Interpretive Possibilities in Beloved - Literature Essay Samples

Discuss the elements which keep interpretative possibilities open in Beloved. How far are these resolved or not by the end of the narrative?definitions belong to the definers  ­ not the defined.'(Beloved, p.190)When Sixo provides an explanation for shooting shoat on Mr Garners property, this is schoolteachers immediate and uncompromising reaction to the slaves attempt at self-justification. In the eyes of the white man, the slaves (the defined) are not entitled to the privilege of giving, or even creating, their own perspective on events. The phrasing of his opinion also suggests that there can only ever be one completely true version of everything: each event can ultimately be defined in one indisputable and finite account (his). This in itself is only one perspective, however, a fact that Morrisons complicated narrative technique suggests subtly and yet unequivocally. Rebecca Ferguson observes that while the language of the dominant culture and the written word itself have a ll too often been potent instruments in the oppression [of black people], not to have mastery of them is to be rendered impotent in ways that matter greatly. Morrison is very aware of this paradox which she herself faces as a black writer, and the force of language and communication is greatly emphasised in Beloved. The text vividly presents the huge extent of interpretative possibilities relating to issues such motherhood, slavery and black history in particular, by employing a variety of narratives which focus on the same events. While Morrison thus proves gloriously that contrary to schoolteachers stance, black people are many-dimensional humans with a full range of emotions and values, her most striking achievement is simultaneously to demonstrate the ways in which endless interpretation can become futile. Sethes expression of maternal love in the killing of her child, for instance, is misinterpreted as a savage act by both black and white characters in the book, and also possibly by the reader: only she can explain it. This sense of struggling to reach the correct interpretation is also encountered by the reader on a different level, as he tries to grasp an understanding of the main events of Sethes life from an often confused and chaotic narrative.Morrison, who never contributes her own personal opinion or judgement directly to the text, depicts the horrors of slavery in a number of imaginative ways. She allows all her characters to give their own accounts of slavery, and it is the differing levels of eagerness with which they divulge their interpretations that are very telling. The white men of Sweet Home farm are always fervent in their desire to share their opinions of slavery, while the slaves themselves are reluctant to speak of it at all, even after their release or escape. The extent to which Mr Garner prides himself on his treatment of slaves is ludicrous; it becomes clear that he is more concerned with debating the issue than with the s lavess actual welfare . He believes himself to embody what a real Kentuckian was: one tough enough and smart enough to make and call his own niggers men (p.11). While this may appear to be a more humanitarian outlook than schoolteachers listing of animal characteristics in Sethe (p.193), the comparison becomes virtually irrelevant when the actual treatment of the slaves is considered. The following exchange between Baby Suggs and Mr Garner illuminates this discrepancy of standards:Ever go hungry [at Sweet Home]?No, sir.Cold?No, sir.Anybody lay a hand on you?No, sir.Did I let Halle buy you or not?Yes, sir, you did, she said, thinking, But you got my boy and Im all broke down. You be renting him out to pay for me way after Im gone to Glory. (p.146)Mr Garner is overwhelmingly proud of his non-violence towards Baby, which he sees as an expression of his extreme kindness, rather than as a confirmation of her basic human rights. This passage strikingly conveys his failure to conside r (or recognise) her shattered spirit, and the effect of the loss of her son, indicating that his perception of the slaves is barely distinguishable from schoolteachers. Mr Garner acted like the world was a toy he was supposed to have fun with (p.139), observes Sethe, and in this light, his supposedly benevolent stance on slavery can be seen as a self-indulgent attempt to make himself seem subversive.Mr Garners tiresome eagerness to create his own interpretation of slavery is rendered particularly insignificant by the reluctance experienced by Sethe to face her own past. Because she was so closely and chaotically immersed in the actual experience of slavery and escaping, she was never given the opportunity to reflect and shape her own interpretation of events and their consequences. For this reason she suffers from unwelcome rememories which are terrifyingly tangible:Where I was before I came here, that place is real. Its never going away.Even if the whole farm  ­ every tree an d glass blade of it dies. The pictureis still there and whats more, if you go there  ­ you who never was there  ­if you go there and stand in the place where it was, it