The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Essay Example for Free

The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Essay This novel is the autobiographical description of a young African American girl growing up in the South. She was left with her grandmother Annie along with her older brother Bailey while her parents went their own ways. She experienced segregation, discrimination, rape and molestation. Towards the end she became pregnant by a boyfriend, yet still completes high school. The story ends with her sleeping close to her new born son. Through all of these things, she learned that to be a black female you have to be strong. Obviously, a major theme that is addressed throughout the story is racism. She has observed her grandmother experience it and she experienced it herself. Her thoughts on how to deal with ‘white folks’ was less passive than she felt her grandmother’s approach was. Another theme was displacement. As a descendant of slaves, she felt that she, among many other African Americans, are struggling to find their place in this society. Her opening line: â€Å"What you looking at me for? I didn’t come to stay†¦Ã¢â‚¬  reflects that she feels like she doesn’t belong where she is, and is on her way to where she does belong. African American dialect is used throughout the book, particularly in dialogue. She tells the story in first person and gives her commentary on the events of her life as well as descriptions of the significant occurrences of her life. The novel had a conversational style, as if she was in the room talking to you. She reflects on her memories and describes her emotions, and the effect certain situations had on later events in her life.   It seems to be a chronological account. It is evident that she believes that blacks should stand up for themselves. This is a society where there are many disadvantages for African Americans, but the challenges can be overcome with strength. She views life as a passing journey with lesson after lesson to be learned along the way.

My Antonia Essay: The Role of Women -- My Antonia Essays

The Role of Women in My Antonia  Ã‚        Ã‚   In her novel, My Antonia, Cather represents the frontier as a new nation. Blanche Gelfant notes that Cather "creat[ed] images of strong and resourceful women upon whom the fate of a new country depended" . This responsibility, along with the "economic productivity" Gilbert and Gubar cite (173), reinforces the sense that women hold a different place in this frontier community than they would in the more settled areas of America.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One manner in which this unusual place can be seen is in the women's privileged relationship to the land in the text. While Jim Burden attends school, it is Antonia who shapes and works the new land that the pioneers inhabit, going "from farm to farm" to fill the need for agricultural hands (111). While Otto and Jake fill this need early in the text, it is predominantly Antonia's cultivation of the land that is followed throughout the remainder of the text. Similarly, the concrete contributions of the "hired girls" stand in pointed contrast to the invisible and/or passive employment of male characters such as Mr. Harling.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the same way, Jim recognizes that it is the "hired girls" like Antonia who will form the backbone of the society when the next generation comes: "the girls who once worked in Black Hawk kitchens are to-day [sic] managing big farms and fine families of their own; their children are better off than the children of the women they used to serve" (150-1). These assertions--of the women's direct involvement of the development of the region, both agriculturally and socially--highlight an important point: "it is insufficient to think of nationalism affecting gender in a one-way relationship" (Walby 237). In other words,... ...Own: Attitudes Toward Women in Willa Cather's Short Fiction." Modern Fiction Studies 36:1 (Spring 1990): 81-89. Mosse, George. Nationalism and Sexuality: Respectability and Abnormal Sexuality in Modern Europe. New York: Howard Fertig, Inc., 1985. Ryan, Maureen. "No Woman's Land: Gender in Willa Cather's One of Ours." Studies in American Fiction 18 (Spring 1990): 65-75. Summers, Claude J. "'A Losing Game in the End': Aestheticism and Homosexuality in Cather's 'Paul's Case.'" Modern Fiction Studies 36:1 (Spring 1990): 103-119. Walby, Sylvia. "Woman and Nation." Mapping the Nation. ed. Gopal Balakrishnan. New York: Verso, 1996. 235-254. Woolf, Virginia. Three Guineas. London: Hogarth Press Ltd., 1938. Wussow, Helen. "Language, Gender, and Ethnicity in Three Fictions by Willa Cather." Women and Language 18 (Spring 1995): 52-5.          