Gilligans Ethics of Care

Psychologist Carol Gilligan is best known for her innovative but controversial ideas on the moral development of women. Gilligan emphasized what she called an â€Å"ethics of care† in womens moral reasoning. She placed her approach in direct opposition to Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, which she claimed was biased against females and emphasized an â€Å"ethics of justice.† Key Takeaways: Gilligan's Ethics of Care Carol Gilligan believed women’s morality arose from real-life dilemmas, not hypothetical ones. She came up with three stages of moral development that emphasize an ethics of care.Pre-conventional stage: women are focused on the self.Conventional stage: women have come to focus on their responsibilities towards others. Post-conventional stage: a woman has learned to see herself and others as interdependent. Gilligan developed her thinking in response to the stages of moral development outlined by Lawrence Kohlberg, which Gilligan claimed were gender-biased and emphasized an ethics of justice. However, research by other scholars has shown that two moral orientations exist—one towards care and one towards justice. Origin of Gilligan’s Ethics of Care In 1967, a few years after receiving her Ph.D. from Harvard, Gilligan started a teaching position there. She also became a research assistant for Lawrence Kohlberg, who developed a popular theory of moral development. Gilligan’s work was a response to the gender bias she saw in Kohlberg’s approach.   Kohlberg’s theory of moral development included six stages. At its highest stage, an individual develops a deeply held, self-defined set of moral principles that one wishes to apply equally to all people. Kohlberg cautioned that not everyone would reach this sixth stage of moral development. In subsequent studies, he found that women tended to score at lower stages of moral development than men. However, Gilligan pointed out that the research Kohlberg did to develop his stage theory only included young white male participants. As a result, Gilligan argued that men werent morally superior to women. Instead, the reason women scored lower in Kohlberg’s stages than men was that Kohlberg’s work discounted the voices of women and girls. She outlined this position in detail in her seminal book In a Different Voice, which she published in 1982. Gilligan decided to study the development of moral reasoning in women herself and found that women thought about morality differently than men. Men, as exemplified by Kohlberg’s theory, tend to look at morality through a lens of rights, laws, and universally applied principles. This â€Å"ethics of justice† has traditionally been viewed as an ideal in patriarchal Western cultures because it is championed by men. However, women tend to look at morality through a lens of relationships, compassion, and responsibility to others. This â€Å"ethics of care† has often been overlooked because of the limited power women have typically held in Western societies. Gilligan illustrated this difference in the moral reasoning of males and females by articulating the thinking of a boy and a girl participants responses to the â€Å"Heinz dilemma† from Kohlberg’s studies. In this dilemma, a man named Heinz must choose whether or not to steal medicine he can’t afford to save the life of his dying wife. The boy participant believes Heinz should take the medicine because the right to life is more important than the right to property. On the other hand, the girl participant doesn’t believe Heinz should take the medicine because it could land him in jail for stealing, leaving his wife alone when she needs him. As this example demonstrates, the ethics of justice is impartial. Principles must always be applied in the same way, even if that means it negatively impacts the individual or someone they’re close to. On the other hand, the ethics of care is contextual. Morality isn’t based on abstract principles but on real relationships. Given these gender differences, Gilligan proposed that women don’t stop developing morally at lower levels than men, but that women’s moral development simply continues along a different trajectory than the ethics of justice measured by Kohlberg’s scale. Gilligan’s Stages of Moral Development Gilligan outlined her own stages of moral development based on an ethics of care. She used the same levels Kohlberg did but based her stages on interviews with women. Specifically, because Gilligan believed women’s morality arose from real-life dilemmas, not hypothetical ones, she interviewed women trying to decide whether or not to terminate a pregnancy. Her work yielded the following stages:   Stage 1: Pre-Conventional At the pre-conventional stage, women are focused on the self and emphasize their own self-interests over other considerations. Stage 2: Conventional At the conventional stage, women have come to focus on their responsibilities towards others. They are concerned with care for others and being selfless, but this position is defined by society or other people in the woman’s orbit. Stage 3: Post-Conventional At the highest stage of moral development, the post-conventional stage, a woman has learned to see herself and others as interdependent. These women have control of their lives and take responsibility for their decisions, a big part of which is the choice to care for others. Gilligan said that some women may not reach the highest stage of