Ambiguity of Human Love

Ambiguity of Human Love Ambiguity of Human Love Love among human beings has been an elusive concept for as long as humanity itself. In Shirley Jacksons story, The Lottery the mystery of love is invested in the villagers quest to murder anyone from their village in the name of fulfilling a tradition. Surprisingly, even children are ready to forsake the love for their mother if it happens to pick a marked paper. In Raymond Carvers What We Talk about When We Talk about Love, one cannot fail to notice the mystery of love. Two couples, probably in a foreign country, passionately talk about love while enjoying a drink until darkness sets in. Interestingly, the two couples do not have similar time spent in their marriage yet, each couple seems to exhibit a kind of love to each other that is indifference to the time. This paper compares The Lotterys and What We Talk about When We Talk about Loves portrayal of human nature through love and how the authors have used theme, point of view, characterization, plot, and symbolism to achieve the unified effect of their stories. Human Nature about Love in the Two Short Stories The Lottery brings out a strange and mysterious human view of love, especially during the season of celebrating the annual lottery competition. The villagers seem to be in love with each other. This specifically happens at the family level throughout the year until the season for celebrating annual lottery comes, when everyone turns against each other. No one is safe from the villagers quest to murder each year. Around this time, it is harvest time and the village is expecting pumper harvest, yet one of them must die first. It is a tradition that the villagers do not know its origin even though they passionately observe it each year. Mrs. Tessie Hutchison who is this years victim cries that the practice is not fair even as the thirsty villagers, including her husband and children, descend on her with stones for picking a marked paper. Since it is a practice that the reverie so much, they do not question the validity of their actions, except their remembrance to use stones in their execution. No one is safe during this time as anyone, irrespective of gender or age, could become a victim. On this occasion, a young girls love for a fellow girl named Nancy is revealed when she loudly whispers that she hopes it was not her friend. This indicates the kind of feeling that villagers have over the victims of this ritualistic practice, yet they cannot question it. The Lottery uses irony and suspense to bring out how human beings have misconstrued the view of love. While the village initially seems to be unified and expectant of a good harvest, it must perform an annual ritual whose seriousness comes out when Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson cries, It isnt fair, it isnt fair and Mr. Summers calls, all right, folks.Lets finish quickly. The Old Man Warner spices it up when he bellows at every one, come on, come on, everyone. (Jackson 20). An example of daily incidences that compares with the story the Lottery are the regular killings in most of the Arab countries such as Iran, Afghanistan, and Iraq where women who are suspected of having committed adultery are executed in the public, mostly through stoning. The husbands of these women pretend to love them, until their ritualistic desire to kill is aroused in them and decides that their wives are adulterous. For such women, the act may be unfair but that is what fate has decided for them, and there is no escaping the hand of fate. People in those societies, including women, have accepted this practice and only come to sympathize with their fellow women when it becomes apparent that they are going to die. In the What We Talk about When We Talk about Love, the couple, Mel and Terri, has found love in each other although they seem to have enjoyed their first love. For instance, Terris former husband Ed was abusive and tried to poison his wife, yet Terri is honest about that she loved him despite of all that. Ed finally killed himself when he realized that his wife had eloped away with another man. Terris definition of love is not accepted by everyone, but she seems to bring out the most logical explanation of falling in love. On the other hand, Nick, the narrator and Laura are a young couple, only eighteen months in marriage and they share their fantasies about love, while also enjoying a drink. The setting is lovely, as it sets out the theme of love that the two couples are discussing, but it blurs off until darkness sets in with increasing jumbled views of the two couples about love. In this story, people are committed to the extent of contemplating murder in the name of love. For instance Tessies former husband Ed tries to kill Tessie before killing himself. Mel, despite his vast education - he is a cardiologist and, therefore, ought to understand matters of the heart - is ready to kill his former wife with a swarm of bees. The daily experiences of this illustration are the normal cases of suicide, sometimes of highly respected people in the society after their love goes jinxed. Conclusion In conclusion, the two stories lay side by side the mystery of love where people have failed to understand what love is to the extent of wanting to kill in the name of love. In the Lottery, love is not enough to protect someone from the fate of an old traditional practice.

Critical Thinking Exercises for Students

Critical Thinking Exercises for Students Critical thinking is a skill that students develop gradually as they progress in school. While the skill becomes more important in higher grades, some students find it difficult to understand the concept of critical thinking. The reason critical thinking can be difficult to grasp is because it requires students to set aside assumptions and beliefs to learn to think without bias or judgment. Critical thinking involves suspending your beliefs to explore and question topics from a blank page point of view. It also involves the ability to distinguish fact from opinion when exploring a topic. These exercises are designed to help develop critical thinking skills. Critical Thinking Exercise 1: Tour Guide for an Alien This exercise provides an opportunity to think outside your normal way of thinking. Pretend that you have been assigned the task of conducting a tour for aliens who are visiting the earth and observing human life. Youre riding along in a blimp, viewing the landscape below, and you float over a professional baseball stadium. One of the aliens looks down and is very confused by what he sees. You explain that there is a game going on and he asks several important questions. What is a game?  Why are there no female players?Why do people get so excited about watching other people play games?What is a team?Why cant the people in the seats go down on the field and join in? If you try to answer these questions fully, it will quickly become apparent that we carry around certain assumptions and values. We support a certain team, for instance, because it makes us feel like were a part of a community. This sense of community is a value that matters to some people more than others. Furthermore, when trying to explain team sports to an alien, you have to explain the value we place on winning and losing. When you think like an alien tour guide, you are forced to take a deeper look at the things we do and things we value. Sometimes they dont sound logical from the outside looking in. Critical Thinking Exercise 2: Fact or Opinion Do you think you know the difference between fact and opinion? Its not always easy to discern. When you visit websites, do you believe everything you read? The abundance of available information makes it more important than ever for students to develop critical thinking skills. Additionally, its an important reminder that you must use trustworthy sources in your school work. If you dont learn the difference between fact and opinion, you may end up reading and watching things that continue to reinforce beliefs and assumptions you already own. For this exercise, read each statement and try to determine whether it sounds like a fact or an opinion. This can be completed alone or with a study partner. My mom is the best mom on earth.My dad is taller than your dad.My telephone number is difficult to memorize.The deepest part of the ocean is 35,813 feet deep.Dogs make better pets than turtles.Smoking is bad for your health.Eighty-five percent of all cases of lung cancer in the U.S. are caused by smoking.If you flatten and stretch out a Slinky toy it will be 87 feet long.Slinky toys are fun.One out of every one hundred American citizens is color blind.Two out of ten American citizens are boring. You will probably find some of the statements easy to judge but other statements difficult. If you can effectively debate the truthfulness of a statement with your partner, then its most likely an opinion.