Saturday, February 29, 2020

A Poetic Message Of Hope By Anne Bradstreet

A Poetic Message Of Hope By Anne Bradstreet Hope in the face of death seems to be an impossible concept to adequately convey to a reader. After all, death itself seems to be the epitome of hopelessness and despair. However, Anne Bradstreet conveys in her poetry this very idea. Bradstreet lived in a Puritan community in America where people lived very hard lives and struggled greatly. In such conditions, death was a possibility that loomed over people on a daily basis. As such, it is a topic that Bradstreet chose for many of her poems. She endeavors to bring hope to her fellow settlers, even in the face of death, by widening their field of vision to include eternity that is promised to them by God. In her poems â€Å"Contemplations,† â€Å"Before the Birth of One of her Children,† and â€Å"As Weary Pilgrim,† Bradstreet uses nature to illustrate where to keep one’s focus in life and shows how to remain hopeful when death is an inevitable and ever-present fact of life. While Bradstreet praises nature in her poetry, she acknowledges its insufficiency while using it for a higher purpose. In her poem â€Å"Contemplations,† she speaks highly of nature and the beauty it possesses. She praises nature’s ability for rejuvenation in the eighteenth stanza by saying, â€Å"If winter come and greenness then do fade, / A spring returns, and they more youthful made† (Bradstreet 124-125). She seems envious of this trait and reveres it. She then observes that man falls short in these terms: â€Å"But man grows old, lies down, remains where once he’s laid† (Bradstreet 126). Man falls victim to time and age without the ability to regenerate. With this realization, she is addressing a subject that would have been very prevalent in her time: death. Life in America was hard for people in the communities in which Bradstreet found herself, and these harsh conditions led to very high death rates. This accounts for Bradstreet’s adm iration for nature’s regenerative powers and takes it a step further by asking a question: â€Å"Shall I then praise the heavens, the trees, the earth / Because their beauty and their strength last longer?† (Bradstreet 134-135). She quickly silences this thought by observing that, despite the longevity of trees, the earth, and all other forms in nature, these things will eventually die and â€Å"man was made for endless immortality† (Bradstreet 140). She is showing that despite the places where man falls short, namely in strength and longevity, he will receive his reward in the eternal world and because of that, man is superior. This would have been a message of hope for the people of Bradstreet’s time that were struggling. This idea that they would be rewarded in the next life was a comforting notion and one that was rooted in Puritan beliefs. However, rendering nature insignificant seems to be contradictory to the rest of the poem, which spends a good a mount of time praising nature. Despite her seemingly contradictory statements about nature’s worthiness of adulation, she is justified in her use of nature as her focus and her praise of nature’s beauty and superior appearance because she speaks about nature as a reflection and illustration of religious ideals. She opens the poem with praise for the beauty of the trees during autumn. She takes it a step further in stating, â€Å"If so much excellence abide below, / How excellent is He that dwells on high†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Bradstreet 9-10). She sees nature as a reflection of God himself. Not only is it a reflection; Bradstreet also proves that observations of nature can be used to illustrate religious concepts. For example, she observes a fish swimming and infers that he is striving for the goal of reaching the ocean. As she did with her previous description of nature, she takes the illustration further and relates it to something of greater value. In the same way the fish is struggling, a person strugg les through the hardships of life with the promise of eternal life at the end of the journey. Nature alone is not worthy of worship, but when viewed as God’s creation and a reflection of him, it is to be revered because it is meant to point to him. She is conveying the importance of keeping the focus on God in all things and to strive for the ultimate goal of eternity throughout life rather than earthly goals. In the words of Kopacz, she is saying, â€Å"Earthly achievement and status, memorials and records, are meaningless in the perspective of eternity. Only salvation can triumph over time† (Kopacz). As she refocuses her audience, she is telling them through her use of nature that God and salvation in him should be focused on in life because it is the only thing that lasts throughout eternity. She recognizes the difficulty of keeping one’s eyes on God and illustrates this struggle in her poem entitled â€Å"Before the Birth of One of her Children.† This poem was written upon the impending birth of one of Bradstreet’s children, and in it, she recognizes the possibility of dying in childbirth. She observes in the poems the far-reaching power of death by stating, â€Å"No ties so strong, no friends so dear and sweet, / But with death’s parting blow is sure to meet† (Bradstreet 3-4). With this statement and the previous examples of Bradstreet’s poetry, one would expect mention of the eternal life that waits after death. However, as Dempsey points out, â€Å"the speaker does not soften death’s reality with pious words about an expectation of heaven or by a repentance for sin† (Dempsey). The poem is void of any such promise. Instead, she laments leaving behind her husband and begs that he cherish her children if she should perish. She even goes on to say, â€Å"And if I see not half my days that’s due†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Bradstreet 13). In other words, she is saying that if something does happen to her, she will have been cheated out of time on this earth. This is not the voice of someone who