Abortion Poems Essay Example for Free

Abortion Poems Essay Gewndolyn Brooks and Anne Sexton both wrote poems about the controversial subject of abortion. Brooks wrote a poem titled â€Å"The Mother† which stressed the physiological and ethical consequence of her choice. While in Sextons poem â€Å"The Abortion† the focus is more on the emotions felt before and after the actual process of aborting the baby. Yet both poems posses similar use of words to get a point across. The main way the authors did this is through the use of tone. The tone of these poems easily allow the reader to see just how easy it is to know something is wrong, but do it anyway. In Brooks poem â€Å"The Mother† she selects words and expressions that give the poem an air of sadness. By saying things such as â€Å"You will never neglect or beat Them, or silence or buy with a sweet.† it shows her longing to do things that mothers are generally thought to be good at. At the same time this also shows she is aware that she has essentially taken life and its experiences away from not only her unborn child but herself as well because she never gets the chance to do the things she speaks of. The title of the poem demonstrates this trough a paradox, she never actually got to be a â€Å"Mother† because she aborted her baby. The line in which she states, â€Å"you will never end up sucking thumb† reinforces all this as well as demonstrates her use of imagery thought the entire poem. By creating such vivid images of things she and her child would have done it connects the reader on a more personal level because it gives them a chance to really imagine everything Brooks is saying. Having the connection and the images in their mind while knowing that the baby was aborted makes it all the more real, allowing the reader to feel similar emotions that the mother herself had felt such as sorrow and remorse. The remorseful feeling is really expressed towards the ending of the poem when there is a change in whom she is addressing. Brooks now begins to address the actual child that was aborted and ask for forgiveness while acknowledging she has done wrong by saying â€Å"the crime was other than mine†. She also tells the child that she loves them and that â€Å" even in my deliberateness I was not deliberate.† showing that she is sorry for what she has done even though she knew what she was getting into when she did it. All of these things together give Brook s poem a remorseful tone that perfectly expresses how someone can so easily do something they know deep down is wrong. In Sextons poem â€Å"The Abortion† the emotions she is feeling are expressed to the reader through the change setting. It begins while she still has the baby inside her and she uses words that make the world sound as though it is full of life such as puckering and puffing. She describes the landscape hilly mountainous and green, which is a color that symbolizes new life. Towards the end of the poem when returning from her abortion the setting is described in a more gloomy empty way. The sky had grown thin and the roads were flat. This shows the change in her emotions, just like the land she used to be full of life as well and afterwards she was empty and flat without a child in her womb. The first line of the poem â€Å" Somebody who should have been born is gone.† is an expression of her feelings on abortion. The statement itself lets the reader know right off the bat that she thinks abortion is wrong, yet she goes along and does it anyway. She does not even describe the actual process of aborting the baby as badly as one would imagine someone with that view on the subject would have. She makes an allusion to Rumplestilksen saying that the man who performed the abortion for her was nothing like him at all, basically meaning that she didn’t feel the experience was horrible and as though he was forcing her to give up her first born child like Rumplestilksen had done in a fairy tale. The repetition of the first line thought the entire poem expresses the regret she is feeling thought the entire experience of her abortion. She even calls herself a coward at the very end for doing such a thing. But none of that stopped her from getting the abortion done. The tone of regret Sexton set for this poem once again shows that it’s not at all hard to go ahead and do something they you are sure is wrong. Both of these women were well aware that getting an abortion, in their opinion, was wrong. They each expressed their regret and remorse through the wording of their poems and both poems were quite simple and soothing, something a child would understand. The poems described different aspects of abortion but stress the idea that having an abortion comes with the emotions of sadness, sorrow, and guilt. The reader is easily able to connect to the pome and understand the emotions that are being felt through the imagery used and tone set by the authors. But even with all of that both women still chose to abort their baby. Doing something you know is wrong is something every reader can easily relate to and understand.

Ginny’s as a Barren Whore in Jane Smileys A Thousand Acres :: Smiley Thousand Acres Essays

