The Journey of Lily in Sue Monk Kidds The Secret Life of Bees Essay

The Journey of Lily in Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees The devastating tragedy of losing a person's mother at an early age can drastically affect that person's life. It can impact the way someone thinks, corresponds with others, and the way someone handles themselves emotionally. In the novel The Secret Life of Bees Lily Owens loses her mother at the early age of four. During Lily's journey she finds comfort and support in the women that she meets. Throughout the novel Lily goes through many changes because of the impact of the motherly figures of the Black Mary, Rosaleen, and the Calendar Sisters. During Lily's journey the Black Mary helps change Lily's life by providing structure. The ritual of the Calendar Sisters, Rosaleen, and Lily praying before the Black Mary everyday provides Lily with time to focus on her emotions and thoughts. Structure gives Lily a routine with helps her stay organized. "'I reached out and traced Black Mary's heart with my finger'" (Monk Kidd 164). Lily is able to touch the Black Mary on her second attempt. This gives Lily as physical connection to the Black Mary, which she never had with her real mother. The Black Mary acts like a silent mother towards Lily because Lily can connect with the Black Mary physically, but not as much socially. Lily can relate to the Black Mary socially but only through prayer, which is not as strong of a connection as the physical aspect. After Lily learns about the stories that tell the Black Mary's past, she can relate to the Black Mary even more. "'You know, she's really just the figurehead off an old ship, b ut the people needed comfort and rescue, so when they looked at it, they saw Mary, and so the spirit of Mary took over'" (141). When L... ... (243). Lily received a lot of love that gave her hope and made her feel good about herself. Instead of having one mother, Lily had three. Which she felt was the best thing for her. "All these mothers. I have more mothers than eight girls off the street. They are the moons shining over me" (302). Through Lily's life journeys and lessons she learns to appreciate the small things in life and thank those who care. The impact of the Black Mary, Rosaleen and the Calendar Sisters help Lily go through positive changes. Even though Lily lost her mother at an early age, she still had the opportunity to have a great life. Lily was lucky to have the love and support of the many women that are in her life. Lily had a great life and fit into the African American culture perfectly. Works Cited: Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. New York: Penguin, 2002.

Symbols and Symbolism in The Great Gatsby Essay -- Great Gatsby Essays

Symbolism in The Great Gatsby       Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby has more relevance in today’s society than it did when it was written. With the recent societal trend that emphasizes lack of morals and material wealth over a meaningful existence, Fitzgerald’s message really hits home. Which is more important - money or love? Social status or being true to oneself? Fitzgerald uses metaphor and symbols to great effect in order to illustrate what can happen when the pursuit of happiness becomes warped (by American ideals) into the pursuit of money.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the major symbols in the novel is the color green. Green represents the hopes and dreams of people striving to accomplish the American dream of wealth and glory. Green is the color of money and is often used to purvey the concept of wealth, especially with reference to Gatsby. Whenever Gatsby's mansion is described there is always mention of the color green. His house is surrounded by "a large green lawn" or the "green ivy" which grows on his house. The interior of his car is described as "a sort of green leather conservatory" ... ...arning and take a second look to determine what is truly fulfilling in life. Works Cited Bewley, Marius. "Scott Fitzgerald's Criticism of America." In Modern Critical Interpretations: The Great Gatsby. edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. 1986. 11-27. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner Classic, 1986. McAdams, Tony. "The Great Gatsby: An Examination of Metaphor and Symbolism." In Readings on The Great Gatsby. edited by Katie de Koster. San Diego, California: Greenhaven Press. 1998. 111-120.

