An Islamic Subversion of the Existence-Essence Distinction? :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Suhrawardà ­ and the philosophy of Light Mysticism ABSTRACT: The distinction between existence and essence within contingent beings is one of the foundational, hegemonic ideas of the discourse of medieval philosophy. Building upon neo-Platonic precursors, thinkers such as Avicenna, Aquinas and William of Auvergne discussed this issue and debated the nature of the distinction. However, one Islamic philosopher who was to have a lasting impact upon the development of philosophical discourse in Iran, subverted the traditional Peripatetic visions of reality and brought into question the very nature of half of the distinction — existence. Through a critique of the Peripatetic notion of existence, Suhrawardi (c.1191) shows how the distinction is absurd and irrelevant for metaphysical inquiry. Suhrawardi refuses to accept traditional Peripatetic realism and has little need for the distinction's role in affirming contingency and the existence of a Necessary Existence. Later Islamic philosophy's insistence on an essentialist reading of Suhrawardi could be described as a category mistake confusing his concept of light with their concept of existence. An analysis of his major texts will show how this cannot be the case. Finally, an attempt will be made to explain this misreading and suggest that the Platonic hermeneutic of essential vision which Suhrawardi expounds might be the reason for it. Shihà ¥b al-Dà ­n Suhrawardà ­ [exe.1191] was an influential mystical philosopher and founder of the school of ishrà ¥q (illumination) whose phenomenological view of reality led him to reject the concrete nature of existence. Suhrawardà ­'s position on existence and his basic rejection of a metaphysics of distinction represent both an alternative to Peripatetic metaphysics as well as provide a key to understanding the radical synthesis of later Islamic philosophy by Mullà ¥ à adrà ¥ [d.1641]. The central issue revolves around an anachronistic reading of a later aporia: where does Suhrawardà ­ stand on the question of primacy within the distinction between existence and essence? Is essence or existence primary ? Traditionally this question has been answered by Mullà ¥ à adrà ¥ and his school by stating that Suhrawardà ­ believed in asà ¥lat al-mà ¥hiyya (primacy of quiddity). This claim has to be verified and explained. Four central questions emerge. What does existen ce signify for Suhrawardà ­ and is it ontologically distinguished from being? Is 'light' the same as being as understood by à adrà ¥? How does Suhrawardà ­ understand the distinction and relate it to his metaphysics of contingency? i) Wujà ºd and Existence in Suhrawardà ­ Suhrawardà ­ sets out in the logic of Óikmat al-Ishrà ¥q, 'The wisdom of illumination' his mature magnum opus, to deconstruct the distinction through a critique of the Peripatetic theory of definition.

Elites And The Masses Essay -- essays research papers fc

Elites and the Masses There are many theories pertaining to the nature of power in society. In modern society, it is important to identify where and when power is exercised, who benefits and who suffers from it being exerted upon them. In this tradition, it is useful to examine the managerialist perspective.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Managerialism focuses on organizations as the basis, or unit of analysis of society, to which all other aspects of society are subordinate to. These organizations use their resources in an attempt to dominate each other and society. Managerialism tells us that power is concentrated among a group of elites who control organizations, and use them as an instrument to gain more power and expand their realm of control. Organizational power is increasingly the most important force that explains the direction of change in both state and society (Alford and Friedland, p.174). Thus, elites are becoming the most important factor that determines our society, and do not serve the full interests of society, but rather attempt to manipulate the masses to better serve itself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Max Weber’s theory of bureaucracy lends itself to the notion of the managerialism. He claims that as society becomes more integrated and complex, organizational elites come to be more dependent on specialists and experts, or bureaucracies to advise and influence them on decisions. Bureaucracies are groups of individuals doing specialized tasks which blend into a cohesive and efficient unit. Power becomes increasingly centralized within