My Antonia Essay: The Role of Women -- My Antonia Essays The Role of Women in My Antonia  Ã‚        Ã‚   In her novel, My Antonia, Cather represents the frontier as a new nation. Blanche Gelfant notes that Cather "creat[ed] images of strong and resourceful women upon whom the fate of a new country depended" . This responsibility, along with the "economic productivity" Gilbert and Gubar cite (173), reinforces the sense that women hold a different place in this frontier community than they would in the more settled areas of America.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One manner in which this unusual place can be seen is in the women's privileged relationship to the land in the text. While Jim Burden attends school, it is Antonia who shapes and works the new land that the pioneers inhabit, going "from farm to farm" to fill the need for agricultural hands (111). While Otto and Jake fill this need early in the text, it is predominantly Antonia's cultivation of the land that is followed throughout the remainder of the text. Similarly, the concrete contributions of the "hired girls" stand in pointed contrast to the invisible and/or passive employment of male characters such as Mr. Harling.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the same way, Jim recognizes that it is the "hired girls" like Antonia who will form the backbone of the society when the next generation comes: "the girls who once worked in Black Hawk kitchens are to-day [sic] managing big farms and fine families of their own; their children are better off than the children of the women they used to serve" (150-1). These assertions--of the women's direct involvement of the development of the region, both agriculturally and socially--highlight an important point: "it is insufficient to think of nationalism affecting gender in a one-way relationship" (Walby 237). In other words,... ...Own: Attitudes Toward Women in Willa Cather's Short Fiction." Modern Fiction Studies 36:1 (Spring 1990): 81-89. Mosse, George. Nationalism and Sexuality: Respectability and Abnormal Sexuality in Modern Europe. New York: Howard Fertig, Inc., 1985. Ryan, Maureen. "No Woman's Land: Gender in Willa Cather's One of Ours." Studies in American Fiction 18 (Spring 1990): 65-75. Summers, Claude J. "'A Losing Game in the End': Aestheticism and Homosexuality in Cather's 'Paul's Case.'" Modern Fiction Studies 36:1 (Spring 1990): 103-119. Walby, Sylvia. "Woman and Nation." Mapping the Nation. ed. Gopal Balakrishnan. New York: Verso, 1996. 235-254. Woolf, Virginia. Three Guineas. London: Hogarth Press Ltd., 1938. Wussow, Helen. "Language, Gender, and Ethnicity in Three Fictions by Willa Cather." Women and Language 18 (Spring 1995): 52-5.         

Spanish National Anthem

At times, our political and cultural landscape can seem like an endless parade of divisive controversy. We cannot agree, so why not disagree—and disagree loudly? The latest war of debate and rhetoric centers around the presence of illegal aliens within our country’s borders. Should they stay? Should they go? While the subjects themselves protest in the streets, individuals of all creeds and colors are waging a ping-pong of protests across air waves and across coffee tables. Through these spirited arguments, a symbol of the nation’s division has emerged, and—ironically enough—it is one of the core symbols of America itself.The current battleground in the illegal immigration debate concerns the recent release of a Spanish version of the United States national anthem. Titled â€Å"Nuestro Himno† (â€Å"Our Anthem†), the controversial translation of â€Å"The Star-Spangled Banner† is being produced by Urban Box Office president and British-born Adam Kidron; it is being performed by popular Latin stars such as Wyclef Jean, Pitbull, Olga Tanon, and Carlos Ponce (Associated Press, 2006). Is this translation an attempt at American assimilation, as its defenders claim? I believe that the answer is no. If the song were a true attempt at honoring America, it might be understandable. However, â€Å"Nuestro Himno† is nothing more than a political tool whose purpose is more division. Further, it is an indirect assault on one of our nation’s most sacred symbols.The song’s producer defends its release by claiming that it is a means for more people  to understand and learn the national anthem: â€Å"There’s no attempt to usurp anything. The intent is to communicate†¦.and also express to express gratitude and patriotism to the United States†¦.