Ginny’s as a Barren Whore in A Thousand Acres Into her womb convey sterility, Dry up in her the organs of increase, And from her derogate body never spring A babe to honor her. (King Lear, I.iv. 285-288) Within the logic of the novel, it is soon established that Ginny understands and feels external reality through her body, and the most important instance of this is her bodily urge to have children. The sight of Rose's daughters, contrasted with her own miscarriages, Ginny says, "affected me like a poison. All my tissues hurt when I saw them, when I saw Rose with them, as if my capillaries were carrying acid into the furthest reaches of my system"(8). The body of any subject, it can be argued, is also a social body, not only a site of signification for the subject her- or himself, but for other people and society in general. In her despair and jealousy after losing Jess to Rose, Ginny expresses the problematic belief that having children somehow is a universal marker of human worth. This view of her own body as a failure both biologically and socially; that her body "had failed to sustain Jess Clark's interest, to sustain a pregnancy"(307), signals that she is still within the confines of a patriarchal system that sees women as property on a line with animals and the earth. The system, of which Larry Cook is the King, is able to criticize a childless woman, especially when she is "old for a breeder"(13). It is no wonder, then, that Ginny goes on trying to have children even after Ty egotistically wants to stop trying because he can't take the disappointment. It becomes a way for Ginny to reclaim control over her body, a secret project through which she can live a second life that is free from social imperatives that ultimately originate with the transcendental signifier, the great "I AM"(211) of Larry Cook. It is telling that her reflections upon her "secret world", full of "secret, passionate wishes" are interrupted by a sudden reminder that her past and present life is dominated by her father's world and her father's wishes (26-27). This secret world and these secret wishes are thwarted, in fact it turns out that they have always been illusions because nitrates in the water have caused her infertility. A Thousand Acres continually makes connections between patriarchy and capitalism, critiquing exploitation of women and nature in industrial farming alike. Ginny’s as a Barren Whore in Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres :: Smiley Thousand Acres Essays Ginny’s as a Barren Whore in A Thousand Acres Into her womb convey sterility, Dry up in her the organs of increase, And from her derogate body never spring A babe to honor her. (King Lear, I.iv. 285-288) Within the logic of the novel, it is soon established that Ginny understands and feels external reality through her body, and the most important instance of this is her bodily urge to have children. The sight of Rose's daughters, contrasted with her own miscarriages, Ginny says, "affected me like a poison. All my tissues hurt when I saw them, when I saw Rose with them, as if my capillaries were carrying acid into the furthest reaches of my system"(8). The body of any subject, it can be argued, is also a social body, not only a site of signification for the subject her- or himself, but for other people and society in general. In her despair and jealousy after losing Jess to Rose, Ginny expresses the problematic belief that having children somehow is a universal marker of human worth. This view of her own body as a failure both biologically and socially; that her body "had failed to sustain Jess Clark's interest, to sustain a pregnancy"(307), signals that she is still within the confines of a patriarchal system that sees women as property on a line with animals and the earth. The system, of which Larry Cook is the King, is able to criticize a childless woman, especially when she is "old for a breeder"(13). It is no wonder, then, that Ginny goes on trying to have children even after Ty egotistically wants to stop trying because he can't take the disappointment. It becomes a way for Ginny to reclaim control over her body, a secret project through which she can live a second life that is free from social imperatives that ultimately originate with the transcendental signifier, the great "I AM"(211) of Larry Cook. It is telling that her reflections upon her "secret world", full of "secret, passionate wishes" are interrupted by a sudden reminder that her past and present life is dominated by her father's world and her father's wishes (26-27). This secret world and these secret wishes are thwarted, in fact it turns out that they have always been illusions because nitrates in the water have caused her infertility. A Thousand Acres continually makes connections between patriarchy and capitalism, critiquing exploitation of women and nature in industrial farming alike.

The fundamentals behind London’s current housing crisis and potential solution?

