Marius Barbeau was a Canadian ethnographer and folklorist who is today considered a founder of Canadian anthropology. Barbeau's first research interest was the Native peoples of Eastern Canada, especially the Huron. His research included the songs, customs, legends, art and social organization of Native cultures in the Western and Prairie regions. A Rhodes Scholar, he is best known for an early championing of Québécois folk culture, for his exhaustive cataloguing of the social organization, narrative and musical traditions, and plastic arts of the Tsimshianic-speaking peoples in British Columbia, and other Northwest Coast peoples, and for his unconventional theories about the peopling of the Americas.In 1985 he was recognized as a "person of national historic importance" by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.

Margaret Mead was arguably the most renowned anthropologist of all time, contributing to the development of the discipline, as well as, introducing its insights to thousands of people outside the academy. She produced 44 books and more than 1,000 articles.  Her publishings were translated into many languages. Some of Mead's early research on Samoa has been questioned, most notably by Derek Freeman, who argues that she was wrong about Samoan norms on sexuality. Nevertheless, her life-time achievements eclipse the controversy surrounding her earliest fieldwork.  She was a anthropologist who was a strong proponent of women's rights, who shone a light of understanding on human nature, and a clear and forceful entity who provided much knowledge to the field of anthropology and psychology.

Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, historian, political critic, and activist. He is a professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. He has written on war, politics, and mass media, and is the author of over 100 books. According to the Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Chomsky was cited as a source more often than any other living scholar from 1980 to 1992, and was the eighth most cited source overall. He has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and a major figure of analytic philosophy. His work has influenced fields such as computer science, mathematics, and psychology.

Daniel Leonard Everett is an American author and is best known for his study of the Amazon Basin's Pirahã people and their language. His new book, Language: The Cultural Tool explores his theory that language isn't innate but a tool developed by humans to solve problems. He has taught at the University of Manchester and is former Chair of the Linguistics Department of the University of Pittsburgh. He is married to Linda Ann Everett.

Grade 11 Anthropology, Sociology, and Psychology

HSP 3M

Chapter 1 Questions

1. Key Terms:

Anthropology is the scientific study of humans, including their origins; behavior; and physical, social, and cultural development.

Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind, mental states, and human behavior.

Social science is the scientific discipline involving the organized study of people and their activities and relationships; aims to understand human society, culture, actions, attitudes, and behavior; uses a research inquiry model.

Sociology is the scientific study of human social behavior, including individuals, groups, and societies.

2.             3) I would ask the participants the following three questions: Why did they call the police? Why did they not cover the girls’ lower body? and What factors influenced the supervisor to tell the employees not to call the police?
3.             2) A birthday party would be a situation in my community that relates to the three areas of the social sciences discussed in this chapter. The anthropological aspect would go along with what the culture the people who would be invited came from, the physiological aspect would be why they came to the party, and the sociological aspect would relate to the behavior of these people at the party.

                        3) A career related to social science that interests me would be forensic anthropology. It is related to the social science of anthropology. An understanding of social science would be useful in this career to be able to identify bones and human remains that I would hypothetically be working on.

4.             3) I would like to know more about the involvement of the police in my community. I would also like to know how my tax money is being used to enrich the lives of my fellow Canadians and I would like to know why the Arabic nations of the world hate Israel.

                        4) I think that open questions are the most useful when conduction research because they have more than one correct answer. They would be able to give multiple observations that would fit the criteria of the questions unlike closed questions which only have one correct answer. An open ended question is designed to encourage a full, meaningful answer using the subject's own knowledge and/or feelings. It is the opposite of a closed-ended question, which encourages a short or single-word answer. Open-ended questions also tend to be more objective and less leading than closed-ended questions.

5. Key Terms:

Bipedalism is the trait of habitually walking on two legs.

Fossils are preserved remains of biological matter.

Participant observation is the careful watching of a group, in some cases living with its members and participating in their culture.

Culturally constructed means to be created or shaped by a culture.

