Three Estates :: Essays Papers

Three Estates The term Three Estates is used to describe the divisions of the European parliament. Parliament is defined by the Webster’s Dictionary as, "an assemblage of person (as members of nobility, clergy, and commons) called together by the British sovereign setting for a period of time and then being dissolved, and constituting the supreme legislature body of the United Kingdom." Parliament could also be defined as, "The 'image' and 'the thing in deed' of the mixed party (Alford 36)." The three different groups as mentioned in the definition by the Webster’s Dictionary are the estates that divide the parliament. The estates are not of physical property, but rather the separation of the society. One group was the clergy, which consisted of the bishops and priests, who were also called the prayers. Next there was the group of nobility which was formed by the kings, queens and knights, as so known as the fighters. And finally, the last group was the group of commons which were the average person such as the workers. The term three estates showed the fundamental view of the separation of society in medieval time s. This term Three Estates does not necessarily mean the three divisions of the parliament. This term could be, "as more effective synonym for 'both houses' ." (Alford 36) The two houses are the House of the Lords and the House of the Commons. This shows that the term is not a direct interpretation , but rather an idea of the separation. Parliament was used to "manage the Crown's business (Loades 90)." The parliament was also used to pass bills and legislature, but each time a bill was presented, it was mandatory that it would go through each house at least three times. As the age of the Parliament became older, it's procedures grew "more sophisticated, and more strictly enforced." (Loades 92) The Parliament also became a place at which "provided a very good platform for a monarch who wanted to say something of particular importance." (Loades 93) But the Parliament did also have its faults. It had a separation between the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of the Lords was closer to the court, highly spiritual, and made themselves to the hand of the monarch.

Did chivalry provide medieval aristocrats?

Chivalry is defined as the ideal qualifications of a knight which includes all the characteristics of valor, courtesy, generosity and dexterity in arms. The code of Chivalry also states that a knight lives to defend crown and country. To protect, serve and follow the church. Chivalry was the highest order that a Knight has to follow. Others see it as the strictest order of discipline among warriors clad in armor. Perceived as defenders of the King, the Church and the people, they uphold virtues and the ideals of the church During the Middle Ages, knighthood was only limited to the nobles in society.Close relatives of the king to assume the role of knights. For them to become a knight, they must embark on a ritual that will seal their loyalty and lives to the cause. As stated in the code of Chivalry, Thou shall remain faithful to thy pledged word.   They are tasked to obey the orders of the King, to defend the ideals of the church, and to protect the people, the weak and the innocen t. They were in a total position to closely follow the code of chivalry. During these times, they were the yielding force of the church.They were tasked with defending the principles of the clergy. If they were so ordered to embark on a crusade or simply punish infidels who were a threat to the Eastern Church at that time. Knighthood is the privilege given to nobles. They are regarded, especially with their high class noble ranking as someone who will set themselves as good examples for the community. Nobility has the power to influence; therefore it is regarded as something that must be done to show the correct path and persuade others to follow the path in the service of rightness.These were the much honored characteristics of chivalry during the middle ages. These the codes of discipline that guides a knight in practicing the most revered order during those times. Others see chivalry as nothing else but a political veneer for the nobles during those times. As the great historian Johan Huizinga, according to his works in his book, â€Å"The Waning of the Middle Ages† he stated there thatChivalry was nothing more than the nobles’ pastime. They glorified the ceremonies and the occasions garbled in robes and gold goblets, reliving the glorious days patterned after the idealistic values of Chivalry. Conducting tournaments patterned after the styles of knights in armor jousting against each other. This according to Huizinga was nothing more than a pastime for the nobles in their search for identity and to profess and show their status in society. Historians also beg to differ to the functions of the Knights during medieval times.They claimed that the Knights primary function is to be the right arm of the church. Yielding to every command that the church designates. They were supposed to live and uphold the very teachings of the church in their everyday lives. They are exemplified role models for society and are supposed to carry out the values and s et forth right examples for the citizens to follow. They are also as consequence of their vows and status in the society, required to defend his high Baron or Lord over his interests.These may as well be the profound statements that we are looking for that will show that the Knights were used as â€Å"pawns† not only by the church but also by their superiors. This thinking has led me to explain how the nobility was expanded from the close relatives of the King, to select members of society. This happened in 1307- 1397 after the death of Edward I. The title of Earl was only limited in the circle of the Royal family. It was only to be given to the immediate relatives of the King. But as the events would have it.The title was given to selected individuals in society by the basis of wealth influence and considerable political influence within their territories. This move was implemented during the reign of King Stephen (1135-1154) and his rival, Empress Matilda in an attempt to o utbid each other and gather support from Barons in order to claim hierarchy to the throne. This was a move which cheapened the Aristocracy of the Noble Status in the middle ages.The problem for the King was if he was promoting the  right individuals for the status. Politically, it was a move that is dangerous to the Reign of the King. If the right individuals are given such status, it is to the advantage of the king but if the king thinks that he has the wrong individuals in place, serious political problems may occur. Now what is the relevance of this historical aspect to the chivalry that the knights display in medieval times?According to this, if the people whom the king has chosen to be around him for the purpose of political power are indeed the correct people, them all of this comes into place, but if the incorrect people are placed, then this is a question of authority and hierarchical imbalance for the Knights whom are supposed to follow their immediate Lords. The code of Chivalry according to the Knights stands.Live to serve King and Country, defend thy Land from those who rob and steal from our people. These are the guiding principles for the Knights; I have to give them that. But this is not entirely the case for the aristocrats whom the Knights serve. If the wrong people are placed and with the codes of Chivalry for Knights to follow, it simply gives Chivalry a bad name. In my position, I think that Chivalry is misused by some aristocrats and the clergy during those times.The clergy, for instance in reference to the meaning of chivalry has learned to manipulate it. The ways in which Chivalry is regarded as the highest social order in which Knights are to follow became the arm that controls the mindset of those who follow it and makes them believe that the course of action that take is still in line with the codes of Chivalry. Like the famous Crusades of the Middle Ages. The knights were the messengers of the church at that time and were tasked to carry out to expand the influence of the church. They were told to carry out the tasks of expanding the territories of the kingdom and destroying the so-called â€Å"infidels† who are poised to bring danger to the kingdom and to the church. This for me brings a unique approach on how Chivalry was used by the Nobles and the clergy to carry-out their interests.As political thinkers point it out, the idea of chivalry was indeed taken for granted by the Nobles and the church for their political gains and self interests. As stated in the Book of Chivalry, the Knights way of life is focused on military tactics and training, and is expected for them to use the abilities and skills that they’ve learned for the protection of the King and his constituents. In this case, the King seeing the opportunity may authorize to carry out orders for his Knights to follow.Now with these facts in hand, I would like to answer the question that Chivalry is used by Nobles as an escape to a fan tasy world to which they will retreat. The answer based on the facts stated is yes. Although Chivalry was a word used to describe the highest order of discipline among the Knights, it was also regarded as a tool for Nobles to use in order to carry out their interests. The Nobles dwell into the â€Å"Dogmas† or truths surrounding the code of Chivalry that they find it hard for Knights to disagree.I’d like to place my own personal views on this statement. The codes of are for the Knights to follow, if I am a noble I can be reassured that I will be followed by my Knights who are loyal to me and will do what I say as long as my commands fall into the concept of Chivalry . It’s a simple task of manipulating the thoughts of individuals who are so keen in following rules that in order for me to bend such rules; I have to go over it but on a minimal degree.For me if I would put myself on a Noble’s place, I would see Chivalry as a tool to experiment with and carry out my vested interests with the use of such resources such as my knights who have profound influence over the people which allows them to carry out my orders without the fear of rejection among the citizenry. This is a yes based on the theories stated above. But I’d like to argue with these theories in my own personal view over Chivalry.I believe Chivalry itself was not used as a fantasy world by the nobles to retreat to, but I think the concept of Chivalry was the one used and abused by the nobles into retreating to what we call their fantasy world. In my own personal opinion, I think it is unfair that the  historians’ claim that Chivalry has misled the Knights into thinking that they are following the codes when they carry out the tasks assigned to them. I believe that this is a simple confusion on how the historians and I view Chivalry.If the historians, political thinkers and writers of our time see it as merely manipulating Knights and using them to fulfill th eir own gains, I see it as the code in which Knights follow to the highest order. Be it abused or not by their leaders, it is not a question of Noble’s using it for their fantasy goals, but for me it is a commitment to an ideal that you follow. The very basic rules that align your life and sets your goals. It is the very mindset that sets you apart from the barbarians and infidels who mock the very ideals of it. It is a way of life that Knights follow and I strongly believe that it is the most disciplined code which can still be followed even in this modern day and age.The words of the Code of Chivalry may be old and often be referred to as sayings of the past, but I do know that these can still shape an individuals life into doing what is good and what is fair to his fellow man. For some this may be a retreat to a fantasy world by Nobles, but for me I have to argue that it is not. If manipulating the concept of Chivalry will be the case it’s a yes, but Chivalry itself is a word that best exemplifies the conduct that a man must follow to live in a world of reality, not fantasy.Huizinga, J. The Waning of the Middle Ages. n.d.Keen, M. Chivalry. Yale University Press, 2005.M.Keen. Nobles, Knights, and Men at Arms in the Middle Ages. The Hambledon Press, n.d.Scattergood, V. J. English Court Culture in the Later Middle Ages. n.d.

