Andreas Capellanus De Amore: :: Andreas Capellanus De Amore

Andreas Capellanus' De Amore: An Instructional Book for Men in the Ways to Treat Women Andreas Capellanus was born between the years 1150-1160 and died sometime after 1186. Not much of his life is known besides that he is believed to have been a chaplain in the Court of Henry of Troy. Capellanus wrote a book named De Amore, which became the definitive work on the subject of courtly love throughout medieval times. De Amore is a book stylized in the form of a letter to a fictitious friend, Walter, about the intricacies of love. However, De Amore is really a manual which teaches men how to seduce women. The whole book is written from a man's point of view and mentions the emotional experiences of women only incidentally. This is not to put a negative connotation on Capellanus's work. During this time period, every aspect of life - public and personal - was dominated by the male half of our species. But, this does not change the fact that our author's chief concern was to instruct his reader, a man, in the ways of winning a woman on whom he has set his heart. There are three major, honest ways of winning a woman's response - "a fine physique, manly behavior, and fluency and elegance of speech." (Brittanica). It is intention of De Amore to set out to teach the last. In De Amore, Andreas casts his instructions in the matter of the speech between lovers in the same and in different social classes. To cover all the possibilities of interaction between classes there should have be nine different dialogues. However, Capellanus seems to never think of the possibility of a man of gentry talking to a lady of the high nobility (Hermann). These dialogues develop into a give and take of argument and persuasion. Eventually, the women in each case in persuaded by the eloquent way in which the young man speaks. In the Art of Courtly Love, Capellanus gives several absolutes that he considers essential to any relationship where love will be involved. Not least of these rules is the axiom that jealousy is a must for a couple to love one another.

Free College Admissions Essays: Strength and Weakness :: College Admissions Essays

Strength and Weakness Everyone has strengths and weaknesses but as a child, it's hard to deal with your weaknesses. It's not until you grow up and realize that you have to use your strengths to overcome your weaknesses. Combining logic with technology can be a useful tool. For me it was the way to overcome my disability. Early on in my education I encountered learning disabilities. These learning disabilities included reading, spelling, grammar, and difficulty in time writing reports. These learning disabilities have frustrated me. I wondered " Why couldn't I do this?" I knew that I had the intelligence, but I just could not finish the assignments. I would then become angry. My anger sometimes led me to break pencils and throw them across my room. The basis of my learning disabilities, I discovered, was in transferring my thoughts and ideas from my head to paper. Reading was also a challenge for me in the early grades. I never had trouble understanding stories themselves; but when I had to answer question s about what I had read, I often had difficulty formulating an answer. Another major issue I had was the slow pace of my work. In elementary school I usually didn't finish my homework until 10 o'clock at night. Other students in my grade were finished by 7 o'clock. Although this was difficult for me to deal with, I did not let it stop me from completing my homework. Originally I felt sorry for myself. I believed that I would never overcome these problems. This led me to complain how unfair it was. Perhaps, I thought, someone did not want me to succeed. Word processing was a huge benefit to me in overcoming my learning disabilities. Before I had a desktop computer I had great difficulty writing reports. This was due to the fact that I had to type up my reports using a typewriter. After every sentence, my mother had to check my spelling. Due to this my progress was at a snail's pace. Also, throughout elementary school, and into the beginning of high school, I had illegible notes. Then , at the beginning of junior year, I purchased a notebook computer. This aided me greatly. I could now actually take notes since I could type far faster than I could write. Free College Admissions Essays: Strength and Weakness :: College Admissions Essays Strength and Weakness Everyone has strengths and weaknesses but as a child, it's hard to deal with your weaknesses. It's not until you grow up and realize that you have to use your strengths to overcome your weaknesses. Combining logic with technology can be a useful tool. For me it was the way to overcome my disability. Early on in my education I encountered learning disabilities. These learning disabilities included reading, spelling, grammar, and difficulty in time writing reports. These learning disabilities have frustrated me. I wondered " Why couldn't I do this?" I knew that I had the intelligence, but I just could not finish the assignments. I would then become angry. My anger sometimes led me to break pencils and throw them across my room. The basis of my learning disabilities, I discovered, was in transferring my thoughts and ideas from my head to paper. Reading was also a challenge for me in the early grades. I never had trouble understanding stories themselves; but when I had to answer question s about what I had read, I often had difficulty formulating an answer. Another major issue I had was the slow pace of my work. In elementary school I usually didn't finish my homework until 10 o'clock at night. Other students in my grade were finished by 7 o'clock. Although this was difficult for me to deal with, I did not let it stop me from completing my homework. Originally I felt sorry for myself. I believed that I would never overcome these problems. This led me to complain how unfair it was. Perhaps, I thought, someone did not want me to succeed. Word processing was a huge benefit to me in overcoming my learning disabilities. Before I had a desktop computer I had great difficulty writing reports. This was due to the fact that I had to type up my reports using a typewriter. After every sentence, my mother had to check my spelling. Due to this my progress was at a snail's pace. Also, throughout elementary school, and into the beginning of high school, I had illegible notes. Then , at the beginning of junior year, I purchased a notebook computer. This aided me greatly. I could now actually take notes since I could type far faster than I could write.