Introduction The assignment will consider the housing market within London, paying close attention to the housing policy and macro-economic conditions that have led to the current ‘crisis’ within the city’s housing market. It could be argued that a current shortage of housing developments, mainly in the more affordable range, coupled with a surge in international real-estate investment in the city has caused a major shortage, leading ultimately to price increases and so a divergence from housing markets within the North of the UK (Dyson, 2014) [Online]. This assignment will first touch upon the policies that have led to this problem before looking into the recent macro-economic trends which have aggravated the issue, pushing into the spotlight. The UK housing market has for some time been impacted by poor housing policy, with many arguing that levels of new construction have been unable to meet the surge in population growth and so demand for new houses. While this has become a more national problem, the south of England, most notably London has witnessed the greatest affect (Myers, 2012). Property Overview While the population of London has continued its growth given its rise in status as a ‘global business hub’, housing developments have been unable to supply the market with enough new properties, as well as properties which locals deem ‘affordable’. While it can be noted that there are currently some significant developments within London such as the Battersea Power Plant regeneration, many have commented that these ?Million properties are being built with the wealthy oversea investors in mind over local buyers given that the prices asked are far out of reach of many workers (Renshaw, 2013) [Online]. While local councils have attempted to resolve this issue by pushing all developers to include a percentage of ‘affordable’ homes in their plans to win planning permission, many of these new developments are still primarily geared at the high-end of the market; with many developers advertising their properties in international markets (London First, 2014). This, along with major regeneration plans in some area’s which has prioritised commercial/ retail space over residential, has seriously restricted the potential for new housing for the local market and supported the price increases seen over the years. Furthermore, the central boroughs of London are also restricted by the availability of land to develop new homes, with new developments pushing higher for greater floor space. While this has become a popular method in London with new skyscrapers such as The Shard, these developments have usually favoured office and retail space over residential (Ball et al, 2012). What could be considered here is the desire by boroughs within London to re-generate and effectively create local centre’s to compete with the main areas of London. There has been significant discussion over the years regarding the ‘downfall’ of the UK high-streets as out of town competition and online shopping reduces the demand for typica l bricks-and-mortar stores; in London the main issue for some could be the easy accessibility into the city centre and so the main shopping and entertainment districts. With this, local boroughs have prioritised the development on new commercial and office space in a bid to attract the private investment that would be needed to support larger regeneration plans and attract more people into the area, however as mentioned previously given the short supply of available land in some central boroughs this has led to an ‘opportunity cost’ between residential and commercial development. London Crisis The main issue for the market is a simply supply and demand crisis; essentially the market is severely under supplied, with prices been pushed up by the consumers willing to pay a higher price for the property. This has created a situation where the supply of affordable housing is quite inelastic and so any notable increase in demand will only result in the price moving higher. This has also led to another affect whereby prices have also increased strongly in the wider South-East area as commuters seek property in lower price areas with strong transport connections into London. The supply crisis has also been heightened by another issue; namely strong international demand for property in London as an investment opportunity and store of wealth (Tower Hamlet Citizens, 2014). In 2008, the financial crisis hit global economics and stock-markets. With this, investors sought for new ‘safe-havens’ for their wealth as global stock markets remained volatile and the value of other havens such as gold fell. Property or investments in brick-and-mortar have always been popular, especially in economies like the UK where the market has remained buoyant over a number of years (Berry et al, 2011). London especially appealed to investors given its stock of high-value properties, increasing population, global image as a destination for the wealthy, falling corporation tax as well as a weakening currency which made investment into UK property cheaper for international investors. The economics behind this move has largely been driven by the desire to reduce risk bu t maintain returns on investments; given that London house prices were increasing at above 10%p.a (ONS, 2014), investors who had once favoured holding their cash in stock markets and commodities such as gold quickly moved their money into property as a store of wealth. This movement has recently been reversed to some extent as a strengthening ?GBP and improving global outlook have decreased demand for high-end properties in London at a time when a wave of new supply is hitting the market (Titcomb, 2014) [Online]. Potential Solutions Moving forward, a number of factors have been put forward to help deal with the issue, focusing on new regulation and opportunities (London First, 2014). In terms of opportunity, London has been working to improve transport connections with wider area in a bid to open up more areas to potential commuters, essentially increasing the stock of housing that is available to anyone working within London, (Emmett, 2014). This would then lead to an increase in supply, which should help decrease prices. Notable projects include the Crossrail development, an ?18Billion transport project that will decrease commuter times into central London for a number of local boroughs (Crossrail, 2014) [Online]. The proposed HS2-HS3 (high-speed rail) projects could also been seen as a new opportunity; giving more businesses the chance to open offices, facilities in other major UK cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds etc. while still having access to London. The main benefit on this is that it would m ove some business away from London as so reduce demand for housing from workers. Furthermore this project has also been seen as a way to reduce the heavily debated North/South divide within the UK, which in turn may help better align house prices between the two. In terms of regulation, a number of London boroughs have sought to effectively force developers to include affordable housing within their plans to be granted planning permission (Besley, 2010). Given this, new developments such as the Battersea Power Plant have included some affordable housing within their plans, however as they only account for 15% of total home some have argued the measure doesn’t go far enough to solve the supply issues (Robertson, 2014) [Online]. In economic terms, local boroughs have identified the profitability that developments in London provide; by asking developers to include some affordable housing within their plans they have affected the Net Present Value (hereafter NPV) or potential pay back of the project, however given that projects are still being announced in the city it appears that developments still remain profitable for these companies. It could be argued by some that these new demands from the local authorities could be seen as interference within the free market, effectively using the private sector to provide a good (e.g. new homes) that the public sector has failed to provide. What this essay must also consider is that if that the public sector have done little themselves to attempt to resolve this issue, most probably down to a lack of capital and experience necessary to move forward with these large-scale developments and so requiring the need for the involvement of the private sector. As mentioned beforehand, the private sector will be driven by the eventual profitability or NPV of these projects and so local authorities must ensure that they still allow these profits to be made while also attempting to resolve the housing crisis. According to data f rom the ONS, home prices in London are up 31.6% above their 2008 peak, while those in the North remain under the 2008 level, (ONS, 2014). Closing Remarks To conclude the essay has shown that housing policy in London could have been seen as failing for a number of years as demand from a rising population has outgrown the level of new supply, pushing prices up much higher than the UK average (Savills, 2014). The issue has intensified recently as the global economic crisis increased the desire for international investors to hold their money in property, with London seen as a prime market given the weaker value of the ?GBP could with continuous price rises. While the essay has noted a number of initiatives underway to help increase supply and reduce demand, the potential impacts may be small and seen in a long-term scenario. While there is new infrastructure underway to improve the competitiveness and attractiveness of a wider London and also wider UK area; the Crossrail development will not come online until 2018, while the high-speed rail links are not current expected until after 2020. Furthermore, while local boroughs have attempted t o increase regulation and push more affordable housing into development plans, these are only small percentages, with some people disagreeing on what will be deemed affordable. Moving forward the main issue for London will be developing the land that it currently has spare in the best way possible to accommodate its rising population but also its rising status as a global business hub – in this case, higher residential housing prices may be needed for developers to justify their construction over commercial or office space. References Ball, M, Lizieri, C and MacGregor, B (2012): The Economics of Commercial Property Markets, London, Routledge. Berry, J, Deddis, N and McGreal, W (2011): Urban Regeneration, Property Investment and Development, London, Taylor & Francis. Besley, T and Ghatak, M (2010): Property Rights and Economic Development. In Dani Rodrik and Mark Rosenzweig, Ed: Handbook of development economics, London, Elsevier Publications. Crossrail, (2014) [Online]: A world class railway company, Available at http://www.crossrail.co.uk/benefits/, Accessed 29/10/2014. Dyson, R (2014) [Online]: House prices: gap between London and the rest of the UK is highest in 40 years, Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/houseprices/10738540/House-prices-gap-between-London-and-the-rest-of-the-UK-widest-in-40-years.html, Accessed 29/10/2014. Emmett, S (2014): London Infrastructure: Outlook, London, Savills Research. London First (2014): 12 steps to solving London’s housing crisis, London, London First. Myers, D (2012): Economics and Property, London, Taylor & Francis. ONS (2014): Comparison of regional house price indices before and after the financial crisis, London, ONS Research. Renshaw, R (2013): Selling stampede at Battersea Power Station sets new record, Available at http://old.estateagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/Selling-stampede-at-Battersea-Power-Station-sets-new-records, Accessed 29/10/2014. Robertson, L (2014) [Online]: No affordable housing in Battersea power plant development, Available at http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/no-affordable-housing-in-gehrys-battersea-power-station-buildings/7003154.article, Accessed 29/10/2014. Savills (2014): Infrastructure and development must work together to accommodate London’s growing population, London, Savills Research. Titcomb, J (2014): London House prices tipped to fall, Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/10976395/Warning-London-house-prices-tipped-to-fall.html, Accessed 29/10/2014. Tower Hamlet Citizens (2014): A report on the housing crisis in one of London’s most expensive boroughs, London, Tower Hamlet Citizens.

