paintings of the falls, such as Frederic Church’s famous 1857 painting, â€Å"Niagara.† The rainbows naturally heighten the spiritual effect of the falls as they are the perfect image of a bridge between earth and heaven and are the symbol of God’s covenant with man in the flood story in Genesis. They are also a striking conjunction of energy (light) and matter (water particles) and as  such are a powerful metaphor for the presence of the divine on earth. It is the rainbows that seem to move Dickens the most on his second visit to Niagara in 1868, a quarter of a century after his first visit, a trip he took purely for pleasure. As he wrote to Forster on March 16, 1868: The majestic valley below the Falls, so seen through the vast cloud of spray, was made of rainbow. The high banks, the riven rocks, the forests, the bridge, the buildings, the air, the sky, were all made of rainbow. Nothing in Turner’s finest water-colour drawings, done in his greatest day, is so ethereal, so imaginative, so gorgeous in colour, as what I then beheld. I seemed to be lifted from the earth and to be looking into Heaven. What I once said to you, as I witnessed the scene five and twenty years ago, all came back at this most affecting and sublime sight (Letters 12: 75). Dickens was certainly not the only English tourist to be awed by Niagara Falls. In fact, his visit there, and even his mystical effusions about it, could be considered customary and necessary elements of any narrative of travels through America and Canada. As Amanda Claybaugh states in The Novel of Purpose: Literature and Social Reform in the Anglo-American World, â€Å"the conventional itinerary included the †¦ [main] natural sites (the Mississippi River, the prairies of the West, and above all else, Niagara Falls)† (71-2). In Domestic Manners of the Americans (1832), Frances Trollope refers to all the chief elements of the sublime in her description of Niagara Falls, repeatedly expressing that they defy description and that in viewing them â€Å"wonder, terror, and delight† overwhelmed her (337). â€Å"I wept with a strange mixture of pleasure and of pain,† she writes, â€Å"and certainly was, for some time, too violently affected†¦. to be capable of much pleasure; but when this emotion of the senses subsided †¦ my enjoyment was very great indeed.† She notes the mystical effect of the falls as well: â€Å"It has to me something beyond its vastness,† over which â€Å"a shadowy mystery hangs,† which â€Å"neither the eye nor even the imagination can penetrate† (337). Harriet Martineau visited the falls in 1834 and, like Trollope and Dickens, associated them with the mystical: â€Å"to offer an idea of Niagara by writing of hues and dimensions is much like representing the kingdom of  Heaven by images of jasper and topazes† (96). On her second visit to the falls months later, Martineau descended the stairs behind the falls and wrote: From the moment that I perceived that we were actually behind the cataract, and not in a mere cloud of spray, the enjoyment was intense. I not only saw the watery curtain before me like tempest-driven snow, but by momentary glances could see the crystal roof of this most wonderful of Nature’s palaces (104). Perhaps the oddest narrative of a British visit to Niagara Falls comes from Captain Frederick Marryat, who wrote about his 1837 trip to the falls in his Diary in America, published in 1839: As I stood on the brink above the falls, continuing for a considerable time to watch the great mass of water tumbling, dancing, capering, and rushing wildly along †¦ I could not help wishing that I too had been made of such stuff as would have enabled me to have joined it; with it to have rushed innocuously down the precipice; to have rolled uninjured into the deep unfathomable gulf below (111). The longer he stood there the more the urge to jump into the falls rose in him until he had to pull himself away, an experience that testifies to the terror that Burke argued was inherent in the sublime, a terror that Trollope experienced but Dickens denied feeling in viewing the falls. As it turns out, Marryat might have done himself a favor to jump, for as Jules Zanger, the editor of his diary, asserts, â€Å"of all the literary lions who have made their progress through †¦ America †¦ the most tactless and blundering was Captain Frederick Marryat.