will happen again; itwill be there for you, waiting for you(p.36)This picture has been eternally lodged in Sethes mind, and is so powerful that she is, seemingly irrationally (given that slavery has been abolished), afraid of Denver being absorbed into the image. Like the reader, Denver cannot fully appreciate the precise details of Sethes past and the haunting effect they have on her mother, but she is aware of their weight and significance. Denver hated the stories her mother told that did not concern herselfthe rest was a gleaming, powerful world made more so by Denvers absence from it (p.63). Denver is jealous of this other world purely because her mothers accounts are accompanied with such overwhelming force, of which the young girl cannot understand the source.This notion of sensing the significance of something which cannot be explained or accounted for with mere language is particularly relevant to Beloveds treatment of black suffering. Jan Furman refers to Morrisons titanic responsibility [in] continuing an unfinished script of slavery begun over two centuries ago by the first slave narrative , and interestingly, the authors most effective continuation of this script is when she powerfully revokes the value of language in communicating the pain of slavery. Paul Ds account of the silent fraternity between the blacks who drifted around uneasily after the Civil War is particularly moving:Odd clusters and strays of Negroescounted heavily on each other. Silent,except for social courtesies, when they met one another they neither described norasked about the sorrow that drove them from one place to another. The whitesdidnt bear speaking on. Everybody knew. (p.52-3)There is no room for interpretation, everybody knew the gruesome truth and anyattempts at verbal explanatio n or sympathy would be redundant. Morrison herself ascribes to this mute understanding, and so sorrow is the only term she uses to describe their situation; its simplicity hinting at the presence of so much unutterable emotion. A similar sense of community is recognisable at the opening of Baby Suggss sermons, when all the listeners are told to let loose and laugh, cry and dance (p.89) together. Her inspirational words have a place of their own, but this huge physical and communal release is striking in its sense of implied joint understanding. The individual perspective is irrelevant as everybody is succumbing to the same sense of  ­ temporary  ­ liberation (just as Paul Ds friends have mutually encountered the same sorrow).The character of Beloved, who can be said to represent in certain ways the Sixty Million and More of the dedication, and who certainly has much to communicate, demonstrates most dramatically the shortcomings of language. how can I say things that are pi ctures (p.210), she muses, and the reader experiences a similar frustration through endeavouring to make sense of her muddled narrative. Disturbing revelations such as the man on my face is dead his face is not mine someone is thrashing but there is no room to do it in (p.210) express confusion and panic, particularly regarding her sense of identity. The readers attempt to reach a clear interpretation of her disjointed phrases will never be fully successful, but a sense of her bewilderment will be obtained through this very disjointedness. If her references to the sea which is the color of bread and the crouching others (p.211) are seen as representing the Middle Passage suffered by so many slaves, a parallel may be drawn between the readers failure to make sense of Beloveds narrative, and his failure  ­ as someone who has never undergone the experience  ­ to understand the effects of slavery. In both cases, regardless of the degree of interest or application, a precise interpretation will be impossible. The ambiguity surrounding the truth will only mean that endless impressions of it can be reached, however.The most powerful demonstration of failed interpretation in the novel is Sethes killing of her child, the focus of several narratives. In the same way that Paul D cannot quite appreciate the degree of Sethes humiliation when her milk is taken (they used cowhide on you? And they took my milk. They beat you and you was pregnant? And they took my milk! (p.17), only she can explain the logic of her apparently savage act. For once agreeing with the whites (a fact which can only magnify the sense of betrayal felt by Sethe), her family and friends label her an animal. The ordinarily gentle Paul D is shocked into announcing that You got two feet, Sethe, not four (p.165); her former friend Ella proclaims that I aint got no friends take a handsaw to their own children (p.187); and most saddening of all, her daughter Denver lives in the silent fear t hat there sure is something in her that makes it all right to kill her own'(p.206). Propelled by a fear for her own safety (and later Beloveds), Denver misinterprets her mothers action as an indication of a frighteningly vague something in her which cannot be controlled. Denvers long spell of temporary deafness, a subconscious decision to shield herself from Sethes account, is evidence of the potency of her terror of