Elizabeth Jolleys The Well A Reading on Gender - Literature Essay Samples

A traditional aspect of rural Australian society was the ordered role of gender. Stereotypically, men were the titleholders, landowners and accumulators of wealth from agriculture, whereas it was the role of women to fulfil expectations of their being wives, mothers and homemakers (Neville, 1997). Within Elizabeth Jolleys 1986 novel The Well, these conventions are simultaneously conformed to and subverted by characters, particularly in the case of main characters Hester and Katherine. The Bordens, husband and wife respectively, embody rural gender stereotypes and are thus free of the consequences awaiting those who defy them. As the novel progresses, Hester and Katherine lose control over their ordered lives and their behaviour becomes increasingly unconventional, ultimately serving as a demonstration of the so-called natural order in restoring them to their natural roles as females. This idea may be interpreted by the reader through literary conventions such as characterisation. Hester Harper is the protagonist of Jolleys novel The Well. At the beginning of the text Hester is described as being a wealthy landowner, an uncharacteristic quality of a traditional female at the time of the novels conception. She is described as being distinctly unfeminine, lacking any maternal instincts and having rather flat breasts and a lame foot. This contributes to the perception that Hester is markedly deviating from the stereotypical norm; she does not possess attributes that denote her as being traditionally desirable as a female (Renes, n.d.). In addition to this, Hesters wealth due to her acquiring her fathers property after his death affords her a great deal of power, which also serves to subvert gender norms and establish the character as resistant to stereotype (Renes, n.d.). A marked change occurs in Hester with the arrival of Kathy, a young orphan teen who encourages Hester to embrace some of the qualities of being female. Under her urging, Hester partakes in frivo lous spending sprees and partaking in baking and sewing, somewhat returning her to the gender norm. However, as Hesters nature of control takes over and leads to her increasing urge to dominate Kathy, a sequence of events occur to derail Hesters acquisition of power; the dumping of the body in the well serves to remove Hesters male desire to control Kathy as Kathy gains a form of power through the discovery of her untapped sexuality, one which Hester has barred from her own life. Her spending in order to keep Katherine complacent and controllable eventually leads to her being forced to sell her house to Mr Borden. At the end of the novel Hester is left without fortune and property or social standing as a result from her spending habits, and her actions in contributing to this ultimately serve to reestablish the gender norm in this case, women being afforded less power than men. In saying this, the reader may interpret the arrival of Kathy and the resulting amplification of Hesters male desire for control as a narrative device that ultimately serves to reinstate rural gender stereotypes in The Well. The events that serve to derail Hesters circumvention of rural gender stereotypes are triggered by the arrival of Katherine, an orphan girl Hester takes in. Katherine is demonstrated to be the epitome of feminine qualities at the commencement of the novel, possessing a piping voice and dancing prettily. Her heterosexual nature is shaped by a range of popular texts and patriarchal fictions (Goddard, 1993), thus allowing her to be representative of the female ideal of rural gender stereotype of heterosexuality and female conduct. However, her conforming to gender roles undergoes change upon the event of her running over the creature, man or otherwise. Over the course of the novel, she becomes increasingly convinced that the creature she and Hester dumped down the well is a man, and he is alive. She converses with him; he becomes increasingly forward with her, making sexually suggestive comments and proposing marriage. This triggers the awakening of her own sexuality (Wiley, 1996). She accepts his marriage proposal, and even remarks upon stocking up for baby clothes. However, it is never made clear to the reader whether or not this man is a figment of her own imagination; as a result, Katherine appears to lose her mind, eventually ceasing eating. Her descent into madness is representative of the reader idea that departing from the cultural norm leads to consequences that serve to return the situation to conventionality. Katherine goes against the cultural norm for females in being chaste before marriage through her receptiveness to the supposed mans openly sexual commentary. This ultimately leads to her insanity and anorexia, which may be viewed by the reader as the society within the novel repressing the divergent and returning it to a form of normality by eliminating deviants. Therefore, the characterisation of Kathy as eventually displaying open sexuality and then going insane serves to demonstrate the return of the society in The Well to its ordered state in a dhering to gender roles. The relationship between Hester and Katherine within this context may be seen as unnatural and deviating from the cultural norms of Australian