An Eco-feminism Study of Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native

As one of renowned English novelists,Thomas Hardy concerns about the nature and the living environment.In his sixth published novel,The return of the Native,Thomas Hardy puts human being’s fate into nature,sets the heroine’s fate into her attitudes to nature and suggests that just like nature’s destroy and tragedy,nature and women are ruled and conquered by pa triarchal society.     

The Male World in Women’s Eyes in Lawrence’s Works

In most of Lawrence’s works, men are described to be handsome, healthy and energetic superficially, yet women may probe into their inner world to know them better. But under the disguise of their attractive appearance, women have found that men are evil, selfish, cold-blooded, hypocritical and degraded. They are criminals to the nature ,women , children and even to themselves. This essay will ana lyze women’s views on the male world in details.     

Heroic Woman Images Against Male Power in Tar Baby

Ecofeminism is a theory that combines women’s unfair condition with nature’s overuse by human.It "argues that a strong parallel exists between the oppression and subordination of women in families and society and the degradation of nature through the construction of differences into conceptual binaries and ideological hierarchies that allow a systematic justification of domination by subjects classed into higher-ranking categories over objects classed into lower-ranking categories" (Miao 184). Tar Baby is the fourth work of Tony Morrison which explores African-Americans’ poor status, especially black women’s. From ecofeminism’s perspective, women and nature share same destiny. Being fed up with the bad condition, women has struggling against male world and tried to win their own happiness and identity, appealing to mutual respect and understanding.     

The Deterioration of the Compson Family——From Character’s Perspective

The Sound and the Fury is William Faulkner’s greatest work; four narrators tell the story of the deterioration of the Compson family from different perspective, exploring the cause of deterioration indirectly. The novel centers on Caddy’s moral decay from different perspective. The thesis analyzes the processing fall of the Compson family through the analysis of three characters, Caddy, Quentin, and Jason. Caddy’s deterioration is closely related to her loss of virginity, and her impending wedding causes Quentin to commit suicide who loves her deeply and possessively. However, Jason is heartless who he does not care his family. His tragedy lies in the decay of human nature. The thesis gives the general cause of the downfall of the family and readers will have a general concept of the family’s deterioration.     

The Eco-critical Study of Walden——Harmonious Relationship between Man and Nature

In recent years,human beings are facing the more and more deteriorating environmental problems,such as the sand storm,greenhouse effects,which are the nature’s punishment on human society.It’s self-evident that the relationship between human beings and nature is increasingly intense.Therefore,it’s essential for humans to consider how to establish the harmonious relationship between man and nature.Based on this problem,this paper intends to give a brief analysis of the Walden from the perspectives of"simplicity"and"equality"by using ecocriticism.The paper also gives the author’s personal understanding of the ecological thoughts embodied in Walden.     

Bernard Shaw is an Incomplete Feminist—A Feminist Semiotic Reading of Candida

As an advocate for feminism,George Bernard Shaw,to awaken especially women to their subordinate and captivated posi?tion and opportunity for being New woman,wrote Candida in a time when women were stuck into“the virgin mother”role.Howev?er,from the perspective of feminist semiotic theory,we found that although creating a new woman different from the one defined by the common standard,Bernard Shaw still didn’t break the chain of portraying a“sign woman”-“the virgin mother”controlled by the patriarchal prejudice from male gaze.In addition,Candida becomes an object portrayed through two men characters and she be?comes the means to expose the developing of man character rather than the subject in the play.And Shaw’s limited feminism is al?so reflected in his other plays.Therefore,Bernard Shaw is an incomplete feminist.     