Hominin is a human or human ancestor.

Radiometric dating is a process that is used to determine the age of an object, based on measuring the amount of radioactive material it contains.

Culture is the total system of ideas, values, behaviors, and attitudes of a society commonly shared by most members of a society.

Hypothesis is a tentative assumption made from known facts as the basis for an investigation. 

Reflexivity is the practice of reflecting on your own world view, biases, and impact on the culture you are studying.

Ethnocentric is to believe that one's own culture is superior to all others.

An Informant is a reliable and knowledgeable person who provides specific information to an anthropologist studying his or her community.

Subculture is a small group within a larger group that shares a common system of values, beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and lifestyle distinct from those of the larger group.

Ethnography is the written account of a culture.

Kinship is the relationship between two or more people that is based on common people that is based on common ancestry, marriage, or adoption.

Subjective is a type of conclusion shaped by a person's cultural and personal perspective, feelings, and beliefs.

Ethnology is the study of the origins and cultures of different races and peoples.

Objective is a type of conclusions based on facts and data and uninfluenced by personal perspectives prejudice or emotions.

6.             1) An issue that can be investigated in my school is the lack of recycling.

2) How much garbage does the school produce? Are there recycling bins located in the school? How to convince the students to start recycling?

3) I would start researching about this issue by asking the students what they feelings were about recycling. I would need to gather information such as who is willing to recycle and if it would be worth it for the students and the teachers.

7.             1)  The ethnographic study of a culture can be time consuming. Even before an anthropologist is immersed in a culture's natural environment, he must first learn the language and research the culture. This can take an enormous amount of time and it can be extremely dangerous for an anthropologist if he does not understand a culture's traditions and taboos. An anthropologist might observe a culture's daily activity or ritual, and then make inferences about its meaning. However, because of the nature of human biases and cultural differences, an anthropologist might misunderstand or misinterpret an observation. It is important for the anthropologist to ask questions, and interview relevant parties to get a better understanding of cultural practices.
8.             1)  Canadian culture is a term that explains the artistic, musical, literary, culinary, political and social elements that are representative of Canada and Canadians, not only to its own population, but people all over the world. Canadian culture consists of multiculturalism (people with many backgrounds), exquisite words (about, eh, etc.), ice hockey, beer, and poutine.

2)      Canadian culture is very different from other cultures. For example, the culture in Israel is based on the Judaism and in Canada it’s based on some Christian principals.

                        3)  According to this passage, Ellie writes that Canadian say sorry a lot and this can be identified as a cultural behavior. The Canadian attitude is of open mindedness. The typical Canadian attitude is to attempt to seek out and incorporate the cultures of the people that make our country.

9.             1) Mead was a controversial figure because she studied Samoan adolescent girls using participant observation. Freedman said that she was tricked by informants, teenage girls who were highly embarrassed by the intensely personal questions of a foreigner, citing specific rituals that indicated the female virginity.

                        2) Mead and Freedman came to different conclusions using participant observation because Mean used informants for her information whilst Freeman studied its culture.

                        3) Benedict's research was criticized because she studied the culture from a distance. She used all the cultural material available to her, including literature, newspapers, and films to complete her research.

                        4) Some ethical issues of studying the culture of an enemy nation during wartime were that it is hard to know the mental state of people and if they were being stopped by the enemy from taking.

10.             1) The behavior of the Ju/'hoansi show us their culture values when they insult the meat, and their way of hunting.

                        2) It is important for a cultural anthropologist to take notes during an interview so that he remembers all the details for his report.

                        3) The process of participant observation form this excerpt taught me that it is important to ask questions to find out the answers and I learnt not to summer things about others.

                        4) The assumption in this case was made that the Ju/'hoansi would kill the animals with a lot of meat. They didn’t, and in fact they took any animal so that the hunter would not boast of himself to others that he is superior. I have made assumptions about something I heard but may not have understood.