the truth (as she sees it). Schoolteachers gleeful assumption that it was all testimony to the results of a little so-called freedom imposed on people who needed every care and guidance in the world to keep them from the cannibal life they preferred (p.151) takes on a particularly unpleasant resonance when contrasted with Denvers account, for she actually does suspect animalistic tendencies in Sethe. His appallingly smug stance (he doesnt even try to understand) and her childish dread (a desperate failure to understand) demonstrate the diverse nature and consequences of misinterpretation.Sethes own account, which appears almost incidentally in the text, explains her actions in a style which is absolutely distinct from the other renditions:And if she thought anything, it was No. No. Nono. Nonono. Simple. She justflew. Collected ever bit of life she had made, all the parts of her that wereprecious and fine and beautiful, and carried, pushed, dragged them through theveil, out away, over there where no one could hurt them.(p.163)Her aesthetically allegorical description of this extremely instinctive, decisive and fluid behaviour is laden, to the cold observer, with seemingly vague and baffling references to the veil and over there. Just as it is difficult to comprehend Sethes illogical fear of Denver reliving her experience of Sweet Home, the psychological reasoning which equates murdering her daughter with motherly love can only be understood by Sethe.Two things do become apparent when reading her account however: firstly, that her motive wa s indeed love; secondly, that any attempt to truly understand this is futile.The interpretative possibilities open to the reader of Beloved are endless, mainly due to the existence of several different narratives. Linden Peach notes that the fragmentary nature of the text means that even if readers succeed in putting together the events of Sethes life since 1855, it will not allow them to achieve a grasp of the whole text . His use of succeed and allow intriguingly insinuates that Morrison has created a complicated puzzle for her readers, who are challenged into reaching one correct solution. After several readings of Beloved it becomes apparent that this does not exist. Morrison never ceases to stress the importance of communication (celebrated in Denvers course of action at the end of the novel), revelling as an author in the diversity of her characterss viewpoints. The comparative merits of language and of a vaguer, more meaningful sense of understanding are sensitively explo red, especially when dealing with slavery. Morrisons relationship with her reader is rather coy: while tempting him towards an all-encompassing understanding of the text, she very gradually reveals that no such thing exists. Instead Morrison proves that while striving for comprehension is an inevitable and necessary human trait, searching for the perfect interpretation is challenging, never-ending and almost always futile.

Lab Report Conservation of Mechanical Energy Theory - 1650 Words

Lab Report: Conservation of Mechanical Energy Theory (Term Paper Sample) Content: Studentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s NameProfessorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s NameCourseDateLab Report: Conservation of Mechanical EnergyAbstractIn this laboratory experiment, a system of pulley with a string, an air track attached to a cart, and a weight hanger were used in a tandem with various masses to model an experiment to establish the law of conservation of energy. The lab was conducted in two parts. The first part varied the weights on the mass hanger while the second part changed the cart's weight by adding small weights step by step in it. The relative percentage error was calculated for each part. For the first part, the value of the relative percentage error was found to be ranging between 0.003 percent to 0.291percent. For the second part, the percentage relative error was found to range between 0.0358 percent and 0.0876 percent.Introduction and TheoryEnergy is defined as the ability to do work. Basically, it is a product of force and distance (Dukert 5). Force is defined as a pull or push on an object resulting into the object interacting with other objects around it (Goswami and Kreith 11). Whenever any two objects interact, there is a force between them. When the interaction stops, the two bodies cease to experience the force. A force acting on a body has several impacts. A force can induce motion in a body at rest, increase the speed of a moving body, stops a moving a body, or deforms a body. When a force acts upon an object, it does work. The work done is given by equation 1.W=F x S----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1)Where W is the work done by the force, F is the magnitude of the force, and s is the object's displacement. The body gained an energy whose magnitude is equal to the work done on it. The energy gained is known as mechanical energy. There are two distinct types of mechanical energy. These are kinetic and potential energy. Kinetic energy is the type of energy that is possessed by a moving body. The kinetic energy can be