moral development. In addition, she didnt attach specific ages to her stages. However, she did claim that it wasnt experience that drove a woman through the stages, but cognitive ability and the woman’s evolving sense of self. Can the Ethics of Care Extend to Men? While the ethics of care was developed based on research with women, Gilligan has insisted that the ethics of care and the ethics of justice aren’t mutually exclusive. Instead of focusing on gender, Gilligan preferred to focus on the different themes brought up by these two perspectives on morality. Although this meant that men could develop an ethics of care, Gilligan indicated it was likely more common in women. Research by other scholars has backed up some of Gilligan’s assertions. On the one hand, studies have indicated that the gender differences on Kohlberg’s stages aren’t especially pronounced, suggesting that there may not be a strong gender-bias in Kohlberg’s work. On the other, studies have shown that people have two moral orientations that line up with Gilligan’s ethics of justice and ethics of care. And studies have found that the moral orientation towards care is stronger in females. Thus, while both men and women can and will develop both orientations, one may be more influential in men than in women and vice versa. Furthermore, research suggests that as people age and reach the highest stages of moral development, the two orientations may be more equally represented in the individual, regardless of gender. Critiques Despite the evidence for some of Gilligan’s ideas, they have also been criticized for a number of reasons. One critique states that Gilligan’s observations are the result of societal expectations of gender rather than differences that naturally arise from gender. Thus, if societal expectations were different, the moral orientations of males and females would also be different. In addition, feminist psychologists are divided over Gilligan’s work. While some have praised it, some have criticized it for reinforcing traditional notions of femininity that could continue to lock women into care-giver roles. Feminists have also pointed out that women are not a monolith. They argue that Gilligan’s work makes women’s voices seem homogenous, while denying their nuance and diversity. Sources Bell, Laura. Profile of Carol Gilligan. Psychologys Feminist Voices Multimedia Internet Archive. http://www.feministvoices.com/carol-gilligan/â€Å"Carol Gilligan Moral Development Theory Explained.† Health Research Funding. https://healthresearchfunding.org/carol-gilligan-moral-development-theory-explained/Crain, William. Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications. 5th ed., Pearson Prentice Hall. 2005.â€Å"Ethics of Care.† New World Encyclopedia. 15 August 2017. https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ethics_of_careGoodTherapy. â€Å"Carol Gilligan.† 8 July 2015. https://www.goodtherapy.org/famous-psychologists/carol-gilligan.htmlSander-Staudt, Maureen. â€Å"Care Ethics.† Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://www.iep.utm.edu/care-eth/#SH1aWilkinson, Sue. â€Å"Feminist Psychology.† Critical Personality: An Introduction, edited by Dennis Fox and Isaac Prilleltensky, SAGE, 1997, pp. 247-264.

The Yellow Wall Paper And Barn Burning Essay - 1509 Words

In many different time periods throughout America’s history, there has been an overwhelming â€Å"norm† in society that depicts the male as the most dominate member of the household. Although this is not necessarily seen in today’s society, it is not rare to find this theme present in a large number of works studied in American Literature. Two authors that illustrate this pervasive theme in their short stories are Charlotte Perkins Gilman and William Faulkner. Despite the fact that these short stories were written almost fifty years apart, the protagonists in both Gilman’s â€Å" The Yellow Wall-paper† and Faulkner’s â€Å"Barn Burning† live in a society where they are severely conflicted because of their confinement to a patriarchal family dynamic. Although there is such a large gap in the time periods of the two short stories, with â€Å"The Yellow Wall-paper† being written in 1892 and â€Å"Barn Burning† being written in 1939, there are prevalent similarities on how these time periods affect society and both protagonists. In looking at the common theme for both time periods and their societies, the reader sees the clear role of the head, or male in the household. Both Gilman and Faulkner show how the subordinate family members are forced into submission. They must obey that primary male figure and his every demand. In â€Å"The Yellow Wall-paper,† the unnamed narrator, diagnosed with â€Å"hysteria,† is forced, by her husband John, into confinement. John traps her in a small room where she is allowed toShow MoreRelatedCharacter Analysis on the Conflicts and Themes of Godfather Death2303 Words   |  10 Pages  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã ‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Setting helps to create an atmosphere or mood, which refers to an enveloping or permeating emotional texture within a work. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ex: Descriptions of bright colors (red, orange, yellow) may contribute to a mood of happiness. The contrast of such bright colors with darkness and dark colors may invoke gloom or augment hysteria. Tone: Similar to tone in poetry, tone in fiction is the author’s attitude toward the subject being discussedRead Moreevery day use3221 Words   |  13 Pagesï » ¿ Your name Course and section number Date Paper draft (for example, Paper #1 Draft A or In-class Essay #2) On subsequent pages, in the upper right corner write: The paper s title Your name Page number Character analysis of the story â€Å"Everyday Use† by Alice Walker 1) Pay attention to the character’s ethics. Does the character make just or unjust choices? Consider Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s ToRead MoreIgbo Dictionary129408 Words   |  518 PagesAugust a fisherman found the box containing the MSS on the shore near Towyn, Wales, where it had been washed up. He found a letter inside with an address, to which he sent the MSS, and in this way they came into the hands of Mrs Dennis. The edge of the paper had been worn by the action of the water, but most of the writing was legible, and the rest which was a little difficult to decipher was copied out by Miss Beswick, one of our C.M.S. missionaries. This dictionary gives forms in the Onitsha, BonnyRead MoreDesigning a Customer Driven Statergy23698 Words   |  95 Pagescustomers, who want very different things from their favorite coffee shop. Starbucks is strongly positioned as a sort of high-brow â€Å"third place†Ã¢â‚¬â€outside the home and office—featuring couches, eclectic music, wireless Internet access, and art-splashed walls. Dunkin’ has a decidedly more low-brow, â€Å"everyman† kind of positioning. With its makeover, Dunkin’ plans to move upscale—a bit but not too far—to rebrand itself as a quick but appealing alternative to specialty coffee shops and fastfood chains. A prototypeRead MoreMarketing and Financial Markets41809 Words   |  168 Pagescommercial buildings used 50 percent less energy. Consider that a ten-story office building in Los Angeles could save $141,000 annually on its electricity bill and extract 40 tons of carbon from the air if it were to have a green roof and four green walls. Demonstrating that the technology works and provides benefits to both customers and society at large. Larger companies are joining the new green building revolution such as The Gap retail chain installed a 69,000 square foot green roof on itsRead MoreMarketing Mistakes and Successes175322 Words   |  702 PagesDeCandia Alana Filipovich Jeof Vita Arthur Medina Allison Morris This book was set in 10/12 New Caledonia by Aptara ®, Inc. and printed and bound by Courier/Westford. The cover was printed by Courier/Westford. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright  © 2009, 2006, 2004, 2001, 1998, 1995, 1992, 1989, 1986, 1981, 1976 John Wiley Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronicRead MoreProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 Pagesany network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning. Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the United States. This book is printed on acid-free paper. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 WVR/WVR 0 9 8 7 ISBN 978-0-07-340334-2 MHID 0-07-340334-2 Editorial director: Stewart Mattson Publisher: Tim Vertovec Executive editor: Richard T. Hercher, Jr. Developmental editor: Gail Korosa Associate marketing manager: JaimeRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pagesjudgments─not snap judgments that occur in the blink of an eye, but those that require careful reasoning. You are not reasoning logically if, when you want a gorilla suit for a Halloween party, the first thing you do is search for the word Gorilla in the Yellow Pages of the telephone book, and the problem here is not that you used a telephone book instead of the Internet. High-quality reasoning is called logical reasoning or critical thinking. Logical reasoning skills can be learned and improved. It is

Managing Human Resource Constructive Relations

Question: Discuss about the Managing Human Resource for Constructive Relations. Answer: Introduction: Aim: The aim of this report is to evaluate the perceptive of human resource management in the field of logistic or supply chain business in Australia. Managing human resources in the field of transport business is the challenging tasks because transport workers unions are ready to do strike against governments and companies business policy Structure: The researcher would evaluate the parameters of human resource management in the field of logic business. The transport business in the Australian market is full of competition and market risk which always affect the business in massive scale. Methodology: The case study of trucking company across Australia has been focused on understanding the human resource policy. In order to measure the performance of new yard manager at the workplace as well as a threat of transport workers union would be focused. New yard manager started focusing on implementing human resource management practices at the workplace. New yard manager started establishing communication at the workplace by talking with drivers and union representatives. The new managers have focused on managing human resources at the workplace effectively for the betterment of the organization. The new yard manager started talking with the drivers regarding their issue, delivery, and cost. On the other hand, previous yard manager was autocratic because he always used to blame the driver for any kind of defaults during a distribution of the goods. Arends (2014) mentioned