The Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck - 2119 Words

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a novel set during the mid-1930s drought and the fall of the American stock market. It depicts the plight of migrant workers throughout this time period, and follows the life of the protagonist, recently-released Oklahoma state convict, Tom Joad. He met up with former preacher Jim Casy, who renounced his ministerial calling due to his newfound belief that all life is holy, even the aspects that were categorized by others as sinful. After serving four years in prison on a manslaughter charge, Tom found Jim and together they returned to Tom’s family’s farm only to find it deserted, much like all the surrounding farms. The next day, the two men traveled to Tom’s uncle’s home, where he discovered the rest of his family packing to move to California in the hopes of finding a better life. This migration leads to death, abandonment, disappointment, and a new dream of organizing migrant workers to aid the depleted job marke t. The novel helped me to understand the struggle of the times, and what it means to lose everything and everyone in such a short period. Throughout these things, however grim they may seem, there is always a glimmer of hope. After the first chapter of the book, I was filled with a sense of foreboding and pity, empathetically so. The descriptions of the dead and dying crops, overwhelming dust storms, and starving families, struck a chord in my heart. â€Å"When the night came again it was black night, for the stars could notShow MoreRelatedThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck Essay1622 Words   |  7 Pages The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck, widely viewed as one of the most finest and powerful American writer, born to a middle-class family in 1902 in the Salinas Valley of California. Steinbeck is a writer who often spoke for the people. The Grapes of Wrath is a great movie, published in 1939, filled with many universal truths and views on human nature and society, especially where class is concerned. In the article, John Steinbeck The Grapes a wrath: A Call to Action says, â€Å"Steinbeck’s novel showcasedRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1075 Words   |  5 PagesKirsten Lloyd Mr. Eldridge AP Junior English 21 August 2014 Grapes of Wrath â€Å"Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.† (Seneca), In the 1939 novel, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, the reader accompanies the Joad family as they struggle to escape the crippling Dust Bowl of the mid- 1930’s. In hopes of establishing a new life for themselves after being forced off their land the family embark on a journey from Oklahoma to California in search of fruitful crops and steady work alongRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1563 Words   |  7 Pages John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, depicts a migrant farming family in the 1930s. During this time, life revolved around the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, making circumstances difficult for almost everyone involved, especially those who had little. This time of drought and despair caused people to lose hope in everything they’ve ever known, even themselves, but those who did not, put their hope in the â€Å"promised land† of California. Here, the grass was thought to be truly greenerRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1189 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"The Grapes of Wrath† Shortly after being released John Steinbeck’s book â€Å"The Grapes of Wrath† was banned because many critics viewed the novel as promoting communist propaganda, or socialist ideas. The ideas that many of these critics point to is Steinbeck’s depiction of the Big Banks/ Businesses as monsters, the comparison of Government camps to a utopia in contrast of the makeshift â€Å"Hoovervilles,† and the theme of the community before the individual, In his novel â€Å"The Grapes of Wrath† John SteinbeckRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1093 Words   |  5 Pages In John Steinbeck s The Grapes of Wrath, Tom Joad and his family are forced from their home during the 1930’s Oklahoma Dust Bowl and set out for California along with thousands of others in search of jobs, land, and hope for a brighter future. The Grapes of Wrath is Steinbeck’s way to expound about the injustice and hardship of real migrants during the Depression-era. H e utilizes accurate factual information, somber imagery, and creates pathos, allowing readers connections to the Joad’s plightRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1190 Words   |  5 PagesThe Grapes of Wrath April 14th, 1939, John Steinbeck published the novel, The Grapes of Wrath. The novel became an immediate best seller, with selling over 428,900 copies. Steinbeck, who lived through both the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, sought to bring attention to how families of Oklahoma outdid these disasters. Steinbeck focuses on families of Oklahoma, including the Joads family, who reside on a farm. The Joad family is tested with hardship when life for them on their farm takesRead MoreThe Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck702 Words   |  3 PagesJohn Steinbeck’s use of the intercalary chapters in The Grapes of Wrath helps weave the reader’s sympathy of the Joad family into a more broad sympathy for the migrant farmers as a whole, in the hopes that the readers would then be compelled to act upon what they have read. During the Great Depression, people had a big disconnect about what was happening in