The Blue Sword CHAPTER FIVE

Corlath was on the ground at once, calling orders that sent long-robed figures scurrying in all directions. Harry sat alone on the big bay horse, who stood quite still; to her tired and befuddled gaze there were dozens of tents and hundreds of people. Men came forward from the mouths of tents and out from shadows, to make their bows to their king – to congratulate him on the success of his venture? Harry thought. Was it successful? Some were sent at once on errands, some faded back into the darkness from which they had emerged. The two men who had ridden with the king dismounted also, and stood a little behind him as he looked around his camp. Harry didn't move. She didn't quite believe that they had arrived – and besides, where was it they were? She didn't feel that she had arrived – or didn't want to. She thought wistfully of her despised bed far away in the Residency, and of fat dull busybody Annie. She wished she were home, and she was so tired she wasn't sur e where home was. When Corlath turned back to her she woke up enough to slither down from the horse's tall back before he tried to help her; this time she did no fancy sliding, but turned to face the horse's shoulder, and kept her hands on the saddle till her feet touched the ground. It was a long way down. She was sure it had gotten longer since the last time she dismounted. Fireheart stood as patiently as the fourposter pony as she leaned against him, and she patted him absently, as she might have patted her own horse, and his nose came round to touch her forearm. She sighed, and thought of Jack Dedham, who would give an arm to ride a Hill horse, even once. Perhaps it didn't count if you were riding double with a Hillman. Harry had her back toward Faran and Innath as they led the horses away. Faran said, â€Å"That was a longer ride than I enjoy, at my age,† and Innath replied laughing: â€Å"Indeed, Grandfather, you had to be tied to your saddle with your long white beard.† Faran, who was a grandfather several times over, but looked forward to being a king's Rider for many years yet, and wore his dark-grey beard short, grinned and said: â€Å"Yes, I long for a featherbed and a plump young girl who will admire an elderly warrior for his scars and his stories.† His eyes slid round, and he looked straight at Harry for the first time since Corlath had carried her, a black-wrapped bundle lying so bonelessly quiet in his arms that it was difficult to believe it contained anything human, to the shadow where two men and three horses awaited him. But Harry was frowning at her dirty feet and did not notice. â€Å"The Outlander girl,† Faran said slowly, with the air of an honest man who will be just at any cost. â€Å"I did not know the Outlanders taught their children such pride. She has done herself honor on this ride.† Innath considered. To do yourself honor is high praise from a Hillman; but as he thought of the last two days, he had to agree. He was almost a generation younger than his fellow Rider, however, and had viewed their adventure differently. â€Å"Do you know, I was most worried that she might weep? I can't bear a woman weeping.† Faran chuckled. â€Å"If I had known that, I would have advised our king – strongly – to choose another Rider. Not that it would have mattered much, I think: she would merely have had the sleep laid on her again.† He pulled a tent flap aside, and they and the horses disappeared from Harry's sight. She had recognized the Hill word for â€Å"Outlander,† and wondered dejectedly what Corlath's companions, who had so pointedly ignored her during their journey together, were saying. She wiggled her grubby toes in the sand. She looked up and noticed that she was standing only a few feet from the – what does one call it on a tent? Door implied hinges and a frame – front of the grandest tent of all. It was white, with two wide black stripes across its peak from opposite directions, meeting and crossing at the center, and extending to the ground like black ribbons. A black-and-white banner flew from the crossed center, the tallest point in the camp, as the tent was the biggest. â€Å"Go in,† said Corlath at her side again; â€Å"they will take care of you. I will join you presently.† As she approached, a man held aside the golden silk rectangle that served the great tent for a door. He stood to attention with as much dignity as if she were a welcome guest, and perhaps a queen in her own country. This amused her, with a stray thought that the Hill-king seemed to have his followers well schooled, and she smiled at him as she went inside; and was gratified by the startled look that crossed his face when she managed to catch his eye. At least they aren't all inscrutable, she thought. One of Dedham's subalterns might have looked like that. It was also comforting to have succeeded at last in catching someone's eye. What she did not know was that the honor guard at the door, who stood to attention because he was an honor guard and it would have been beneath him to be less than courteous to anyone who had the king's grace to enter the king's tent, was saying to himself: She walks and smiles at me as if she were a grand lady in her own home, not a prisoner of – of – He stumbled here, since neither he nor anyone else knew exactly why she had been made a prisoner, or an involuntary guest, or whatever it was that she was, except that it was the king's will. And this after a journey that made even old Faran, who was not flesh at all but iron, look a little weary. This was a story he would tell his friends when he was off duty. Inside Harry looked around her with awe. If the camp from the outside was white and grey and dun-colored, as dull but for the black-and-white banner flying from the king's tent as the sand and scrub around it and brightened only by the robes and sashes some of the men wore, inside this tent – she was sure it was Corlath's own – there was a blaze of color. Tapestries hung on the walls, and between them were gold and silver chains, filigree balls and rods, bright enameled medallions – some of them big enough to be shields. Thick soft rugs were scattered on the floor three or four deep, each of them gorgeous enough to lie at the foot of a throne; and over them were scattered dozens of cushions. There were carved and inlaid boxes of scented red wood, and bone-colored wood, and black wood; the largest of these were pushed against the walls. Lanterns hung on short chains from the four carved ribs that crossed the high white ceiling to meet at the center peak, above whi ch the banner flew outside, and below which a slender jointed pillar ran from floor to ceiling. Like pillars stood at each of the four corners of the tent, and four more braced the ribs at their centers; and from each pillar a short arm extended which held in its carven cupped hand another lantern. All were lit, bathing the riot of deep color, shape, and texture in a golden glow which owed nothing to the slowly strengthening morning light outside. She was staring up at the peak of the roof and feeling impressed at the smooth structure of the tent – her own knowledge of tents was limited to stories of the Homelander military variety, which involved ropes and canvas and much swearing, and leaks when it rained – when a slight noise behind her brought her back again to her presence in a Hill camp. She turned around, nervously, but not so nervously as she might have; for there was a graciousness and – well, humanity, perhaps, if she tried to think of a word for it – to the big white-walled room that set her at ease, even against her own better judgment. Four white-robed men had entered the tent. They brought with them, carrying it by handles set round the rim, an enormous silver basin: bath-sized, she thought. It had a broad base and sides that flared gently. The metal was worked in some fashion, but the play of the lantern light over the patterns prevented her from deciding what the designs might be. The men set the great basin down at one end of the tent, and turned to leave, one after the other; and each, as he passed her standing uncertainly near the center, bowed to her. She was made uneasy by the courtesy, and had to stop herself from taking a step or two backward. She stood with her arms at her sides, but her hands, invisible in the long full sleeves of her battered dressing-gown, closed slowly into fists. As the four men passed in front of her on their way out, several more were coming in, with silver urns on their shoulders; and the urns, she found when the carriers emptied them into the silver bath – it had to be a bath – were full of steaming water. No drop was spilled; and each man bowed to her as he left. She wondered how many of them there were engaged in water-carrying; there were never more than a few in the tent at once, yet as soon as one urn was empty the man behind was there to pour from another. It took only a few soft-footed minutes, the only sound that of the water falling into the basin, for it to be full; and the stream of men stopped likewise. She was alone a moment, watching the surface of the water glint as the last ripples grew