An argument in favor of abortion supporting a womans right to freedom Essay

Is there ever a case, when one person’s religious preference should be allowed to encroach on another person’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Today many American’s justify their intrusion by siting Articles and Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.   In particular, they speak of the freedom of speech, religion, the right to bear arms, etc.   It seems as though the freedoms are only valuable when everyone shares the same beliefs, morals, and values.   But are these freedoms also guaranteed for those whose values may not be the same as the majority?   As American’s is it not possible to differ and hold different beliefs in pursuit of liberty?   What makes one person’s beliefs more valuable under the constitution than another person? A lot of people do not support abortion because they believe it is killing baby. When most abortions occur, which in the first trimester â€Å"†¦a cluster of cells or a less than half ounce fetus is not anywhere close to a definition of an actual baby.† (4) Scientists use the term fetus and not a baby because a baby â€Å"†¦could be born and survive outside the mother’s womb†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (4) and a fetus could not. A fetus is nowhere near ready to live outside the mother’s womb and â€Å" There is no real functioning brain, therefore no real humanity.† (4) So in reality abortions do not terminate babies, they terminate a fetus that could not survive outside the mother’s womb. Another reason people are not for abortion is that of religious beliefs. Some believe that terminating any form of life in the mother’s womb is wrong no matter the reason and â€Å"Those religiously opposed to abortion in the first two trimesters are free not to have them.†(9) Just because abortion is legal does not mean people are going to be forced to go out and participate in them. Abortion being legal does not impose on anyone’s rights or make anyone do anything they do not want to do. Therefore, if abortion goes against someone’s religious beliefs they are free not to go and get one. People who do not want abortion legalized talk about how it goes against their religion but what about the religion of the woman partaking in the abortion? Not everyone has the same beliefs or sees things the same as others. By trying to make abortion illegal it infringes on citizens rights. If â€Å"†¦my brothers and sisters in the United Church of Christ, who do not see the bible they way you see it, are free to make their own choices†¦ isn’t that freedom of religion too?† (9) People cannot talk about how abortion imposes on the pro-choices religion without talking about the religious freedom of the woman undergoing the procedure. If a woman’s beliefs tell her to do what is best for her The last topic is how making abortion illegal will take away a woman’s right by forcing her to stay pregnant. There are various reasons why a woman chooses to have an abortion. Whether it is because the woman is not ready for kids emotionally or financially, the baby was produced by rape or incest, or she simply just may not want kids and etc.   For people who are pro-choice â€Å"†¦ If your side ever wins, then my daughter and her daughter will be forced to stay pregnant, when their life circumstances†¦ would be much better served if they could safely terminate the fetus†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (7) So for people out there who are wanting abortion to illegal, in a sense, they want a woman to be forced to be pregnant even if that is not what is best for the woman. If abortion stays legal â€Å" we haven’t forced your daughter or her daughter after her, to do anything against their will.† (7) By keeping abortion legal no one’s rights will be infringed on a nd no one is forced to do anything they do not want to do. The same cannot be said if abortion was made illegal. In conclusion, abortions do not terminate babies it terminates fetuses. If abortion goes against someone’s religious beliefs they are free not to have them but do not forget about the religious freedom of the woman undergoing the abortion. People who do not support abortion will never be forced to do something against their will whether its legal or illegal but making abortion illegal will force a woman to stay pregnant against their will. These were just a few reasons why I think abortion should stay legal.   