†However, in the very same interview, Kidron (the producer) reveals a deeper intention: â€Å"I wanted to show my thanks to these people (who)†¦.do the jobs I don’t want to do† (Associated Press, 2006). This song is being released less as an ode to America and more of an ode to illegal immigrants. If not, then why was the song’s release timed to coincide with the immigration protests and Congress’ debates about illegal immigration? Why are a large chunk of the profits produced by the song going to immigration groups?Why did the record label encourage Latin-themed radio stations to concurrently play the song at a certain time, in a show of â€Å"solidarity†? Why do many of these radio station employees (whom one would expect to be the strongest supporters) question the motives of the song? â€Å"We should be trying to assimilate, not aggravate,† says one Latin radio host.An immigration web magazine writer adds, â€Å"If you want to say all those things, by all means, put them on your poster board, but don’t put them on the national anthem† (Associated Press, 2006). And what â€Å"things† is the latter referring to? It seems that in June the song will be released as a remix, and several lines will be added to the song, including: â€Å"These kids have no parents, cause all of these mean laws †¦ let's not start a war with all these hard workers, they can't help where they were born† (Wides-Munoz, 2006). This remix begs the question, When did â€Å"mean laws† become an adjective for â€Å"gratitude and patriotism†?This song is not a celebration or even a mere translation of the national anthem. It is literal rewriting and bastardization of our country’s symbolic history into a weapon of political propaganda. Sure, pop, rock, and country versions of the anthem may exist, but all of these versions honor the words of the song. Yet not one verse of â€Å"Nuestro Himno† stays true to the English-versed national anthem. Following is one excerpt of the translation:The glow of battle, in step with li berty My people keep fighting It's time to break the chains At night they said: â€Å"It's being defended!† Oh say! Your starry beauty is still unfolding. (Online extra, 2006)How many words do we find in this version that are also included in the original?†¦two.Could anyone even say (without deep examination) which verse of the national anthem thisâ€Å"translation† derives from? Sad to say, the first question which enters my mind upon reading thisverse is who â€Å"My people† are? Is the song remembering the American soldiers who fought fortheir country, as Francis Scott Key did? Or is â€Å"My people† simply another coded ode to illegal  immigrants?â€Å"The Star-Spangled Banner† is a celebration of all that America stands for. Its author  poured these lyrics out of his soul in a burst of inspiration. Something stirred inside him as he  witnessed his flag flying proudly, withstanding a night full of â€Å"bombs† and â€Å"rocke ts† from  enemy forces. The poem (and subsequent song) captured the bravery, loyalty, and independence  which that flag came to symbolize. Why did these verses survive over a century—faithfully sung  in everything from bars to baseball games?   Why did the song officially become our national  anthem in 1931? It spoke to the hearts of the American people, and to the soul of America itself.As the president himself says, â€Å"One of the important things here is that we not lose our national  soul† (Associated Press, 2006). If we allow our country’s most sacred symbols to be tarnished by  politics, we will lose. The only way to ensure that does not happen with our national anthem is to  preserve it and protect it in the form which its creator intended: English. Assimilation means  blending in, and America is for all intents and purposes an English-speaking nation. A Spanish  national anthem does not assimilate our principles; it rejects th em.We do not change our national animal symbol (the bald eagle) because some might prefer  a turkey. We do not alter our national colors because some might be offended by red, white, and  blue. And we never, ever compromise our American democracy:USA Today/Gallup Poll:69%–the national anthem should only be sung in EnglishReferencesAssociated Press. (2006). Oh say can you see the national anthem in Spanish? Retrieved May 2,  2006, from CNN.com: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/28/anthem.inspanish.ap/Online extra: English translation of Spanish-language version of national anthem. (2006).Retrieved May 2, 2006, from Salt Lake Tribune: http://www.sltrib.com/ ci_3764054?source=rssWides-Munoz, Laura. (2006). Spanish ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ draws ire. Retrieved   May 2,2006, from My Way News: http://apnews.myway.com/article/ 20060428/

Female Spies in World War I and World War II