still; and she saw that some of the design on the bath was simply the presence of hinges, and she laughed. This was a traveling camp, after all. Then four men entered together and ranged themselves in a line – like horse-herders, she thought, presented with an animal whose temper is uncertain – and looked at her; and she looked at them. She rather thought these were the four who had brought the bath in to begin with; but she wasn't sure. What she did notice was something else, something that hadn't quite registered while the steady shuffle of men and urns had gone past: that each of these men had a little white mark that looked like a scar on his forehead, in the center of the brow, above the eyes. She wondered about this; and then she wondered about what looked like towels lying over the shoulders of three of the men; and then the fourth one came toward her with a motion so swift and polite, and somehow unthreatening, that he slipped the Hill cloak off her shoulders and folded it over his arm before she reacted. She spun around then and backed away a step; and was almost certain that the look on this man's face was surprise. He laid the cloak down very gently on a wooden chest, and motioned toward the bath. She was grateful that at least he didn't bow to her again, which probably would have made her leap like a startled rabbit. It wasn't, she thought, that the gesture held any unpleasant servility. But it felt like an indication that she was somehow in command of the situation – or ought to be. The lack of servility was therefore alarming, because these men were too capable of observing that she didn't feel in the least as if she were in command. They looked at one another a moment longer. She thought then incredulously: Surely they're not expecting to give me a bath? – and noticed with the sides of her eyes that the other three men were standing behind the bath now, and one of the towels when unfolded was revealed as a robe, with a braided gold cord at the waist. The man directly in front of her, who had removed her cloak, reached out and laid his hands on the belt of her dressing-gown, and she suddenly found that she was angry. The last two days had been one indignity after another, however politely each had been offered; and to preserve what self-respect she could – and what courage – she had preferred not to think about them too closely. But that she wasn't even to be allowed to bathe without a guard – that she should be expected to submit tamely to the ministrations of four men – men – like a – like a – Her imagination chose to fail her here, far from home, with the terror of the unknown, and of the captured, only barely kept at bay. She threw off the man's polite fingers with as much violence as she could and said furiously: â€Å"No! Thank you, but no.† There are enough of them, for God's sake, to stand me on my head if they want to force the issue, she thought. But I am not going to cooperate. There was a ripple of golden silk at the sound of her voice, and a new shadow appeared in the lantern light. Corlath, who had been hovering just outside to see how his Outlander was going to behave, entered the tent. He spoke two or three words and the men left at once; each bowing, first to her and then to their king. A corner of Harry's mind, which refused to be oppressed by the dreadfulness of the situation, noticed that the bows were of equal depth and duration; and the same mental corner had the impertinence to think this odd. There was another little silence after the four men had left, only this time it was the king she was facing down. But she was too angry to care. If she said anything she would say too much, and she hadn't quite forgotten that she was at the mercy of strangers, so she bit her tongue and glowered. Why was this all happening? The bit of her mind which had commented about the equality of bows presently observed that anger was preferable to fear, so the anger was encouraged to carry on. Evidently Corlath had already had his bath; his black hair was wet, and even his sun-brown skin was a few shades lighter. He was wearing a long golden robe, stiff with elegant stitching, open at the front to show a loose cream-colored garment that fell almost to his sandaled feet. In her own country she would have been inclined to call it a nightshirt under an odd sort of dressing-gown – although nobody ever wore a scarlet cummerbund over one's nightshirt – but it looked very formal here. She mustn't forget to glower or she might feel awed. And then, inevitably, afraid. She recognized the quality of his silence when at last he spoke: the same feeling she had had when she first spoke to him, at the small campsite between the arms of a sand dune, that he chose and arranged his words very carefully. â€Å"Do you not wish to bathe, then? It is a long ride we had.† He was thinking, So I have managed to offend her immediately. It is done differently where she comes from; she can't know and must not be able to guess – but how could she guess? – that in the Hills it is only the men and women of the highest rank that may be waited on by household servants of both sexes. I feared – but for what good? We know nothing of each other's customs, and my household men have only done as they ought: treated the king's Outlander with the greatest honor. Harry in her turn had unbent slightly at the â€Å"we.† It was friendlier than the accusatory â€Å"you† she'd been expecting. She hadn't unbent so far, though, as to prevent herself from saying coldly, â€Å"I am accustomed to bathe alone.† Ah. Yes. I don't suppose I should mire myself with involved explanations at this point? She doesn't look to be in the mood for them. He said, â€Å"These are men of my household. It was to do you †¦ courtesy.† She glanced away and felt her anger begin to ebb; and so she was unprepared when he took a sudden stride forward as she dropped her eyes. He grabbed her chin and forced it up, turning her face to the light and staring down at her as if amazed. Her abrupt reversion to existence as an object to be bundled about, turned this way and that at another's will, made the anger boil up again at once; and her eyes glittered back at him without a trace of fear. He was staring into those eyes, as the light played full across them, and thinking, That's why. I don't understand it, but this must be why – the first step to why. He had just caught a glimpse, a suspicion, when she turned her head, the way the light fell, and he had put his hand out before he thought. Her eyes, under his gaze, shimmered grey to green with bubbles of amber that flickered like lightning in the depths and floated up to break like stars on the surface: bottomless eyes, that a man or beast fool enough to look at long would fall into and drown. He knew – he was one of the very few who need have no fear – that she did not know. She met his eyes too clearly: there was nothing in her eyes but simple and forthright fury – and he couldn't blame her for that. He wondered if she'd learned by accident not to focus her anger, or whether people she hated had a habit of falling downstairs or choking on fishbones – or if perhaps she had never hated . One doesn't generally look into mirrors when one is especially angry; one has better things to do, like pace the floor, or throw things. Perhaps no one had ever noticed, or been in a position to notice. And the thought came to him vaguely, for no particular reason, that she couldn't ever have been in love. If she had ever turned the full intensity of her kelar-brilliant eyes on any average mortal, they would both have had a shock; and she would never again have had the innocence to meet anyone's eyes as she now met his. He dropped his hand from her chin and turned away. He looked a little ashamed, she thought; and he said, â€Å"Forgive me,† as if he meant it. But he looked more thoughtful than anything else, and, she realized with surprise, relieved, as if he had made – or had made for him – some important decision. What can be wrong with my face? she thought. Has my nose turned green? It has always been crooked, but it never astonished anybody before. He offered her no explanation for his behavior, but after a moment's silence he said, â€Å"You will have your bath alone, as you wish,† glanced at her again as if to be sure she was real, and left her. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered; and then thought, Very well, I do want a bath, the water's cooling off, and how long is a bath expected to take before someone else comes trotting in? She took the fastest bath of her life, and was bright red with scrubbing but quite clean when she tumbled out again, dried off, and slithered into the white robe left for her. The sleeves came to her elbows, and the hem nearly to her ankles. There were long loose trousers to go underneath, but so full as to seem almost a skirt, and they rippled and clung as she moved. The clothing all was made from something adequately opaque, but when she had tied the golden rope around her middle she still felt rather embarrassingly unclad; Homelander garb for its women involved many more layers. She looked at her dusty dressing-gown, but was reluctant to put it back on; and she was still hesitating over this as she dried her hair on the second towel and tried to part the tangle with her fingers, when Corlath returned, carrying a dark red robe very much like his golden one – and a comb. The handle of it was wide and awkward in her hand, but it had familiar teeth, and that was all that counte d. While she watched through her wet hair, the bath was half-emptied as it had been filled, and the rest carried out still in the silver basin. The four men at its handles walked so smoothly the water never offered to slop up the sides. Then there was a pause and one of the men of the household – or so she supposed the forehead mark indicated – entered carrying a mirror in a leather frame and knelt before her on one knee, propped the mirror on the other, and tipped it back till she could see her face in it. She looked down, bemused – the man's eyes were on the floor. Did household servants of the Hills all take lessons in tipping mirrors to just the right angle, relative to the height and posture of the person to be served? Perhaps it was a specialty, known only to a few; and those few, of course, would be preserved for the royal household. She parted her hair gravely and shook it back over her shoulders, where it fell heavily past her hips. The deep red of her robe was very handsome; the shadows it cast were as velvety as rose petals. â€Å"Thank you,† she said in Hill-speech, hoping that she remembered the right phrase; and the man stood up, bowed again, and went away. Meanwhile a long table was being erected under the peak of the tent, next to the central pillar. It consisted of many square sections, with a leg at each corner of each square, set next to each other in a long single row; she wondered how they managed to stand so level on the whimsical layers of carpet. Corlath was pacing up and down the end of the tent opposite her, head bent and hands behind him. Plates were arranged on the table – each setting, she saw, was given a plate, one of the curious flat-bowled spoons, two bowls of different sizes, and a tall mug. The table was very low, and there were no chairs; some of the cushions scattered all over the tent were gathered up and heaped around it. Then large bowls of bread and fruit and – she thought – cheese were brought in, and the lamp that hung from the wooden rib over the table was lowered till it hung only a few feet from the plentiful food. It was just a little above her eye level as she stood watching. The la nterns that hung from the ceiling beams were suspended on fine chains which were attached to slender ropes looped around a row of what looked very much like belaying-pins on a ship lined up against one wall. Corlath had stopped pacing, and his eyes followed the lowering of the lamp; but the expression on his face said that his thoughts were elsewhere. Harry watched him covertly, ready to look away if he should remember her; and as the lamp was fixed in its new position she saw him return to himself with a snap. He walked a few steps forward to stand at one end of the long table; then he looked around for her. She was not in a good position for judging such things, but she felt that he recalled her existence to his mind with something of an effort, as a man will recall an unpleasant duty. She let him catch her eye, and he gestured that she should take her place at his left hand. At that moment the golden silk door was lifted again, and another group of men filed in. She recognized two of them: they were the men who had ridden with Corlath to assist at her †¦ removal. She was a little surprised that she should recognize them so easily, since what she had mostly seen of them was the backs of their heads when they averted their faces, or the tops of their heads or hoods when they stared at the ground. But recognize them she did, and felt no fear about staring at them full-face now, for they showed no more inclination than they ever had for looking back at her. There were eighteen men all told, plus Corlath and herself; and she was sure she could have recognized them as a group, as belonging together and bound together by ties as strong as blood or friendship, even if they had been scattered in a crowd of several hundred. They had an awareness of each other so complete as to be instinctive. She knew something of the working of this sort of camaraderie from watching Dedham and some of his men; but here, with this group of strangers, she could read it as easily as if it were printed on a page before her; and their silence – for none bothered with the kind of greeting Harry was accustomed to, any Hill version of hello and how are you – made it only more plain to her. Rather than finding their unity frightening, and herself all alone and outside, she found it comforting that her presence should so little disturb them. That instinctive awareness seemed to wrap around her too, and accept her: an outsider, an Outlander and a woman, a nd yet here she was and that was that. She sat when everyone else sat, and as bowls and plates were passed she found that hers were filled and returned to her without her having to do anything but accept what was given her. Knives appeared, from up sleeves and under sashes and down boot tops, and Corlath produced an extra one from somewhere and gave it to her. She felt the edge delicately with one finger, and found it very keen; and was faintly flattered that the prisoner should be allowed so sharp an instrument. No doubt because any one of these men could take it away from me at my first sign of rebellion, without even interrupting their chewing, she thought. She began to peel the yellow-skinned fruit on her plate, as the man opposite her was doing. It seemed years since she had faced Sir Charles across the breakfast table. She didn't notice when the conversation began; it proceeded too easily to have had anything so abrupt as a beginning, and she was preoccupied with how to manage her food. From the tone of their voices, these men were reporting to their king, and the substance of the reports was discussed as a matter of importance all around the table. She understood no word of it, for â€Å"yes† and â€Å"no† and â€Å"please† and â€Å"good† are almost impossible to pick out when talk is in full spate, but it was a language she found pleasant to listen to, with a variety of sounds and syllables that she thought would well lend themselves to any mood or mode of expression. Her mind began to wander after a little time. She was exhausted after the long ride, but the tension of her position – I will not say that I am utterly terrified – served admirably to keep her awake and uneasily conscious of all that went on around her. She wondered if any of these men would give it away by look or gesture if the conversation turned to the Outlander in their midst. But after a bath, and clean clothes, even these odd ones, and good food, for the food was very good, and even the company, for their companionship seemed to hold her up like something tangible, her mind insisted on relaxing. But that relaxation was a mixed blessing at best, because as the tension eased even a little, her thoughts unerringly reverted to trying to puzzle out why she was where she found herself. Something to do with that abortive meeting at the Residency, between the Hillfolk and the Outlanders, presumably. But why? Why me? If I could be stolen from my bed – or my window-seat – then they could steal somebody from some other bed – and Sir Charles seems a lot more likely as a political figure. She repressed a grin. Though a very unlikely figure for riding across a saddlebow. There had to be a better reason than that of physical bulk for the choice of herself over †¦ whoever else was available. She had been spirited out of her own house, with the doors locked and the dogs out, and Sir Charles and Lady Amelia asleep only a few steps away. It was as if Corlath – or his minions – could walk through walls: and if they could walk through the Residency walls and over the Residency dogs, probably they could walk through any other walls – at least Homelander walls – that they chose. It was uncanny. She remembered that Dedham, whose judgment she trusted above all others' at the station, and who knew more than any other Homelander about his adopted country, believed in the uncanniness of certain of the Hillfolk's tactics. Which brought her back to square one of this game: Why her? Why Harry Crewe, the Residency's charity case, who had only been in this country at all for a few months? There was one obvious answer, but she discarded it as soon as it arose. It was too silly, and she was convinced that, whatever failings Corlath and his men might be capable of, silliness wasn't one of them. And Corlath didn't look at her the way a man looks at a woman he plans to have share his bed – and his interest would have to be very powerful indeed for him to have gone to so much trouble to steal her. He looked at her rather as a man looks at a problem that he would very much prefer to do without. She supposed it was distinction of a sort to be a harassment to a