Twelfth Night--The Three Personalities

Thursday January 21, 2010

The Three Personalities

            In Shakespeare's play, Twelfth Night, there are three main female characters: Olivia, Viola, and Maria. Each of these females performs a different role in the play. Each has her own good and bad  personality. How are they alike? What makes each unique? Is one morally better than the other? Read on and the answers to these questions will become apparent.

           

            How are these women alike and similar? In the beginning of  the play, Olivia's father and brother both die. When Viola comes ashore, she thinks that her brother has also died: “O my poor brother” (1.2.7), Viola says to the Captain who had saved her. During the course of the play Olivia, Viola, and Maria struggle with many different conflicts. Maria struggles with Malvolio at various times. Viola comes into a conflict with several people, including Malvolio. Olivia struggles with Viola/Cesario. Malvolio irritates Maria as well as others, including Sir Toby. Maria devises a plan to write a letter to Malvolio, to embarrass him in front of Olivia. Viola gets into a conflict with Malvolio when Olivia sends him to return the ring that she did not forgot. Olivia gets into trouble with Cesasrio/Viola when she tells him that he is her husband and that they had just gotten married a couple of hours ago: “Hast thou forgot thyself? Is it so long?”(5.1.136).

            Despite their struggles, the play concludes with a happy endingto each of these women. Fabian comes to tell us that Sir Toby and Maria have been married: “Maria writ/The letter, at Sir Toby's great importance/ [regarding the letter found by Malvolio] In recompense whereof he hath married her”(5.1.350-352). When Viola and Sebastian reunite, all the pieces of the play fall into place, so Viola really hasn't married Olivia but Sebastian had, and Orsino married Viola [when he said] “Give me thy hand”(5.1.262). 

            Each of these women have a strong personality. With Viola we find that she is quick to answer, very resourceful, smart, intelligent, and a very likable person. These characteristics are shown all over the play, including with her talks with Olivia that will later attract Olivia to her. “[Olivia says] Yet come again: for thou perhaps mayst move/That heart which now abhors, to like his love”(3.2.159-160). She is quick-witted and fast thinker which makes her answer Olivia back very quickly. Orsino likes Cesario/Viola because she was successful in visiting and talking to Olivia.  

            Olivia has a big part in the play. She has strong emotions, we know this because she says she will mourn seven years for her brother. “[As Orsino said] O, she that hath a heart of that fine frame/To pay this debt of love but to a brother”(1.1.33-34). She is also beautiful and that makes her attractive to Orsino.

            Maria is smart, determined, stubborn, listens to directions. She is not married until the end of the play. She is clever and able to teach people. She teaches a lesson to Malvolio. She likes Sir Toby even with his drunkenness. She gives him drinks when Malvolio tells her not to. Maria even reprimands him for it, “That quaffing and drinking will undo you”(1.3.13).

            Humans are not perfect. In this play we see that some characters are more morally superior to others. We know that we only see part of their personalities and not all of it. Some characters have faults. There are character in disguise. There is confusion between two characters. There are characters that are dreaming.        

            Viola is a young woman that has survived a shipwrecked and thinks that her brother, Sebastian, has drowned. She tells the captain who saved her about her idea of disguising herself as a man, and to go and work for Orsino, the Duke of Illyria. Viola falls in love with Orsino but goes on the mission she was told origianly to woo Olivia for Orsino but that didn't worked because Olivia actually fell in love with Viola/Cesario. Viola tries to mention a couple of times, that she was a woman to Olivia and Orsino but they with their faults were dreaming. [As she said]“I'm all the daughters of my father's house/And all the brothers too”(2.4.128-129).

            Olivia has told Viola/Cesario to tell Orsino that she doesn't love him.. Viola doesn't seem to like the fact that Olivia likes her so she tries to tell her that she is a woman but she still doesn't get the hint. When Olivia asked Viola that if she would marry her and Viola said she wouldn't. When Olivia meets Sebastian, who Olivia thinks is Viola, and she asks him again and he (Sebastian) agrees to get married. Later Olivia gets into a conflict with Viola about the fact that she had married her but Viola said she had not. The plot comes together when Sebastian appears.