† Zanger points out that Marryat began his journey as an â€Å"honored guest,† but before he concluded his trip, â€Å"he had been threatened by a lynch mob, had watched his books burned in public bonfires, and †¦ had seen himself hung in effigy [twice] by angry crowds† (9). He had a habit, it seems, of regularly saying the wrong thing, a habit that at times carries over into his travel narrative, as in a bizarre passage where he wishes he could transport Niagara Falls to Italy and pour them down Mount Vesuvius and thereby â€Å"create the largest steamboiler that ever entered into the imagination of man† (111). Later, Marryat counters the oddness of this image with the more conventional statement that the voice of Niagara was the  voice of the Almighty, and that a Presbyterian minister he heard nearby should have preached on its message instead of on the uninspiring and hackneyed subject of temperance (112). These were the American journeys and narratives most in the British public eye when Dickens embarked on his trip to North America. In this context, his ecstatic description of the falls may seem rather ordinary. Romanticism was still the dominant cultural influence at the time, so one was expected to have Romantic effusions about iconic Romantic scenes. (1) But while the journey to the falls may have become customary, and the experiences of the sublime similar in most narratives, yet the effect was still profound for Dickens, as one can see particularly in the letters where he goes beyond the vague, mystical language often associated with the sublime and makes specific personal connections with the falls. As I have pointed out above, the falls made Dickens think almost immediately of the cycle of death and resurrection with the falls descending into the abyss and rising again in spray. But even more specifically they reminded him of his beloved sister-in-law Mary who had died suddenly seven years earlier. As he wrote to Forster from Niagara, â€Å"what would I give if the dear girl whose ashes lie in Kensal-green, had lived to come so far along with us.† But then he takes back the wish because he decides that she must have â€Å"been here many times, I doubt not, since her sweet face faded from my earthly sight† (Letters 3: 211). His associating the falls with Mary’s death and her continuing spiritual presence on earth allows Dickens to make the falls his own, at least in part. They become linked to a personal family tragedy and offer a consolation for her loss. But Dickens makes another personal connection with the falls. In letters written from Niagara, he repeatedly adds to the date the phrase â€Å"Niagara Falls (Upon the English Side)† with â€Å"English† underscored with as many as ten dashes. He only does this in letters to his English friends, of course–including Forster, Mitton and Beard, as if to express a sense of relief. After Dickens’s well-known disappointments with Americans–his exasperation with their greed, their spitting, their lack of respect for privacy and copyright laws, not to mention their slavery–topics covered  fully in American Notes and in letters–being among English on English turf must have been a welcome experience. Writing to Forster on 26 April 1842, Dickens mentions that there were two English officers with them as they first approached the falls, and he exclaims â€Å"ah! What gentlemen, what noblemen of nature they seemed,† implying that he had not seen much of their kind in the States (Letters 3: 210). In emphasizing the English side of the falls, Dickens once again seems to imagine a personal connection to something that transcends the personal. He tries to come to terms with the sublimity of the falls, reduce them at least in part to his level, make them part of himself, part of his family story, part of his Englishness. In this way he can own his experience of the falls, anchor it mentally and emotionally and then use it later in his fiction, as he indeed does. His account of the falls in American Notes lacks some of the interest of his descriptions in letters precisely because he leaves out the personal connections he makes in correspondence, no doubt deeming them inappropriate for the public narrative. Having made these personal associations between the falls and the death and spiritual presence of Mary and between the sublime and the English, it is not surprising, then, that Dickens would work the falls and other powerful images of water into his portrayals of death, transformations, and transcendent moments in his subsequent novels. In order to gauge the change