rural gender stereotypes. Within a relationship that should conventionally be a facsimile of a mother-daughter partnership, Hester takes a patriarchal role of possession over Katherine, demonstrated in the epigraph in which, when her father enquires after Katherines new presence in his household, she states that Katherine is for me (Goddard, 1993). It is implied at several junctions in the novel that Hesters fascination with Katherine may not be entirely platonic; her focus as protagonist upon the movements of Katherine dancing or the tone of her voice when speaking implies a lesbian sexual fantasy of Katherine. Also, Katherines behaviour is conventionally viewed to be innocent; the reader may choose to view her instead as an opportunist, using her youthful female sexuality to entice Hester and encourage her spending habits to keep her in a li fe of good fortune. It is stated in the novel that Katherine is a good actress, noted several times by Mr Bird that she ought not to be trusted, and her erratic behaviour towards the end of the novel serve to unveil her as a truly unpleasant individual (whether or not this be out of insanity). Therefore, Hester and Katherines relationship may be established as not conforming to gender roles, as lesbianism and considerable age differences to their varying extents are not considered socially acceptable behaviour. The events that follow therefore may prove, within this context, to destroy the pseudo-lesbian relationship existent between the two characters and ultimately restore Katherines heterosexuality and Hesters apparent lack of sexually. The destruction of their relationship as a result of the presence of the creature in the well serves to restore the natural order of female heterosexuality. Therefore, the construction of Hester and Katherines relationship and its resulting destru ction can be considered as a narrative return to conventional rural stereotypes pertaining to gender roles. The Bordens are supporting characters that may lend credence to the reader interpretation of Jolleys text The Well. Both characters may be seen to uphold gender stereotype, and their resulting narrative, especially in comparison to Hester and Kathys serves to highlight the concept of the natural order. As both Hester and Kathy as individuals and as a collective pair are unconventional they are punished by the natural order, to the result of Hesters re-repression of her own sexuality and her loss of good standing, as well as Kathys seeming descent into madness and eventual detachment from Hester. However, the narrative only serves to elevate the married couple. Mr Borden is denoted as a farmer of relative wealth whom first appears in the novel to buy Hesters farm from her. The moment she agrees, the Borden family sees an elevation in social status, becoming wealthy landowners in place of the outcast, reclusive Hester. Ultimately, the narrative serves to completely shift Hesters soci etal power into the hands of the Bordens. This may be read as Hester losing power due to the natural order restoring the female to a place of powerlessness and the male Mr Borden being elevated to that position of power. This is because Mr Borden embodies all that is expected of a man; he is hardworking, broad-shouldered and virile, as emphasised by the growing number of children he has. This also serves to demonstrate Mrs Borden as conformist, as she is denoted to be constantly pregnant, and female fertility in marriage is stereotypically seen favourably. The fact that they end up elevated into the upper echelons of rural Australian society by the end of the novel serves to demonstrate the fact that conforming to gender stereotype incurs favour with the natural order. The Bordens construction as conformist, particularly in relation to the lack of confirming present in both Katherine and Hester, serves to demonstrate the natural order and its reinforcement of rural Australian gend er stereotypes. The utilisation of characterisation in Jolleys novel The Well enables the reader exploring gender to determine that the natural order reinforces traditional gender roles in rural Australian society, particularly in regards to the role of women as heterosexual wives, mothers and homemakers (Neville, 1997). Hesters possession of patriarchal characteristics leads to her attempting to assume control over Katherine through excessive spending; it is this device that may be considered to be utilised by the narrative as a means of removing power from her and lowering her social status in the rural context of the novel. Katherine is initially the perfect example of femininity, which is ultimately derailed by the presence of the creature in the well and her descent into madness; this serves as a means for the natural order to eliminate deviants. Katherine and Hesters unbalanced relationship defies gender norms, and the so-called natural order ultimately destroys their ordered lives. By contras t, the Bordens are conformists to gender traditions; their elevation in class within the duration of the narrative emphasises the role of the natural order in ensuring the maintenance of correct conduct pertaining to each gender. Ultimately, the novel as interpreted by the reader seeks to reinforce the importance of gender roles within the context of the time period