            Maria is mysterious person. We don't know much about her.  She introduces the gulling of Malvolio. During the play Maria does not show us any reason to thinks that she has faults.

            We see the differences of the thee personalities of Olivia,Viola and, Maria. We see the way they are alike, the way each is unique with their own qualities. We can see that the way each of them are more morally better. These three main female characters make up the play to be a comedian type of play .

Work Cited

Shakespeare,William. Twelfth Night. New York: Oxford, 2001.

Word Count: Total, 920 Words including Quotations.

Macbeth Soliloquies

June 2011

Macbeth Soliloquies

            In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, there soliloquies that are comparable in many ways. The 2 Macbeth's soliloquies that I will compare are: The first on is, “To be thus is nothing”(3.1.50) and the second one is, “Time thou anticipat’st my dread exploits” (4.1.150). Both are Macbeth soliloquies and are right before the Macbeth commits the murders of Banquo and Macduff's household.

            The mood in the both soliloquies are very different. The first soliloquy Macbeth is worried about himself, that he killed Duncan so that Banquo's children could be kings, “For Banquo’s issue have I fil'd my mind”(3.1.65). Macbeth is very thoughtful in this scene. Macbeth show his reasoning and rationality for killing Banquo:

            Our fears in Banquo stick deep, and in his royalty of nature reigns that which would be fear'd:     'tis much he dares, and to that dauntless temper of his mind, he hath a wisdom that doth guide             his valor to act in safety”                        (3.1.49-54)

Macbeth is telling the reader that he is afraid of Banquo, and that Banquo has the wisdom to act bravely but also safely. In second soliloquy Macbeth is angry and emotional. Macbeth is angry at Macduff for running away to England and ruins his plans and then vows to kill his household, “Time, thou anticipat’st my dread exploits”(4.1.144). Macbeth is also emotional and say's that he will act without thinking first. “The very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand”(4.1.147-148). He sends murderers to kill Macduff's family: “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, seize upon Fife; give to th' edge o' the sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls”(4.1.150-152).In the first soliloquy Macbeth is emphasizing his fear of Banquo, as Macbeth say's “Our fears in Banquo Stick deep”. Banquo was talking earlier in the scene with Macbeth, and he saw that Banquo was suspicious of him and expresses his fear of him, “There is none but he whose being I do fear”. However, in the second soliloquy Macbeth is acting out of pure revenge and not for any reason, like in the first soliloquy. When Macbeth hears that Macduff had run off to England he get angry as he notes, “This deed I’ll do before this purpose cool”. That Macbeth will kill his family just to get revenge.

            Macbeth is full of ambition. He wants his future children to rule after him. He fears Banquo's ambition that the witches prophesy would become true. Banquo remarks that if the prophesy by the witches is true by Macbeth maybe it will be true by him to. To which Macbeth answers “He chid the sisters, when first they put the name of king upon me, and bade them speak to him. Then, prophet-like, they hail'd him father to a line of kings”(3.1.57-60). Macbeth admits that if the prophesy is true and that he murdered Duncan for Banquo's sons to be kings: “If ’t be so, for Banquo’s issue have I fil'd my mind, for them the gracious Duncan have I murder'd”(3.1.64-66); that he had given his soul to the devils just to make Banquo's sons kings. As Macbeth say's “Put rancors in the vessel of my peace only for them; and mine eternal jewel given to the common enemy of man, to make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!”(3.1.67-70). The ambition of the second soliloquy is entirely different that the first. Macbeth here has become a monster killing innocent people just because he can. Macbeth is no longer targeting his political enemies but also their innocent families as he says: “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, seize upon Fife, give to th' edge o' th' sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his line” (3.1.150-154).