king. She also swiftly, almost instinctively, discarded the idea that her Homelanders would mount any successful expedition to find her and bring her home again. The Hillfolk knew their desert; the Homelanders did not. And the Residency charity case would not warrant extraordinary efforts. She thought wryly: If Jack guesses where I am, he'll think I don't need rescuing †¦ but poor Dick; he'll manage to convince himself that it's his fault, he brought me out here in the first place †¦ She blinked hastily, and bit her lips. Her crossed legs were asleep, and the small of her back hurt. She was accustomed to sitting in chairs. She began surreptitiously to thump her thighs with her fists till they began to tingle painfully to life again; then she began on her calves. By the time she could feel when she wiggled her toes, the hot stiff feeling around her eyes had ebbed and she could stop blinking. The men of the household entered the royal tent again, and cleared the table. The bread and fruit were replaced by bowls of something dark and slightly shiny. When she was offered a bit of it she discovered it to be sticky and crunchy and very sweet, and by the time she had eaten most of her generous serving, and what remained was adhering to her face and fingers, she noticed that a bowl of water and a fresh napkin had been placed at each person's elbow. There was a momentary lull while everyone sighed and stretched; and Corlath said a few words to the men of the household, which caused one of them to leave the tent and the other three still present to go around the walls extinguishing the lanterns, all except the one lamp that hung low over the table. The heavy woven walls shone in the daylight so the inside was palely lit; and the lamp over the table burned like a small sun, casting half-shadows in the quiet corners of the glowing white walls and in the hollows of eyes. None spoke. Then the man returned, carrying a dark leather bag bound with brass in the shape of a drinking-horn. A thong hung from its neck and base, and this the man had looped over his shoulder. He offered it first to Corlath, who gestured to the man at his right. The man of the household handed it gravely to him, bowed, and left; there were none in the tent now but those twenty who sat round the table. The first man drank – one swallow; she could see him letting it slide slowly down his throat. He balanced the bag on the table and stared at the burning lamp. After a moment an expression passed over his face that was so clear Harry felt she should recognize it immediately; but she did not. She was shaken both by its strength and by her own failure to read it; and then it was gone. The man looked down, smiled, shook his head, said a few words, and passed the horn to the man sitting on his right. Each man took one mouthful, swallowed it slowly, and stared at the lamp. Some of them spoke and some did not. One man, with skin sunburned as dark as cinnamon but for a pale scar on his jaw, spoke for a minute or two, and words of surprise broke from several of his audience. They all looked to Corlath, but he sat silent and inscrutable, chin in hand; and so the drinking-horn was passed on to the next. One man Harry remembered in particular: he was shorter than most of the company, while his shoulders were very broad and his hands large. His hair was grizzled and his expression grim; his face was heavily lined, but whether with age or experience or both she could not guess. He sat near the foot of the table on the side opposite her. He drank, stared at the light, spoke no word, and passed the horn to the man on his right. All the others, even the ones who said nothing, showed something in their faces – something, Harry thought, that was transparent to any who had eyes to see beyond – some strong sensation, whether of sight or feeling – she could not even guess this much. But this man remained impassive, as opaque as skin and blood and bone can be. One could see his eyes move, and his chest heave as he breathed; there was no clue for further speculation. She wondered what his name was, and if he ever smiled. As the leather bag rounded the bottom of the table and started up the other side, and Harry could no longer see the faces of the drinkers, she dropped her eyes to her hands and complimented herself on how quietly they lay, the fingers easy, not gripping each other or whitening their knuckles around her mug. The mug was still half full of a pale liquid, slightly honey-sweet but without (she thought she could by now conclude) the dangers of the gentle-tasting mead it reminded her of. She moved one finger experimentally, tapped it against the mug, moved it back, rearranged her hands as a lady might her knitting, and waited. She was aware when the drinking-horn reached the man on her left, and was aware of the slight shudder that ran through him just before he spoke; but she kept her eyes down and waited for Corlath to reach across her and take the waiting horn. This was not something an Outlander would be expected to join in – and just as well. Whatever the stuff was, watching the men's faces when they drank made her feel a little shaky. And so she was much surprised when one of Corlath's hands entered her range of vision and touched the back of one of her hands with the forefinger. She looked up. â€Å"Take a sip,† he said. She reached out stiffly and took the brass-bound bag from the man who held it, keeping her eyes only on the bag itself. It was warm from all the hands that had held it, and up close she could see the complexity of the twisted brass fittings. It carried a slight odor with it: faintly pungent, obscurely encouraging. She took a deep breath. â€Å"Only a sip,† said Corlath's voice. The weight of the thing kept her hands from trembling. She tipped her head back and took the tiniest of tastes: a few drops only. She swallowed. It was curious, the vividness of the flavor, but nothing she could put a name to †¦ She saw a broad plain, green and yellow and brown with tall grasses, and mountains at the edge of it, casting long shadows. The mountains started up abruptly, like trees, from the flatness of the plain; they looked steep and severe and, with sun behind them, they were almost black. Directly in front of her there was a small gap in those mountains, little more than a brief pause in the march of the mountains' sharp crests, and it was high above the floor of the plain. Up the side of the mountain, already near the summit, was a bright moving ribbon. Horsemen, no more than forty of them, riding as quickly as they could over the rough stony track, the horses with their heads low and thrown forward, watching their feet, swinging with their strides, the riders straining to look ahead, as though fearing they might come too late. Behind the riders were men on foot, bows slung slantwise over their backs, crossed by quivers of arrows; there were perhaps fifty of them, and they followed the horses, with strides as long as theirs. Beside them were long brown moving glints, supple as water, that slid from light to shade too quickly to be identified; four-footed, they looked to be; dogs perhaps. The sunlight bounced off sword hilts, and the metal bindings of leather arms and harness, and shields of many shapes, and the silver strings of bows. The far sides of the mountains were less steep, but no less forbidding. Broken foothills extended a long way, into the hazy distance; a little parched grass or a few stunted trees grew where they could. Below the gap in the mountains by any other path but through the valley would be impossible, at least for horses. The gap was one that a small determined force would be able to defend – for a time. The bright ribbon of horsemen and archers collected in the small flat space behind the gap, and became a pool. Here there was a little irregular plateau, with shallow crevasses, wide enough for small campsites, leading into the rocky shoulders on either side, and with a long low overhanging shelf to one side that was almost a cave. The plateau narrowed to a gap barely the width of two horsemen abreast, where the mountain peaks crowded close together, just before it spilled into the scrub-covered valley, and the rock-strewn descending slopes beyond. The horsemen paused and some dismounted; some rode to the edge and looked out. At the far edge of the foothills something glittered, too dark for grass, too sharply peaked for water. When it spilled into the foothills it became apparent for what it was: an army. This army rode less swiftly than had the small band now arranging themselves in and around the pass, but their urgency was less. The sheer numbers of them were all the tactics they needed. But the little army waiting for them organized itself as seriously as if it had a chance of succeeding in what it set out to do; and perhaps some delay of the immense force opposing it was all that it required. The dust beyond the foothills winked and flashed as rank after rank approached the mountains †¦ †¦ and then time began to turn and dip crazily, and she saw the leader of the little force plunging down into the valley with a company behind him, and