Educational Philosophy Essay

My approach to education is student-centered. I always try to ensure that students are given the best opportunities to build upon their existing knowledge and capacities. I believe that education is not only about knowledge-transfer but it is about transforming people and building their capabilities to make sense of their experiences and to be able to use higher order thinking skills so they can be better individuals and better citizens of society. Based on my experience as an educator, the principles that underlie my teaching are influenced by constructivist paradigms, which posit â€Å"that meaning or knowledge is actively constructed in the human mind. † (Richardson, 2003, p. 1625) Hence, education is not stagnant but a continuous process, and the role of the educator is to enable students to be able to establish a connection between theory and experience, to make sense of their realities and lived experiences based on what they learn from other settings, whether it is school, work, or even in their relationships with other people. I believe that a good teacher is one who makes effort to know his or her students, including their socio-economic backgrounds, and pays attention to the way that the students interact or create their own knowledge. In this sense, a good teacher is one who considers the learning needs of his/her students, who is able to adapt strategies that would build on students’ capacities and learning styles, and who ensures that students have equal access to learning opportunities by making teaching content relevant to the students’ unique backgound and context (UNESCO, 2004, p. 5). In the same manner, a good learner is one who attempts to discover his or her own learning style, strength, and weaknesses and tries his/her best to make his/her learning relevant and useful in his/her daily life. In learning settings, students and teachers have different responsibilities, both of which are defined by individual and social expectations. A teacher is expected to attempt to provide his/her students with learning opportunities based on their specific and oftentimes diverse needs. (UNESCO, 2004, p. 6) Meanwhile, a student is expected to be responsible for directing his or her own learning, and to develop his/her awareness of his/her learning needs in order to maximize the opportunities for learning that he/she encounters. I believe that people are actively involved in their learning. Learning results from individuals’ interaction with the environment and their attempt to make sense of these experiences. (Fry, Ketteridge, & Marshall, 2003, p. 9) Hence, people learn by building on what they already know and they are usually interested in learning when it has relevance for them. Among the most important environmental factors that influence an individual’s ability to learn are the quality of feedback, the availability of tools and mechanisms to support and facilitate learning, and the student’s quality of life or living conditions. Thus, the presence of appropriate feedback based on the students’ accomplishments, the ability of the teacher or the school to provide students with learning tools and opportunities, and the relevance of the education to the students’ cultural and socio-economic background would enable the students to maximize their own learning potentials. There are also personal and interpersonal factors that either promote or impede learning. One is an individual’s inherent capacity that is determined by his or her biological constitution or by genetics. Likewise, an individual’s personality, which affects his or her disposition toward the environment impacts on his or her ability to learn. Decisions on the goals of instruction are made based on the needs and expectations of the learners, the teaching setting, the needs of the organization, and the wider needs and expectations from the community. I try as much as possible to put the needs of the learners above other considerations. However, the goals of instruction also have to incorporate the teaching setting and the needs of other stakeholders such as the organization sponsoring the class and the needs of the community wherein the instruction takes place. The factors that influence my choice of teaching and evaluation strategies are the concrete needs of the students based on the evaluation of their performance and also their interests. I choose teaching strategies based on the interests and capacities of my students and on the goals of the instruction. Evaluation strategies are chosen based on their effectiveness, appropriateness, and ability to concretely measure student performance based on the goals of the instruction. Evaluating my own strengths as an educator, what makes me most proud in my practice is my ability to establish an easy rapport with my students and to easily identify their interests by taking time to know them personally. I would like to believe that I was able to influence most of them to look at life as a continuing journey towards knowing more about themselves and about their environment, and to value education not only in its formal sense but in its relevance in establishing meaning from experiences and realities. My educational philosophy and principles are demonstrated in my track record as an educator in the non-formal education system. As a teacher of adult classes in church, I was able to develop my own style of teaching that is grounded on the experience and realities of my students, and which considers the significance of what they learn from these classes on their daily lives. My stint as an instructor in the U. S. Army and my current employment as the Manager Instructor for FedEx, where I teach safe driving habits to adult drivers, also enable me to constantly hone my teaching skills based on the diversity of teaching settings and the kind of students I encounter. Works Cited: Fry, H. , Ketteridge, S. , & S. Marshall (2003). A handbook for teaching and learning in higher education. VA, USA: Kogan Page. Richardson, V. (2003). Constructivist pedagogy. Teachers College Record, 105(9):1623-1640. UNESCO (2004). Changing teaching practices: using curriculum differentiation to respond to students’ diversity. Paris, France: UNESCO.