is looking toward the eternal life promised after death. This is a realistic and natural attitude to have, and she is illustrating here the difficulty when facing death to keep one’s eyes on such things. When faced with the possibility of leaving all that one has known, she shows that worrisome thoughts set in and fall upon those you will leave behind. This gives the poem a desperate tone that is devoid of hope. However, this is not the only view of death that Bradstreet gives. In her poem entitled â€Å"As Weary Pilgrim,† she talks about the toils of life and the relief and comfort to be found in life after death and states, â€Å"Such lasting joys shall there behold†¦ Lord make me ready f or that day / Then come, dear Bridegroom, come away† (Bradstreet 41-44). In her poetry, she illustrates the desperate struggle with one’s own death while showing the reader that relief can be found when focuses on the eternal life God promises. Anne Bradstreet’s religious beliefs are strongly rooted in her poetry, and the poetry itself seeks to help people on their own spiritual journeys. She shows how man is superior to nature because of the promise of eternal life. Although it may seem in this life that nature itself is stronger and more majestic than man, it is of no value because man will receive his reward in the next life. Therefore, to understand this, one must always remain focused on God and the ultimate goal of eternity with him. She illustrates that very concept by connecting everything she sees in nature back to religious ideas. However, as Bradstreet realized, this is not always an easy to do. Her feelings about the possibility of her own death are also in her poetry, and they evoke a sense of hopelessness. She shows her own despair that occurs when she lets her eyes fall from God to earthly things alone, and in illustrating that struggle, she makes her message of hope even stronger. Her charge to keeps one’s eyes on God, and the illustration of her own struggle to do so in her poetry shows that there is hope to be found in the end, even for those, like herself, who may struggle to keep their eyes on that which is eternal. Works Cited Bradstreet, Anne. Anne Bradstreet. Beginnings to 1820, edited by Nina Baym, 8th ed., W. W. Norton and Company, 2012, pp. 207-38. 2 vols. Dempsey, Francine. Before The Birth Of One Of Her Children. Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition (2002): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 21 Sept. 2016. Kopacz, Paula. Contemplations. Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition (2002): 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Case study (multiple myeloma) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Case study (multiple myeloma) - Essay Example The substantial weight loss should also alert someone about a possible malignant process, as it is commonly associated. The possibility of inflammatory lower back disease also should not be ruled out, as diseases like rheumatoid arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis can be rarely localized to the spine as well. Weight loss can also be a non-specific finding. Thus inflammatory arthritis should be another group of disorders to be kept as part of the diagnosis. The addition of several recent infections and being short of breath despite being a non-smoker adds another layer of possibilities. Recurrent recent infections (not mentioned if they were chest infections or not) can be associated with immune suppression, which is seen in hematological illnesses. Shortness of breath can be due to a variety of causes including lung diseases, severe anemia and even heart failure, which should be investigated further. The substantial weight loss is seen in many chronic conditions and malignant conditions, which can be confirmed after making the diagnosis. The history is not classically suggestive of any illness in particular, and based on the differential diagnoses outlined in the history, clinical tests should be interpreted for accurately diagnosing the condition. In view of the bone pain, the clinical chemistry can be helpful if there is bone destruction. Calcium levels (3.48 mmol/L) are elevated, which is indicative of a possible bone destructive process, which can be seen in a variety of conditions. In addition, alkaline phosphatase is raised when there is new bone formation, as typically seen in classical hypercalcaemia seen with solid tumours invading bone. Moreover, phosphate levels are normal, which rules out hyperparathyroidism as a cause. Liver damage can also raise alkaline phosopahatase levels, but in light of the above history, is not one of our differential diagnoses. However, in this case, alkaline phosphatase is normal (94 IU/L) too , which raises the possibility that myeloma is the underlying cause. Few other causes of hypercalcaemia have normal phosphates and alkaline phosphate levels. The cause of hypercalcaemia in myeloma is however complex, and thought to be related to cytokine-driven increase in osteoclast activity.In this case we should also have done full serum creatinine and electrolytes, as renal insufficiency is common in myeloma as well as itself a cause of hypercalcaemia itself. The urea levels are increased ( 14.0 mmol/L) which is some cause for concern, as it could be associated with renal insufficiency. Infact hypercalcaemia itself can cause renal insufficiency, and up to this point that could be considered as the working hypothesis. Bone pain is seen in up to 70 % of cases of myeloma, and is an important consideration even at this stage. There are no clinical chemistry tests that can confirm the diagnosis of multiple myeloma, which can only be diagnosed with any certainty with the use of immunological markers as discussed below. Blood counts and film analysis The Hb level of 10.7 g/dL shows that there is mild anaemia, although Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV) is normal (82 fl) (normochromic anaemia) and so is the White cell count (11.7 x 109/L). Mild anaemia rarely