            Since the beginning of the play Macbeth has put his faith entirely on fate. Macbeth says in act 3, “Come fate into the list, and champion me to the utterance”. He is saying that he will challenge fate to battle and fight to the death. Macbeth is saying that if he would kill Banquo he would defeat fate. From this we see Macbeth is partly trusting in fate. In Act 4 Macbeth completely abandons fate. Macbeth starts abandoning all reasoning and rationality. He goes off and kills the Macduff household just because he can as he says, “I’ll start following up my thoughts with actions right now”.

            Macbeth has been becoming more and more insane since the murder of Duncan. When Macbeth  plans to murder Duncan he had reason, to become thane of Cawdor. Now before the murder of Banquo Macbeth has many reasons to kill Banquo and his sons. So that his kin wont become kings, “To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!”(3.1.70) and also because he fears Banquo, “Our fears in Banquo stick deep”(3.1.49-50). However, in the soliloquy before the murder of Macduff's household Macbeth has no reason. He says, “From this moment the very firstlings of my heart shall be the firstlings of my hand”(4.1.146-148). Macbeth says he will start doing things without thinking first and for no reason. He starts off murdering Macduff's innocent household, “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, seize upon Fife; give to the edge o' the sword his wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls” (4.1.150-153).

            In the 3 points above, regarding ambition, fate and reasoning we see the character of Macbeth. We can see that Macbeth is becoming a monster, planning to kill Banquo and the the Macduff Household, giving his soul over to the devil and then trying to fight fate to death, and then his mindless reasoning.

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth, Toronto; University of Toronto Press, 1996

The Crisis of Hamlet--English Hamlet ISU

January 1^st 2012

English Hamlet ISU

The Crisis of Hamlet

            Shakespeare's style of writing tragedy plays makes the crisis fall out at the geometric center of the play. Shakespeare's tragedy play, Hamlet, offers three possibilities for the crisis of the play. All these possibilities fall out during Act 3, the middle of the play. The first is in Act 3 Scene 2, when Claudius flees from the play that Hamlet had staged to see if Claudius was guilty of killing Old Hamlet. The second occurs in Act 3 Scene 3, when Hamlet is given a opportunity to kill Claudius in the chapel but he forgoes it. The third possibility happens in Act 3 Scene 4, when Polonius hides behind the tapestry while Hamlet is talking with his mother, Gertrude. Hamlet sees the tapestry move thinking Claudius was behind it he stabs it killing Polonius who was hiding behind it. Each of these possibilities can fit into be the crisis of the play each in their own way.

             Hamlet, the main protagonist of the play is determined to find out if Claudius, his uncle, had  murdered Old Hamlet, Hamlet's father, to gain the throne after the ghosts testimony. Hamlet asks the player to play the Murder of Gonzago in the theater in font of the king and queen. The play-within-a-play tells us the story of Gonzago, the Duke of Vienna, and his wife, Baptista, who marries his murdering nephew, Lucianus. This play resembles what Claudius had done to Old Hamlet. In order for Hamlet and Horatio, Hamlet's friend, to verify the word of the ghost they would be watching for King Claudius’s reaction. The play begins and when the murder pours the poison into the kings ear, Claudius gets up, cries out, and flees the room followed by the audience. “[Claudius cries out] Give me some light. Away!”(3.2.266). Hamlet and Horatio talk about what had occurred. They agree that the behavior of the king was telling of his actions to Old Hamlet and that the ghost was telling the truth: “I'll take the ghost's word for a thousand pound”(3.2.283-284). Hamlet realizes that Claudius’s reaction might have not geared to murderers actions which copies the way he killed of Old Hamlet but of the murderer. The play shows that the nephew pours the poison into his uncles ear, but in Claudius case, Claudius pours the poison into his brothers ear. Before Claudius had become Hamlets stepfather, he his uncle and Hamlet was his nephew. Claudius might had run out of the room because he thought that Hamlet was going to kill him. Hamlet and Horatio don’t know if Claudius reacted to his own crime or  that Hamlet, his nephew, would try to kill him. This scene demonstrates that Claudius had a important reason to flee. After this scene Hamlet and Horatio consider themselves to have proven Claudius guilt and that they can move to the next level of planning to murder him.