Understanding Man’s Power

In recent years, we have come to understand that relations between men and women are governed by a sexual politics that exists outside individual men's and women's needs and choices. It has taken us much longer to recognize that there is a systematic sexual politics of male-male relationships as well. Under patriarchy, men's relationships with other men cannot help but be shaped and patterned by patriarchal norms, though they are less obvious than the norms governing male-female relationships. A society could not have the kinds of power dynamics that exist between women and men in our society without certain kinds of systematic power dynamics operating among men as well. Men do not just happily bond together to oppress women. In addition to hierarchy over women, men create hierarchies and rankings among themselves according to criteria of â€Å"masculinity. † Men at each rank of masculinity compete with each other, with whatever resources they have, for the differential payoffs that patriarchy allows men. Men in different societies choose different grounds on which to rank each other. Many societies use the simple facts of age and physical strength to stratify men. Our society stratifies men according to physical strength and athletic ability in the early years, but later in life focuses on success with women and ability to make money. In our society, one of the most critical rankings among men deriving from patriarchal sexual politics is the division between gay and straight men. This division has powerful negative consequences for gay men and gives straight men privileges. But in addition, this division has a larger symbolic meaning. Our society uses the male heterosexual-homosexual dichotomy as a central symbol for all the rankings of masculinity, for the division on any grounds between males who are â€Å"real men† and have power, and males who are not. Any kind of powerlessness or refusal to compete becomes imbued with imagery of homosexuality. In the men's movement documentary film Men's Lives, a high school male who studies modern dance says that others often think he is gay because he is a dancer. When asked why, he gives three reasons: because dancers are â€Å"free and loose,† because they are â€Å"not big like football players,† and because â€Å"you're not trying to kill anybody. † The patriarchal connection: if you are not trying to kill other men, you must be gay. Another dramatic example of men's use of homosexual insults as weapons in their power struggle with each other comes from a document which provides one of the richest case studies of the politics of male-male relationships to yet appear: Woodward and Bernstein's The Final Days. Ehrlichman jokes that Kissinger is queer, Kissinger calls an unnamed colleague a psychopathic homosexual, and Haig jokes that Nixon and Rebozo are having a homosexual relationship. From the highest ranks of male power to the lowest, the gay-straight division is a central symbol of all the forms of ranking and power relationships which men put on each other. MEN S POWER WITH WOMEN The relationships between the patriarchal stratification and competition which men experience with each other, and men's patriarchal domination of women, are complex. Let us briefly consider several points of interconnection between them. First, women are used as SYMBOLS OF SUCCESS in men's competition with each other. It is sometimes thought that competition for women is the ultimate source of men's competition with each other. There is considerable reason, however, to see women not as the ultimate source of male-male competition, but rather as only symbols in a male contest where real roots lie much deeper. Second, women often play a MEDIATING role in the patriarchal struggle among men. Women get together with each other, and provide the social lubrication necessary to smooth over men's inability to relate to each other non-competitively. A modern myth, James Dickey's novel Deliverance, portrays what happens when men's relationships with each other are not mediated by women. According to Heilburn, the central message of Deliverance is that when men get beyond the bounds of civilization, which really means beyond the bounds of the civilizing effects of women, men rape and murder each other. A third function women play in male-male sexual politics is that relationships with women provide men a REFUGE from the dangers and stresses of relating to other males. Traditional relationships with women have provided men a safe place in which they can recuperate from the stresses they have absorbed in their daily struggle with other men, and in which they can express their needs without fearing that these needs will be used against them. If women begin to compete with men and have power in their own right, men are threatened by the loss of this refuge. Finally, a fourth function of women n males' patriarchal