various parts of the country. People often struggle to find sympathy for events when they can’t even visualize a person who is suffering throughRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck2144 Words   |  9 PagesThe Grapes of Wrath is a well-known beloved novel of American Literature, written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. Whoever said a road is just a road has not read The Grapes of Wrath. From the time we read when Tom Joad, novel’s protagonist, returns home after four years in prison; the meaning of roads changed. Route 66, also known as the mother road the road of flight, was a lifeline road, which allowed thousands of families to pursue their hopes and dreams. This road is also the road thatRead MoreThe Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck1014 Words   |  5 PagesJohn Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath, was first written and later published in the 1939. Fr om the time of its publication to date, the exemplary yet a simple book has seen Steinbeck win a number of highly coveted awards including Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and later on Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. Set at the time of the Great Depression, the book most remarkably gives a descriptive account of the Oklahoma based sharecropper Joad’ poor family in the light of economic hardship, homelessnessRead MoreThe Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck1064 Words   |  5 PagesThe Grapes of Wrath, originated from a John Steinbeck’s book, a legendary film that focus on a major point of American history. The story follows the Joad family on their journey to California trying to survive the hardships. This film, focus on the social problems of America like the Dust bowl, The Great Depression, and industrialism. The Grapes of Wrath was filmed in a journalistic-documentary style, which displayed the realism of the epidemic in the thirties. The thirties the period The Grapes

Sex Education For The Retarded - 2081 Words

As humans, individuals with mental retardation have the right to emotionally enjoyable and socially appropriate sexual expression. Mental disabilities predispose this population to sexual risks. These individuals need to learn skills to reduce their susceptibility to sexual victimization. Because sexuality is an important aspect of any individual’s life, neglecting to provide it to those who are largely dependent on others for education and training is denying them full maturity as a person. Sex education that is tailored to their cognitive level and learning style, as well as their living arrangements is essential to protect the rights of this mentally retarded. Sex Education for the Mentally Retarded Over the last decade, American†¦show more content†¦They have similar curiosities and interests in their own bodies as well as others. Providing sex education will help them understand what happens as they mature and the decisions available to them. As these students are mixed into the mainstream of society, they need guidance to lead them to sexual fulfillment in society (May Kundert, 1996). They have the right to establish relationships with others and to be informed about their sexuality and what goes along with it. If these rights are to be maintained, we must explore sex education for them. Sex education is important for all teenagers, but it may be even more imperative for students with disabilities who do not learn well without direction (May, Kundert, Akpan, 1995). Individuals with mental retardation are reaching increasingly higher levels of independence and making greater contributions to society. They have to make more and more decisions on the job, on the street, within community living arrangements, and within relationships. With regard to most of these situations, these individuals generally do well. Shopping, using public transportation, and self-care have all been favorite targets for educational programs, and higher levels of success are often achieved. There is, however, one area in which this claim cannot be generally sustained and that is in the appropriate expression of sexuality (Brown, 1994). Sexuality,

Indigenous and Non Indigenous Australians

Question: Discuss about the Indigenous And Non Indigenous Australians? Answer: The media has been playing the role of intermediary and highlighting the social issues related to the indigenous communities. In this regard, there are several public discussions and public policy debates have been initiated to recognize these problems related to the aboriginals. There are several factors that led to the difference in the Indigenous and non Indigenous people. These inequalities is evident from the disparity in the distribution of income, access to basic necessities of life like food, clothing, shelter, health services, education and other social benefits. The indigenous people of Australia are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. They are distributed throughout the nation from cities to remote areas comprising of more than one group. They are distinguished on the basis of their culture, histories, languages etc. The indigenous population was calculated by Australia as 669,900 in 2011 which accounted for 3 per cent of the total Australian population. The indigen ous people in Australia can be of Aboriginal origin, Torres Strait Islander origin or can even be both. Statistics related to their distribution of origin reveals that around 90 per cent indigenous Australians were of Aboriginal origin, 6 percent were of Torres origin and 4 percent of the population comprises of both types of origins. There