Rogerian Argument Essay Example for Free

Rogerian Argument Essay The poem â€Å"Sex Without Love† by Sharon Olds is as controversial as the topic itself. The author describing the phenomenon that has become pervasive in modern life could not refrain from taking a stand on the issue, and this position can be either supported or refuted by the audience. When so many people are motivated by the contemporary American culture to engage in sexual intercourse without the trappings of love or even simple emotional attachment, it is interesting to review the poem dedicated to this situation and sort out issues covered in it. Doing so will help one tread with more confidence in the complex realm of human communication. Besides, it is even more interesting since Olds is the kind of poet who does not shun provocative topics and is not afraid to show her intimate life to the public. In analyzing the poem, we will try to understand whether Olds’ poem is a humanistic glorification of the body or a disgusting description that satisfies bad tastes. The latter view of Olds’ poetry is taken by William Logan. In his article â€Å"No Mercy† published in the journal New Criterion in December 1999, he indeed takes no mercy on Sharon Olds’ works and their artistic value. Perhaps the only positive trait Logan finds about Olds’ poetry is its spontaneity and unexpectedness of the next line that in itself should be applauded in the world of literature. However, Logan is disgusted by the sensual images that constantly surface in the poems and repel him with their openness. Therefore, he states that reading through Olds’ â€Å"hell-for-leather hubris you never know whats coming next, but youre sure its going to be a disaster† (Logan 1999:60). In short, Logan believes her work to be â€Å"shameless prose chopped up into lines of poetry, lurid as a tabloid† (Logan 1999:60). As such, he sees Olds’ work as a response to the society in our times constantly demanding from poets more descriptions of sexual lurid scenes, empty of any meaningful human emotions, and Olds is a vivid example of this trend. However, Logan takes care to dismantle the value of the poetess’ work on the grounds on which she seems to him to advance – the radicalism in the portrayal of sexual scenes. Olds to Logan ism despite her attempts to pass herself as a radical, â€Å"a homely Redbook moralist, believing in motherhood, family, and honey on her nipples† (Logan 1999:60). Thus, this view of Olds’ poetry proclaims her tasteless and lacking radicalism, totally denigrating her work and making it look worthless. There is, however, a different perception of Olds’ poetry, and in particular the poem â€Å"Sex Without Love†. To me, in particular, this poem presents an image that is rich in imagery, metaphors, and perceptive comparisons. This imagery comes out in comparisons that liken the participants of the act in turn to dancers, ice-skaters, and children at birth. The latter, true, is a somewhat brutal simile, but it is so to only some people who think that newborns are not particularly good-looking, while to others a newborn is as beautiful as anybody, being part of the life cycle. The first two comparisons, â€Å"beautiful as dancers† and â€Å"gliding over each other like ice-skaters† seem suitable for any taste, reinforcing the opinion that sexual intercourse, like any natural human action, is not disgusting, but beautiful and elegant (Olds). The poem also introduces an interesting perception of sexual intercourse, interpreting it in its own terms. It is unusual to someone who was brought up with the conviction that sex is pure and acceptable only when it is justified by love and preferably by marriage. In our society, love at one point came to serve as a convenient way to justify why people had sex outside of marriage. Therefore, with time it became almost as sacred as marriage itself. Olds takes love off its pedestal and proclaims that those who choose to have sex without it are â€Å"the true religious, the purists, the pros† (Olds). Those are the people who will not accept a false Messiah, love the priest instead of the God. They do not mistake the lover for their own pleasure (Olds). It seems that in this context sex for its own sake becomes the new norm, and love is something like a deviation from this norm. Many people can dispute this perception, but