History of Pole Dancing Essay

Pole dancing is a combination of dance and gymnastics that is an increasingly popular form of fitness and dance. Pole dancers use a vertical pole which is either static or spinning, and train in gyms or dedicated dance studios. It’s no secret that pole dancing really started in the strip clubs. But it has evolved into so much more and pole dancing fitness enthusiasts and schools have been working tirelessly to change the perception to one of a legitimate dance style emphasising the acrobatics and strength. Circus influences such as Chinese pole and other aerial arts have helped along the way, moving it away from the erotic environment. Competitions are usually non-sexual and are judged on tricks and transitions rather than sensuality. Rather than just the gyrating and grinding people expect it to be, pole dancing requires an amazing amount of strength, flexibility and cardiovascular endurance, even a five minute routine is extremely tiring! Obviously in clubs, rather than actual tricks, there is a lot of floor-work and other things that are designed to arouse rather than amaze! Pole dancers use upper body and core strength are the most obvious requirements as there are a lot of climbs, spins and inverting the body weight – it often involves a lot of training to get anywhere near an advanced level. Pole dancing as we see it today originated during the depression in America. The traveling entertainment and carnival troupes would go from town to town. In one of the side tents aside from the main show, girls would dance suggestively on a small stage in front of crowds of cheering men. Sound familiar? Pole dancing gradually moved into to bars in the 1950s as burlesque became more popular and then during the 1980s in North America, became pole dancing and the modern striptease. It was only a decade later that a dancer in Canada started teaching pole dancing for fitness to women who weren’t club dancers. In Australia, the first pole dancing studio, Bobbi’s Pole Studio, opened in Sydney in 2004, closely followed by Pole Divas in Melbourne in 2004 and a national competition followed in 2005. Since then there have been dozens of pole dancing schools opening all over Australia and we boast some of the best pole dancers in the world, including multiple Miss Pole Dance World winner, Felix Cane. We do know that there are different styles of pole dancing including Chinese pole, and Mallakhamb (an Indian sport), neither of which have an erotic component and are mainly performed by men, so obviously pole dancing in different forms has developed around the world over time. The Mallakhamb pole is wide, made of wood and has a wooden ball on the top of it. Chinese Pole is usually performed using two poles, between which the men perform gravity defying acrobatics. During a pole dancing fitness class, which are often similar to aerobics or dance classes in their format, students begin with a cardiovascular warm up, use dynamic stretching and strength drills to prepare and then learn a series of tricks, climbs and inverts and often then put them into a dance routine to practice transitions and develop their endurance. One other thing that is often reported by women who have taken up pole dancing for fitness is a feeling of empowerment and increased confidence. Whether this is because of their developing strength, skill, grace or simply a sense of achievement, differs from student to student. Pole dancing now focuses on the fitness, acrobatics and dance performance aspects and competitions are fierce. Some dancers are lean contortion machines whilst some look like they could be body builders in their spare time. Women and men compete on a regular basis around the world in a number of styles, all with absolutely breathtaking performances. Pole dancing has definitely come a long way from the sexy tent pole dancing where it began!

Free Essays on My Road Trip

Road Trip A new CD in your stereo, a full tank of the cheapest gas you can find, a fresh pack of cigarettes and some of your closest friends, theses are all I ever needed to have a good time. I don’t know where I get my love of road trips, maybe it’s from my mom always wanting to find out â€Å"where this road goes,† or maybe it was just that I’ve always wanted to see if the grass really is greener on the other side. All I know it that road trips seem to be the essence of my life. Some road trips are planned well in advance, while others hit you smack upside the head with no warning at all. This particular road trip was one of those that left you with a black eye and a welt just above your right temple. As five o’clock wound around on that Silverdale, WA Saturday afternoon, I was getting off of work at the mall and instead of just going home and waiting for Monday to come, I decided to go find an adventure with some friends. I started up the mall scanning all of the other shops to see who was working and who was about to get off work. Finally, towards the end of the mall I found my good friend of many years, Lauren, working at the Metabolife booth. When he had gotten off the telephone I asked him about that evening and what he was doing, he replied that he and his roommate Suzie were going to drive down to Oregon for the night to see Suzie’s mom. After a quick check in with Dad to let him know that I would be out of state for the weekend, we were off to Oregon. A few hours had passed and we were getting rather near to the boarder of Oregon, I noticed that we might need to stop and get gas, at that point I fell into a deep sleep without telling anyone else in the car that we needed gas soon. As the gage slid towards â€Å"E† and the SUV started to give out, I was awakened by the frantic sounds of Lauren’s effeminate voice yelling at Suz to pull over to the side of the road, and Suz yelling back that she wouldn’t b... Free Essays on My Road Trip Free Essays on My Road Trip Road Trip A new CD in your stereo, a full tank of the cheapest gas you can find, a fresh pack of cigarettes and some of your closest friends, theses are all I ever needed to have a good time. I don’t know where I get my love of road trips, maybe it’s from my mom always wanting to find out â€Å"where this road goes,† or maybe it was just that I’ve always wanted to see if the grass really is greener on the other side. All I know it that road trips seem to be the essence of my life. Some road trips are planned well in advance, while others hit you smack upside the head with no warning at all. This particular road trip was one of those that left you with a black eye and a welt just above your right temple. As five o’clock wound around on that Silverdale, WA Saturday afternoon, I was getting off of work at the mall and instead of just going home and waiting for Monday to come, I decided to go find an adventure with some friends. I started up the mall scanning all of the other shops to see who was working and who was about to get off work. Finally, towards the end of the mall I found my good friend of many years, Lauren, working at the Metabolife booth. When he had gotten off the telephone I asked him about that evening and what he was doing, he replied that he and his roommate Suzie were going to drive down to Oregon for the night to see Suzie’s mom. After a quick check in with Dad to let him know that I would be out of state for the weekend, we were off to Oregon. A few hours had passed and we were getting rather near to the boarder of Oregon, I noticed that we might need to stop and get gas, at that point I fell into a deep sleep without telling anyone else in the car that we needed gas soon. As the gage slid towards â€Å"E† and the SUV started to give out, I was awakened by the frantic sounds of Lauren’s effeminate voice yelling at Suz to pull over to the side of the road, and Suz yelling back that she wouldn’t b...