Gender Is Cultural Rather Than Natural—Jane Campion's The Piano

Sex and gender have been confusingly categorised by many scholars.Sex refers to biological characteristics;gender,can also be influenced by biology but does not determined by it.Unlike sex,which is determined by nature at birth,gender is a social construct specifying the culturally prescribed roles that men and women are to follow and represent.In order to argue that gender attaches to culture and that gender identity is shaped socially and culturally,this essay analyses Jane Campion’s The Piano from three perspectives.Firstly,the essay will examine the way people in the film represent their gender characters through three repeatedly demonstrated narrative motifs,clothing,the axe and the piano,to illustrate that gender is performative and that cultural gender identities advocate specific performances in terms of behaviour,speech,views,etc.(Butler,2011).Then,through an analysis of the different gazes of the characters in the film,the essay indicates that social and cultural interaction between the genders can go beyond and blur the boundaries of the stereotypical categories of male and female.In the third section,the essay will argue that social rules and discourse also play a prominent role in shaping people’s gender,by discussing how the characters represent and re-define their gender identity under the pressure of the patriarchal society they inhabit.     

The Awakening of Self-consciousness of the African American Women—an Analysis of Dee in Everyday Use

Alice Walker is one of the prominent American writers in American women’s literature and black literature in 1950s-1960s. Everyday Use is regarded as Alice Walker’s best-written short story. The prevailing opinion among the critics about this story is that Dee is the traitor of black American’s cultural heritage, and the mother and Maggie are the hope of true value of the African Americans’ tradition and heritage; however, after considering the historical and cultural background of the story, we may safely come to the conclusion that Dee actually took the first step toward the awakening of self-consciousness of the African Americans women.     

The Dream of Freedom—An Interpretation of The Story of an Hour from the Perspective of Feminism

Kate Chopin,one of the most outstanding women writers in the late nineteenth century in America,focused on women’s social position,marriage and family,love and freedom to fight against patriarchalism.She wrote two novels and about a hundred short stories in the 1890s.And over a long period of time,critics have considered The Story of an Hour as a work of feminism which offers a strikingly feminist perspective on an American housewife of that time.This thesis analyzes the inner experience of the heroine within an hour and shows us that freedom is so essential to her while her marriage is a yoke to her.     

A Piteous Victim——An Exploration into the Psychological Trace of the Grandmother in The Acorn-gatherer

On the perspective of psychoanalytic criticism,three human psyche models propounded by Freud,Jung and Lancan were employed to reveal the psychological trace of the tragic character,the grandmother in The Acorn-gatherer.Back to the country life in late Victorian England,a lonely elderly widow had to bring up her illegitimate grandson,but her grandson couldn’t bear her mistreatment,left home and died accidentally.The old grandmother bore the hardship strenuously but had to live her old and ailing days lonely which is like a candle guttering in the wind.Deluged with the social discrimination and bias led by the collective unconscious,her help doesn’t come from anyone in the utilitarian oriented grass roots.Nor does it come from the Lord’s real redemption owing to a country woman’s limited knowledge and inwardness.Under the great strain from the grey society,she was gradually distorted mentally.As a result,she was victimized by the grey tide of the society but she herself was a victimizing force to her grandson.The psychological exploration of the piteous victim can thoroughly interpret the author’s implication,i.e.condemning the evils of the society and man’s wicked nature.     

Why Is It Better to-Marry Egyptian Woman than Polish？——A Cross-cultural Perspective of Implicit and Explicit Gender Attitudes of Polish and Egyptian Women