he drew a sword that flashed blue in his hand. His horse was a tall chestnut, fair as daylight, and his men swept down the hill behind him. She could not see the archers, but she saw a hail of arrows like rain sweeping from the low trees on either side of the gap. The first company of the other army leaped eagerly toward them, and a man on a white horse as tall as the chestnut and with red ribbons twisted into its long tail met the blue sword with one that gleamed gold †¦ †¦ and Harry found herself back in the tent, her throat hoarse as if from shouting: standing up, with a pair of strong hands clamped on her shoulders; and she realized that without their support she would sag to her knees. The fierce shining of the swords was still in her eyes. She blinked and shook her head, and realized she was staring at the lamp; so she turned her head and looked up at Corlath, who was looking down at her with something – she noticed with a shock – like pity in his face. She could think of nothing to say; she shook her head again, as if to shake out of it all she had just seen; but it stayed where it was. There was a silence, of a moment, or perhaps of half a year. She breathed once or twice; the air felt unnaturally harsh on her dry throat. She began to feel the pile of carpets pressing against her feet, and Corlath's hands slackened their grip. They stood, the two of them, king and captive, facing one another, and all the men at the table looked on. â€Å"I am sorry,† Corlath said at last. â€Å"I did not think it would take you with such strength.† She swallowed with some difficulty: the lovely wild flavor of the mad drink she had just tasted lingered in the corners of her mouth, and in the corners of her mind. â€Å"What is it?† Corlath made some slight gesture – of denigration or of ignorance. â€Å"The drink – we call it Meeldtar – Seeing Water, or Water of Sight.† â€Å"Then – all that I saw – I really saw it. I didn't imagine it.† â€Å"Imagine it? Do you mean did you see what was true? I do not know. One learns, eventually, usually to know, to be able to say if the seeings are to be believed or are †¦ imagined. But imagined as you mean it – no. The Water sends these things, or brings them.† There was a pause again, but nobody relaxed, least of all herself. There was more to it than this, than a simple – simple? – hallucination. She looked at Corlath, frowning. â€Å"What else?† she said, as calmly as if she were asking her doom. Corlath said, â€Å"There is something else,† as if he were putting it off. He hesitated, and then spoke a few words in a language she did not recognize. It wasn't the usual Darian she heard the natives around the Residency speak, or the slightly more careful tongue that Dedham and Mr. Peterson used; nor did it sound like the differently accented tongue the Hillfolk spoke, which was still recognizable to those who were fluent in Darian. This was a rougher, more powerful language to listen to, although many of the sounds – strange to her Homelander ears – were common with the Darian she was accustomed to. She looked at Corlath, puzzled, as he spoke a little further. She knew nothing of this language. â€Å"It is not familiar to you?† Corlath said at last; and when she shook her head, he said, â€Å"No, of course not, how could it be?† He turned around. â€Å"We might sit down again,† and sat down with great deliberateness. She sat down too, waiting. The look she had seen before on his face, that of a man facing a problem he would far rather avoid, had returned, but it had changed. Now his look said that he understood what the problem was, and it was much more serious than he had suspected. â€Å"There are two things,† he said. â€Å"The Water of Sight does not work so on everyone. Most people it merely makes ill. To a few it gives headaches; headaches accompanied by strange colors and queer movements that make them dizzy. There are very few who see clearly – we nineteen, here tonight, all of us have drunk the Water of Sight many times. But even for us, most of us see only a brief abrupt picture – sometimes the scene lasts so little time it is hard to recognize. Often it is of something familiar: one's father, one's wife, one's horse. There is a quality to these pictures, or memories, that is like nothing else, like no voluntary memory you might call up yourself. But often that is all. â€Å"Occasionally one of the people of our Hills sees more. I am one. You have just proven yourself another. I do not know why you saw what you did. You told us something of what you saw as you were seeing it. You may have seen a battle of the past – or one that never happened – or one that may yet happen; it may occur in Damar, or – in some other country.† She heard may yet happen as if those three words were the doom she had asked for; and she remembered the angry brilliance of the yellow-eyed Hill-king as he stood before the Residency far away. â€Å"But – † she said, troubled, hardly realizing she spoke aloud – â€Å"I am not even of your Hills. I was born and bred far away – at Home. I have been here only a few months. I know nothing of this place.† â€Å"Nothing?† said Corlath. â€Å"I said there were two things. I have told you the first. You told us what you saw as you saw it. But this is the second thing: you spoke in the Old Tongue, what we call the Language of the Gods, that none knows any more but kings and sorcerers, and those they wish to teach it to. The language I just spoke to you, that you did not recognize – I was repeating the words you had said yourself, a moment before.†

Social Expectations and Identity Development

Mounia RBIHA SSK1204 Social Expectations and Identity Development 1 The task that the individual is confronted to during his adolescence is to get socialized. Adolescents are strongly requested to deal with socialization. During this process, the adolescent encounters all the society’s demands and standards. The challenge that remains at that stage for the adolescent is to form his own place in the society where he lives. Moreover, he has to feel that he fits in that place.All through the socialization, the adolescent has to consider the social expectations because he can’t forge his personality regardless of the surrounding environment and the external rules. Social expectations can push the adolescents to change their behaviors, their way of thinking. Actually, social expectations shape the identity of the adolescent. Freedom and independence are two major concepts that the individual tries to search for during his adolescence. Freedom and independence have a special meaning for the adolescent which is to not to be compelled or forced to do something.The adolescent doesn’t want to feel the pressure on him. This pressure becomes greater when it comes to social rules and expectations because the adolescent may feel that he is judged according to the society’s standards and conventions. Sometimes, adolescents may perceive these expectations as a challenge that they have to win, and according to Crockett and Silbereisen, â€Å"adolescents are thought to perceive social expectations and to define tasks for themselves based on these expectations†, (p. 6, 1999). From this view, the social expectations seem inescapable. The adolescent can’t deal with the external world without these expectations.This requirement is frequently responsible for the rebellion. (Geldard, Geldard, 2004). The adolescent feels that he is surrounded by different rules that don’t fit necessarily his personality. So, sometimes he feels the need t o make some changes in his behavior to make it more socialized. This change that occurs varies from an adolescent to 2 another depending on how the adolescent accept it. Some of them can perceive that change as a necessity and as a need. So, he would do his best to create a space where he can match his own needs and what he is expected to do.Others would perceive it as a duty where they feel no responsibility. Their change would be not effective since they don’t think that they are in a need of such adjustment to create a harmony between themselves and the society’s expectations. The social expectations involve the interaction with others. In fact, the adolescent cannot form his identity without developing some relationships that link him with the others, as it is said by David Geldard and Kathryn Geldard in their book Counseling Adolescents, â€Å" the adolescent can only construct a personal identity in the context of relationship with others† (2004, p. 1). Th is fact leads to recall the childhood. Childhood is also a stage in one’s life where the individual is being used to get in touch with the external world. By starting to be socialized, social expectations begin at that specific period of life. Children are supposed to behave in such a way that would make the others call them, sweet or cute. Nobody would hear someone call a kid a devil in a serious way. Actually, children are expected to be angels. No one can imagine an evil act done by a kid.In the Moroccan society, children are often asked to call someone that they don’t really know khalti or aami depending on the gender, which can be translated