that the new yard managers have changed this system, he started investing after accident or death caused by the truck. After verification and investigation, new yard managers started to take positive decisions for the safety of yard and drivers. However, any kind of illegal and unethical practices by the drivers will be punishable offense according to the mode of new yard managers. In particular, new yard manager motivated the drivers to work with passion and energy. It helps both the parties in the positive direction. Gospel Sako (2010) opined that the communication process became effective at the workplace after arriving at new yard manager. Since the first day at a yard, the new managers began to talk with the drivers. Overall the new yard manager started solving the discrimination and conflict from the workplace for enhancing the credibility and profitability of the organization (Aslan Zaim, 2016). The new manager introduced new computer system for recording the business performance and employee' performance in an effective manner. After few days managers provided new trucks and uniforms to the several experienced drivers. It was the fruitful decision by the manager to enhance the satisfaction of the drivers as well as promote the brand image across the supply chain industry. The new manager changed the previous rule and regulation at the yard; he implemented human resource management for improving the performance of yard and drivers. Implementing information technology at the workplace empowered the efficiency of a yard. The new managers are highly focused on providing safety and better facility to the workforce. His decision making impressed the drivers (Gospel Sako, 2010). Positive atmosphere at the workplace is always a favorable business condition. The new manager introduced new technology, new rules and safety measures for the growth of an organization. The manager review system for checking the performance of drivers while distributing the goods and material. The new yard manager increased the work pressure for maximizing the profitability of the organization. After few years the company managed to grab some huge business contracts. Top trucking companies are able to vary the business across the potential market of Australia with the help and effo rts of new yard manager. The new yard manages empowered the performance of the employee by providing technical and management training. This process helped him to improve the proficiency of the drivers as well as providing safety to the drivers. The new manager implemented human resource management perspective at the workplace which helped him to create the healthy relationship with the drivers and customers. George or yard manager influences the business performance and communication process of the company. Transport union risk may arise at the workplace because a driver can strike for hiking the salary and wages. The new yard manager has formed new rules and guidelines among the truck drivers for maintaining the sustainability and credibility of the trucking company (De Cieri Kramar, 2005). The new yard manager is highly focused on providing safety to the drivers because they are the most pivotal aspect of the company. The new yard manager has removed the inequality and discrimination from the workplace for marinating the feasibility of the business. Management risk can arrive if the new manager leaves the organization. Somehow new yard manager has empowered the human resource management perspective at the workplace since joining (Chang, Gong Shum, 2011). It will massively affect the business and brand image of the coconut if new yard manager will leave the company with certain reasons. More specifically company might face credit risk in the absence of new yard manager. The manager is successful for bringing orders and enhancing the quantity of distributed goods via trucks across a market. The new manager is efficient for building the long-lasting relationship with the customers which helps the company to maintain the credibility in the market. Changing strategy can influence the business performance of the company. Storey (2014) opined that the new manager has changed the rules of supply chain management in the company for providing safety and benefit to the drivers. The company can face the huge challenge regarding controlling the market risk which keeps on changing. Market risk may arise and company would not be able to effectively handle this. The new yard manager has positive experience deals with the business and market risk in an effective manner. It has helped the company to enhance the profitability and credibility across the potential market of Australia (aliÃ…Å ¸kan, 2010). Sustainability of the business may influence the competitive risk because Australian market is full of cut throat competition in the field of supply chain or logistic business. However, international giants like FedEx and DHL has captured the Australian market in recent years massively (Jiang et al. 2012). The international logistics giants have created the huge challenge to the logistic company of Australia. Somehow new yard manager is effective enough to cope with such kind of business risk in an effective manner. Hong et al. (2012) opined that the competitive pressure and market risk affects the business of the logistic company I regular basis. Implementing technological and management perspective in the business can