of the texts production, and may ultimately serve as a criticism for harsh punishments placed on those deviating from the social norm. BIBLIOGRAPHY Goddard, Kelly. (1993). Women off the Market: Possession and Desire in Elizabeth Jolleys The Well. Retrieved from Curtin University Library at http://espace.library.curtin.edu.au/R?func=dbin-jump-fulllocal_base=era01jolleyobject_id=107604 Neville, Fionnuala. (1997). The Gendered Literary Landscapes of Elizabeth Jolley. Retrieved from http://www.nla.gov.au/openpublish/index.php/jasal/article/viewFile/2828/3242 Renes, C. M. (n.d.). Elizabeth Jolley’s The Well: Fathoming Postcolonial Depths in the Female Gothic.retrieved from nla.gov.au at http://www.nla.gov.au/ojs/index.php/australian-studies/article/viewFile/1573/1875 Wiley, Catherine. (1996). Homemaking: Women Writers and the Politics and Poetics of Home. Retrieved from Google books at https://books.google.com.au/books?id=hNKAbzpIBGICpg=PA77lpg=PA77dq=kathy+sexuality+the+wellsource=blots=yabI3CQ3bQsig=4Dz5_dYRs4XL7BfDlh4omanbUHchl=ensa=Xved=0CCUQ6AEwA2oVChMIss_QsKCwxwIVY9qmCh2K_wSq#v=onepageq=kathy%20sexuality%20the%20wellf=false

Maximum Absorptive Capacity And Price Of Selected Brands Of Diaper - 2750 Words

Analysis Of Variance And Linear Correlation On Maximum Absorptive Capacity And Price Of Selected Brands Of Diaper (Statistics Project Sample) Content: ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE AND LINEAR CORRELATION ON MAXIMUM ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY AND PRICE OF SELECTED BRANDS OF DIAPERTamaray, J.D.1Department of Biology, College of Science, University of the Philippines BaguioABSTRACTInfants are provided with diapers in order to contain their urine and feces until they are able to help themselves to use the toilet. Millions of diapers are consumed each year resulting to different entrepreneurs investing in developing this commodity. Each brand is advertised in to give maximum comfort and absorption to its user.However, this study is only about measuring and comparing the maximum absorption capacity of selected diaper brands here in the Philippines namely Huggies, MamyPoko, EQ, Pampers, and Lampein. With the use of tap water as an alternative for urine, each diapers maximum volume was tested resulting to each brand having different mean in volume. Another factor that can be noticed is that the price of each diaper is not directly reflect ive of its absorption capacity. * INTRODUCTIONBackground of the StudyA diaper is a piece of absorbent material wrapped around the bottom of an incontinent person, someone who has no control over his bladder, and people who are unable to reach the toilet when needed. Diapers are commonly used on infants since they lack the capability of controlling their bladders and going to the toilets. Hence, diapers have become one of the, if not the most, basic commodity when taking care of infants.As of 2012, it was recorded that the Philippines consumes an average of 35 million diapers per year (Rappler, 2012). This was no surprise because according to PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority) there have been more than1.7 million registered births in the Philippines and according to different blogs, 6-8 times a day is the average rate of changing an infants diaper.Since diapers are such of a commodity today, it is inevitable to use its demand in order to gain profit and this is observable with the emergence of the different brands of diapers we have in the Philippines today. Some of these brands are EQ and Pampers, which are mostly advertised through the media platforms that we have. Mostly, their sari-sari store price would range form 8 to 12 Pesos per diaper.Objective of the StudySince diapers are such commodities for people taking care of infants, the objective of this study is to measure the absorption capability of each brand in order to determine: * What diaper brand has the most absorptive capacity? * Is the price of the diaper directly related to its absorption?Significance of the StudyAs our economy gets tougher, it is best to select the cheapest items that will provide the most benefit and compensation. Particularly with diapers since infants would take a long time for them to learn how use the toilet. In line with this, this study will provide knowledge about the absorption capacity of selected diapers, which will contribute to making choosing of diapers easier. The higher the absorptive capacity results faster diffusion of liquid with the absorptive material and thus making the diaper dryer. With those, right choice of diaper matters not just economically but lessens the risk of infections, rashes per se, among infants.Scope and LimitationsThe study focused only on the absorption capability of five different brands of diaper available in the Philippines namely; Mamypoko, EQ, Pampers, Lampien, and Huggies. All of it was large (L) in terms of size. Each brand was tested in three trials using tap water measured with a graduated cylinder. The use of tap water itself might affect the study in which an alternative imitation of the mixture of urine is more likely to use. Each diaper was given 3 hours to absorb the water. The mark of maximum absorption might be subjective, but in the study, the few droplets of water unabsorbed have been used as an