competition with each other is to reduce the stress of competition by serving as an UNDERCLASS. As Elizabeth Janeway has written in Between Myth and Morning, under patriarchy women represent the lowest status, a status to which men can fall only under the most exceptional circumstances, if at all. Competition among men is serious, but its intensity is mitigated by the fact tha t there is a lowest possible level to which men cannot fall. One reason men fear women's liberation, writes Janeway, is that the liberation of women will take away this unique underclass status of women. Men will now risk falling lower than ever before, into a new underclass composed of the weak of both sexes. Thus, women's liberation means that the stakes of patriarchal failure for men are higher than they have been before, and that it is even more important for men not to lose. Thus, men's patriarchal competition with each other makes use of women as symbols of success, as mediators, as refuges, and as an underclass. In each of these roles, women are dominated by men in ways that derive directly from men's struggle with each other. Men need to deal with the sexual politics of their relationships with each other if they are to deal fully with the sexual politics of their relationships with women. MEN'S POWER IN SOCIETY At one level, men's social identity is defined by the power they have over women and the power they can compete for against other men. But at another level, most men have very little power over their own lives. How can we understand this paradox? The major demand to which men must accede in contemporary society is that they play their required role in the economy. But this role is not intrinsically satisfying. The social researcher Daniel Yankelovich has suggested that about 80% of U. S. male workers experience their jobs as intrinsically meaningless and onerous. They experience their jobs and themselves as worthwhile only through priding themselves on the hard work and personal sacrifice they are making to be breadwinners for their families. Accepting these hardships reaffirms their role as family providers and therefore as true men. Linking the breadwinner role to masculinity in this way has several consequences for men. Men can get psychological payoffs from their jobs which these jobs never provide in themselves. By training men to accept payment for their work in feelings of masculinity, rather than in feelings of satisfaction, men will not demand that their jobs be made more meaningful. As a result, jobs can be designed for the more important goal of generating profits. Further, the connection between work and masculinity makes men accept unemployment as their personal failing as males, rather than analyze and change the profit-based economy whose inevitable dislocations make them unemployed or unemployable. Men's jobs are increasingly structured as if men had no direct roles or responsibilities in the family–indeed, as if they did not have families at all. But paradoxically, at the same time that men's responsibilities in the family are reduced to facilitate more efficient performance of their work role, the increasing dehumanization of work means that jobs give men only the satisfaction of fulfilling the family breadwinner role. The relative privilege that men get from sexism, and more importantly the false consciousness of privilege men get from sexism, play a critical role in reconciling men to their subordination in the larger political economy. This analysis does not imply that men's sexism will go away if they gain control over their own lives, or that men do not have to deal with their sexism until they gain this control. Rather, the point is that we cannot fully understand men's sexism or men's subordination in the larger society unless we understand how deeply they are related. Ultimately, we have to understand that patriarchy has two halves which are intimately related to each other. Patriarchy is a dual system, a system in which men oppress women, and in which men oppress themselves and each other. At one level, challenging one part of patriarchy inherently leads to challenging the other. This is one way to interpret why the idea of women's liberation led so soon to the idea of men's liberation, which ultimately means freeing men from the patriarchal sexual dynamics they now experience with each other. But because the patriarchal sexual dynamics of male-male relationships are less obvious than those of male-female relationships, men now face a real danger: while the patriarchal oppression of women may be lessened as a result of the women's movement, the patriarchal oppression of men may be untouched. The real danger for men posed by the attack that the women's movement is making on patriarchy is not that this attack will go too far, but that it will not go far enough. Ultimately, men cannot go any further in relating to women as equals