Saturday, February 1, 2020

His Study Will include a visit to the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center Essay

His Study Will include a visit to the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for the Visual Arts on the Stanford Campus - Essay Example This influenced his painting of â€Å"The Deposition† in ways that Neoclassicists attempted to recreate the Renaissance ideals. While in Rome he would have encountered the great works of the masters of the Renaissance. The paintings and sculptures of Michaelangelo, and the paintings of DaVinci and Raphael imbued him with a sense of the religious subject as a theme in art and the fine examples of the human form may have influenced his style of portraying the figure. In Italy during the Renaissance in the later part of the fifteenth century the artists of the time were intrigued with the visual effects they could achieve with perspective. In â€Å"The Deposition† Regnault uses an unusual angle in which to position the central figure. The perspective would have been very difficult to accomplish but adds interest to the composition overall. In the sixteenth century the Renaissance painters developed a fascination with the primacy of color and used it as a guiding principle. (Bayer 1) Regnault imparts a rich texture and feel with his use of a classical palette adding drama as he employs a dark color scheme with dramatic lighting. His use of the three primaries, one figure clothed in each, adds a feeling of luminosity to the otherwise somber palette. Here we see the use of color as a guiding principle. ... We also see the Blessed Virgin Mary clothed in blue as she is so often depicted. All of these symbols would have been common to the people of Paris and throughout Europe when the painting was created. The story of the suffering of Christ was widely known among the educated, the same group that would have studied the classics and attained to higher levels of understanding in the arts and sciences. The Enlightenment shed new light on many areas, one of them being classical thought. Religion and theology were often studied even by children of a young age. The painting would have had special meaning due to the subject and as an artistic and intellectual achievement it would have been praised and widely celebrated. â€Å"The Deposition† painted during the Neoclassical period late in the 18th century is very representative of painting at that time. It is similar in style and subject matter to work created then. The paintings of Gericault, David and Delacroix are all heroic in nature and epic in meaning. The story of Christ’s crucifixion is no less important. All of them painted in a realistic style with the restraint of the Classical ideas, following the voluptuousness and extravagance of the Baroque and Rococo periods; embody the somberness of the stories portrayed on the canvas. They believed that art should be cerebral, not sensual (Gontar 1). The Enlightenment brought about a passion for all things in the ancient past. The story of Christ would have been part of these teachings. â€Å"The style of painting was defined by an emphasis on formal composition, historic subject matter the spirit of the classical revival. French painter Jacques-Louis Davis (1748–1825) was a student of Vien. In 1774 he won the Prix de Rome enabling him to study at the French