Irresolution of Paradox in Donnes Batter My Heart - Literature Essay Samples

Irresolution of Paradox in Donne’s â€Å"Batter My Heart†John Donne’s â€Å"Holy Sonnet XIV† is filled with Biblical imagery and language suggestive of Psalmic platitude.Batter my heart, three person’d God; for, you As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend; That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow mee,’and bend Your force, to breake, blow, burn and make me new. (Donne 1-4)This imagery is consistent with statements made throughout the Bible like Hebrews 12:6—â€Å"For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.† The analogy of the speaker as a wayward spouse â€Å"betroth’d unto your [God’s] enemie† (Donne 10) is also evocative of distinctly Biblical language and the marriage metaphors used throughout the Old Testament prophets and the Pauline epistles. Arthur Clements has pointed out that even the association of â€Å"knocke, breathe, shine† with â€Å" break, blow, burn† is specifically Biblical in its language. There are two points within the poem, though, where the biblical language is disturbed by novel ideas that are both intriguing and perplexing. Ambiguity in a sonnet is most certainly not a device pioneered by Donne, but the significance of the theological issues dealt with in his holy sonnets make Donne’s use of paradox a significant literary and historical event. The first deviation from standard scriptural parroting tactics comes halfway through in lines 7 and 8—â€Å"Reason your viceroy in mee, mee should defend/ But is captiv’d and proves weake or untrue.† This is one of those most interesting deviations in Donne’s sonnets; though Donne is reasoning through a well-known narrative (God as a potter or loving disciplinarian) he finishes the beautifully written yet to this point trite octave by casting doubt on his method of pursuing relationship with his god. It is important to note that Donne does not cast doubt on the soundness of his own reason, but pronounces that â€Å"Reason† itself could prove â€Å"weake or untrue.† If one was attempting to reconcile this reasoning with standard church theology the doubt cast on reason could be construed as a call to the primacy of faith in spiritual development, elevated even above fallible reason. That interpretation works reasonably well until the final lines—Take mee to you, imprison mee, for IExcept you’enthrall mee, never shall be free,Nor ever chast, except you ravish me. (Donne 8-10)The paradoxes can be plausibly resolved until the final line; one could easily understand imprisonment being a kind of protection, and while â€Å"enthrall† can connate sexual bondage, its relationship to freedom within the line is convincing enough that one can emphasize the sense of enthrallment as shelter. The direct interpretation that one might have constructed to this point is serious ly troubled when the speaker ultimately suggests being ravished as the only way to chastity. When contrasted with each other, the key words to understanding the final line, â€Å"chast† and â€Å"ravish,† are evidently used in an overtly sexual sense, but, with that sense in mind, the suggestion seems impossible; to be ravished is to become no longer chaste. In order to reconcile this final line with the rest of the poem and resolve the internal paradox it would be easy to look for an alternate meaning of â€Å"ravish.† Indeed, if â€Å"ravish† is understand in its most etymologically literal sense the line could be interpreted as an understanding that God must use violence to steal the speaker away from â€Å"his enemie† and prevent violation. It is unclear, though, whether this is the deixis most important to focus on in order to understand the line. The word â€Å"chast,† as used in line 14, also possesses alternate connotations. I t might be first understood as a moral or sexual descriptor, but its status as a form of its sense used in Hebrews 12:6, â€Å"Whom the Lord loves he chastens† (emphasis mine) should not be overlooked. The line could in this way be understood as inviting harsh discipline on the speaker. There is no clear indication that Donne meant for any one of the possible interpretations suggested by the final line to be exclusively authoritative. This ambiguity gives some license to the reader, and because it is license related to a theological matter there is an important subtext to the poem. John Donne, a minister of the Anglican church, might not have intended to subvert the authority of the church, but he does give readers power to work out ambiguity as they please. This seems to connect Donne’s sonnets to a more liberal theology and politic which would ultimately deprive the church of its authoritarian power in a significant way. It is also possible that the paradoxes c ontained within â€Å"Batter My Heart† are better off without clear resolution. It has been pointed out that â€Å"being a Christian in the seventeenth century was a peculiarly complex fate.