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Re: Essay: what means equality for the British ?

Mister Micawber — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:03:37 GMT

.
I have underlined some problem areas.

There is a tension in Western society between people who think that everyone should have legal equality and people who think that we have to make people equal in every way. Most English people share the first view whereas most of the French share the second one.

~~First,~~ English people are more comfortable with social inequality. This difference can find it origin in both their main religions. Most British are Protestants and there is a low power distance between God and themselves. They talk directly with God and know that they have been chosen. Therefore, the concept of inequality is accepted by the majority. On the contrary, most French are Catholics and their relationship with God pass by the Church. The French belief is that âevery man is equal in front of Godâ. So, they have applied that ideal in society and as a result, social equality has become a strong French value.

~~Then,~~ British people consider equality as equality before the law. ~~We can discuss this point considering equality inside education and work.~~ In England, it is enough to provide equal opportunity and equal treatment under the law to people, and to protect everyone's rights. Through work and education, it results as the right for anyone to apply for ~~some~~ studies or ~~some~~ jobs. The selection doesnât depend on origins, race, gender or ~~the~~ belonging to a particular group. It is forbidden by ~~the~~ law. In France, it's the government's job to make sure that everyone is equal; that no one is richer or poorer than anyone else, that no one has more success than anyone else. For instance, when a chief executive wants to fire an employee because of his incompetence, he has to pass by a lot of arguments cause of the French legislation ~~laws~~. ~~Actually,~~ the most productive or skilled employees are not recruited for that reason. Another example can be illustrated by some schools with problems called the ZEP. There are numerous pupils who are not interested in study and who are nothing but trouble for the other. Thus, serious pupils can miss great opportunity to pursue in Higher Schools.
So, ~~several~~ attempts to achieve social equality can end up punishing society's most productive people. ~~In my opinion,~~ most British think that social equality is impossible to achieve, because people have different gifts and abilities, and some have more motivation than others.

Another aspect concerns attitudes towards money which shows that social inequality doesnât mind British people. Indeed, people talk freely about money, and it represents a sign of merit. Those who have a lot of money have more merit than the other. In France, the money subject is taboo during conversation and several taxes exist in order to generate social equality. It provides a social security that French prefer because of their uncertainty avoidance attitude. The French government follows this trend and makes egalitarian laws like welfare or the redistribution of incomes.

To conclude, most British have a very different point of view of equality than the French. They consider that equality before the law is sufficient and doesnât believe in the benefits of social equality unlike the French.

Proofreading essay

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 12:43:24 GMT

This is a senior honors project essay about a programming job with PHP. I know it's a lot of work but I need a grammar check done.

Here it is::