we must first look at the imagery Dickens used for such moments in his earlier novels. In the novels Dickens published before visiting Niagara in 1842, he frequently gestured toward transcendence in death scenes and in concluding chapters, but the imagery he used tends to center on sunny little communities, flowers and other greenery, angels, and churches. Consider Mr. Pickwick’s cheery rural community at the end of his tale–not transcendent, perhaps, but in the bond between Pickwick and Sam which â€Å"nothing but death will sever† certainly leaning to the legendary (ch. 57). Or consider the â€Å"gentle light† that Rose Maylie sheds as she stands with Oliver by Agnes’s tomb in Oliver Twist (both characters are suffused with light in Cruikshank’s last illustration). Nicholas Nickleby ends with a summery community of Nicklebys and friends with their children strewing flowers on Smike’s grave–Phiz nicely captures the feeling of summer and sunshine in  his final illustration (Figure 1). As Dickens describes the scene: The grass was green above the dead boy’s grave, and trodden by feet so small and light, that not a daisy drooped its head beneath their pressure. Through all the spring and summer-time, garlands of fresh flowers wreathed by infant hands rested upon the stone, and when the children came to change them lest they should wither and be pleasant to him no longer, their eyes filled with tears, and they spoke low and softly of their poor dead cousin† (ch. 64). Barr, Alan P. â€Å"Mourning Becomes David: Loss and the Victorian Restoration of Young Copperfield.† Dickens Quarterly 24 (June 2007): 63-77. Berard, Jane. Dickens and Landscape Discourse. New York: Peter Lang, 2007. Claybaugh, Amanda. The Novel of Purpose: Literature and Social Reform in the Anglo-American World. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 2007. Dickens, Charles. The Pilgrim Edition of the Letters of Charles Dickens. Vols. 3, 12. Ed. Madeline House, et al. Oxford: Clarendon, 1974-2002. Gerard, Alexander. â€Å"An Essay on Taste.† Intro. Walter J. Hipple. 3rd ed. 1780. Gainesville: U of Florida P, 1963. Marryat, Captain Frederck. Diary in America. Ed. by Jules Zanger. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1960. Martineau, Harriet. Retrospect of Western Travel. Vol. 1. 1838. New York: Johnson, 1968. Metz, Nancy Aycock. The Companion to Martin Chuzzlewit. Robertsbridge: Helm Information, 2001. Page, Norman. Ed. and Intro. The Old Curiosity Shop. NY: Penguin, 2000. Poole, Adrian. Ed. and Intro. Our Mutual Friend. NY: Penguin, 1997. Slater, Michael. Ed. Dickens’ Journalism. Dent Uniform Edition. Vol. 2. London: J. M. Dent, 1997. Trollope, Frances. Domestic Manners of the Americans. London: Routledge, 1927. NATALIE MCKNIGHT (Boston University) NOTES (1) Jane Berard sees Dickens’s description of the falls simply as customary, but pays scant attention to his descriptions in letters (51). (2) Recent examples include Michelle Allen’s Cleansing the City: Sanitary Geographies in Victorian London, Athens, OH: U of Ohio P, 2007; Leon Litvack’s â€Å"Images of the River in Our Mutual Friend,† Dickens Quarterly 20.1 (2003): 34-55; and Pamela Gilbert’s â€Å"Medical Mapping: The Thames, the Body, and Our Mutual Friend,† in Filth, Dirt, Disgust and Modern Life, ed. by William A. Cohen and Ryan Johnson, Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 2005, 78-102. (3) â€Å"Transmutation of Species,† AYR (9 March 1861), 519-21. Dickens was aware of other theories related to evolution as well, and refers to â€Å"the Monboddo doctrine †¦ of the human race having once been monkeys† in the first chapter of Martin Chuzzlewit (Metz 37-9) and to Robert Chambers’s Vestiges (1844) in a review of Robert Hunt’s Poetry of Science published in The Examiner in 1848 (Slater 2: 129-34). In addition, Household Words included F. T. Buckland’s â€Å"Old Bones,† (24 Sept. 1853) and Henry Morley’s â€Å"Our Phantom Ship on an Antediluvian Cruise† (16 Aug. 1851). See also Natalie McKnight, â€Å"Dickens and Darwin: A Rhetoric of Pets,† The Dickensian 102 (2006), 131-43. COPYRIGHT 2009 Dickens Society of America No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder. Copyright 2009 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Please bookmark with social media, your votes are noticed and appreciated:

Biography of Christine de Pizan, Medieval Writer