help the company to cope with these challenging issues in an efficient way. In particular sustainability of the business can affect the market risk, business risk, competitive factors, and management risk because it always keeps on changing. Somehow technological risk has reduced the profitability of the company in the recent year. Jiang et al. (2012) opined that the technology keeps on changing every day so as it is necessary to understand and implement the technological terms for gaining the competitive edge over the market. The company should provide enough fund to the new yard manager for implementing technological facility so as the business could be enhanced across the existing supply chain market of Australia. I think blue color union like transport worker unions are less likely to engage in the workforce because of changing government and business policy of transport companies. Transport worker union harms the business of logistics or Supply Chain Company in Australia. The drivers and transport workers keep on doing strike for increasing wages, salary, and flexibility at the workplace (Lengnick-Hall et al. 2014). It affects the business of every business sector in a national and international market at massive scale. However, government intervention is necessary to handle such kind of issue for the economic and business sustainability across the market. Lengnick-Hall, Beck Lengnick-Hall (2011) mentioned that generally in public sector employee keeps on doing strike for changing the business and legislative rule. Nowadays in logistic industry drivers and transport workers are the regular doing strike for changing the workplace rule including, tax rate, deduction of wages and salary. In particular, providing financial assurance is not the proper solution to stop the strike because some leaders of transport worker unions are never satisfied with the facility and services of transport companies across Australia. Buller McEvoy (2012) opined that the government can be the biggest source to remove this threat by taking legal action against a leader of transport workers union. For marinating the economic and social growth it is essential that government should shake hand with a corporate house for removing the challenges of worker strike in the field of logistic business or supply chain business (Aswathappa, 2013). The recent hike in transportation cost has forced the transport companies to reduce the wages of transport workers so as transport worker union ahs stare strike fails decisions of government and their companies (Wang, Chich-Jen Mei-Ling, 2010). Strike creates the huge problem for civilians and business houses. The government should look into this matter si ncerely by taking favorable decisions. Wilton (2016) mentioned that the economic sustainability of the country got affected by the striking of transport workers. Indeed, government and company should also think about increasing the wages and salary of transport workers Transport workers leader should also understand the reason for rising tax in transport services otherwise; it can affect the growth of transport companies, workers and government as well at mass scale. The government needs to cope up with these huge challenges for the sustainability of economy and environment in the regular basis. I would recommend the government to take some serious action to control the damage done by striking for the betterment of business and environment. Overall, it is effective enough to say that raising the tax in transport business may harm the economic development of the country. Becker, Carbo Langella (2010) opined that the most of the transport companies face huge problems after reducing the wages and facility of transport drivers or workers. The transport union is always ready to do strike on behalf of country's transport worker to provide them their deserving right. It slashed the growth of Transport Company and other business industry in the massive scale. However, cooperation with the government and business houses can reduce the challenges of a strike which causes the reduction of profitability in transport business. Recommendations: Provide incentive and safety to the transport workers: The transport company should provide the favorable incentive to the drivers and other transport workers for increasing their satisfaction. This process can help the company to enhance the profitability and credibility across the potential market in Australia. The company needs to provide safety measures to the drivers by implementing technology it can help the company to gain the competitive edge over the competitor. Implement legislative law: The company should implement legislative act for safety and suitability of business. This process can help the company to remove the threat of strike activities by the transport workers union at the workplace. The implementing legislative law would help the company to bring authenticity in the business law which should be followed by the transport worker or drivers. Conclusion: The researcher has evaluated the role of managing human resources in the field of transport business. Managers play essential role in increasing the profitability and credibility of Transport Company by creating a healthy relationship with the transport workers, drivers and customers. Transport workers or drivers are the bases of logistic or supply chain business in the country. Whenever they opt for strike against government's economic policy and company's business policy it hampers the growth of an economy. Transport union leader is the main reasons to hamper the growth of transport business in Australia. Cooperation between lender of transport union and government reduces the chance of strike in the transport field. Reference List: Arends, R. (2014). Learning to teach. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Aslan, E. K., Zaim, H. (2016). Effects of MA Integration Strategies on Organizational Performance: With Human Resource Management View.European Journal of Economic and Political Studies, 7(2), 1-20. Aswathappa, K. (2013). Human resource management: Text and cases. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Becker, W. S., Carbo, J. A., Langella, I. M. (2010). Beyond self-interest: integrating social responsibility and supply chain management with human resource development. Human Resource Development Review, 9(2), 144-168. Buller, P. F., McEvoy, G. M. (2012). Strategy, human resource management and performance: Sharpening line of sight. Human resource management review, 22(1), 43-56. aliÃ…Å ¸kan, E. N. (2010). The impact of strategic human resource management on organizational performance. Deniz Bilimleri ve MhendisliÄÅ ¸i Dergisi, 6(2), 750-890. Chang, S., Gong, Y., Shum, C. (2011). Promoting innovation in hospitality companies through human resource management practices. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 30(4), 812-818. De Cieri, H., Kramar, R. (2005). Human resource management in Australia: Strategy, people, performance. McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Limited. Gospel, H., Sako, M. (2010). The unbundling of corporate functions: the evolution of shared services and outsourcing in human resource management. Industrial and Corporate Change, 19(5), 1367-1396. Hong, E. N. C., Hao, L. Z., Kumar, R., Ramendran, C., Kadiresan, V. (2012). An effectiveness of human resource management practices on employee retention in institute of higher learning: A regression analysis. International journal of business research and management, 3(2), 60-79. Jiang, K., Lepak, D. P., Han, K., Hong, Y., Kim, A., Winkler, A. L. (2012). Clarifying the construct of human resource systems: Relating human resource management to employee performance. Human Resource Management Review, 22(2), 73-85. Lengnick-Hall, C. A., Beck, T. E., Lengnick-Hall, M. L. (2011). Developing a capacity for organizational resilience through strategic human resource management. Human Resource Management Review, 21(3), 243-255. Lengnick-Hall, M. L., Lengnick-Hall, C. A., Rigsbee, C. M. (2013). Strategic human resource management and supply chain orientation. Human Resource Management Review, 23(4), 366-377. Storey, J. (2014). New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. Wang, F. J., Chich-Jen, S., Mei-Ling, T. (2010). Effect of leadership style on organizational performance as viewed from human resource management strategy. African Journal of Business Management, 4(18), 3924. Wilton, N. (2016). An introduction to human resource management. Sage.

Sprightly dance free essay sample

When I was little, I did not wander as a cloud. I floated on one. I have to admit, when the assignment was given to us to write about a poem I did not think I would find one that would capture my interest or my memory. For days, my ears would burn the table of contents as my fingers struck down page numbers in a hopeless search to find something that I could connect with, for something that I could write about and have it be genuine. I was lost and my hopes for finding a poem that would even hold my interest long enough to allow me to write about it seemed to be an impossible reach. I was a bibliophile at heart, but I did not like writing about poetry. I enjoyed reading it, but writing about it was a different kind of circle of hell. On my fifth haphazard hunt through the table of contents, my ears caught something that I had not noticed. We will write a custom essay sample on Sprightly dance or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I was instantly drawn because it sounded familiar. â€Å"I wandered lonely as a cloud.† By William Wordsworth. I wanted to see why the poem sounded familiar. I had an odd sense that it would be significant to my life, but I did not know why it would be or even how. I wanted to explore the kind of emotional journey that this poem would take me through, and so I did. After listening to the first line, I was instantly transported to a memory that I did not even know I had. It is late at night sometime in 1995. I do not know how old I am, but I remember feeling the Braille calendar poised in my lap, my finger tracing the soft indentations of the moons among the days. A sound erupts from the living room and I look up, my ears picking up every shift of the air just a few rooms from me. Shouting soon breaks out as if I am in a pep rally. The shouting grows louder and more obscene with each passing word. My mother has made her appearance on stage yet again, and I start to sob. I am guessing that grandma and grandpa are out in the fray as well, but I do not want to be in here all alone. The shouting reaches a volume that I do not even know exists, and my fright and anger mesh into one emotion as the stupidity of the situation finally reaches me. As my mother and her husband continue to scream at each other while mixing in some sounds of hitting and smac king, and manage to produce sounds of someone hitting the table, grandma comes into the room. I know it is she because I can smell the peach scented perfume that I always smell when she is within a few feet from me. It is as if the smell alone is a blanket, about to wrap me up. My bedroom door softly clicks shut, and tender shoes thud over to me. She takes my small hand in hers. â€Å"Are you ready for bed?