Financial planning for the Smith family Case Study

Financial planning for the Smith family - Case Study Example The author has presented that the Smith family has got a very tricky situation and their financial goals are a bit unrealistic. This is because the family wants to set aside $350 per month for their children’s college education. This from my point of view is quite high because it will amount to$ 4,200 annually. Amber’s goals on the other side are still not realistic. This is because she says she wants them to save $100,000 on their children’s school fees. This is very unrealistic because at the moment, their salary per year cannot even add up to $100,000 per year. The family has not put down in calculation the amount of money that they require for their kids’ education when they get to college. Luke for example, they have no idea how much they will pay for his college education hence they cannot plan for the future goals and how much exactly they require. Amber is thinking of overtime work so that she gets extra money for luxury items. They have made plans for a vacation, a new home theatre system, some new custom furniture and a different car for Joel. They want to apply for a new credit card with a limit of $50,000. The family has got so many plans for the extra money that they have and have forgotten the most basic things like their children’s future education and they want to pump so much money into their luxury life. They want to buy a new car which according to me is not that necessary at the moment simply because the car that they have can be easily repaired and used as they continue to save (Fedorowicz, 1977).. The Smith family has got a mortgage house and their balance on the mortgage is $131,000. They purchased the house 5 years ago by paying a deposit of $200,000. Borrowing $140,000 and used $60,000 that Joel received from his late grandfather. The following information shows the family’s financial information. This will help or act as a guide to preparing a good balance sheet and a financial statement. Elect ricity, water, sanitary services, and garbage pickup $225 Natural gas $125 Mortgage payment $877 Home insurance $150 Home security $55 Groceries $750 Telephone, long distance calls and home Internet $90 Cell phones/Smartphones $140 Car loan payments $520 Car gas, maintenance, and insurance $430 Clothing $200 School programs and dues $150 Children’s programs $850 Restaurants $450 Approximate minimum credit card payment $174 Other Church donations $50 $100 Notes: Expenses for the children’s programs include (per month): ? Karate $120 ? Gymnastics $160 ? Piano lessons $225 ? Guitar lessons $125 ? Hockey $220 RRSP contribution room carry-forward for 2012: ? Amber $95,300 ? Joel $25,200 As long as Landon remains under the age of six, the family will qualify for Universal Child Care Benefit payments of $100 per month, which will increase total income. Family assets and liabilities Cash $850 Chequing account 1,300 Current savings 2,200 Home (market value) 300,000 Mortgage 130 ,924 Home furnishings 5,500 Joel’s car 1,500 Amber’s car 18,000 Car loan 13,500 Credit card balance 5,800 Amber and Smith FAMILY BALANCE SHEET             ASSETS          THE CURRENT ASSETS    Current Assets:    Cash in bank    Current savings 2,200    0    Stock, Mutual Funds 0    Pension Plan 0    Life Insurance - surrender value 0    RESP's 120,500    Other Current Assets 0    TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS $122,700          LONG TERM ASSETS    Business property, real estate    Personal real estate 19,500

Quotes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Quotes - Essay Example To give some leeway to the other side of the argument, there is certainly a cost associated with getting an education since college is not cheap. It is not really easy to fund a degree since it may require an individual to take out loans, put in their time as well as effort and eventually get a degree that confirms their going to college and obtaining the required training. However, that process in and of itself is such a beneficial training for life that many employers require college education and also ask for higher degrees for higher positions within the same organization. Of course, such an education becomes rewarding since it allows a person to be greater than what they would have been had they not got their required educational qualifications. Overall, I feel that the process of education may be with its ups and downs but the overall affect of the process can not be considered a negative one. In fact, it becomes so positive that the whole process remains a good experience for those who are willing to undertake it. I fully agree with the statement since hope is perhaps the only thing which keeps us alive. Even Shakespeare suggested that in some cases it might be easier to give in to the thousands of sorrows that mortal flesh is heir to yet perhaps it is nobler to remain steadfast against them with hope that one can oppose and overcome them. It is hope for a better tomorrow which keeps us fighting against impossible odds and a hope for a better world which allows us to continue working towards some impossible goal. Without hope, it is unlikely that a person could simply go on living just to stay alive. I feel that the human spirit needs hope since it allows them to look at the future and see a silver lining even if there isn’t one. Without hope, we can actually fall prey to mental diseases which may manifest them as physical ailments or mental ailments