In taking upon my Senior Honors Project I have thrown myself over a ledge with the intention to climb back up. Through this year my drive, enthusiasm, and patience have been tested. However, I believe I am within an armâs reach of the top and, with one final grasp, I shall report my experience.I could not have completed my project without some very important outside resources. One of these resources that greatly aided me was the PHP manual on php.net. This website holds information on all of the built in PHP functions. On each page users can post solutions to common problems arisen by the function dedicated to it or describe in more detail how to use them. Using this has cut down on development time by giving me answers to almost all of my syntax and function related questions. If I had trouble remembering the name of a function I could simply look it up on the site. Without this I would either have to use a guess-and-check type of finding the solution or type it into a search-engine and rely on third-party sites. This resource also helped me discover new functions that made my coding easier; I would not have to âreinvent the wheelâ when a built in function existed. The conversations with my project mentor, Ed Sprenger, have also yielded great knowledge. The insight he has given me on all my questions was very informative and he has taught me what I would have otherwise never learned through basic research. Our topics of discussion ranged from future jobs, programming languages, and life in the computer science field to internet security and database advice. It has been very helpful to have someone to talk to who is in the computer science field and understands what I am doing. I cannot imagine getting through this project with someone who didnât know a bit from a byte. Ed Sprenger was a valuable resource in my project and has taught me very well.One of my objectives from the start of the project was to learn how to program in the windows environment. I am now confident that I am very knowledgeable in this field. Through use of the Windows API (Application Programming Interface) in my project I have learned all about programming windows applications. Some of the main topics I delved into were message controls and message handling. Controls are the things that make up a dialog box or application window: edit boxes, drop down boxes, and radio buttons. These, along with message handling, are all it takes to create a functional and effective Windows program. Message handling is a broad subject and was therefore a difficult subject to grasp and implement. Messages are data that is sent to the main application, child dialog boxes, and controls. These messages range from telling the object it has been clicked upon to telling the object to destroy itself. There are many messages that could be potentially sent and choosing which ones to recognize and the handling of them is up to the programmer. Luckily the Windows SDK Documentation outlines all the messages and their data.The Windows SDK (Software Development Kit) Documentation and the online documentation at msdn.com both helped me in the application programming aspect of my project. Since the documentation is straight from Microsoft, I can rely on it to tell me everything about the piece of information that I am looking up. It describes itself plainly and clearly and cross references related data that has more than often helped me grasp the subject beyond a basic understanding.Every website needs a directory chain; a way of organizing the folders that hold the files. I got my idea from a web programming job I held with Chad Furman two summers back. I learned a lot from him, holding that job. This directory tree was one thing that I remember. I have one main folder that houses all of the main pages of the site. This includes the index page, the login page, and the report card page among others. From there I have a picture folder which houses all the pictures and a folder called âincludesâ. This âincludesâ folder contains all of the PHP helper files that process the HTML forms along with some helper functions. Within lies another folder labeled âclassesâ which contains the PHP classes of the project. Each class has its own file which is included by the different files in the âincludeâ folder. So an example design would be the report card page including the report card include file (in the âincludeâ folder). This included file would then include the report card class file (in the âclassesâ folder). The design is not very complex but it does a good job of organizing my files.One aspect of the site that I was very proud of is the system for logging in. What I have set up is an include file that is required by all pages that require access to user validity or other user functions. This include file holds the user class which contains functions that deal with all aspects to the user. Any page containing the file can check for user validity, log the user in, log them out, and access the userâs data. Parents, teachers, and administrators all use the same login page. However when parents login they only in need of a password and not a username. The database holds all the different types of usersâ data the same way and in the same table. I was lucky for the logging in system to turn out as good as it did.Upon logging in every user has a set of session variables. These variables are used for keeping track of the user and their credentials. They will hold their value for as long as the internet browser is open. So a user is logged in, even while surfing other pages, providing they donât log themselves out or close out of their browser. This technique trumps using browser cookies for a couple of reasons. The pro of using cookies to save data over multiple sessions does hold value in my case. No one user will be travelling the website often enough for this feature to be worth the trouble of implementing it. Session variables are fine for what I am setting out to do. There are three basic sections that the end user has access to on the website. They are all accessed through the control panel, and depending on which type of user is requesting that page depends on the control panel they see. The control panel checks the session âaccessâ variable, and depending on the value, displays the appropriate options to be linked on the control panel. The most common type of user is the parent. Their control panel consists of one item; a link to see their childâs report card. Clicking this takes them to a table showing their report card. Each entry contains the class, the teacher, and the grade. For a class description they can simply click on the class name and a pop-up window will open containing the text. The only other option the parent has is to logout, which is on all the usersâ control panels. The next type of user is the teacher. They have considerable more options than the parent, as they should. The first thing to be noted is the teacher panel. This page is where the teachers may access and edit the enrollment and grades of their class. They may add and remove students from their class and add, edit, and delete the grades of their students. This is where the teacher will be spending most of their time. The next thing a teacher may do is view report cards. They can see any childâs report card that is in their class. However the only grades that will be listed are the ones from classes that the viewing teacher teaches. So an English teacher will not be able to see the grade a student gets in a Math class. The last thing on the teacher control panel is the class stats page. This page contains a list of all the grades in the class and the class mean, class median, and class range. The last type of user is the administrator. They have access to everything. Right from the control panel they can go into the admin panel which lets them edit almost everything on the site. On this admin panel page there are the categories: Student, Parent, Teacher, Admin, Class, Enrollment, and Grade. Under each of these are the options: Add, Delete, and Edit. So under each of the categories they can add to them (e.g. adding a student), delete them (e.g. deleting a grade), and edit them (e.g. changing a classâs description). With this they can start from scratch and create a whole grading system complete with classes, teachers, students, and grades. Along with this power, the administrator can see all studentsâ report cards complete with all classes and see all classesâ stats pages. The administrator is the person who must set everything up once, and after this the teachers and parents may use the site to the max. On every one of the pages that displays personal data there is a security check on each page refresh. This is done to prevent users from seeing what they shouldnât be seeing. This feature works by taking the user id session variable and/or the student id pertaining to that user and checks them against their respective get variables. Without this security, a user could log in and then see other usersâ data. For example, a parent could log in and direct their browser to the report card page. Naturally, their childâs report card will show up. However if they change the user id âgetâ variable and refresh the page they will see another childâs grades. This is where my protection kicks in, preventing this and giving the user an error explaining that they donât have access to the page they are trying to view. With the database designed as it is, deleting data has become a little complicated. For example, when you delete a class, all the grades are still in the database despite the fact that they have no class associated with them. Also when a student is removed their grades stay behind to rot. I have fixed this by allowing the administrator (the only one doing any deleting affected by this) the option to delete all associative data relating to the entry being deleted. So now (assuming the user chooses the option) when a student is deleted their grades and their parent user are also deleted. Also when a class is deleted all the grades go along with it. This prevents old and needless data from piling up in the database and causing confusion among the users.