bureaucracies and the elites who control them because as they grow, becoming more powerful, they use that power to gain more control over the masses. Weber saw the historical development of societies as a movement toward rational forms of organization, that is, groups organized not on the basis of the authority of personalities and traditions but on the basis of specific functions to perform or objectives to meet (Marger p. 72). Weber often used the notion of a machine to illustrate what he meant by modern organizations, refer ring to people as “cogs'; that serve the machine, losing their identity and creativity in the process. Although Weber admitted that both mechanization and bureaucracy together created an extremely efficient and productive economic system, they also worked to bui... ...with common interests who join together for a common goal, while managerialism believes that power is centralized among a small group of elites who work to get more power, and will even manipulate the masses in their own best interest. Pluralism believes that the citizens dictate to our government the proper policies to enact, when managerialism says that people in a position of power dictate policies to the public. In addition, pluralism assumes a consensus of values among individuals, while managerialism sees society working by conflict and coercion Bibliography Alford and Friedland, Chapter Seven, “State and Society in Managerial Perspective,'; in Powers of Theory, 1985, p.161-83. Martin Marger, Ch.4, “The Elite Model,'; in Elites and Masses (New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1981). George Ritzer, “The Weberian Theory of Rationalization and the McDonaldization of Contemporary Society,'; p 37-62 in P. Kivisto (ed.), Illuminating social like (Thousand Oaks, Pine Forge Press, 1998). C. Wright Mills, “The Structure of Power in America,'; in James Farganis (ed.), Ch. 11 “Conflict Theory,'; Readings in Social Theory (NY: Mcgraw-Hill, 1996).

Charles Dickens Great Expectations Essays -- Charles Dickens Great Ex

Charles Dickens' Great Expectations One of Dickens’ most popular novels ‘Great Expectations’ is a griping search for identity- the narrator’s self-identity Pip has been born into a difficult world in the early years of the 19th Century. Philip Pirrip is the narrator of ‘Great Expectations’. In the book he is known as Pip. He called himself Pip because as a young child his infant tongue could only get across to Pip. I the first few chapters of the book he is described as a timid, sensitive and guilt-ridden person. His parents had died earlier, probably due to poverty. Pip is living with his sister, who intimidates him in every form. We realise his intimidation when he arrives late from the graveyard, â€Å"I twisted the only button on my waistcoat round and round, and looked in great depress at the fire. Tickler was a wax-ended piece of cane, worn smooth by collision with my tickled frame† I see a parallel between Dickens and Pip. Dickens’s lived in an over-crowded place when he was young. His parents had no intentions of sending him to school. He spent his days running errands and doing chores around the house also his younger sister died of smallpox just like, Pip’s brothers and sisters. Dickens was very concerned with social issues like poverty. At the time when the book was written, there was a very high level of infant mortality, which was made worse by deaths among poor adults, hence the number of orphans. The first meeting with Magwitch is in the churchyard, where Pip is lost in childish absorption grappling with his family’s fate. His state of mind is very unstable when Pip is grabbed violently and the convict threatened to cut his throat if he was to make noise. Pip imagines Magwitch as a pir... ...r. Pip felt, Estella looked down on him because he was poor and not a gentleman. Pip was asked to play, but he didn’t know how to ‘play’. Estella lived in a society where her class did not have to work, and we read that Pip wanted to leave when he was told to ‘play’ because he did not understand the word ‘play’. In chapter 9, when Pip returns home his shame will not allow him to tell the truth to his sister and Pumblechook so he is exaggerates. We see that Pip is telling Joe about his real feelings about his trip to ‘Satis House’. Unlike the theft, which he kept secret, he eventually confides to Joe because he knows Joe will keep an open mind and he is the only one person he can speak to without being punished and having a guilty conscience. What he is confiding to Joe is his shame as a working-class person and how he must change in order to win Estella.