North and South and Hard Times Essay - 3016 Words

North and South and Hard Times In Industrial H Sussman states that one of the most significant shifts created by industrialism was that of the separation of the workplace from the home. This shift created new gender roles with the husband as breadwinner [and the] wife as childcare giver and led ultimately to the 19th century ideology of the two separate spheres - the masculine public sphere of work [and] the private female sphere of domesticity. Is, however, this shift one which Elizabeth Gaskell in North and South and Charles Dickens in Hard Times not only reflect but one which they endorse? If the public sphere is masculine then the opening chapters of HardTimes immediately confronts†¦show more content†¦The circus suggests freedom from the constraints imposed by the public sphere and the triumph of the private sphere. In R Williams words, however, if the circus is instinctive it is also anarchic. To return to such a system, whether in the public or private realm, is impossible. Dickens other major example of the public sphere is Bounderby, a caricature of the successful factory owner, who contrasts sharply with Gaskells Thornton. Dickens condemns Bounderby from the start of the novel with his description of him as A man with a great puffed head and forehead, swelled veins in his temples, and such strained skin to his face that it seemed to hold his eyes open and lift his eyebrows up. Bounderby refuses to help Stephen Blackpool to gain a divorce and responds to the threat of rebellion amongst his workers with the claim that he will transport Slackbridge and his fellow protestors. Bounderby is a totally unsympathetic character who fittingly dies in the gutter, but this is one of the major failings of Hard Times. Bounderby is nothing more than an occasionally amusing, if repulsive, caricature who the reader cannot possible relate to on any real terms. There is the possibility that a character such as Thornton could exist, and this giv es Gaskells portrayal of the public realm (and therefore her message behind it) some sense of reality but there is no such possibility of BounderbysShow MoreRelatedEconomic Issues Between the North and South Causing the Civil War900 Words   |  4 Pagesto release the slaves from the South in order to grant them the same freedom and rights as any white person, but this was not the case. In actuality, the war had less to do with slavery, and more to do with the union of the states. During the time of the civil war, the states that were a part of the United States were entitled to leaving to union if they wanted to, and the Southern states felt betrayed. 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