            In Act 3 Scene 3, Claudius enters the chapel and recites a soliloquy. In the soliloquy Claudius, for the first time, openly admits that he had murdered Old Hamlet. Claudius says his prayer wont work because he is not willing to give up the throne and queen: “I am still possess'd / Of those effects for which I did the murder,/ My crown, mine own ambition and my queen”(3.3.53-55). Hamlet enters into the chapel and receives a opportunity to kill Claudius once and for all. Hamlet being a very thoughtful person, thinks to himself that if he would kill Claudius right after he was praying for forgiveness, Claudius would go straight to heaven, “and so he goes to heaven, /And so am I reveng'd.”(3.3.74-75). Hamlet tells himself that its not right to kill Claudius now and he leaves to talk to his mother. Hamlet tells himself that he would kill Claudius when he would be sinning: “When he is drunk, asleep, or in rage, /Or in the impetuous pleasure of his bed”(3.3.89-90). Later Claudius ponders that if Hamlet had indeed killed him in the chapel he would have gone to hell because his words were useless: “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below”(3.3.96). In the exact middle if the play Hamlet gets what he wanted. Since the beginning of the play Hamlet wants to revenge on the murder of his father and he is given a chance to kill Claudius but he starts thinking. From all of the play Hamlets over thinks, and here as a example too much and this thinking saved Claudius from certain death.

            Hamlet angrily goes to his mothers room. Gertrude tells Hamlet that he has offended his father, meaning his stepfather Claudius: “Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended”(3.4.9). Hamlet responds that she had offended his father, Old Hamlet, by marrying Claudius: “Mother, you have my father much offended”(3.4.10). Hamlet starts arguing and making her aware of what she had done. Hamlet was starting to act violently and his actions make contact with her guilty conscience, and she screams fearing for her life: “What wilt thou do? Thou wilt not murder me?”(3.4.21). Polonius who was hiding behind the tapestry cries out for help, “What, ho! Help, help,help!”(3.4.22). Hamlet thinking Claudius was behind the tapestry and cries out, “How now! a rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead!”(3.4.22). He pulls his sword and stabs though the tapestry killing Polonius who was behind it. We see many things from Hamlet's actions here. Hamlet acted upon instinct without thinking. He pulled his dagger and stabbed the tapestry. Claudius notes of Hamlet, “His liberty is full of threats to all”(4.2.14). When Hamlet stabbed the tapestry he revealed his deep desire to murder Claudius.

            Each of these events can be the crisis of the play. I think that the third possibility suits to be the crisis the play. Hamlet has been thinking throughout the play until this point where he just commits the action of murder only to find that he had killed the wrong person. Once he had killed Polonius he had seen what his thoughts and action had led to. We see that that this crisis fits to be the turning point in the play. Hamlet has been more active after this scene:

            Rashly, /And prais'd be rashness for it, let us know, /Our indiscretion sometime serves us well...    There's a divinity that shapes out ends, Rough-hew them how we will.                       (5.2.6-11)

Hamlet senses that fate controls destiny. Claudius realizes that Hamlet is a threat after Hamlet had killed Polonius and sends him to England. Hamlet being sent to England is a positive resolution of Denmark. After the turning point Hamlet acts more and thinks less. Hamlet rewrites the letter that was being sent to England with instructions to kill Rosencranz and Guildenstern. When Hamlet find out of Ophelia's interment he jumps into the grave followed by Laertes which leads to brawl in the ground.  All these are some examples of what had happened after the crisis of the play. We uncover one of Hamlet's tragic flaws, his inability to coordinate between his thoughts and actions. When Hamlet would be in his thinking “mode” he thinks of the good and bad consequences of his actions and then he would not commit the action like what happened in the chapel. But when Hamlet does decides to act, he does it blindly, as by the crisis, killing Polonius.