is a significant disparity in the ages of the indigenous and non indigenous population depicting indigenous population to be younger. (Australianmuseum.net.au, 2013) The concept of inequality works simultaneously with social, political and economic factors. These factors include the unequal distribution of income between the two groups, deprivation of the basic human necessities of life like food, education, health and other features of economic well being. The inequalities in the indigenous and non indigenous Australians creep up due to several factors. For instance, there is a significant disparity in the level of education which causes a difference in the professional front. These unequal opportunities available to the indigenous Australians led to widening the gap. (Leigh and Gong, 2009) The indigenous people were considered to be uncivilized and neglected. They were not given proper social benefits and opportunities as a result the non indigenous population of Australia. The non indigenous were educated, civilized and were provided with better opportunities and amenities of life. The inequality in the education, health and other social aspec t increased the gap between the indigenous and non indigenous population of Australia. (Aboriginal Economic Participation Strategy 2012-2016, 2015) Australian economy is characterized as a powerful economy with the least unemployment rates relative to the other OECD member countries. The government of Australia realized the need to recognize the indigenous society in the nation and developed opportunities for the indigenous people to allow them to participate in the functions of life and help them to gain independence and social security for their families. For diminishing the gap between the indigenous and non indigenous groups of the nation, the government has ensured that similar chances and opportunities be given to the indigenous people by providing them with better education, enhance their workforce participation and ensuring that they are financially independent. The government had undertaken an Economic Development Strategy which focuses on the reducing and eliminating the disparity in the two groups of population in the nation. The strategy has made improvements by benefiting the indigenous group by some major disadvant ages still prevails within the nation. (Altman, 2015) This strategy mainly emphasizes on the five important arenas that help to improve the social status of the indigenous Australians by initiating developmental approach in the field of education, health, skills and job opportunities and help them to acquire financial security and all kinds of independence. The five priorities are: Supporting the economic development by creating an environment that strengthens foundations Investment initiate in the field of education Improve and enhance participation in the field of development of skills and job opportunities Encouraging growth in the field of business and entrepreneurship developed by the indigenous population Achieving financial stability, security and independence by utilizing the economic assets to the full The first strategy encourages the participation of the indigenous group in the economic process so that they can also help to bring about economic prosperity to the nation and enjoy benefits acquired by the nation. The more they participate in the economic activities the more the economy gets developed. The gap between the indigenous and non indigenous people can e closed by encouraging investment in the field of services, infrastructure, health and well being indicators. This strategy focuses on the inequalities in the life expectancy, child mortality, on the disparities in employment and other developmental issues. (Aihw.gov.au, 2015) Other epicenter of the strategy is the Indigenous people must acquire access to habitats, introduction of information technology, tax and welfare system that enhance economic development and incorporating best governance for the nation. It is important to remember that the economy can only flourish if there is growth as well as development in the econ omy. Now development can be measured by the Indigenous Human Development Index which will include the areas related to income, educational attainment and life expectancy rates. In short it recognizes the income distribution pattern, health indicator and the educational status of the nation. These activities are based on targets that are to be achieved y 2018. In order to reduce the gap between the two groups of population, the government has realized that for introducing economic development in the economy, proper educational status is required to be maintained. As already discussed about the issue of economic development, the role of education in the prosperity of the economy is diversifying. With better education the people can get hold of better job opportunities which can help to increase or even generate incomes. This in turn has the ability to improve their standard of living. To establish a better education system it is necessary to focus on several aspects like school attendance which must increase. This must be the lookout of the parents to develop school readiness in children and help them to achieve proper outcomes. The strategy focuses on the access of children to higher education with a view to be a relevant resource for the economy. (Hunter and Gray, 2001) The third strategy of development skills and jobs is a crucial feature of participation of people in the economic process. The aim of this strategy is to generate job opportunities, introduce better training skills, and enhance the vocational