Christine de Pizan (1364 to 1430), born in Venice, Italy, was an Italian writer and political and moral thinker during the late medieval period. She became a prominent writer at the French court during the reign of Charles VI, writing on literature, morals, and politics, among other topics. She  was noted for her unusually outspoken defense of women. Her writings remained influential and oft-printed through the 16th  century, and her work returned to prominence during the mid-20th  century. Fast Facts: Christine de Pizan Known For: Early feminist thinker and influential writer in the royal court of Charles VI of FranceBorn: 1364 in Venice, ItalyDied: 1430 in Poissy, FrancePublished Works: The Book of the City of Ladies, The Treasure of the City of LadiesFamous Quote:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The man or the woman in whom resides greater virtue is the higher; neither the loftiness nor the lowliness of a person lies in the body according to the sex but in the perfection of conduct and virtues.†Ã‚  (from  The Book of the City of Ladies) Early Life Pizan was born in Venice to Tommaso di Benvenuto da Pizzano, later known by the Gallicized moniker Thomas de Pizan, in reference to the family’s origins in the town of Pizzano. Thomas was a physician, astrologer, and politician in Venice, then a republic in its own right, and accepted a posting to the French court of Charles V in 1368. His family accompanied him there. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Pizan was well educated from a young age, in large part thanks to her father, who encouraged her learning and provided access to an extensive library. The French court was highly intellectual, and Pizan absorbed it all. Wed and Widowed At the age of fifteen, Pizan  married Etienne du Castel, a court secretary. The marriage was, by all accounts, a happy one. The pair were close in age, and the marriage produced three children in ten years. Etienne encouraged Pizans intellectual and creative pursuits as well. Pizans father Thomas died in 1386, with some debts outstanding. Since Thomas had been the royal favorite, the family’s fortunes were not as bright after his death. In 1389, tragedy struck again. Etienne fell ill and died, most likely from the plague, leaving Pizan a widow with three young children. With no surviving male relatives, Pizan was left as the sole supporter of her children and her mother (and a niece, according to some sources). When she attempted to claim the salary still owed to her late husband, she was forced to engage in legal battles to get what was owed. Writer at Court The royal courts of England and Milan both expressed interest in Pizans presence, but her loyalty remained with the court where she had spent nearly her entire life. The natural decision might have been to remarry, but Pizan made the decision to not seek a second husband among the men at court. Instead, she turned to her considerable writing skill as a means to support her family. At first, Pizans  output mainly consisted of love poetry in the favored styles of the era. Several of the ballads were expressions of grief over Etienne’s passing, again highlighting the genuine affection of their marriage. Pizan was highly involved in the production of her books, and her skillful poetry and embrace of Christian morals caught the eyes of many of the wealthy, titled courtiers. Writing romantic ballads was also a crucial means of gaining patrons, given the popularity of the form. As time passed, she gained many patrons, including Louis I, Duke of Orleans, Phillip, Duke of Burgundy, Marie of Berry, and even an English earl, the Earl of Salisbury. Due to her ability to utilize these powerful patrons, Pizan  was able to navigate a time of major turmoil in the French court during the reign of Charles VI, who earned the moniker â€Å"the Mad† due to his bouts of mental illness that rendered him unfit to rule for stretches of time. Pizan also wrote many of her works for and about the French royal family. In 1404, her biography of Charles V was published, and she often dedicated pieces of writing to the royals. A 1402 work was dedicated to Queen Isabeau (Charles VI’s wife) and compared the queen to the historical queen Blanche of Castile. Literary Quarrel Pizans poetry was clearly influenced by her own experience of losing her husband and being left to fend for herself, but some poems had an unusual tone that set her apart. One poem describes a fictionalized Pizan being touched by the personification of Fortune and â€Å"changed† into a male, a literary depiction of her struggles to be her family’s breadwinner and fulfill a â€Å"male† role. This was only the start of Pizans writings on gender. In 1402, Pizan  gained attention as the instigator of a famous literary debate, the â€Å"Querelle du Roman de la Rose† or the â€Å"Quarrel of the Romance of the Rose.