as â€Å"aunt† or â€Å"uncle†. Everybody becomes an aunt and an uncle, from the friend of the mother to the neighbor passing by the seller. This naming is spread all over Morocco. It is a rule that links young people and older people. It is a sign of respect regards the older persons. This fact shows one of the society’s expectations regards the individual that starts from childhood and continue during adolescence until adulthood. At that point, children begin to be aware of the presence of different behaviors that are not all accepted and where the choice is not allowed. In fact, they understand that the choice had been done by the society, and this society expects from that child to behave according to its choice. Actually, while being a child, the individual is not given a lot of choice. Most of the time, he does what older people ask him to do, which he believes is the best alternatives. But at the same time, these demands at this age help children to get used to such expectations that will become bigger and heavier to stand over the next coming years.During the growing up process, the adolescent meets at each stage more social expectations. Sometimes, they get more complicated. In fact, social expectations are the mould where the identity of the individual is put. They define a nd draw the borders of the identity. According to Levesque in his book Not by Faith Alone, â€Å"social expectations inspire the identity formation process as much as the more obvious biological and cognitive changes. † (2001, p. 36). This is to say that they play a huge role in determining the attitude of the adolescent towards himself and towards the whole society.Due to the hardness of the task of coping with these expectations, there are some adolescents that meet them and others who are unable to achieve them. At the adolescence stage, it is difficult to deal with the society’s expectations. People who are in this case are overwhelmed by these expectations. (Geldard. K, Geldard. D) . For those people, this feeling of inability that haunts them would push them to an â€Å"anti-social behavior† (Geldard. D, Geldard. K. , p. 12, 2004), which is most of the time rebellion.Since he cannot get socialized, the individual chooses isolation. Other times, he can choo se to do exactly the opposite of what he is expected to do. For instance, following a set of expectations and rules that don’t belong to the society where he lives, but rather to a 4 foreign society. The outcomes of those situations are several. Delinquency is one of them. The adolescent can’t find his place among the society members. He starts to search for ways to belong to the marginalized peers, which meets the isolation concept.In fact, this turning to that marginalized members reveals a real lack in the need of belonging. The belonging need is not met, (Geldard,D. , Geldard, K. , 2004). The inability to belong to a group may affect the self esteem of the adolescent. Thus, it can bring a sense of doubt in his own capacities about undertaking some initiatives. This lack of self confidence may push the adolescent to avoid any kind of susceptible situation, as it was said by Eriksson (Muuss, 1999) in his theory of identity development in the conflict about autonomy, shame and doubt.In contrast, people who achieve these expectations feel that their goal is reached, which is about to get socialized. They feel more and more comfortable in that new place where they have just settled. This achieved goal can bring a feeling of satisfaction. The individual can start to be proud of himself and more self confident. Thus, a higher self-esteem of himself could be attained. It would allow him to undertake more initiatives and to be more willing to take actions. In that situation, it is the autonomy part of Eriksson’s theory that it is being satisfied.The adolescent would be no more afraid of relying on himself because he knows that he succeeded in doing the hardest task that he would be asked to accomplish during his entire life, which is to get socialized. Social expectations vary from a society to another depending on its standards and conventions that are tightly related to culture and religion. But in fact, Havighurst, (as cited in Geldar, Gelda r. , 2004), has defined some tasks that the adolescent has to make adjustments on and has to achieve. These tasks concern at first the gender and sexual role 5 of the adolescence.The adolescent must accept the role that is attributed to him and create according to that role relationships with peers who belong to that society. Secondly, the adolescent is expected to start preparing his future life by developing some intellectual skills which would help him to have an occupation that will ensure an economic independence. This economic independence will bring the adolescent to prepare for a family life. Finally, the adolescent is required to build a set of values that fit with the environment where he lives in. These expectations form a sequence of achievements.Each expectation generates another one. Also, as the individual goes into age, he faces more complicated expectations that aim mainly the future life that is about adulthood. Moreover, those social expectations vary according to gender. Females and males are not expected to do the same things or to have the same goals or values. In fact, the expectation that was previously mentioned about the sex role is tightly related to this one. Each gender has its own role. Girls may feel that their main goal is to get married and to have children. Boys have to be always strong and never display or show any weakness.These expectations exert a huge pressure on both genders. Additionally, due to these expectations, girls may form long-term goals. They would stop thinking about the present moment, but rather start to prepare for their future lives as spouses and as mothers. Boys, would never act like they feel like to. They would always remember that they don’t have to show their feelings. Failing in achieving these goals and coping with them is often responsible for the appearance of the violent behavior as it is said in Counseling Adolescents. Social expectations could be perceived as a limitation of the develop ment of the dentity. But in some cases, it is considered as the element that saves the individual from 6 identity confusion. The adolescent has to find a landmark that would guide him through the process of the development of his identity. Eriksson refers to peers’ expectations that can be considered also as social expectations since they are members of the society. According to him, the adolescent is in need of these expectations that come specifically from his peers to start having a sense of his identity which is different from the one that he gets from his parents.This distance that the adolescent creates towards his parents marks the end of the strong emotional dependence that he had with them—the departure. To maintain this relationship with parents, the adolescent has to respond to some expectations. Parents often, expect from their children to be and to do what they had wanted to be in their youth. Sometimes they don’t realize deeply what they are asking their children to do. These behaviors can bring the adolescent to form what is called a false identity. The individual doesn’t consider his own needs, or sometimes he can only perceive his needs through the others’ needs.As it is said in Normal Child and Adolescent Development, â€Å"a false identity is also established in adolescents who have grown up in a family in which they continually adapted to their parents’ needs and expectations at the expense of their own innate needs†, (Gemelli, p. 478, 1996). They just want to see and recall their own youth through the one of their children. But at a certain moment, parents find themselves in the obligation of withdrawing from their children’s lives (Geldard, Geldard. , 2004) to give them the opportunity to become independent.Eriksson (Muuss, 1996) believes that this stage of independence is crucial for the adolescent â€Å"to attain a mature identity†, (p. 52). In fact, while the parentsâ€℠¢ expectations vanish from the adolescent life, the social expectations in contrast, follow him through all his life. Actually, these expectations help him to stay focus on his own identity and 7 according to Erikson (Muuss, 1996), these expectations becomes more important at the period of entering adulthood because they are more likely to cause crisis due to the fundamental changes that they may set off.Living in a community requires giving oneself up to its rules. Social expectations are the primary rules that the individual is confronted to during all his life. So, the individual can not act and react only depending on his own point of view. A whole society must be considered. In fact, it is not a simple task for an adolescent, especially when he is in a position that doesn’t allow him to judge any of those expectations. Thus, the formation of his identity depends on how he coped with these social expectations and if he reached his goals by accomplishing the tasks that the se expectations define for him.