† (Strier 360) It is a popular view among Donne lovers everywhere that the inability to resolve theological and metaphysical paradoxes within the holy sonnets is a large part of the appeal. The biggest problem with holding such a view is that it inevitably breaks down upon any sort of examination. If one holds the view that the paradoxes reflect the absurdity of theological quibbles that meaning has been imposed on the text with no more evidence than the desire of the reader. One could just as easily hold that the paradoxes reflect the beautiful curiosities of an infinitely complex creation. Neither of these reflections is necessarily falsifiable within the text, but the point is that they are not contained in the text in any way. To conjecture about extratextual meaning as if it was a legitimate parsing of the text is to impose an illegitimate authority. To get at a meaning independent of bias and the whimsical twaddle of an unfettered imagination it is necessary to consider the true meaning of the words. Having a reference that truly disambiguated the meaning of words would eliminate our problems with conflicting interpretation, but such a reference cannot exist for two rather obvious reasons. First, books are written by human hands which are generally connected to finite human brains that work to impose meaning on words and worlds regardless of an inability to know omnisciently or outside of the lens of one’s own consciousness. Second, an attempt to define words with words acknowledges implicitly the necessary uncertainty of the definition. Despite the instability of language it is not hypocritical to appeal to a standard, rather than personal conjecture as the proper method of interpretation. While it should be acknowledged that words ar e simply what we agree them to be, it is the consensus of a group rather than a single mind that is appealed to through the utilization of etymological principles of interpretation. With this in mind it should be acknowledged that literary interpretation without personal conjecture might become nothing more than charts of the historical usage of words and figures from polls applying meaning by consensus. To provide a significant analysis of a text it is necessary that recognized â€Å"authorities† and tools that are applied are useful, but not as simple as mechanically applying an algorithm that will spit out meaning. When a creative human mind encodes information in texts, especially in paradox, a creative human mind is ultimately the tool necessary for interpretation. Works CitedClements, Arthur. â€Å"Donne’s Holy Sonnet XIV.† Modern Language Notes 76. (1961): 484-489. Donne, John. Holy Sonnet XIV. The Complete Poetry and Selected Prose of John Donne . Ed. Charles M. Coffin. New York: The Modern Library, 2001. 264.The Holy Bible, New Scoffield Reference Edition, New York: Oxford University Press, 1967.Strier, Richard. â€Å"John Donne Awry and Squint: The ‘Holy Sonnets,’ 1608-1610.† Modern Philology 86. (1989): 357-384.

Problems Of Corporate Social Responsibility - 3455 Words

Problems of Corporate Social Responsibility in Sugarcane Value Chain in Utter Pradesh: An Analysis through Integrated Model of CSR PROF.SHAMIM AHMAD Dept of Agricultural Economics Business Management A.M.U Aligarh e-mail:shamimahmadmba@gmail.com Contact no: 915712702238 ABUZAR NOMANI Dept of Agricultural Economics Business Management A.M.U Aligarh e-mail:abuzarnomani88@gmail.com Contact no: +917417006481 ABSTRACT Corporate social responsibility is a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business activities and in interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. In this global context, voluntary social and environmental practices of business, going beyond companies’ existing legal obligations, can play a major role in filling the governance gap in an innovative way. 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Impact of Absolute Poverty to the Vulnerable Globally

Question: Discuss about the Impact of Absolute Poverty to the Vulnerable Globally. Answer: Introduction Poverty is scarcity or lack of money or material possession (Townsend, 2014).According to Macionis Plummer. (2012), Poverty is a common problem in the developing countries and mostly affects the vulnerable individuals in the society. Absolute poverty refers to the lack of the necessary resources required to meet the basic needs like shelter, food, and clothing. Freiberg, Homel Lamb (2013) argues that the impacts of poverty on the vulnerable individuals include: malnutrition and hunger, lack of education, health problems, criminal activities and drug abuse, unemployment, psychological problems, violence, inequalities, and poor living conditions. The