Knowledge Development in Nursing Essay

A philosophy of nursing should be all encompassing, with its foundation based upon core values and beliefs, while building upon experience. Medicine is often comprised of controversial ethical dilemmas where we must be advocates. In a study that examined the relationship between nurses and physicians it was determined that â€Å"Differences in values, communication, trust, and responsibilities can precipitate conflict between nurses and physicians over ethical components of care. (Corley MC 1998) Developing ones theoretical knowledge and learning how to apply it successfully into their clinical practice is part of the evolving process. The evolution that occurs over the course of a career can be empowering. Hence, it is important to develop positive nurse-physician relationships to bolster confidence and grow from those interactions. The importance of positive nurse-physician relationships has been widely acknowledged (Baggs, 1989; Baggs & Schmitt, 1988; Eubanks, 1991; Fagin, 1992; Mechanic & Aiken, 1982; Prescott & Bowen 1985). Therefore, it is our obligation as professionals to mentor our peers, not only for ourselves, but our patients and families, as well. In an interesting illustration of self disclosure (Kim, H.S., 1999) a practitioner was able to identify the needs of a patient, but clearly had difficulty communicating the needs of the patient to the physician, although some of the difficulties appeared to be cultural in nature. The way we communicate with one another as practitioners, in addition to, how we collaborate and communicate with physicians has a direct impact on patient outcomes. As practitioners we are restricted in performing our jobs if we can not effectively collaborate with the physician. It is herein that the problem lies. The inexperienced or less assertive practitioner will often find it difficult to approach a physician when faced with perhaps the â€Å"Do Not Resuscitate† order that has yet to be signed. With that being said, approaching a family that needs to be educated on the implications of G-tube placement on their family member with prolonged intubatation and no signs of improvement can be daunting without interdisciplinary support. The more experienced practitioner’s clinical judgment is more easily verbalized  because he/she is comfortable in interdisciplinary collaboration, therefore the physician is more likely to involve them in the decision making process. For example in an ICU setting where often times the physician does not involve the practitioner in the decision making process or inform them when a decision has been made it generally creates one of three things. A. the nurse will continue to aggressively pursue the physician until an order is received B. resort to â€Å"slow codes†, or C. resuscitate all patients until told otherwise by the physician (Michael I Rauchman, BA). All of these things lead to negative outcomes for both the families and patients, and we as practitioners. â€Å"Future directions of the discipline are revealed when these linkages between philosophy, disciplinary goals, theory, and practice are strengthened† (McCurry, et al). It is for these reasons, we as practitioners must continually grow and develop through our experiences, always expanding our knowledge in the ever-changing profession we have chosen. Corley MC (1998). Ethical dimensions of nurse-physician relations in critical-care (The Nursing Clinics of North America) 1998 Jun; Vol. 33 (2), pp. 325-37. http://ehis.ebscohost.com.proxy.library.maryville.edu/ehost/detail?vid=19&sid=78745a3b-d950-4ea0-890c-4ee4ab4c4b46%40sessionmgr112&hid=101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=cmedm&AN=9624207 ISSN#0029-6465 MICHAEL I. RAUCHMAN, BA Medical student McGill University Montreal, PQ RABKIN MT. GILLERMAN G, RICE NR: Orders not to resuscitate. N Engi J Med I 976; 295: 364-366 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.proxy.library.maryville.edu/pmc/articles/PMC1875656/pdf/canmedaj01406-0055.pdf Expertise in Nursing Practice Caring, Clinical Judgment, and Ethics

Disney’s Expedition Everest Essay

Walt Disney World wanted to celebrate its 50th anniversary in a big way. So in 2006 Walt Disney Company introduced Expedition Everest in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park at Lake Buena Vista, Florida. This is more than your average roller coaster. The roller coaster not only has the unexpected twist and turns we all love, but also an incredible attention to detail. This roller coaster really took some impressive management skills. This roller is based off of Mount Everest in Nepal. The ride contains 18 mountains with the tallest one (Everest) peaking at just under 200 feet. The rollers coaster contains nearly a mile of track and also has a robotic 10 foot tall Yeti. Surrounding this roller coaster in 900 bamboo plants, 10 species of trees, and 110 species of shrubs was planted to give the feel of the lowlands in the Himalayas. The Disney Imaginers actually went to the Himalayas in Nepal to study the lands, architecture, colors, ecology, and culture. They actually got more than 2000 handcrafted item for Asia to use as props and ornamentation. This is actually the most expensive roller coaster in the world. Disney’s approach to the management of project such as Expedition Everest is to combine careful planning, including schedule and budgeting preparation, with the imagination and vision for which the company is so well known. Prioritizing the needs for project success took discipline and creativity. Disney seemed to spare no expense when creating their new ride. The budget must have been astronomical. Wanting the new ride open for their 50th anniversary, each step of the project had to be met with strict deadlines taking over 2 years to develop. The approach to the management of the project displays the embodiment of the Disney spirit: a ride that combines Disney’s trademark thrills, and impressive project management.