Two series of experiments were conducted on Polish and Egyptian women. The differences in implicit and explicit attitudes towards men and women were examined using implicit and explicit measures of each. The explicit attitude was measured by rating male and female objects （family members, e.g. mother, husband, and son） on 5-point scale. A modified version of an Implicit Association Test （IAT - Greenwald, McGhee ＆ Schwartz, 1998） was used for measuring implicit gender attitudes. Two series of experiments were conducted. The first series consisted of 6 experiments. Three of them were conducted on female students of different departments of Gdafisk University （the samples of 45, 26 and 38 persons）. Married, unemployed women from small Polish villages took part in the following two experiments （the samples of 30 and 30 women）. The sixth experiment consisted of the participants of three-year personal development training. The second series of experiments consisted of 5 researches. Three of them were conducted on unemployed, married Egyptian women living in small villages. Female students of South Valley University took part in two other experiments. All experiments conducted on Polish samples demonstrate the presence of negative implicit attitude of women towards men and positive implicit attitude of women towards women. At the same time Polish women demonstrate a strongly positive explicit attitude towards both men and women. Experiments conducted on non-educated Egyptian women found neutral and positive implicit attitude towards men. Educated Egyptian women associate negative effect with the category of men. The experiments also demonstrated positive implicit attitude of Egyptian women towards own sex. Furthermore. positive conscious attitude emerged from explicit measures.     

E-learning Contribution to the Enhancement of Higher Education Opportunities for Women in Saudi Arabia （Pilot Study）

Establishing the NCEDL （National Centre for E-learning and Distance Learning）, electronic universities are some initiatives to introduce e-learning to the KSA （Kingdom of Saudi Arabia）, which have led to a fast, strong, and impressive movement toward e-learning in the Kingdom. However, e-learning in Saudi Arabia is still in the early stage of its development due to many challenges of e-learning that will still have to be faced. E-learning in Saudi higher education has been examined in a number of studies. Yet, focusing on e-learning among Saudi women through the social and religious customs of society is not sufficiently examined. Therefore, this research seeks to investigate the possibilities that exist for the utilization of e-learning in the enhancement of the higher education opportunities of women in Saudi Arabia within the social customs and religious beliefs by identifying the barriers to higher education for Saudi women, the modes of e-learning that currently exist within the higher education programmes in the Saudi higher education system, how e-learning can support higher education opportunities for women in Saudi Arabia, and a successful model of e-learning to improve higher education opportunities for women in the KSA. In order to achieve the aim of this research, a pilot study was made by using a semi-structured interview as a method of data collection from Saudi females who live with their related （mahram） male in the United Kingdom and a three stage coding analysis of the grounded theory analyzing the data collected from the field to formulate a theory and a model. A primarily model was presented which described the contributions of e-learning to higher education of Saudi women. The model is presented consisting of three main categories： （1） social and religious barriers; （2） women＇s use of the Intemet; and （3） women＇s use of e-learning, as well as a number of sub-subcategories. In addition, the need to illuminate the ability of Saudi women to convert e-learning into a valuable educational achievement is demonstrated. The next stage of our research will investigate all of the issues indicated by the pilot study in order to improve the success of using e-learning for Saudi women＇s higher education and eventually to devise a research theory.     

Sue Bridehead:The Girl of the Period in Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure

Jude the Obscure was Thomas Hardy’s last novel creation,and he spent eight year from preparation to publication.Although this novel received a lot of criticisms instead of praises when it came out,it also can be considered as Thomas Hardy’s classical works.The theme of this novel is so brave to explore the existing women’s living circumstances in that time.With the industrial revolution in England,new thoughts and ideas sprang out.Women were no longer belonging to husband and family,and they began to be aware of their social roles and reconsider their identity in society and marriage.The aim of the paper is to analyze this novel from the feministic perspective and re-read the character of Sue Bridehead in the light of the theory"the girl of the period".     

Women’s Language or Powerless Language:A Study of Couples’ Talk

The purpose of this essay is to study whether the linguistic behaviour of adult women using hedging and tags as indicative of an intrinsically tentative gender identity or of the effects of male dominant position through analyzing daily conversations of the heterosexual couples.The small scale study employs the methodology,namely,recording spontaneous and natural spoken conversation from authentic interaction with the permission of the ten male-female couples.Digital record pen with an omnidirectional microphone are placed in the central living area of each couple’s home.Then discourse analysis provides data making it possible to support Fishman’s claim that women use tag questions and ’you know’ not because women are not being really sure of themselves,or are looking to the addressee for confirmation,but because men in a dominant position often refuse to take responsibility for the smooth conduct of interpersonal relations,women use tag questions and ’you know’ to elicit and maintain conversations.     