major causes of poverty have been poor agricultural practices that result in low production of food, corruption, the gap between the rich and poor, growing population and political instability (Macionis Plummer, 2012). The essay will analyze and describe the major impacts of poverty in among the vulnerable individuals. Discussion Malnutrition and Hunger Malnutrition refers to improper nutrition which is as a result of lack of enough food to eat or lack of the right food or balanced diet (Jose, 2016). According to Jose (2016), absolute poverty has been the main cause of malnutrition in among the vulnerable groups including women, refugees, children and the elderly. The vulnerable groups require support with food in order to eradicate malnutrition. The poverty causes the women, elderly, children and the refugees not to have access to enough and right food. The dependency nature of the vulnerable group to other people to provide them with food is the major cause of malnutrition to the vulnerable groups. The healthiest foods are usually expensive and the absolute poverty deters the vulnerable group in purchasing the nutritious foods (Jose, 2016). The budget for the most vulnerable group is small and therefore they afford only the less nutritious food leading to malnutrition. The malnutrition of the mother results in women giving birth to low birth weight and deformed children. According to Macionis Plummer (2012), hunger is a common impact of poverty in among the vulnerable group. The poor lacks the farms and resources required for farming and this causes hunger. Lack of money to purchase food is also a major cause of hunger in among the vulnerable individuals. Health Issues A health problem is also a major impact on poverty in among the vulnerable globally. The health ranges from access to medicine, life expectancy to diseases. According to Macionis Plummer (2012), Illness is a major problem in among the vulnerable group because of lack of the resources that are necessary for maintaining a healthy environment. The health problems are also linked to malnutrition as malnutrition generates health problems. Lack of vitamins may cause visual problems, beriberi, rickets and decrease in immunity (Chung et al 2015). The decreased immunity as a result of malnutrition makes the body vulnerable to infection causing illnesses. Chung et al (2015) claim that absolute poverty results to deterioration in sanitation conditions as the vulnerable group lack access to clean water to drink and clean toilets. The unsanitary condition poses a threat in contracting most of the diseases like cholera and typhoid. The people living in absolute poverty are unable to access health services and medicine to cure diseases. The access to health services requires money which most of the vulnerable group cannot afford hence affected by illnesses that can be treated by accessing the health services. Life expectancy also reduces to poverty. Child mortality rate increases as a result of poverty due to illnesses that cause deaths (Chung et al 2015) .The women due to poverty engage in prostitution which increases the HIV levels in among the women. According to (Chung et al 2015), women and the children are more likely to be infected with schistosomiasis as they usually conduct their household chores in contaminated water which is a mode of transmission of schistosomiasis. Education Issues The absolute poverty affects the education of the vulnerable group. According to Buck Deutsch (2014), many people drop out of school at an early age as a result of poverty as the parents may not afford to pay the school fees and buy the necessary clothing. Most of the people undergo through life illiteracy due to lack of education. The lack of food affects education as most of the students are unable to concentrate in class due to hunger. Drop out from school due to lack of food is also a common problem experienced by children who emanate from families with absolute poverty. Education is a means of empowering people so that they broaden their minds and access employment opportunities which make them rich. The families with absolute poverty end up not educating their children and as a result, poverty continues recycling itself from one generation to the other (Buck Deutsch, 2014). According to Buck Deutsch (2014), men are preferred for education compared to women when a family may not be able to provide education to a boy and a girl child at the same time. Poverty causes a rise in the numbers of uneducated and illiterate elderly people in the society. Crime, Drug Abuse, and Violence Criminal activities increase due to poverty because of the high level of unemployment (Wilson, 2013). The low income causes young adults, refugees and women to engage in criminal activities including joining terrorist. The criminal activities