training to help the skilled workers. Encouragement of education is very necessary for the readiness of jobs by the young indigenous population who prove to be an integral part of the economy. The priority focuses number four deals with the business and entrepreneurial skills of the young individuals. Initiating and regulating business can prove to strengthen the economy. For the economy to bloom there must be significant investment in business by putting up Indigenous business sectors that will generate employment, income and better standard of living of the people. Now for business to develop, the major factor of production that initiates the production process is capital for which the credit facilities in the country must ensure that the indi genous youths get proper financial support to build business prospects. It is necessary to develop a private public partnership that would help to expand the business sector of Australia. (Kalb et al., n.d.) Lastly, for the indigenous Australians to be stable and develop own economic stability it is necessary for them to financial independent. This financial stability and independence would give them a sense of future planning of their family lives. The strategy aims to develop jobs in the economy which will help to increase the level of income in the hands of the people which in turn will allow the individuals to increase and expand their assets which can be utilized in the future by them or their future generations and help to remove the concept of welfare dependency in the economy. To acquire house there must be easy availability of home loans and improve the stature of the Australias Intellectual Property Rights. (Digital, 2015) (Stewart, n.d.) We focus on two key areas: health and education. In spite of the strong economic development strategy there remained certain challenges that needed to be catered on. Health is an important indicator of development. (Grypma, 2009) The government of Australia had taken initiative with National Partnership Agreement worth $1.6 million for eliminating the gap between the two groups. $2.2 billion worth of investment for a period of five years on National Mental Health Reform package were undertaken by the government and several other programs and initiatives were taken under the strategy to promote and enhance the health status of the country. In spite of these, the life expectancy rate was estimated to be low for the indigenous population rather than the non indigenous. Also for the year 2008-2012, the infant mortality rate almost doubled for the indigenous relative to the non indigenous people. This means that the death rates for indigenous group is five times higher than that of the no n indigenous. Thus, the health scenario still has scope for improvement to eradicate the disparity between the two groups. (Booth and Carroll, 2005) Considering the educational condition of the country, only 59 percent of indigenous population was able to complete year 12 which is quite low as compared to 88 percent of the non indigenous people. This is followed by the unemployment rates in the economy for the indigenous people are again estimated to be five times more than that of the other group. These result in some way contradict the approaches and programs undertaken by the government like for the year 2009-2012, investment worth $651 billion were made on the Australian schools, a welfare measure was initiated by government allocating funds worth $24.8 million to encourage the parents so that their children attend school daily. (Jackson, 2008) (Lyons and Janca, 2012) The policy recommendations that must be taken by the government to ensure proper implementation of the goal of the economic development strategy are that the strategy focuses on the development assistance but it did not point out the target of such assistance. An effective policy on analyzing the demography of the indigenous group and pattern of their dwellings is required to distribute the development assistance evenly. Policies also must be taken to enhance the role of the state for initiating economic development so that the strategy and goals can be implemented diversely. The policy making process must be diversified by considering several aspects of the indigenous groups so that it does not get confined to mere consultation. Thus, we see that the government of Australia had taken proper steps and strategies to develop and eliminate the disparity between the Indigenous and Non indigenous population in Australia. But there still remained certain challenges that need to be rectified and implemented in a proper manner by the government. The essay also recognized some of the policy recommendations that the government can utilize to improve the economic development strategy on Indigenous Australians. (Whelan and Wright, 2013) References Aboriginal Economic Participation Strategy 2012-2016. (2015). 1st ed. [ebook] Available at: https://www.daa.wa.gov.au/Documents/AEP_Strategy.pdf [Accessed 9 Mar. 2015]. Aihw.gov.au, (2015).Indigenous health (AIHW). [online] Available at: https://www.aihw.gov.au/australias-health/2014/indigenous-health/ [Accessed 9 Mar. 2015]. Altman, J. (2015).Developing the Aborigines. 