Work Cited:

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Mississauga: Canadian School Book Exchange, 1996.

Hamlet Act 3 Scene 3

December 11^th 2011

“O My Offence Is Rank”

            In Scene 3, Act 3, Claudius recites a soliloquy in the chapel. This soliloquy is the turning point in the play. Claudius admits his deed and remorse for his actions. The atmosphere and mood of this soliloquy rotates around admittance and his remorse.

            In terms of plot, Claudius admits of his killing of Old Hamlet, “O, my offence rank, it smells to heaven.” (3.3.36). He mentioned that his hands are stained with his brother's blood and this is similar to the blood images in Macbeth. Claudius says his prayer and forgiveness wont work because he is not willing to give up the throne and queen: “I am still possess'd/ Of those effects for which I did the murder,/ My crown, mine own ambition and my queen” (3.3.53-55). He constantly says the he is in a bad situation. “O limed soul that, struggling to be free” (3.3.68), and “O bosom black as death!” (3.3.67). Lastly, Clausius ends by praying that everythig should turn out to be well, “All may be well.” (3.3.72).

            Claudius unveils some of his hidden characteristics during his soliloquy. He has a certain amount of remorse for his evil deed, “O, my offence rank,” (3.3.36). Claudius seems to be very honest with himself about himself not being able to pray: “Pray can I not:/ Though inclination be as sharp as will,/ My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent” (3.3.38-40). From the beginning of the play Claudius is not the type of person to go to pray at a church. It is possible that Claudius has to do something to make him be forgiven of the murder of Old Hamlet. One of Claudius characteristics he has is his ability to evaluate himself..

            This soliloquy is the only place where Claudius admits openly that he had murdered Old Hamlet. After Claudius finished reciting his soliloquy, Hamlet walks into the chapel and has a opportunity to kill Claudius but he thinks to himself that if he would kill him after he has just prayed he would go to heaven. Later Claudius ponders that is Hamlet had indeed killed him in the chapel he would have gone to hell because of his unfulfilled forgiveness.

Sir Robert Laird Borden

January 1, 2011

Civics ISU

on

Sir Robert Laird Borden

Table of Contents

Introduction- Page 3

Early life and the Beginning of his Career- Page 3

Politics-Page 3

Head of the Canadian Government-Page 4

World War One-Page 4

After the War-Page 6

Retirement-Page 6

Death-Page 6

Honors- Page 6

Bibliography:-Page 7

  

Introduction

            Sir Robert Laird Borden was a great Canadian man. Sir Robert Borden was born on June, 26, 1884 and died on June, 10, 1937. He was a lawyer, politician and Canada's eighth prime minister.

Early life and the Beginning of his Career

            Robert Borden was born at Grand Pré, Nova Scotia, on June 26, 1854. He had a small and formal education. He had spent five years teaching at private academies in Nova Scotia and in New Jersey. He became interested in law and spent four years studying and passed the Nova Scotia Bar in August 1878, placing first in the bar examinations. Borden first practiced law in Halifax, then in Kentville, and again in Halifax, where in 1889 he became head of his own law firm. He seemed headed of a successful career until he became interested in politics.

Politics

            Robert Borden was a liberal until he changed to the conservative side over the reciprocity (free trade) issue with the Americans. Borden was elected to Parliament in the 1896 federal election as a conservative. In 1901 he was selected as leader of the conservative party to replace sir Charles Tupper.

            On September 25, 1889 he married Laura Bond and they had no children.

            Over the next ten years Borden worked hard to rebuild the conservative party and establish  a  reform policy. He eventually made the Halifax platform of 1907 which was described as "the most advanced and progressive policy ever put forward in Federal affairs". This policy could have called for reform of the senate and civil services, a more selective immigration policy, free rural mail delivery, and government regulation of telegraphs, telephones, and railways and eventually national ownership of telegraphs and telephones. unfortunately for him the conservative party had lost in the 1908 federal election to Sir Wilfred Lauriers liberals.