Birth Order and Aggressive Behavior Essay

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research is to determine if birth order correlates to a demonstration of aggressiveness in kindergarten aged children. It is hypothesized that middle born children will demonstrate the most aggressive tendencies, last born children would experience less than the first born, and only children would have the least when compared to all other birth orders. This quasi-experimental methodology will involve a field study of children from the ten kindergarten classes at the Seoul American Elementary School (SAES). Teachers will be asked to complete the Child Behavior Scale (CBS) inventory on each child, used to measure six behavior categories related to aggression. Each CBS inventory will include birth data for the student whose behavior was observed. The findings are expected to show a correlation between birth order and a tendency toward aggression. INTRODUCTION Everyone who is born into a family arrives relative to other children who have already been born or will be at some point in the future or perhaps as an only child. Birth order does not permanently mark each child such as race or gender, but it can impact on the way a person responds to the environment. There have been a number of studies done on the relationship of birth order to personality, intelligence, anxiety and other characteristics with the belief that each child born into a family is treated differently based on their birth order, family interaction and subsequent challenges. Some birth order theorists believe that a child’s position in the family greatly influences their personality characteristics which directly affect their behavior both inside and outside of the home (Morales). Not every theorist has the same view and there are those that believe a psychological birth order has more impact than the physical birth order on the development of personality characteristics (Campbell, White & Stewart, 1991). In his book, Born to Rebel, Frank Sulloway describes how birth order influences our lives in many different ways from achievement to rebellion and from conformity to creativity (The Edge, 1998). While firstborns and laterborns are not much different in overall levels of creativity, the differences in how that creativity is exercised is very different. Firstborns are more likely to win the Nobel Prize by intellectual achievement within the system while the younger siblings will be more inclined to accept radical innovations in science and social though. His findings showed that revolutionaries and those who supported them were disproportionately likely to be later-borns (Sulloway, 1999). While not every social scientist agreed with Sulloway’s research (Harris, 1995; e.g., Falbo, 1997 ), others conducted follow-up studies that confirmed the original findings (Zweigenhaft & Ammon, 2000), and Freese, Powell & Steelman discovered measures in addition to birth order to help explain reasons for various behaviors (1999). This study hopes to build on previous research to determine whether a correlation exists between birth order and a child’s tendency to demonstrate aggressiveness. METHOD Coordination with the Seoul American Elementary School (SAES), a Department of Defense Dependent School located on Yongsan Army Base, Yongsan, Seoul, Korea, will be done to get permission for the study. Permission from the school and the parents of the children selected will be obtained prior to the start of this study. PARTICIPANTS This study will be conducted in the classroom during normal school hours for all students attending the ten full day Kindergarten classes at SAES during a specified 30 day period of the school year. There will be approximately 360 students for this study with an equal number of girls and boys, with 45% of the class comprised of Asian-Americans, 20% African-Americans, 15%  Latin-Americans and the remainder Caucasians. APPARATUS/MATERIALS Teachers will be provided the Child Behavior Scale (CBS) inventory as a means to assess aggressive, prosocial, and withdrawn behaviors of children ages 5-6 years of age. The CBS contains 59 items for which the teacher must respond using a 3-point response scale (1=doesn’t apply, 2=applies sometimes, 3=certainly applies) (Ladd & Profilet, 1996). The CBS measures six categories of behavior as follows: aggressiveness with peers, prosocial behavior with peers, exclusion by peers, asocial behavior with peers, hyperactive-distractible behavior, and anxious-fearful behavior. Copies of the CBS inventory and permission for its use will be obtained from its author, Dr. Gary Ladd, at Arizona State University (an email request has been sent copy of email attached). PROCEDURE Teachers from the 10 Kindergarten classes will observe their students for a specified 30 days during the school year, completing the CBS inventory for each student during that time. The teacher will indicate the birth order of the child on the completed inventory which will then be turned in to the SAES front office to be picked up by the