Inspector calls attitudes towards women Essays

Inspector calls attitudes towards women Essays Inspector calls attitudes towards women Essay Inspector calls attitudes towards women Essay we can see within this time women conformed to the attitudes and actions of men. One example of this is when Mrs Birling states when youre married youll realise that men with important work to do sometimes have to spend all their time and energy on their business. Youll have to get used to that just as I had. From this speech the role of a women in this time period is clear, to abide by the mans business and ethics . On the other hand Sheila replies I dont think I will. A change of attitudes can be seen within the younger generation and furthermore in the way she reacts to the inspector. In addition whilst Gerald is confessing his affair with Daisy Renton he claims it was inevitable that she should become his mistress this shows a lack of respect for women in their own right and that they are objectified. Furthermore ,Sheila is seenas venerable and her parents wish to protect her from the truth. For example it is often said in the play Miss Birling ought to be excused. Moreover the family asked for Sheila to be excused from Geralds confession; this is ironic as she is the person who will benefit from listening the most as Sheila says your forgetting Im engaged to the hero of it . Despite this Sheila learns the value of honesty confessing to Gerald infact I respect you more than I did a few hours ago . Therefore it can be seen that women were seen as defenceless and that they needed guidance. Moreover ,by the end of the play Sheila gains independence from her parents she forms her own opinions and her own response in relation to the inspector. She becomes frustrated at her parents passionately stating that their pretending things are just as they were before . It is at this point that we can see the journey that Sheila has made from girl to women . Her positive role offers hope for women of the future as she is member of the younger generation . Finally, it can be seen that young men do not treat women with respect. For example Gerald claims it was inevitable that Daisy became his mistress, we learn of Aldernam Megarty notorious womanising and Eric got Daisy pregnant and tried to marry her. Despite this Daisy manages to uphold moral values for example she did not marry Eric as she did not love him as the text states she said she didnt love me and all that . Furthermore she did not accept stolen money . She also was a ring leader at Mr Birling works . This shows that despite being a woman and of the lower class she has managed to provide more areas of respectability than the entire Birling family who obtain positions for example the head of a charity. In conclusion, the view of women in this time period was very dim . They are often objectified and mistreated by men. On the other hand hope is offered in the form of Sheila and Eva Smith as both make strides in improving themselves and upholds moral values . However it has been proven that morality is not directly proportional to respectability as Mrs Birling is stuck in her ways and although occupies important role is not willing to feel guilt or take blame.