While almost every nation yet prohibits women in combat, a long history of female involvement in warfare reaches all the way back to ancient times. Extensive documentation exists covering the role of women working undercover or otherwise involved in intelligence work in each of the two world wars. World War I Mata Hari If asked to name a female spy, most people would probably be able to cite Mata Hari of World War I fame. Real name Margaretha Geertruida Zelle McLeod, the woman the world would come to know as Mata Hari was born in the Netherlands. Her cover was that of an exotic dancer from India. While there is little doubt regarding the legitimacy of Mata Haris life as a stripper and sometimes-prostitute, some controversy surrounds whether she was ever actually a spy. Famous as she was if Mata Hari was a spy, she was fairly inept at it. She was caught following contact with an informant, tried and executed as a spy by France. It later came to light that her accuser was, himself, a German spy, effectively casting doubt on her true role in World War I espionage. Edith Cavell Another famous spy from World War I was also executed as a spy. Edith Cavell was born in England, growing up to become a nurse by profession. When World War I erupted, she was working in a nursing school in Belgium. Although she was not a spy as we generally view them, Edith worked undercover to help transport soldiers from France, England, and Belgium to escape from the Germans. She worked as matron of a hospital and, while doing so, helped at least 200 soldiers to escape. When the Germans realized Cavells role in what was happening, she was put on trial for harboring foreign soldiers rather than espionage, and convicted in two days. She was killed by a firing squad in October of 1915 and buried near the execution site despite appeals from the United States and Spain to return her body to her homeland. After the war, her body was transported back to England. Edith Cavell was finally buried in her native land, following a Westminster Abbey service presided by King George V of England. A statue in her honor was erected in St. Martins Park bearing the simple but apt epitaph, Humanity, Fortitude, Devotion, Sacrifice. The statue also carries the quote she gave to the priest who gave her communion the night before her death, Patriotism is not enough, I must have no hatred or bitterness toward anyone. Edith Cavell had, in her lifetime, cared for anyone in need regardless of which side of the war they fought out of religious conviction. She died as valiantly and honorably as she lived. World War II Two main oversight organizations were responsible for intelligence activities in World War II for the Allies. These were the British SOE, or Special Operations Executive, and the American OSS, or Office of Strategic Services. The SOE was active in virtually every occupied country in Europe along with native operatives in enemy countries, aiding resistance groups and monitoring enemy activity. The American counterpart, the OSS, overlapped some of the SOE operations and also had operatives in the Pacific theater. In addition to traditional spies, these organizations employed many ordinary men and women to covertly provide information on strategic locations and activities while leading apparently normal lives. The OSS eventually became what is now known as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Americas official spy agency. Virginia Hall An American heroine,  Virginia Hall came from Baltimore, Maryland. From a privileged family, Hall attended fine schools and colleges and wanted a career as a diplomat. Her aspirations were thwarted in 1932 when she lost part of her leg in a hunting accident and had to use a wooden prosthesis. Having resigned from the State Department in 1939, Hall was in Paris at the start of World War II. She worked on an ambulance corps until the Henri Philippe Petain-led Vichy government took over, at which point she moved to England, volunteering for the newly-founded SOE. SOE training completed, she was returned to Vichy-controlled France where she supported the Resistance until complete Nazi takeover. She escaped on foot to Spain through the mountains, continuing her work for the SOE there until 1944, when she joined the OSS and asked to return to France. Returned to France, Hall continued to help the underground Resistance by, among other things, providing maps to Allied forces for drop zones, finding safe houses and providing intelligence activities. She assisted in training at least three battalions of French Resistance forces and continuously reported on enemy movements. The Germans recognized her activities and made her one of their Most Wanted Spies, calling her the woman with a limp and Artemis. Hall had many aliases including Agent Heckler, Marie Monin, Germaine, Diane, and Camille. She managed to teach herself