study group. RESULTS The expected results will validate the hypothesis that middle born children will tend to demonstrate more aggressive behavior than either first born, last born or only children. Tables are expected to be used for this study and will include a listing of the CBS subscale items related to firstborn, middleborn, lastborn and onlyborn, further identified by girl and boy. An example follows: DISCUSSION Apart from the effects of birth order, there is little information about the ways in which the nonshared environment influences human development, mainly because psychologists have not been successful in developing direct measures of this environment. The challenge for future researchers lies in devising ways to test competing hypotheses that bear on the nature and influence of this elusive environment. Peer groups are an important aspect of this type of environmental influence, but so is the family environment and life experiences as well (Sulloway, 98). REFERENCES Campbell, L., White, J., & Stewart, A. (1991). The relationship of psychological birth order to actual birth order. Individual Psychology, 47: 380-391. Falbo, T. (1997). To rebel or not to rebel? Is this the birth order question? Contemporary Psychology, 42: 938-939. Freese, J., Powell, B., Steelman, L.C., (1999). Rebel without a cause or effect: birth order and social attitudes. American Sociological Review, 64: 207-231. Harris, Judith Rich. (1995). Where is the child’s environment? A group socialization theory of development. Psychological Review, 102: 458-89. How is Personality Formed? A Talk with Frank J. Sulloway (1998). The Edge Foundation, Inc., Third Culture. Accessed on 13 Feb 2004 at: www.edge.org/3rd_culture/sulloway . Ladd, G. & Profilet, S. (1996). The child behavior scale: A teacher-report measure of young children’s aggressive, withdrawn, and prosocial behaviors. Development Psychololgy, 32 (6), 1008-1024. Morales, C. (1994). Birth Order Theory: A Case for Cooperative Learning. Journal of Instructional Psychology 21: 246-250. Rubin, R. & Hubbard, J. (2003). Children’s verbalizations and cheating behavior during game playing: the role of sociometric status, aggression, and gender. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 31: 65-78. Solo, R., MacLin, M., (2002). Experimental Psychology. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Sulloway, F. (1999). â€Å"Birth Order† in Runco, M. & Pritzker, eds., Encyclopedia of Creativity, 1:189-202. Zweigenhaft, R., Ammon, J., (2000). Birth Order and Civil Disobedience: A Test of Sulloway’s ‘Born to Rebel’ Hypothesis. Journal of Social Psychology, 140: 624-628.

Edgar Allan Poe ‘Tell Tale Heart’ and ‘The fall of the house of Usher’ Essay

Show how Poe uses language to create atmosphere and describe the state of mind of the murderer and Roderick Usher. Consider how the modern reader might respond to these stories. Daniel Tiernan 4U Edgar Allen Poe was an American short story writer, editor for magazines and poet during the early to mid 19th century. Two of his short stories, ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ and ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ were both written during the Victorian times when Gothic literature was at it’s height in popularity. The main thesis and features of Gothic literature are mystery, terror, supernatural, big decaying houses or castles and the dead. The Victorian readers were fascinated by the supernatural especially, with many still believing in witches and black magic. Ideas like these are still found in horror stories today and also in films, however the main attraction for horror movies has changed from supernatural, to audiences wanting to be frightened. Poe was a prolific idea of Gothic literature, and his main base for writing was madness, which features in both stories that we have studied. His writing does not just include madness, but also its implications and what it can result to if left untreated. In the opening sentences Poe captures the reader’s attention with Capitalisation, the use of exclamation mark, repetition and a rhetorical question. ‘True! – nervous – very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?’ The narrator is communicating with us from the outset and the capitalisation of the word True, which is not normally used to open a sentence. He also uses an exclamation mark on the opening word True which makes the reader feel as though he has shouted the word out, which is quite bizarre. The repetition and staccato likeness of the opening words sets a fast tempo to the story, which ignites the reader’s attention and, lends to the reader’s opening theory that the narrator does not have a level headed mind. The rhetorical question that Poe uses, ‘why will you say that I am mad?’ is a good literary device as it involves the reader and builds a relationship through the dialogue between the narrator and the reader, engaging the audience and makes the reader believe that maybe the narrator doubts the stability of his own mind. All these factors show the reader the