Interview with a person Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Interview with a person - Research Paper Example Likewise, this particular research study has performed a level of library and internet research as well as relied upon the expert testimony from an individual who has resided within the country of question for nearly 18 years. The nation in question for such a research is that of the Eastern European nation of Ukraine. For purposes of the research and interview, the main determinants that have been discussed and analyzed relate to the following: geographic location, culture, customs, basic human needs (types of employment), types of buildings, religions, types of food, television, newspapers, and other forms of media, cultural and gender distinctions, technological development, education system, and clothing. The geographic location that Ukraine represents is on the very periphery between Eastern Europe and Eurasia. As such, it occupies a very fertile region that spans between the Carpathian Mountains in the West to the border with Russia in the far east. The nation is likewise borde red by Russia, Belarus, and Poland to the north and the west, Slovenia, Romania, and Moldova to the south west and the Black Sea to the immediate south. The geographic location that Ukraine comprises with few natural demarcations has made it a tempting and much coveted possession of many kingdoms and empires through past history. A brief review of the history of the region denotes that Turks, Tatars, the Golden Horde, the Russian Empire, Poland, and Lithuania have all occupied various portions of Ukrainian land within the past several hundred years. However, when delving into the issues of culture and customs as well as some of the more nuanced methods of analysis that this particular paper will engender it was necessary to interview an individual that has lived within Ukraine for nearly 18 years prior to coming to the United States. Natasha Kholostova, a neighbor of this author, agreed to be interviewed with regards to some of the unique aspects that help to set Ukraine apart from the remainder of Europe, the United States, and the rest of the world. The main differentials regarding culture and customs that Natasha noted were with relation to the Orthodox history and culture that Ukraine has so firmly established. She was able to relate this back to the point in time when Prince Vladimir the Great was responsible for converting the nation to Eastern Orthodoxy. This action in and of itself integrated many of the former pagan beliefs that had predated Christianity with the Christian doctrines that came from Constantinople. This unnatural marriage between two belief systems spawned holidays such as Maslinitsja and Ivana Kupala where Christian attributes were given to pagan celebrations commemorating the changing of the seasons or the celebration of the life giving energy of water. Natasha also demonstrated that one cannot hope to understand the customs or culture of Ukraine without gaining a firm and complete grasp on the means by which the existence of the Sovi et Union had a profound and lasting effect on the way in which the culture and society grew over the past century. Moreover, the Second World War was fought over Ukrainian territory with the Nazi forces advancing across the entirety of the country in the beginning stages of the war and eventually being pushed back towards the later part of the war. This also left a profound and lasting impact on the population due to the fact that the full horror of war had been experienced on its territory and

History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

History - Essay Example In 539 B.C., armies of King Cyrus swept into Mesopotamia and managed to capture Babylon. They then took over northern Mesopotamia, Syria, Asia Minor, Canaan as well as the Phoenician cities. Of importance to note is the fact that Cyrus the Great showed all his new subjects great kindness; and his good treatment to them played a significant role in holding his empire together. Cyrus also had an army of professional soldiers trained – sometimes they conquered without bloodshed. In order to connect their holdings, which were obviously extensive, the Persians built roads, with the Royal Road stretching from Asia Minor to the Persian capital, Susa. The Persians also set up wayside stations to supply king’s messengers with fresh horses as well as food and shelter. What is more is that the leaders who followed Cyrus did not cease to add to the Persian territory – they conquered a region northeast of Greece called western India, Egypt, as well as Thrace (Spielvogel 132). Another thing worth noting is what the rulers did to the Persian Empire when it became bigger and therefore very challenging to manage. The government needed reorganization to make it manageable, which King Darius did following his coming to the throne in 521 B.C.

Britain At The Paris Peace Conference Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Britain At The Paris Peace Conference - Essay Example The overall outcomes of the Conference have been usually labelled as failure, but such view is not fully correct. On the one hand, the treaties signed during the Paris negotiations did fail to secure peace in Europe in the long-term. On the other hand, the problems facing the negotiating parties at that difficult time were too complicated and often defied effective solutions1. However, the fact that some nations participating in the conference benefited more than others from the conditions of peace can hardly be put in question. Analysis of the key provisions negotiated during the Paris Peace Conference convincingly demonstrates that Britain was one of the participants whom managed to have their requirements satisfied to an acceptable extent. Although the common goal of the leaders involved in the Paris negotiations was apparently to restore peace and stability in Europe, the Conference immediately exposed serious disagreement between the Allies concerning how to threat Germany. The views were highly contradictory with the Big Three leaders balancing between the long-term political benefits of their countries, varying interests of their partners, and the public opinions of their nations. French Prime Minister Clemenceau perceived Germany as a potential threat to stability and peace in Europe, and a threat to security of his country. Therefore, France claimed that Germany was obliged to "cover the costs of restoration of invaded territories and repayment of war debts [and that] a long period of stiff repayments would have the added advantage of keeping Germany financially and economically weak"2. Such claim clearly demonstrated the reasonable fear of France that light penalties would result in rapid recovering and further strengthening of Germany. The Fourteen points of President Wilson reflected his highly idealist and pacifist views on the political developments in Europe: perhaps that is why Wilson failed to convince the Allies accept his moderate position on the economic obligations of Germany. On the other hand, Britain was extremely concerned with the revival and further development of international trade which constituted the cornerstone of the country's economic potency3. Lloyd George understood that Germany ruined by excessively hard economic claims of France and other Allies would seriously undermine marketability of British goods in the European market: "While the British government saw 66 million potential German customers, the French government trembled at the prospect of 66 million German soldiers and possible invaders."4. The British representatives also viewed Germany as a potential "barrier-fortress against the Russians"5 and reasonably considered that only country with healthy economy tied by strongly trade-b ased relationships could effectively fulfil such mission. Evidently, while none of the major players had his interests fully satisfied, the economic provisions of the Treaty of Versailles came closer to satisfying the requirements of British delegation. An exact monetary figure Germany was obliged to pay to the Allies never appeared in the Treaty, and despite the claims of Britain and Germany that the terms of reparations were still too harsh, the truth was "the Treaty of Versailles had left [Germany] largely intact, with a population almost double that of France, and