Fort Valley State University Admissions Requirements

Fort Valley State University Admissions Requirements Fort Valley State University Admissions Overview: Fort Valley State seems to be selective, admitting around a quarter of those who apply each year. Still, those with good grades and test scores above average have a good chance of being admitted to the school. To apply, interested students should submit an application, scores from either the SAT or ACT (both are accepted equally), and high school transcripts. If you have any questions about applying, be sure to contact the admissions office, and check out the schools website for updated admissions requirements.   Will You Get In? Calculate Your Chances of Getting In  with this free tool from Cappex Admissions Data (2016): Fort Valley State University Acceptance Rate: 26%Test Scores 25th / 75th PercentileSAT Critical Reading: 380 / 470SAT Math: 390 / 470SAT Writing: - / -What these SAT numbers meanACT Composite: 10  / 19ACT English: 15 / 19ACT Math: 7  / 20ACT Writing: -  / -What these ACT numbers mean Fort Valley State University Description: Fort Valley State University is a four-year, public, historically black college located in Fort Valley, Georgia. The campus 1,365 acres is the second largest in the state for a public university. FVSU supports over 3,500 students with a student/faculty ratio of 20 to 1. FVSU offers over 50 majors between its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Agriculture and Family Sciences, Graduate Studies and Extended Education, and Education. Students at Fort Valley State stay busy outside of the classroom through participation in over 70 student clubs and organizations, including a Creative Writing Club, Criminal Justice Club, the Royal Elite Modeling Troupe, and many fraternities and sororities.  For intercollegiate athletics, the FVSU Wildcats competes in the NCAA Division II Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) with sports that include men’s and women’s basketball, tennis, track and field,  and cross country. Enrollment (2016): Total Enrollment: 2,679  (2,252 undergraduates)Gender Breakdown: 42% Male / 58% Female89% Full-time Costs (2016 - 17): Tuition and Fees: $5,594  Books: $1,500  (why so much?)Room and Board: $7,950Other Expenses: $5,000Total Cost: $20,044 Fort Valley State University Financial Aid (2015- 16): Percentage of New Students Receiving Aid: 98%Percentage of New Students Receiving Types of AidGrants: 91%Loans: 91%Average Amount of AidGrants: $6,929Loans: $6,714 Academic Programs: Most Popular Majors:  Biology, Business Administration, Criminal Justice, PsychologyWhat major is right for you?  Sign up to take the free My Careers and Majors Quiz at Cappex. Transfer, Graduation and Retention Rates: First Year Student Retention (full-time students): 75%Transfer Out Rate: 23%4-Year Graduation Rate: 8%6-Year Graduation Rate: 25% Intercollegiate Athletic Programs: Mens Sports:  Football, Track and Field, Cross Country, Tennis, BasketballWomens Sports:  Tennis, Volleyball, Basketball, Cross Country, Softball, Track and Field Data Source: National Center for Educational Statistics If You Like Fort Valley State, You May Also Like These Schools: Savannah State University: Profile  Columbus State University: Profile  Mercer University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphBethune-Cookman University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphAlbany State University: Profile  Clark Atlanta University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphValdosta State University: Profile  University of Georgia: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT Graph

Physical Attractiveness and Long-term Relationships Essay

Physical Attractiveness and Long-term Relationships - Essay Example Women often favor the "macho man" than his less attractive competitor. Accordingly, "Human attraction to aesthetics, good looks advertise good health" (Lecture, 7/18/2007). True enough, physical beauty alone can blind individuals and lure them to dive into an intimate association. In the real world situations, it is notable that the satisfaction of the physical ideals becomes an important basis in people's search for casual, non-committed, short term relationships. However, physical attractiveness alone is insufficient in sustaining that bond let alone ensure the longevity of that relationship. It becomes apparent that both sexes relax their ideals of physical attractiveness when considering a long term partnership. An intimate relationship which is fully founded on the physical attractiveness of each partner is most likely to fail. Beauty is a shallow basis in pursuing a long-lasting relationship. The success or even the mere survival of a relationship depends on more intrinsic factors like the partner's acceptance of each other, sensitivity, commitment to the relationship, and most especially their level of understanding and love to each other. Real life examples provide us more than enough illustration to support this argument. As partners goes through their relationship, they become overwhelmed with concerns which are bigger than what meets the eye. Thus, as they began to face the storms and struggles, they begin to care less about the physical appearance of their partner. In fact, just spending time with the person 24 hours a day each day of the week makes the importance of physical beauty fade into the background. At this stage, the partners become more concerned on their individual diffe rences, emotional struggles, and other problems. The ability of the partners to surpass these critical periods is determined by their love for each other alone and not on their level of physical attractiveness. Love alone, which enables a person to accept his partner for all that she is and instills him with the commitment to make the relationship work, can sustain a long term partnership. Relationships which are founded on immediate physical attraction are more likely to fail when individual differences become apparent. In fact, these partnerships are often disastrous and can be attributed to the high divorce rate and long-term singledom (Feinmann, s. 4). Physical attractiveness can be more detrimental than beneficial in a relationship. Studies stress that beauty often boosts the self-confidence of women, gives them security in the relationship and becomes their ticket in doing dirty tactics: "Data from young U.S. females show that compared to less-attractive females, attractive females report higher frequencies of using attractiveness enhancement tactics (e.g., wearing makeup), flirting with other males to make a date jealous, and acting possessively" (Elia/Chen p.33). All of the aforementioned strategies of more attractive female becomes damaging to the relationship because they can become causes of disagreement between partners. Flirting with other men and becoming overly possessive are two things which are extremely loathed and are unacceptable to guys. In this way, physical attracti