The Violation of Poetics by Waiting for Godot—From the Perspective of the Authenticity of Poetry

Poetics by Aristotle sets the dogmas for literature,while Waiting for Godot,the representative of the Theater of the Ab?surd,violates the former’s principles to achieve certain effects.The thesis will analyze the violation from the angle of Solidity or Authenticity of art and poetry,which are the likelinessandnecessity,and credibility.By digressing from the traditional rules,Wait?ing for Godot helps to create absurdity reflecting the inner loss of people after the war and to form a sense of alienation from reality.     

The Influence of Good Education on Women——A Case Study Of Leila,the Heroine of A Thousand Splendid Suns

With the development of society,people are increasingly aware of the importance of education,especially the good education on women.This paper took one of the heroines of a thousand splendid suns——Laila as an example to elaborate clearly the significant influence of good education on women's body and mentality.In doing so,it made an attempt to achieve the purpose of giving a deeper understanding of the process,the obstacles and the significant meaning of education on women.It was also hoped that this deeper understanding would lead to greater input into women's education and their more comprehensive involvement in social and economic development.     

No Self——An Interpretation of Gary Snyder's Poem From A Chinese Perspective

Gary Snyder applies Zen philosophy and Tang nature poetics to his Mid-August at Sourdough Mountain Lookout.His diction and use of sounds create a calm context for a journey to the spiritual condition of no self:from the speaker’s self within the landscape to renunciation of his social identity,then to the unity between his self and nature.Thus Snyder shows how the speaker expands his self through sympathy with nature and searches for the ultimate truth.     

Shylock’s Tragedy in The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is one of the most contradictory plays of William Shakespeare.Through presenting and studying the tragedy nature of Shylock,this thesis attempts to illustrate the tragic nature of Merchant of Venice.In this paper the author tries to reveal the significance of its tragic nature through thorough analyzing.Shylock’s tragedy is the tragedy of individual struggling,which shows in the aspects of family,money and religion.The profound reason for Shylock’s tragedy is his Jewish identity.Therefore,the author of this paper is enlightened hereby,turning to a lot of books and data,and then analyzes the origins of Jewish prejudice from two aspects,society and history.Christianity has dominated the west,with its doctrine mainly derived from the New Testament.Meanwhile,Judaism derives its doctrine from the Old Testament.Therefore,the pious Christians will be misled by the contents of libeling Jews and the murdering of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.So a kind of instinctive hatred toward Jews is generated.This kind of tendency is rather clear in the play The Merchant of Venice.In this play,Shylock mentions several times that Antonio has insulted him physically and mentally in the Rialto.Almost all the characters in the play humiliate Shylock.But,he just endures all these insults quietly,and then looks for the chance to revenge.In the end,under the delicate trap set by the authority,Shylock loses again.He loses everything he could lose,both materially and mentally.Nothing is more frustrating than that.However,the author of this paper believes that it is worth paying attention to in the present day.In this paper,the author chooses this topic,presents and analyzes the tragedy of Shylock,and reveals the positive significance of the tragic nature of the play for our time.     

The Tragedy of Unbalanced Personality——The Common Personality Psychological Reasons of the Destruction of Emily and Usher

A Rose for Emily is the masterpiece of William Faulkner, who is regarded as the founder of Southern literature. The Fall of the House of Usher is one of the most popular short stories written by the great American writer Edgar Allan Poe. They have common ends that the main characters of the two novels—Emily and Usher are all destruction of their unbalanced personality.This thesis will set a new point from a branch view of psychology—personality psychology to analyze the two characters Emily and Usher, how they change from pathological personality to abnormal personality, and finally destruct from flesh to soul. The deep meaning is to announce the human inner world will distract by the outside world.