1st ed. [ebook] Available at: https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/JlIndigP/2013/37.pdf [Accessed 9 Mar. 2015]. Australianmuseum.net.au, (2013).Introduction to Indigenous Australia - Australian Museum. [online] Available at: https://australianmuseum.net.au/indigenous-australia-introduction [Accessed 9 Mar. 2015]. Booth, A. and Carroll, N. (2005).The health status of indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. Canberra: Centre for Economic Policy Research, ANU. Digital, C. (2015).Australians Together. [online] Australians Together. Available at: https://www.australianstogether.org.au/stories/detail/the-gap-indigenous-disadvantage-in-australia [Accessed 9 Mar. 2015]. Grypma, P. (2009).The assessment of Indigenous Australians presenting with affective disorders. Hunter, B. and Gray, M. (2001). Analysing Recent Changes in Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians' Income: A Synthetic Panel Approach.The Australian Economic Review, 34(2), pp.135-154. Jackson, N. (2008). Educational attainment and the (growing) importance of age structure: Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.Journal of Population Research, 25(2), pp.223-244. Kalb, G., Le, T., Hunter, B. and Leung, F. (n.d.). Decomposing Differences in Labour Force Status between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians.SSRN Journal. Leigh, A. and Gong, X. (2009). Estimating cognitive gaps between Indigenous and non Indigenous Australians.Education Economics, 17(2), pp.239-261. Lyons, Z. and Janca, A. (2012). Indigenous Children in Australia: Health, Education and Optimism for the Future.Australian Journal of Education, 56(1), pp.5-21. Stewart, M. (n.d.). Tax Law and Policy for Indigenous Economic Development.SSRN Journal. Whelan, S. and Wright, D. (2013). Health services use and lifestyle choices of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.Social Science Medicine, 84, pp.1-12.

The Cruelty of Umbrellas free essay sample

One afternoon this summer, I dragged myself out of the house to ride my bike along the Hudson River. It was hot and humid – not the moist, soothing humidity that softly caresses you in a tropical rainforest, but the heavy, burning-your-skin humidity that sits on top of you without asking and swirls the stench of garbage up your nose. But I had promised myself that I would learn to ride my bike with no hands, and my days of summer freedom were slipping away. I rode steadily up the bike path, occasionally lifting my hands briefly before losing balance. I reached my favorite rest stop three miles from home. â€Å"What a Day for a Daydream† danced in my ears from my iPod, and I thought, Why, yes, it certainly is. I parked my bike and lay down on a wooden bench. Curly gray clouds loomed across the river, but I decided I had time to rest before cycling home. We will write a custom essay sample on The Cruelty of Umbrellas or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Just as I got comfortable, a man appeared in my peripheral vision. When he spoke to me, I removed my earbuds and listened to his calm, thickly accented voice. â€Å"It looks like its going to rain,† he said. As if that were all the permission they needed, the clouds released light raindrops that spotted the bench. â€Å"I was just like you once,† the man continued. â€Å"One day a long time ago, I went for a bike ride and lay down on a bench, even though it started to rain. People walking by me probably thought I was crazy.† In New York City, it is always a guessing game whether a stranger who talks to you is â€Å"crazy,† but I knew at that moment this man was not. I studied his gray mustache and wrinkles as he told me that the raindrops were like soft little fingers on his face. â€Å"Rain is like therapy,† he said, â€Å"when you just lie there and let it fall on your face.† It was as though he was narrating my thoughts. He continued to talk, and I imagined his home life. He had immigrated from a small town in eastern Europe, and he hung pots and pans on the wall in his kitchen. â€Å"You are from China?† he asked. â€Å"Well, I am half Chinese,† I replied, surprised that for the first time in my life, a stranger could see my true ethnicity, instead of supposing I was Mexican, Hawaiian, or Filipino. â€Å"Im taking a tai chi class, and theres this word, Kua, that means ‘Everything in the body is connected.† He began to sway a little. â€Å"When the shoulders move, the hips move. Everything is connected.† The rain fell harder, and lightning flashed like the gods were having a photo shoot. I told the man Id better get home. â€Å"Nice to meet you,† he said, and we called each others bikes beautiful before parting forever. I had never ridden in the rain before. Would my bike skid and fall over? But riding on the wet pavement was surprisingly smooth. The raindrops smacked me so hard I wondered what Id done wrong until I realized it was hail. I narrowed my eyes to see the path ahead of me and gripped the wet handlebars tightly. I was disheartened that I wouldnt be able to practice my hands-free skills on the way home. But then a crazy thought crept into my mind †¦ Why not? And at that moment, I experienced one of the most liberating sensations of my life. The wind and icy summer rain whipped my face as my bent knees took turns being first and I raised my arms in the air, my balance holding strong. I yelled to no one in particular. Id never been more truly in the moment. Everything was connected. As soon as I reached my block, the clouds shriveled away. I had never experienced a more unusual afternoon. Normally I would have chalked the rain up to bad luck, but I remembered the mans tai chi reference. Who cares if my clothes were soaked? For the first time, I saw the cruelty of umbrellas for barricading us from the soft, therapeutic, tapping fingers. Like an umbrella, the codes of urban society prevent us from having contact with strangers. The danger is understandable, but the thrill of riding a bike with no handlebars and the refreshment of wise words from a mysterious stranger is worth getting a little wet.