to walk without a limp and employed many disguises, foiling Nazi attempts to capture her. Her success in evading capture was as remarkable as the prodigious work she accomplished. Still active as an operative in 1943, the British quietly awarded Hall the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire). Later, in 1945, she was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by Gen. William Donovan for her efforts in France and Spain. Hers was the only such award to any civilian woman in all of WWII. Hall continued to work for the OSS through its transition to the CIA until 1966. At that time she retired to a farm in Barnesville, MD until her death in 1982. Princess Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan A childrens book author may seem an unlikely candidate for international spy induction, but Princess Noor defied any such expectation. The great-niece of Christian Science founder  Mary Baker Eddy  and daughter of Indian royalty, she joined the SOE as Nora Baker in London and trained to operate a wireless radio transmitter. She was sent to occupied France under the code name Madeline, carrying her transmitter from safe house to safe house, maintaining communications for her Resistance unit,  with the Gestapo trailing her all the way. Khan was captured and executed as a spy in 1944. She was posthumously awarded the George Cross, the Croix de Guerre and the MBE for her valor. Violette Reine Elizabeth Bushell Violette Reine Elizabeth Bushell was born in 1921 to a French mother and British father. Her husband Etienne Szabo was a French Foreign Legion officer killed in battle in North Africa. After her husbands death, Bushell was recruited by the SOE and sent to France as an operative on two occasions. On the second of these visits, she was caught giving cover to a Maquis leader. She killed several German soldiers before finally being captured. Despite torture, Bushell refused to give the Gestapo classified information, so was sent to  the concentration camp  Ravensbruck, where she was executed. She was posthumously honored for her work with both the George Cross and the Croix de Guerre in 1946. The Violette Szabo Museum in Wormelow, Herefordshire, England honors her memory as well. She left behind a daughter, Tania Szabo, who wrote her mothers biography,  Young, Brave Beautiful: Violette Szabo GC. Szabo and her highly decorated husband were the most decorated couple in World War II, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Barbara Lauwers Cpl. Barbara Lauwers, Womens Army Corps, received a Bronze Star for her OSS work, which included using German prisoners for counterintelligence work and cobbling fake passports and other papers for spies and others. Lauwers was instrumental in Operation Sauerkraut, an operation which mobilized German prisoners to spread black propaganda about  Adolf Hitler  behind enemy lines. She created the League of Lonely War Women, or VEK in German. This mythical organization was designed to demoralize German troops by spreading the belief that any soldier on leave could display a VEK symbol and get a girlfriend. One of her operations was so successful that 600 Czechoslovak troops defected behind Italian lines. Amy Elizabeth Thorpe Amy Elizabeth Thorpe, early code name Cynthia, later Betty Pack, worked for the OSS in Vichy, France. She was sometimes used as a swallow—a woman trained to seduce the enemy into sharing secret information—and she participated in break-ins. One daring raid involved taking secret naval codes from a safe within a locked and guarded room. Another involved infiltration of the Vichy French Embassy in Washington D.C., taking important codebooks. Maria Gulovich Maria Gulovich fled Czechoslovakia when it was invaded, emigrating to Hungary. Working with Czech army staff and British and American intelligence teams, she assisted downed pilots, refugees, and resistance members. Gulovich was taken by the KGB and maintained her OSS cover under fierce interrogation while assisting in the Slovak rebellion and rescue efforts for Allied pilots and crews. Julia McWilliams Child Julia Child  was up to much more than gourmet cooking. She wanted to join the WACs or the WAVES but was turned down for being too tall, at a height of 62. Following this rejection, she opted to work in research and development out of the OSS Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Among the projects with which she was involved: a workable shark repellent used for downed flight crews later used for US space missions with water landings and supervising an OSS facility in China. Julia Child handled countless top-secret documents before gaining television fame as The French Chef. Marlene Dietrich German-born  Marlene Dietrich  