† The debate centered on the Romance of the Rose, written by Jean de Meun, and its harsh, misogynistic depictions of women. Pizans writings defended women from these portrayals, using her extensive knowledge of literature and rhetoric to debate at a scholarly level. The Book of the City of Ladies The work for which Pizan is best known is The Book of the City of Ladies (Le Livre de la cità © des dames). In this work and its companion, The Treasure of the City of Ladies, Pizan  created an extensive allegory in defense of women, marking her as one of the earliest Western feminist authors. The central idea of the work is the creation of a great metaphorical city, constructed by and for heroic, virtuous women throughout history. In the book, Pizans  fictionalized self has a lengthy dialogue with three ladies who are the personifications of great virtues: Reason, Rectitude, and Justice. Her rhetoric is designed to critique the oppression of women and the vulgar, misogynistic attitudes of male writers of the day. It included profiles and â€Å"examples† drawn from great women of history, as well as logical arguments against oppression and sexism. Additionally, the book exhorts women of all stations to cultivate their skills and to live well. Even in the production of her book, Pizan advanced the cause of women. The Book of the City of Ladies was produced as an illuminated manuscript, which Pizan herself oversaw. Only skilled women were employed to produce it. Political Writings During Pizans  life, the French court was in considerable turmoil, with various factions constantly vying for power and the king incapacitated much of the time. Pizans writings urged unity against a common enemy (the English, with whom the French were fighting the Hundred Years’ War) rather than civil war. Unfortunately, civil war broke out around 1407. In 1410, Pizan  published a treatise on warfare and chivalry, in which she discussed the concepts of just war, treatment of troops and prisoners, and more. Her work was balanced for her time, adhering to the contemporary concept of war as divinely ordained justice but also critiquing the cruelties and crimes committed in wartime. As her connection to the royal family remained intact, Pizan  also published The Book of Peace, her final major work, in 1413. The manuscript was dedicated to the young dauphin, Louis of Guyenne, and was filled with advice on how to govern well. In her writing, Pizan advocated against civil war and advised the prince to set an example for his subjects by being wise, just, honorable, honest, and available to his people. Later Life and Death After the French defeat at Agincourt in 1415, Pizan  stepped away from court and retired to a convent. Her writing ceased, although in 1429, she wrote a paean to Joan of Arc, the only such French-language work written in Joan’s lifetime. Christine de Pizan died at the convent in Poissy, France in 1430 at the age of 66. Legacy Christine de Pizan was one of the earliest feminist writers, defending women and placing value on the perspectives of women. Her works criticized the misogyny found in classical romances and were seen as vindications of women. After her death,  The Book of the City of Ladies remained in print, and her political writings continued to circulate as well. Later scholars, most notably Simone de Beauvoir, brought Pizans works back to prominence in the twentieth century, studying her as one of the earliest instances of women who wrote in defense of other women. Sources Brown-Grant, Rosalind. Christine de Pizan and the Moral Defence of Women. Cambridge University Press, 1999.â€Å"Christine de Pisan.† Brooklyn Museum, https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/christine_de_pisanâ€Å"Christine de Pizan Biography.† Biography, https://www.biography.com/people/christine-de-pisan-9247589Lunsford, Andrea A., editor. Reclaiming Rhetorica: Women and in the Rhetorical Tradition.  University of Pittsburgh Press, 1995.Porath, Jason. Rejected Princesses: Tales of History’s Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics. New York: Dey Street Books, 2016.