Courage to Speak is Courage to Succeed

Courage to Speak is Courage to Succeed I am writing this note in May with a full and happy heart on the bus ride home from New York City where I did a two-minute pitch at the Jewish Book Conference. I’d practiced my pitch since February when I first registered for the conference almost everywhere – in the shower, with my kids, on the bus to work everywhere. But it’s a totally different experience when you pitch in front of a large crowd – in this case, 200 people who represented the various Jewish Community Centers among bookstores, festival organizers, bookclubs nationwide. The full-blown decision makers. They are the ones who decide whether to fly me out to various venues around the country to talk about my book’s message of courage during their upcoming programming year. So this brings me to my main point. If you want people to know about your book, the best way to get the word out is to speak about it. There’s something about taking a book off the â€Å"Amazon hinges† and connecting with an audience. Social media can only take you so far.  People see and hear your voice. You feel excited. They sense your passion. And the word spreads. I call this organically building a platform. Back to basics. I stood on that stage and gave that pitch every ounce of my being. There was that strong warrior woman of my Israel Defense Forces past I thought Id parked in the memoir, but that day I brought her back. To New York City. Where the Story began. The pitch: â€Å"It was an accident I got inducted in the Israel Defense Forces. I had no idea what I was getting involved in. My mother, daughter of a Holocaust survivor, child prodigy, Julliard graduate who played alongside Leonard Bernstein, was terrified I’d get blown up But I wanted to prove to my Israeli father that I could be my own person away from my mother’s fears and paranoias of Israel. So I dropped out of college and found myself in the middle of the desert with a bunch of immigrants who ridiculed and bullied me. Aerogram after aerogram, my mother pleaded with me to come home. I got my entire company punished because I arrived late for an inspection. I struggled to complete an eighteen kilometer march for our green beret in basic training. I held down an entire camp during one of Israel’s worst snowstorms in history with just one other Russian girl from my company. Mind you, that’s a great way to bond. As a lone IDF soldier, it was hard to stay courageous, but I managed to earn the best soldier award from then president Chaim Herzog. And I heard my mother say, â€Å"Dorit, you’re a really good kid.† Danny Ayalon, former ambassador to the US, says this about Accidental Soldier: A touching and courageous journey of the female immigrant experience that many readers will sympathize with. But the magic didn’t stop with the pitch. Groups came up to me afterwards to ask questions ranging from how did it feel to write my memoir to how did it feel to come back to the States. One woman eagerly asked if I had additional copies of the book. Her group already received their review copies, but she wanted the one copy I had to give it to four other groups in her area who wanted a speaker to talk about an Israel type experience. Wow! Talk about instant booking! At a busy cafà © in midtown Manhattan, I sat with my publicist, who called the experience â€Å"mind-blowing.† I blew up that room. Faces lit up. People watched as I spoke instead of peering over their thick books of numerous author profiles and copious notes. Through trial and error, Ive learned as an author to do these three things: Write a killer book. Hire a killer editor. Speak. Speak. Speak. I know of no better way to spread the word. And it begins with having the courage and the faith to put yourself out there. To your book writing success, Dorit.