calculated by equation 2.K.E = 12 mv2------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (2)Where K.E is the magnitude of the kinetic energy, m is the mass of the body, and v is the velocity at which the body moves. On the other hand, potential energy is defined as the type of energy possessed by a body at rest (Viegas 26). The value of potential energy varies with the placeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s gravitational field strength and the position of the body with respect to the ground. Potential energy is given by equation 3 shown below.P.E = mhg --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (3)Where P. E is the potential energy, m the bodyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬s mass, h is the distance from the ground to the point where the body is, and g is the gravitational field strength of the place.The law of conservation of energy states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but can only be converted. Therefore, for mechanical energy, the sum of kinetic and potential energy at any given point is constant. This is shown by equation 4.E= K.E +P.E = C ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (4)Where E is the total sum of mechanical energy; C is a constant, and K.E is kinetic energy and P.E is potential energy.In this lab, various pieces of equipment were used to model and experiment to establish the validity of the law of conservation of energy. The initial sum of mechanical energy is determined from equation 5 shown below.E0 = (K. E) 0 + (P.E) 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (5)Where E0 is the sum of the initial mechanical energy, and (K. E) 0 and (P.E) 0 are the initial kinetic energy and potential energy respectively. The theoretical relative percentage error was determined from equation 6 shown below.Relative Percentage Error = ÃŽE E0 x 100 ------------------------------------------------------------------- (6)Where E0 is the initial mechanical energy and ÃŽE is the change in mechanical energy.ObjectiveThe main objective of this laboratory experiment was verify the validity of the law of conservation of energy.ProcedureThe secondary and primary gates, air cart, air track, string, mass hanger, and a pulley system were obtained and put in place. The air track was placed on one of the tables and the pulley on the other table. The air track was then leveled on the table. Next, the cart was placed on the air track. After this, the primary gate such was set such that it was right after the screw on the air cart. A piece of string was then properly tied on the screw on the air cart. Next, the string was tied onto to the mass hanger and taken over the pulley system. The distance from the bottom of the mass hanger to the ground was then measured keenly and the value recorded. The value was recorded as s. After obtain ing the value of the displacement, the secondary gate was placed exactly 51.4 cm away from the primary gate.When the assembly was completely set, the mass on the mass hanger was varied and the value of each mass recorded as m. The values were measured in grams and in steps of 5, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, and 250. The distance, s, between the bottom of the mass hanger and the ground and the mass of the cart were kept constant. The table below shows the independent variable and dependent variables for the experiment 1. Mass of Hanger (m) in grams Mass of Cart (M) in grams Distance (S) in cm Set 1 5 215.72 51.4 Set 2 25 215.72 51.4 Table 1: Independent variable and independent variables for experiment 1.The air track and the photogates were then turned on. Next, the time taken by the cart to move from the primary gate to the secondary gate was recorded. Each experiment was carried out in several sets and each set carried out in trials and the values for each trial recorded. After conducting each set, the masses were adjusted accordingly. The same procedures were followed for the experiment 2, except for the independent variable. For experiment 2, the mass of the cart was varied by adding masses to it. The masses added were in steps of 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, and 250 g. The total mass was then calculated by adding the added mass to the mass of the cart. The time taken by the cart to move from the primary gate to the secondary gate was recorded according. The table below shows the independent variable dependent variables for experiment 2. Mass of Cart (M) in grams Mass of Hanger (m) in grams Distance (S) in cm Set 1 240.72 50 30.1 Set 2 265.72 50 30.1 Table 2: Independent variable and independent variables for experiment 2.DataThe results for the experiments are as shown belowExperiment 1 data.Table 3: Experiment 1 dataTable 4: Experiment 2 dataResultsThe data was processed in the Microsoft Excel program as shown in the appendix section , and the results are as shown in the tables below.Table 5: Results for experiment 1Table 6: Results for experiment 2Discussion and ConclusionThe law of conservation of mechanical energy states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. The law means that at any given point, the total ...