            The following election the conservatives had won. In the 1911 federal election the conservatives won when they had campaigned against Laurie's proposal for a free trade agreement with the United States.

Head of the Canadian Government

            In 1911 Sir Robert Laird Borden was sworn in as the eighth Prime Minister over Canada.

World War One

            Robert Borden leadership over Canada during World War One was truly remarkable. Several Major things had happened. He and His government passed the War Measures Act in 1914. Borden also sent half a million soldiers to England to help with the war. When the Canadians heard the casualty reports and they realized that the war was not going to end soon some stopped volunteering.

            In 1917 Borden had instituted the the Military Service Act, the Wartime Business Profits Tax of 1917 and the Income Tax,which was the first direct taxation by the Canadian federal government.   Borden decided that conscription was needed to reinforce Canada's troops. Borden formed a Coalition Union Government with many liberals to implement conscription. This government won the 1917 election. Quebec was opposed to conscription, and after Borden's efforts to unite with Laurier in a coalition failed, he determined on a coalition without Quebec. Canada was badly split, and the irony of the situation was that conscripts did not reach the front in sufficient numbers to have major impact before the end of the war

            Borden wanted to make a Canadian army, rather than have Canadian soldiers split up and assigned to British divisions as had happened during the Boer War. Canadian troops proved themselves to be among the best in the world, fighting at the Somme, Ypres, Passchendaele, and especially at the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

            Borden played a big role in world affairs in the transforming the British Empire into a partnership of equal states, the Commonwealth of Nations, a term that was first discussed at an Imperial Conference in London during the war.

            Borden also introduced the first Canadian income tax, which at the time was meant to be temporary, but was never repealed.

            Borden was convinced that Canada had become a nation on the battlefields of Europe, he demanded that it have a separate seat at the Paris Peace Conference. This was opposed by British and the Americans who would say it would be a extra British vote. Borden responded to that by pointing out that since Canada had lost more men than the U.S. in the war, they at least had the right to the representation of a small minor power. After that the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George relented, and convinced the  Americans to accept the presence of separate Canadian delegation. Borden also won a separate representation in the League of Nations for the Dominion.
             Borden was the last prime minister to be knighted after the House of Commons discontinued to  grant any future titles to Canadians in 1919 with the adoption of the Nickle Resolution.

 After the War

That same year the Winnipeg General Strike was stopped when Borden approved the use of troops to put it down which was feared to be the result of Bolshevik ideology from the Soviet Union.

Retirement

            Robert Borden retired on the 10^th of July 1920 and passed the Prime Ministers role to  Arthur Meighen, He hoped he would have a nice and peaceful retirement but that did not happen. The next year he was called back to be Canadian delegate at the Washington Naval Disarmament Conference of 1921-1922, and in 1930 he was Canada's representative at the League of Nations in 1930.

            He was the Chancellor of Queen's University from 1924 to 1930 and also was Chancellor of McGill University from 1918 to 1920 while still Prime Minister. At his death he stood as president of two financial institutions Barclay's Bank of Canada and the Crown Life Insurance Company.

Death

            He died on 10 June 1937 in Ottawa at the age of 82 and is buried in the Beechwood Cemetery marked by a simple stone cross.

Honors

            Sir Robert Laird Borden received many great honors. He was the last Canadian Prime Minister to be knighted (in 1915) since, due to The Nickle Resolution, no others have been. Sir Robert Borden is pictured on the Canadian $100 bill. Sir Robert Borden was honored by having a high school named after him in the Nepean part of Ottawa, Ontario. Sir Robert Borden was also honored by having a junior high school named after him in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. The town of Borden, Saskatchewan was named after him. and the town of Borden in Western Australia was named after him.

            He also published several works including Canada in the Commonwealth and Robert Laird Borden: His Memoirs (1938), edited by his nephew Henry Borden.

Bibliography:

wikipedia .com

awnsers.com

about.com

thecanadianencyclopedia.com

biography.com