it is certain that each person can have one’s own viewpoint on these matters. In any case, the fact that Olds raises the issue and supports it with bright poetic images makes this poem worth attention. The value of Sharon Olds’ poem is also appreciated in the Free-written Comprehension of Sex Without Love available from the Richard Stockton College of NJ website. Also noting the strong imagery of the poem, the writer also adds that â€Å"the images are here not for enjoyment, but rather to exhibit the reality of the action† (Richard Stockton College). Besides, the interpretation also emphasizes the fact that, like in many pieces of poetry, Olds does not draw the ready-made conclusion that she wants the reader to follow. In fact, she allows several explanations and has the reader make the guessing on his or her own. So is Sharon Olds a lurid author who enjoys portraying sexual scenes with all the possible details or a philosopher who introduces a new opinion, supported with adequate imagery? It feels that the answer can lie somewhere in between. Returning to the denigrating opinion stated by William Logan in his article, one can see that this argument covers the whole poetry. â€Å"Sex Without Love†, compared to other poems by Olds, is relatively more Puritan in its imagery and does not use many shocking details. The emphasis is on the process as a whole, and the author uses broad metaphorical images like ice-skaters or runners to convey broader similarities. Abstaining from talking about details like her labia or other body parts that she mentions in other poems, Olds appears more appealing to a broad audience of people with different backgrounds and views, many of whom may be alienated by more naturalistic images. By the way, talking about the imagery in Olds’ poetry, Logan admits that â€Å"Aristotle would have loved her metaphors, her anatomy lessons† (Logan 1999:60). In â€Å"Sex Without Love†, Olds is at her best with building her imagery that serves to convey her message. Her images become a powerful tool for showing the event from new and new angles, creating the effect of unexpectedness noted by Logan. Most interestingly, there is a viewpoint supported by Free-written Comprehension of Sex Without Love and differing from my initial perceptions: that in the poem, Olds does not at all support the idea of meaningless, thoughtless sex without emotions, and that in fact she is disgusted by it as much as her more conservative audience. The latter view is grounded in the final part of the poem where Olds compares her lovers to runners: they are like great runners: they know they are alone with the road surface, the cold, the wind, the fit of their shoes, their over-all cardio- vascular healthjust factors, like the partner in the bed, and not the truth, which is the single body alone in the universe against its own best time. (Olds) It can be claimed that â€Å"stating that the people in bed together are just meager factors of life strongly indicates that there is distaste for sex without love† (Richard Stockton College). Speaking of cardio-vascular health as one of the factors, Olds expresses her sadness over such act of love that does not include any emotional attachment between the two. Even though on the surface, she claims that she admires sex without love, in fact she is repelled by it, as shown in her images. After deliberation, I agree that Olds’ poem should perhaps be read in a different sense – disputing the value and attraction of sex without emotion. Using this time less naturalistic images, Olds displays her strengths with metaphors by creating an unforgettable picture of the two runners rushing along a meaningless path of factors. In this poem, she may not be savoring the details of lurid sexual pictures. Instead, Olds puts in her poem a deep spiritual meaning that reiterates the old human value of love, attachment, and care. In this sense, she may indeed by lacking radicalism, but instead of this she professes values close to many in her audience. Works Cited Logan, William. â€Å"No Mercy.† New Criterion 18.4 (December 1999): 60. Olds, Sharon. Sex Without Love. 24 June 2002. 17 April 2006 http://plagiarist.com/poetry/4922. Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. Free-written Comprehension of Sex Without Love. 17 April 2006 http:///thebalance/stories/storyReader$9.