became an American citizen in 1939. She volunteered for the OSS and served both by entertaining troops on the front lines and by broadcasting nostalgic songs to battle-weary German soldiers as propaganda. She received the Medal of Freedom for her work. Elizabeth P. McIntosh Elizabeth P. McIntosh was a war correspondent and independent journalist who joined the OSS shortly after  Pearl Harbor. She was instrumental in the interception and rewriting of postcards Japanese troops wrote home while stationed in India. She intercepted and detected orders of numerous sorts, chief among them a copy of the Imperial Order discussing terms of surrender which was then disseminated to Japanese troops. Genevieve Feinstein Not every woman in intelligence was a spy as we think of them. Women also played significant roles as cryptanalysts and code breakers for the Signal Intelligence Service (SIS). Genevieve Feinstein was one such woman, having been responsible for creating a machine used to decode Japanese messages. After WWII, she continued to work in intelligence. Mary Louise Prather Mary Louise Prather headed the SIS stenographic section. She was responsible for logging messages in code and preparing decoded messages for distribution. Prather was primarily credited with having uncovered a previously-unnoticed yet distinct correlation between two Japanese messages which led to the decryption of a pivotal new Japanese code system. Juliana Mickwitz Juliana Mickwitz escaped Poland during the Nazi invasion of 1939. She became a translator of Polish, German and Russian documents and worked with the Military Intelligence Directorate of the War Department. She went on to translate voice messages. Josephine Baker Josephine Baker  was a singer and dancer best known at the time as the Creole Goddess, the Black Pearl or the Black Venus for her beauty. But Baker was also a spy working undercover for the French Resistance, smuggling military secrets written in invisible ink on her sheet music  into Portugal from France. Hedy Lamarr Actress Hedy Lamarr made a valuable contribution to the intelligence division by co-producing an anti-jamming device for torpedoes. She also devised a clever way of frequency hopping that prevented the interception of American military messages. Famous for the Road movies with Bob Hope, everyone knew she was an actress but few were aware she was an inventor of military importance. Nancy Grace Augusta Wake New Zealand-born Nancy Grace Augusta Wake, AC GM, was the most decorated servicewoman among Allied troops in WWII. Wake grew up in Australia, working early on as a nurse and later as a journalist. As a journalist, she watched the rise of Hitler, well aware of the dimension of the threat Germany posed. Living in France with her husband at the start of World War II, Wake became a courier for the French Resistance. Among the Gestapos Most Wanted Spies, she was in constant danger, having her phone tapped and her mail read. Nazi Germany eventually put a five million franc price on the head of the woman they called the White Mouse. When her network was uncovered, Wake fled. Forced to leave her husband behind, the Gestapo tortured him to death trying to obtain her location. She was briefly arrested but released and, after six attempts, fled to England where she joined the SOE. In 1944 Wake parachuted back into France to assist the Maquis, where she participated in training highly effective Resistance troops. She once bicycled 100 miles through German checkpoints to replace a lost code and was reputed to have killed a German soldier with her bare hands to save others. After the war she was awarded the Croix de Guerre three times, the George Medal, the Mà ©daille de la Rà ©sistance, and the American Medal of Freedom for her undercover achievements. Afterword These are only a few of the women who served as spies in the two great world wars. Many took their secrets to the grave and were known only to their contacts. They were military women, journalists, cooks, actresses, and ordinary people caught up in extraordinary times. Their stories demonstrate that they were ordinary women of extraordinary courage and inventiveness who helped to change the world with their work. Women have played this role in many wars over the ages, but we are fortunate to have records of quite a few of those women who worked undercover in World War I and World War II, and we are all honored by their accomplishments. Sources and Further Reading The Wolves at the Door: The True Story of Americas Greatest Female Spy  by Judith L. Pearson, The Lyons Press (2005).Sisterhood of Spies  by Elizabeth P. McIntosh, published by the Naval Institute Press.Young, Brave Beautiful: Violette Szabo GC  by Tania Szabo.