have an impact on women as sexual abuse is more common during criminal activities. Wilson (2013) asserts that drug abuse as a result of poverty is a common problem that affects the vulnerable group in the society. The children engage in drug abuse early due to life frustrations. Drug abuse continues up to the elderly age and hence poverty continues to recycle from one generation to the other. The drug abuse is the major cause of violence against women as men who use drugs are always violent in their homes (Wilson, 2013). The drug abuse as a result of poverty also causes break up of families leading to a single mother. Most of the men who engage in criminal activities as a result of poverty are killed or jailed leading to single mothers and child ren who lacks the basics provision from their single mothers. Unemployment, Inequalities and Psychological Problems Unemployment is a major impact of absolute poverty levels in among the vulnerable groups. The lack of employment is mostly linked to lack of education during childhood. Unemployment and lack of funds to satisfy the basic needs cause psychological problems to the women, elderly and the refugees. Poverty is associated with poor health, lack of education and lack of basic needs which are distressing and therefore results to the development of behavioral, emotional and psychiatric problems (Lipina Posner, 2012). Depression and mental stress are most of the psychological problems that affect the vulnerable groups experiencing absolute poverty. Mental stresses also affect the children experiencing poverty and this may lead to a child developing antisocial behaviors due to depression. An income inequality is also an effect of poverty. According to Lipina Posner (2012), the huge gap in income levels between the poor and the rich can trigger psychological problems. There are also inequalities in employment between the poor and the rich. The poor mostly secure jobs which are depersonalizing, unrewarding and stressful which make them develop psychological problems (Amin et al, 2014). The rich due to being education get high paying and rewarding jobs which prevent them from developing mental distress. Depression in among children results to school dropout and child increase in the number of street children. Poor Living Conditions Poor living conditions is a major problem experienced by the vulnerable group due to poverty. The vulnerable group has to fight extra hard in order to access shelter, clothes, and food. According to Gulyani Talukdar (2010), the poor people live in slums, streets and refugee camps where the houses are not favorable for human inhabitation. Child labor is also a consequence of poverty. Conclusion The women, children, refugees and the elderly are among the vulnerable individuals in the society that are greatly affected by poverty. Poverty results to health problems, increased illiteracy levels, poor living conditions, increased criminal and violence activities, and unemployment and drug abuse. The government should make initiatives geared towards eradicating poverty in order to avoid the negative effects associated with poverty. References Amin, L., Shah, B. R., Bierman, A. S., Lipscombe, L. L., Wu, C. F., Feig, D. S., Booth, G. L. (2014). Gender differences in the impact of poverty on health: disparities in risk of diabetesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ related amputation.Diabetic Medicine,31(11), 1410-1417. Buck, R. Deutsch, J. (2014). Effects of poverty on education.International Journal Of Human Sciences,11(2), 1139. https://dx.doi.org/10.14687/ijhs.v11i2.3043 Chung, E. K., Siegel, B. S., Garg, A., Conroy, K., Gross, R. S., Long, D. A., ... Yin, H. S. (2016). Screening for social determinants of health among children and families living in poverty: a guide for clinicians.Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care,46(5), 135-153. Freiberg, K., Homel, R., Lamb, C. (2013). The pervasive impact of poverty on children: Tackling family adversity and promoting child development through the pathways to prevention project.Pathways and Crime Prevention, 226. Gulyani, S. Talukdar, D. (2010). Inside Informality: The Links Between Poverty, Microenterprises, and Living Conditions in Nairobis Slums.World Development,38(12), 1710-1726. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2010.06.013 Jose, S. (2016). Economic Growth, Poverty and Malnutrition in India.Ekonomik Yaklasim,27(98), 29. https://dx.doi.org/10.5455/ey.35902 Lipina, S. J., Posner, M. I. (2012). The impact of poverty on the development of brain networks.Frontiers in human neuroscience,6, 238. Macionis Plummer.(2012).Sociology: A global introduction, 5th edition, Pearson Education, Essex, UK Townsend, P. (2014).International analysis poverty. Routledge. Wilson, J. (2013).Thinking about crime. Basic Books.