Puritan History :: essays research papers

in the 17th century some Puritan groups separated from the Church of England. Among these were the Pilgrims, who in 1620 founded Plymouth Colony. Ten years later, under the auspices of the Massachusetts Bay Company, the first major Puritan migration to New England took place. The Puritans brought strong religious impulses to bear in all colonies north of Virginia, but New England was their stronghold, and the Congregationalist churches established there were able to perpetuate their viewpoint about a Christian society for more than 200 years. Richard Mather and John Cotton provided clerical leadership in the dominant Puritan colony planted on Massachusetts Bay. Thomas Hooker was an example of those who settled new areas farther west according to traditional Puritan standards. Even though he broke with the authorities of the Massachusetts colony over questions of religious freedom, Roger Williams was also a true Puritan in his zeal for personal godliness and doctrinal correctness. Most of these men held ideas in the mainstream of Calvinistic thought. In addition to believing in the absolute sovereignty of God, the total depravity of man, and the complete dependence of human beings on divine grace for salvation, they stressed the importance of personal religious experience. These Puritans insisted that they, as God's elect, had the duty to direct national affairs according to God's will as revealed in the Bible. This union of church and state to form a holy commonwealth gave Puritanism direct and exclusive control over most colonial activity until commercial and political changes forced them to relinquish it at the end of the 17th century. Because of its diffuse nature, when Puritanism began to decline in America is difficult to say. Some would hold that it lost its influence in New England by the early 18th century, but Jonathan Edwards and his able disciple Samuel Hopkins revived Puritan thought and kept it alive until 1800. Others would point to the gradual decline in power of Congregationalism, but Presbyterians under the leadership of Jonathan Dickinson and Baptists led by the example of Isaac Backus (1724 - 1806) revitalized Puritan ideals in several denominational forms through the 18th century.

General Epistles Essay

Apparently, the first-century Jewish Christians were having a difficult time in knowing what true religion was. Hence the need for James to pen the following verse; â€Å"Pure, unspoilt religion, in the eyes of God our Father, is this: coming to the help of orphans and widows in their hardships, and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world† (James 1:27, NJB, 1990). â€Å"Religion is normally understood in terms of cultic obligations, but James has a burning ethical, prophetic interpretation of pure religion† (Painter, J., 2006). True Faith: â€Å"Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?† (James 2:5, NIV) In showing favoritism people judge those who they deem as less valuable by their standards. True Wisdom: In James 3:13-18, James contrasts the wisdom of the world with Godly wisdom. He states that, worldly wisdom, i.e. bitterness, envy and selfish ambition, comes from the enemy. Where on the other hand, Godly wisdom is this, is first â€Å"†¦pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, and good fruit, impartial and sincere† (James 3:13-18). 1 and 2 Peter Christian Behavior in Suffering: â€Å"Beloved, I implore you as aliens and strangers and exiles [in this world] to abstain from the sensual urges (the evil desires, the passions of the flesh, your lower nature) that wage war against the soul† (1 Peter 2:11, 1987, Amp). By using Christ as the example, Peter, taught the Jewish Christian how to live their lives in the middle of suffering. Danger to Growing Christians: Peter warns the believers of false teachers who would come into their presence and speak lies and devastating heresies. He goes on to say, â€Å"They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you† (2 Peter 2:13) 1, 2, and 3 John Admonition against Antichrists: In 1 John 2:19-26, John admonishes the Gentiles congregations to, â€Å"See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father† (1 John 2:24). John knew that, as long as individuals stay in Christ and do not shrink back, they will see the â€Å"Day of Christ† with much joy. Pride: Diotrephes had fallen into pride by loving himself above all others, refusing to welcome other brothers in the Lord, and he would have nothing to do with the brothers. He was also a, gossip, and stopped those who wanted to do what is right and just. (3 John 9-10) Jude Danger of False Teachers: Because certain individuals whose judgment was written about long ago had covertly snuck in among the church, Jude â€Å"†¦felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people† (Jude 3, 4). Responsibility to Fight for Faith: â€Å"But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life† (Jude 20-21). References Callahan, A. D., 2009, Babylon boycott: The Book of Revelation, Retrieved, March 27, 2011, from: http://web.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&hid=104&sid=82d03de1-65f2-4e8e-8c4d-3a8793c9a0fb%40sessionmgr113 Life Application Study Bible New International Version, 2005, New Testament notes and Bible helps, 1986, Copublished by: Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188, USA, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506, USA Niswonger, R. L., 1988, New Testament history, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids Michigan 49530 Painter, J., 2006, James as the First Catholic Epistle, Retrieved, March 26, 2011, from: http://web.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5&hid=104&sid=39154ae2-54ba-4ba8-9761-087a07496117%40sessionmgr112

Cultural Competence Self Assessment Revealed - 900 Words

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