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, Civil War Surgeon

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, Civil War Surgeon Mary Edwards Walker was an unconventional woman. She was a proponent of womens rights and dress reform- especially the wearing of Bloomers which didnt enjoy wide currency until the  sport of bicycling  became popular. In 1855 she became one of the earliest female physicians upon graduation from Syracuse Medical College. She married Albert Miller, a fellow student, in a ceremony that did not include a promise to obey; she did not take his name, and to her wedding wore trousers and a dress-coat. Neither the marriage nor their joint medical practice lasted long. At the start of the Civil War, Dr. Mary E. Walker volunteered with the Union Army and adopted mens clothing. She was at first not allowed to work as a physician, but as a nurse and as a spy. She finally won a commission as an army surgeon in the Army of the Cumberland, 1862. While treating civilians, she was taken prisoner by the Confederates and was imprisoned for four months until she was released in a prisoner exchange. Her official service record reads: Dr. Mary E. Walker (1832 - 1919) Rank and organization: Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon (civilian), U. S. Army. Places and dates: Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861 Patent Office Hospital, Washington, D.C., October 1861 Following Battle of Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Tennessee September 1863 Prisoner of War, Richmond, Virginia, April 10, 1864 - August 12, 1864 Battle of Atlanta, September 1864. Entered service at: Louisville, Kentucky Born: 26 November 1832, Oswego County, N.Y. In 1866, the London Anglo-American Times wrote this of her: Her strange adventures, thrilling experiences, important services and marvelous achievements exceed anything that modern romance or fiction has produced.... She has been one of the greatest benefactors of her sex and of the human race. After the Civil War, she worked primarily as a writer and lecturer, usually appearing dressed in a mans suit and top hat. Dr. Mary E. Walker was awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor for her Civil War service, in an order signed by President Andrew Johnson on November 11, 1865. When, in 1917, the government revoked 900 such medals, and asked for Walkers medal back, she refused to return it and wore it until her death two years later. In 1977 President Jimmy Carter restored her medal posthumously, making her the first woman to hold a Congressional Medal of Honor. Early Years Dr. Mary Walker was born in Oswego, New York. Her mother was Vesta Whitcom and her father was Alvah Walker, both originally from Massachusetts and descended from early Plymouth settlers who had first moved to Syracuse in a covered wagon and then to Oswego. Mary was the fifth of five daughters at her birth. and another sister and a brother would be born after her.   Alvah Walker was trained as a carpenter who, in Oswego, was settling into a farmers life. Oswego was a place where many became abolitionists including neighbor Gerrit Smith and supporters of womens rights. The womens rights convention of 1848 was held in upstate New York. The Walkers supported the growing abolitionism, and also such movements as health reform and temperance.   The agnostic speaker Robert Ingersoll was Vestas cousin.   Mary and her siblings were raised religiously, though rejecting the evangelism of the time and not associating with any sect. Everyone in the family worked hard on the farm, and were surrounded by many books which the children were encouraged to read. The Walker family helped to found a school on their property, and Marys older sisters were teachers at the school. Young Mary became involved with the growing womens rights movement. She may also have first met Frederick Douglass when he spoke in her home town. She also developed, from reading medical books which she read in her home, the idea that she could be a physician.   She studied for a year at Falley Seminary in Fulton, New York, a school which included courses in the sciences and health.   She moved to Minetto, New York, to take a position as a teacher, saving to enroll in medical school. Her family had also been involved in dress reform as one aspect of womens rights, avoiding the tight clothing for women that restricted movement, and instead advocating for more loose clothing.   As a teacher, she modified her own clothing to be looser in the waste, shorter in the skirt, and with pants underneath. In 1853 she enrolled in Syracuse Medical College, six years after  Elizabeth Blackwells medical education. This school was part of a movement towards eclectic medicine, another part of the health reform movement and conceived of as a more democratic approach to medicine than the traditional allopathic medical training.   Her education included traditional lectures and also interning with an experienced and licensed physician. She graduated as a Doctor of Medicine in 1855, qualified as both a medical doctor and as a surgeon. Marriage and Early Career She married a fellow student, Albert Miller, in 1955, after knowing him from their studies.   