† she asks me. I smile and nod, while all the while trying to hide my anger at my stupid mother. â€Å"Well, Im sorry. I do not have a story for you tonight. All I have is this book of poems your grandfather gave to me.† I groan at the mention of poetry. Even at that young age, I much rather prefer it when she read me something GOOD such as Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys. I do not want to stay here any longer. Moreover, I like it when grandma reads to me. Outside of my bubble of safety, my mother starts to cry as grandpa yells at her about how stupid she is acting. I hear pages slowly open. Grandma leans to read and instantly I am taken to the place of golden daffodils, leaving the screaming behind me. â€Å"I wandered lonely as a cloud, that floats on high oer vales and hills, when all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils.† I am soon floating on that cloud looking at dancing yellow flowers. As grandma continues to read the poem to me, I feel a sense of peace. I am flying, and the newly developed sounds of clashing in the kitchen are just a faint whisper. I am swept away by grandma’s reading. We both are wandering as a cloud, but not lonely. I listen with eagerness as she finishes the poem, allowing me to ignore the stupid smashing sounds in the next room. Once she is all done, she tucks me in and kisses me goodnight. She tells me she loves me and then leaves the room. I soon drift on my own cloud of safety, finally able to feel calm and happy enough to go to sleep. I am comfortable and soon floating on my own cloud that is floating across vales and hills far from the treachery of the world. I am safe. That was back in 1995. I do not know how old I was back then, but that memory sprang to mind when I first listened to the poem. I re read the poem after that, repeatedly, making it my comfort poem. While I was reading the poem at that young age, I had a rather literal visual interpretation of the poem. It seemed pretty logical and obvious to me that that was what the poem meant, that the speaker was looking down at golden flowers swaying in the wind. I believed it so strongly that I vividly imagined this. Back then, I pictured vibrantly the golden tendrils swaying gently in the breeze, and some shadow sitting up high on a pink cloud looking down at this dancing show. For a long time that is how I interpreted the poem. I do not know where my interpretation changed, but it did. I presume that it changed just after my grandmother died and I had no way of escaping the domestic violence I had to endure. I would always wish that grandma would come softly into my room, click my door shut and take me with her on a cloud high above the bad things in my life. With the passing of years, I never saw or heard the poem again. Now, when I heard the poem again, I was instantly back in 1995, feeling a sense of love. I re played the poem, wearing out the skip back button on my CD player in order to keep hold of the memory that this poem helped to bring back from the dead. I loved this rare opportunity to smell grandma’s peach scented perfume again. I loved the chance to hear her powerful delicately articulate voice read me a poem to take away all the bad things in my life. Listening to the poem now, I soon realized that I had a different interpretation. Perhaps this interpretation came from her death in 1996. I believe that the loss of my grandma, physically and mentally, has helped me to make this interpretation once I reclaimed her in my memory after so long of an absence. This poem helped me regain a memory that I did not even know existed within me. The speaker talks about how he is happy to watch â€Å"golden daffodils† dance. My grandmother was always like that, happy to see, create, and experience pure happiness. This poem, I believe, is what my grandmother sees and saw. Because of this realization about my grandmother, I no longer have the same image when I listen to the poem. I picture someone looking down on people, but not just any people, I picture someone looking down at me, and a few other people, some wealthy, some poor, some old, some young, some black, some white, some Asian, and some of everything. All of us are dancing with an airy display for our spectator. We all twirl and giggle as we all choreograph a p erfect rhythm. I no longer picture the shadow on top of the cloud as having no face or figure. It now has a form and a shape to it. It is someone I know. I picture the wrinkly old woman looking down at us softly smiling. She is comfortable on the pink cloud, basking in her glory and her peace. I am sure, if we were closer, we would smell the peach scented perfume. I picture the old woman slowly bringing her wrinkled hands together, clapping and shedding silent tears as she watches the spectacle. I would like to think that she would be smiling at this point; glad to finally have the opportunity to watch the best show in the world, the show of a host of golden daffodils tossing our heads up in a sprightly dance.