indicator.Review of Related LiteratureBefore babies are toilet trained, they wear diapers to avoid ha ving feces and urine as mess in surrounding environment. Most types of diapers on the market are cloth diapers and disposable diapers (Tips on choosing the right diaper, 2012). Diapers are ideal, whatever the material, should be able to maintain a stable pH, and dryness of the skin and prevent rash. To sustain these functions, diapers are generally organized into three layers, namely the inner layer, the core layer containing absorbent material, and an outer layer.In the disposable diaper, in a generally porous layer to reduce skin friction and coupled with special formula, such as zinc oxide, aloe vera and petroleum to keep skin dry. Absorbent core layer is most often used is cellulose and absorbent gelling material (AGM) or superabsorbent, which is made of sodium polyacrylate. AGM has the advantage can separate urine from feces fluids quickly, hold the liquid in the matrix, and maintain a stable pH. The outer layer of disposable diapers are generally waterproof, but can also be ma de of a porous material.The most absorbent material in the diaper is sodium polyacrylate. It can absorb 800 times its own weight in distilled water, 300 times its own weight in tap water, and 30 times its own weight in urine because of salts and impurities. Cotton can only absorb 27 times its own weight.There are lots of brands of diapers - Huggies and Pampers being the known ones. The Pampers diaper is composed of an average of 3.97 g of sodium polyacrylate, linked on a thin thread, and an average of 0.71 g of cotton. Huggies has an average of 1.88 g of fine powdery sodium polyacrylate and an average of 6.97 g of cotton.Diaper leakage can be caused by its size, brand, or how it is put on. Infrequent changing of diapers can cause urinary tract infection of dermatitis (diaper rash). These are due to exposure of urine and feces which cause skin moist and aid in the entry of irritants. Urine pH alkaline contributed to the irritation that arises. Fungus Candida albicans can grow and pro mote rash. It is important to know the maximum urine capacity that a diaper can withhold in order to avoid skin rash on babies. * Materials and MethodologyFive different brands of diaper, namely, EQ, Huggies, Lampein, Pampers, and MamyPoko pants, obtaining three samples each, are selected through a convenience sampling (non-probability sampling technique) in accord to their availability and abundance in nearby retail stores. To determine the maximum volume (in mL) absorbance capacity of the different brand of diaper, experimental method, a type of data collection, was used. The experiment was properly designed and conducted in controlled conditions.For the experiment proper, three trials were performed to each brand of diaper using the obtained three samples. The materials that were used are the following: a large basin, funnel, 25-ml graduated cylinder, water (as an alternative to urine), and the 15 diaper subjects.A large basin was filled with water, and an amount of water is tra nsferred to the graduated cylinder using a funnel. For the preparation of the diaper, the vetro tapes (mini adhesives) are fastened to the frontal tapes, imitating its actual fitting when worn. An amount of water measured by graduated cylinder poured gradually towards the entire pad surface of the diaper until a leakage observed or there is an accumulation of water on the lateral sides of the diaper observed. The excess, unabsorbed water was transferred to the graduated cylinder to know its volume which will be then subtracted from the noted amount of water poured to determine the actual volume the diaper can hold and absorbed. After three trials on one brand, the procedure was then repeated using other brands of diapers. * Results and Data 1Table 1. Maximum volume (in mL) absorbed by the selected five brands of diapers (Large size) in three trials. EQ Huggies Lampein Pampers Comfort Mamypoko pants Trial 1 1273 983 969 1086 922 Trial 2 1305 995 955 1107 915 Trial 3 1292 975 960 1 093 925 Total 3870 2953 2884 3284 2762 15753 Mean 1290 984.33 961.33 1094.67 920.67 1050.2 Table 1 shows the maximum capacities of five (5) brands of diapers for three (3) trials expressed in milliliters (mL).Table 2. Mean Capacities of Diapers in Milliliters and the Corresponding Price in Peso EQ Huggies Lampein Pampers Comfort Mamypoko Pants Price in Peso (x) 10.00 14.50 9.00 10.00 15.00 Mean Capacity in mL (y) 1278 984.3 961.3 1094.7 920.7 Table 2 shows the price of each brand of diapers and the mean capacities (mL) per trial obtained from the experimental method.218122576200Figure 1. Scatter Plot of Price vs. Maximum capacity (mL)The figure on the right shows the scatter of data which can be used to calculate the correlation coefficient, r.Table 3. Analysis of Variance for the One-Way ClassificationSource of Variation Sum of Squares Degrees of freedom Mean Square Computed f Col. MeansError SSC = 265 487.7333SSE = 1 058.6667 k 1 = 4k(n -1) = 10 s21 = 66 371.9333s22 = 105.86667 f = 66 371.9333105.86667= 626.94 Total SST = 266 546.4 nk-1 = 14 Table 3 shows the calculated values to analyze the variance of the data obtained from experimental method done.1See appendices for the calculations used in the experimental method of data collection...