The abolitionist and Unitarian Rev. Samuel J. May performed the marriage, which excluded the word obey. The marriage was announced not only in local papers, but in  The Lily,  the dress reform periodical of Amelia Bloomer. Mary Walker and Albert Mmiller opened a medical practice together. By the late 1850s she became active in the womens rights movement, focusing on dress reform. Some key suffrage supporters including Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucy Stone adopted the new style including shorter skirts with pants worn underneath. But the attacks and ridicule about clothing from the press and public began to, in the opinion of some suffrage activists, distract from womens rights.   Many went back to traditional dress, but Mary Walker continued to advocate for more comfortable, safer clothing. Out of her activism, Mary Walker added first writing and then lecturing to her professional life. She wrote and spoke about delicate matters including abortion and pregnancy outside of marriage. She even wrote an article on women soldiers. Fighting for a Divorce In 1859, Mary Walker discovered that her husband was involved in an extramarital affair.   She asked for a divorce, he suggested that instead, she also find affairs outside their marriage. She pursued a divorce, which also meant that she worked to establish a medical career without him, despite the significant social stigma of divorce even among those women working for womens rights.   Divorce laws of the time made a divorce difficult without the consent of both parties. Adultery was grounds for a divorce, and Mary Walker had amassed evidence of multiple affairs including one that resulted in a child, and another where her husband had seduced a woman patient.   When she still could not get a divorce in New York after nine years, and knowing that even after the granting of a divorce there was a five year waiting period until it became final, she left her medical, writing, and lecture careers in New York and moved to Iowa, where divorce was not so difficult.   Iowa In Iowa, she was at first unable to convince people that she was, at the young age of 27, qualified as a physician or teacher.   After enrolling in school to study German, she discovered they did not have a German teacher. She participated in a debate, and was expelled for participating.   She discovered that New York state would not accept an out of state divorce, so she returned to that state. War When Mary Walker returned to New York in 1859, war was on the horizon. When the war broke out, she decided to go to war, but not as a nurse, which was the job the military was recruiting for, but as a physician. Known for:  among the earliest woman physicians; first woman to win the Medal of Honor; Civil War service including commission as an army surgeon; dressing in mens clothing Dates:  November 26, 1832 - February 21, 1919 Print Bibliography Harris, Sharon M.  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Dr. Mary Walker, An American Radical, 1832 - 1919  . 2009.Synder, Charles McCool.  Dr. Mary Walker: The Little Lady in Pants.  1974.   More About Mary Walker: Profession:  PhysicianAlso known  as:  Dr. Mary Walker, Dr. Mary E. Walker, Mary E. Walker, Mary Edwards WalkerOrganizational Affiliations: Union ArmyPlaces: New York, United StatesPeriod: 19th century

Current Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Current Issues - Essay Example In addition, the state has joined half of other states in the U.S. and gone ahead signing the Medicaid expansion program, which is going to be fund by the Federal government, for a period of 3 years. The Governor and the lawmakers have done this by extending the program to adult persons earning up to 138% of the level of Federal poverty (MPRnews, n.d.). Other crucial issues that are being discussed by the legislatures and the governor include the budget, which is the focus; taxes, which, Gov. Dayton is saying that, he wants making Minnesota’s tax system simpler and fairer, by unveiling a tax reform plan. New plans for a health insurance exchange required by the Affordable Care Act unveiled by President Obama are underway (Governing, n.d.). In addition to the aforementioned issues, other issues underway include the same-sex marriage, which is illegal in Minnesota, public safety issues, which were triggered by the recent shootings of high profile, election issues, triggered by the Republican-backed amendment to the constitution, requiring voters to produce photo identification (Liz, 2014). Finally, the sand mining issues, which the governor says will be huge in the current season, and transportation. Therefore, it is evident that there are a couple of issues that the governor and lawmakers be pushing for in the current year, w hich form our current issues in Minnesota. Liz, F., Chris, K., Wogan, J.B., Mike, M., and Ryan, H. (2014). The Top ten Legislative Issues to Watch in 2014. Retrieved from