Personal power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Personal power - Essay Example Their main source of inspiration became the folklores that the afro- Americans wrote. In her novel, Sweat, Huston became the first writer who looked at the most probable ways of undertaking free indirect speech. Huston has used a number of styles to bring out clearly how we feel personal power thus uses interjections to bring out the nature of the main character, who is the protagonist and the use of the voice of narration serves a purpose of triggering the feelings of Delia. For example "After that she was able to build a spiritual earthworks against her husband. His shells could no longer reach her. AMEN" (42). The use of exclamatory sentences and adverb reiteration brought out hope and at the same time brought about a tone of uncertainty. The narrative voice brings out the aspect of leaving aside the objective that the author wanted to put across and instead makes the readers to change their thinking line and start sympathizing with the protagonist, and nevertheless adopt the protagonist point of view. This is one of the aspect of writing that Huston uses to bring out her fiction in a very interesting way. Poetic way of communication is also another way that Huston uses to express the idea of how human beings feel about personal power. Huston uses the poetic use of language to show the speech of the Blacks in a metaphoric manner. For example Delia uses metaphor â€Å"But in the main, I feel like a brown bag of miscellany propped against a wall. Against a wall in company with other bags, white, red and yellow (2).† To define her position in terms of race. The use of metaphor and simile is the greatest contribution of the Black to the field of literature, this is according to the point of view of Huston. The narrator in ‘Sweat’ gives evidence to the fact that the Afro-Americans give interpretation to English instead of speaking it when talking about the marriage life of Delia. The narrator says that Delia

Cultural Relativism and Improving the Lives of Women Essay

Cultural Relativism and Improving the Lives of Women - Essay Example However, as demonstrated by the overwhelming number of reservations to CEDAW there is an underlying reluctance to part with social and cultural traditions.4 This study assesses the problem of cultural relativism as a barrier to improving the lives of women by reference to the weakness of the implementation and enforcement mechanisms of CEDAW. Cultural relativism takes the position that there is no universally accepted standard for judging all cultures. This is especially unfair to feminists who attempt to draw attention to all forms of gender discrimination and oppression among diverse cultures.5 Cultural relativism is characterized as a â€Å"doctrine† that recognizes that there are some moral codes and social institutions are different and are â€Å"exempt from legitimate criticism by outsiders† and such a doctrine is â€Å"supported by notions of communal autonomy and self-determination†.6 There are two diametrically opposed views on cultural relativism. One view is referred to as radical cultural relativism and this view holds that culture provides the only validity for proffering a moral rule. The other view is radical universalism which takes the position that culture is not relevant for validating moral rules because they are â€Å"universally valid†.7 †¦people are categorized and identified by social identity, especially as it is expressed in religious, ethnic, or tribal terms. These group-based identities often help determine our position in the social and political hierarchy of a society and also condition people’s attitudes and perceptions toward us as we go about our daily business.8 For a number of women, they derive their respective identities from their experiences within specific settings that are dominated by males. Even so, the way that they perceive themselves emanates from how women are treated and quite often they confront levels of discriminatory treatment within their social settings.