narrator has an agitated mind and strongly suggest the narrator’s insanity. Poe develops an image of a disturbed person in the first paragraph, who hears voices in his head. ‘I heard all things in heaven and in Earth. I heard many things in hell,’ This makes the reader suspect that the narrator is unstable and his actions are the commands of the voices in his head, when referring to hell we suspect that some of these voices are evil and dark in their nature. A foreboding atmosphere is thus produced and it makes the reader to read on with excitement mixed with also a little nervous anticipation. Poe builds up suspense extremely well by using imagery and he also slows the tempo down to describe how slowly he was moving his own hand, comparing its speed to that of the minute hand of a clock. ‘A watch’s minute hand moves more quickly than did mine’. This description of how slow he moved his hands makes the reader wonder about his mental health and lends to the theory that he is maybe a schizophrenic with much paranoia and an extremely strong desire to kill. The modern reader would like this because in today’s stories and films it is often that there is a madman with a mental condition who is the villain and/or murderer. Midnight was a time when many Victorians believed that supernatural forces were at work. Poe uses this myth to create a dark foreboding atmosphere. The narrator tells the reader that he entered the old mans room every night ‘about midnight’ and reinforces the atmosphere by the use of repetition of the idea of the witching hour. ‘Every night just at midnight’ and ‘Just at twelve’. The narrator is building up suspense for the reader by placing his evil deed during what the Victorians called the witching hour. For a Victorian reader they would know the mythological idea that dark powers were at their strongest at midnight, for the modern reader however this probably would not have the same suspenseful effect. Poe uses hands of a minute clock when describing how slowly the narrator moves his own hands. It is a clever play on words, but has good effect as it builds suspense and makes the reader wonder about the stability of the narrator’s mind. ‘A watch’s minute hand moves more quickly than did mine’ This sentence paints the picture of the narrator very very slowly entering the room and it is quite frightening to imagine, it makes us wonder what the narrator is thinking. Poe describes how powerful and confident the narrator is feeling in his own wiseness, this underlines the growing feeling of menace. This produces a strong sense of foreboding and tension, ‘Never before that night had I felt the extent of my own powers – of my own sagacity. I could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph.’ This sentence is very sinister, as it shows the narrators confidence and audacity in his actions and so called ‘Powers’. It shows how he is almost giddy and very excited about his evil plan. This would be attractive for modern readers as it is quite threatening and makes us want to read on to discover his plan in full detail. A modern reader can relate this in many modern day films. Poe increases the tension when describing how the narrator took an hour to put his head into the door opening. The narrator gives the impression that his sanity has been questioned before, and therefore he asks us candidly. ‘Ha! Would a madman have been so wise as this,’ This adds to the overall effect of horror by the narrator continuously stressing to us that he is not mad and tries to convince us of this by detailing how carefully the murder was planned. By doing so Poe assures our convictions that the narrator is insane. Poe understands that deranged people often try to convince that they are sane when to an outsider they clearly are not. It bridges a gap that is quite awkward in real life and he has introduced it into his story. The narrator is distressed by the old man’s clouded cataract like eye. It disturbs him so much that he says it is the reason he must kill the man. ‘†¦ resembled that of a vulture – a pale blue eye with a film over it.’ Poe uses a metaphor to compare the eye to that of a vulture, a scavenger which feeds off the dead remains of animals. This introduces the idea of death, and coldness and makes one apprehensive of the eye. The description of the pale blueness of the eye, could suggest that the narrator feels the eye looks right into him and his conscience, and that this scares him. Poe emphasizes the old man’s eye describing it as, ‘. . evil eye’ the modern reader can relate to this belief as it is still prevalent in many cultures today. Poe builds the anticipation to a climax when he describes the old man’s fear. ‘Groan of mortal terror’ Poe uses emotive language here and continues to build the suspense; the reader can empathise with the old man as indeed does the narrator. ‘I knew what the old man felt, and pitied him’ this is in direct conflict with the narrator’s actions, he then went to say, ‘. . . although I chuckled at heart.’ This demonstrating that he ignores his conscience and follows his overriding intention from his heart to kill. The ‘mortal’ is very suggestive that the old man knows his doom. Poe then uses the devices; personification and metaphor when he says that, ‘death . . . stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim.’ This is very potent as it gives the impression of death being a living malevolent force. It is fear-provoking as it suggests that we will be followed before we die and be sucked into a hellish vacuum. The modern reader could link this idea with the infamous Grim Reaper. He is a legend that is supposed to take us from this earth to the afterlife. Poe raises the tempo of the story to an electric climax describing the beating of the old man’s heart. ‘It grew quicker and quicker, louder and louder every instant.’ This use of repetition is demonstrating the old man’s fear and replicating the beat of his racing heart, and so we read each word like on heart beat. The raise in tempo of the Old man’s heart is relative to the raise in the narrator’s fury. ‘It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.’ This suggests that he feels that he is being encouraged from a higher power, and his obeying orders (perhaps voices in his head). In addition it is saying that his cause is just and he is innocent like a soldier in a just war. When the narrator murders the old man, Poe is quite vague about the details. Much is left to the imagination of the reader after reading the description of how he died. ‘I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him.’ For the modern reader this would not be satisfactory as nowadays we watch films with much more graphic details, and need to clearly picture how the murder was committed. The actual murder itself is an anti-climax. In a manner if fact fashion, the narrator ‘dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.’ This makes the reader wonder if the narrator has a conscience at all as he is able to do this without a hint of guilt, as he mutilated a corpse. At this point in the story, the narrator feels he is all powerful and has got away with the murder. ‘I smiled, — for what had I to fear?’ However the anxiety starts to increase again when the narrator hears the old man’s heart beating again. ‘It grew, louder — louder – louder!’ The narrator is clearly suffering from hallucinations, perhaps brought on by guilt. The policemen present can hear nothing. The narrator then starts to lose his mind completely. ‘I foamed – I raved – I swore!’ The feeling that the narrator’s guilt starts to crescendo to it’s peak when he blurts out a confession, in front of the startled police officers. ‘dissemble no more! I admit the deed!’ In the story of ‘The fall of the house of Usher’ the scene is set by a Poe’s description of a gloomy atmospheric setting. ‘The clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens’ suggesting threat. Also Poe uses personification when he describes the House of Usher as ‘melancholy’. He starts extending the personification of the House later on in the paragraph, when he writes, ‘the vacant eye-like windows’. All these descriptions thus portray an image of a desolate, ominous place. The narrator compares seeing the House of Usher to the horrible reality of somebody for whom the effects of opium are wearing off, revealing a horrible reality. ‘The bitter lapse into everyday life-the hideous dropping of the veil.’ The modern reader would associate this with going ‘Cold Turkey’. This is good imagery from Poe as it shows clearly that this is not a place someone would like to be and as a result sets a very foreshadowing beginning to the story. Just before the narrator enters the house he describes an exterior with some neglect including, ‘Minute fungi’. This suggests decay as Fungi lives off dead remains. Thus firmly setting the story in an atmosphere of gloom and decay. Poe also writes of a barely visible crack extending from the roof to the bottom of the house. ‘Barely perceivable fissure’ this is very foreboding as the reader is already contemplating the significance of the crack in this atmosphere of decay. He is also hinting strongly at what is going to happen to the house. The modern reader is familiar with the genre of the haunted house tales, which is typically set in a place like this. However they would not like the idea of being told the outcome of the story early on, as today stories and movies usually have a big climax where the ending is then discovered. When the narrator enters the house the atmosphere of foreboding continues to build, there is nothing cheerful to be seen. ‘The general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique and tattered’ also Poe describes ‘an atmosphere of sorrow’. Thus making the reader feel wary of the House. The narrator then focuses on the appearance of Roderick Usher. ‘A cadaverousness of complexion’ we feel the extent of the narrator’s shock as Poe has used emotive language; ‘cadaver’ is a dead body. To add to this disturbing appearance the narrator describes Roderick’s mental state, ‘An excessive, nervous agitation’ this would suggest that Roderick does not have a level headed mind and that he suffers from extreme anxiety. Also we can see he is frightened of the future, ‘I must abandon life and reason together, in some struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR’ This shows the depth of Roderick’s despair and we can feel his terror, however question the stability of his mind. Poe then introduces Madeline, Roderick’s sister into the story. She appears and disappears almost in a ghostly fashion. The narrator is ill at ease ‘I regarded her with an utter astonishment not unmingled with dread’ this creates and apparition- like image of Madeline, which again is a popular theme in modern day horror stories. The sense of foreboding continues when Roderick informs the narrator that Madeline has died. Roderick did not want to consult Madeline’s physicians because of the bizarre nature of her illness. He told the narrator he did not want them probing her corpse for medical science. ‘An unnatural precaution’. This is peculiar and unusual on the part of Roderick because in the strong religious times that the tale is set, a normal person would want the body buried on holy ground very quickly. Poe adds a sensation of claustrophobia when he writes about Madeline’s burial. ‘Half smothered in its oppressive atmosphere.’ The burial tomb being very confined could be a metaphor for the lives they are trapped in. The narrator is unable to sleep after Madeline’s burial, he goes to Ushers room where he notices a deteriortion in Roderick’s demeanour. ‘A species of mad hilarity’ and ‘His air appalled me’. To become uncontrollable is very typical of an insane person and so this heightens the stories suspense and sense of foreshadowing. Poe uses the technique of foreshadowing to hint to the reader of what will be Roderick’s demise. The narrator reads to Usher to try and calm him down as he is very troubled, however all of the tales three main plots are echoed by what is happening in the house; shrieks are heard, a metallic reverberation is heard, cracking and ripping sounds are heard. Roderick is very distressed and this adds to the reader’s apprehension of what is going to happen next. The modern day reader is very familiar with the genre of someone coming back at night. Poe also uses the technique the rule of three, with three main plots in the tale which the narrator reads to Usher, this is effective because three is a number used commonly in literature and in the New Testament. Poe introduces the idea of the supernatural when Madeline, appears resurrected after being ‘encoffined’ and being shut behind a door of, ‘massive iron’ This is a very frightening image, and terrifies the reader and entices the reader as they are compelled to find out what happens next. The full horror of Roderick’s fear is then realised when he dies of fright after Madeline attacks him, ‘A victim to the terrors he had anticipated’ The reader had also anticipated Roderick’s doom almost from the beginning of the story by reading the title of the story. Poe builds the suspense consistently throughout the story. Poe concludes the story in a shocking and dramatic manner, the narrator ‘fled aghast’ away from the house and turns back to see a ‘blood red moon, shining through a crack in the house’ Thus symbolising the death of the house of Usher. This is very eerie and metaphoric as not only has the House of Usher fallen but so has the ancient family line. The suspense is maintained to the very end of the story when Poe uses personification ‘Long tumultuous sound, like the voice of a thousand waters’ when he describes how the lake entombs the House and all its occupants Whilst Poe is studied at school for academic purposes, I do not think that his books would be the first choice for the modern reader who is reading for pleasure. This is for many reasons. Firstly, the language used is very sophisticated and antiquated, and as in the ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ large tracts of literature are used as a device to increase tension. The modern reader has to have lots of patience to fully understand Poe’s writing and a high level of literacy is assumed by the author. Modern novels are much less literary and a much more basic vocabulary used. At the same time the modern reader expects more graphic details of murders than is provided in either the ‘Tell-Tale Heart or The Fall of the House of Usher’ Poe writes in such a way that much is left to the reader’s imagination and this is unsatisfactory nowadays when so much can be shown to the modern reader via other genres such as film and television. like music Moreover both of these novels are very much a product of Victorian times with their emphasis on night time terrors which reflected the beliefs of society at that time. Today’s society tends to dismiss these beliefs as old fashioned and irrelevant. However Poe’s writing is very skilful in his use of various techniques and I admire him for that, but I strongly feel that he would not be such a successful writer if he was alive today.