Upon completion of my senior honors project I am confident with my skills and am ready to go out into the world in search of a computer science career. Spending a lot of my free time in front of my computer and programming has put me through the ringer, and I liked it. Before I started, I had no experience working on an organized project with a pre-existing goal. Before, I have just worked on small projects that have not gone anywhere. Now that I am done programming, I can see the product that I have made. I can see that it has been completed with success. I have taken my ideas and integrated them efficiently and successfully. I have learned a great deal this year.

I appreciate any help with this, thank you.

Essay: what means equality for the British ?

learner_of_english — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:25:38 GMT

Hello,

I have to do an essay and I would appreciate if you could tell me if the the sentences are grammatically correct.

The topic is: The British poet and essayist Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) once wrote:
âAs to the duty of pursuing equality, there is no such consent among us. Indeed, the consent is the other way, the consent is against equality. Equality before the law we all take as a matter of course; that is not the equality which we mean when we talk of equality. When we talk of equality, we understand social equality; and for equality in this Frenchified sense of the term almost everybody in England has a hard wordâ.
Discuss this opinion in intercultural terms and illustrate your view with concrete examples :

There is a tension in Western society between people who think that everyone should have legal equality and people who think that we have to make people equal in every way. Most English people share the first view whereas most of the French share the second one.

First, English people are more comfortable with social inequality. This difference can find it origin in both their main religions. Most British are Protestants and there is a low power distance between God and themselves. They talk directly with God and know that they have been chosen. Therefore, the concept of inequality is accepted by the majority. On the contrary, most French are Catholics and their relationship with God pass by the Church. The French belief is that âevery man is equal in front of Godâ. So, they have applied that ideal in society and as a result, social equality has become a strong French value.

Then, British people consider equality as equality before the law. We can discuss this point considering equality inside education and work. In England, it is enough to provide equal opportunity and equal treatment under the law to people, and to protect everyone's rights. Through work and education, it results as the right for anyone to apply for some studies or some jobs. The selection doesnât depend on origins, race, gender or the belonging to a particular group. It is forbidden by the law. In France, it's the government's job to make sure that everyone is equal; that no one is richer or poorer than anyone else, that no one has more success than anyone else. For instance, when a chief executive wants to fire an employee because of his incompetence, he has to pass by a lot of arguments cause of the French legislation laws. Actually, the most productive or skilled employees are not recruited for that reason. Another example can be illustrated by some schools with problems called the ZEP. There are numerous pupils who are not interested in study and who are nothing but trouble for the other. Thus, serious pupils can miss great opportunity to pursue in Higher Schools.
So, several attempts to achieve social equality can end up punishing society's most productive people. In my opinion, most British think that social equality is impossible to achieve, because people have different gifts and abilities, and some have more motivation than others.

Another aspect concerns attitudes towards money which shows that social inequality doesnât mind British people. Indeed, people talk freely about money, and it represents a sign of merit. Those who have a lot of money have more merit than the other. In France, the money subject is taboo during conversation and several taxes exist in order to generate social equality. It provides a social security that French prefer because of their uncertainty avoidance attitude. The French government follows this trend and makes egalitarian laws like welfare or the redistribution of incomes.

To conclude, most British have a very different point of view of equality than the French. They consider that equality before the law is sufficient and doesnât believe in the benefits of social equality unlike the French.

Thank you very much

Sincerely,

Re: Which of the these configurations is better, two 1GB chips or one 2GB chip?

Pter — Wed, 28 May 2008 02:41:54 GMT

Avangi
General questions are often very useful and give the answering party a chance to expound, as we've seen here. If every question had to be framed as multiple choice/true or false, then teachers wouldn't have to sit up all night correcting essay questions, and students would grow up unable to express themselves.

Thanks for the comments. Your point is well taken. We always ask general questions especially when we do not know what exactly to ask. If we know how to frame an exact question, we probably have part of the answer in mind already. I was not saying it is a problem in asking general questions.

I also find the original version (without the extra "the") perfectly understandable and valid as part of the whole conversation. I would understand 'two 1GB chips' vs 'one 2GB chips' as options for two similar configurations that only differ in the memory chips. However, the last question with 'for a PC' makes me think what he wants to ask especially if taken out of context. Is he asking which option is better for his particular need, or asking about a general principle that applies in all cases?

Maybe, I was being asked too many of these questions in the past and I had to clarify what he/she meant before giving a meaningful answer. In reality, people do ask general questions when talking about their particular cases because they want to generalize what they learn so they won't need to ask the next time.

Re: which vs of which

CalifJim — Wed, 21 May 2008 08:21:16 GMT

New2grammar
He'd only left her a note on the bedside table of which she had not understood the content.

This sentence could occur in a short story or novel. It would not likely occur in a casual conversation. Instead, it might be

He left her a note on the table beside the bed, but she didn't understand it.

Or if the past perfect is absolutely necessary in the context.

He'd left her a note on the table beside the bed, but she hadn't understood it.

Or if the "only" idea is absolutely required, a person might add only as in the original or might say

All he did was leave her a note on the table by the bed, but she didn't understand it.

The grammatical structures of ordinary everyday conversation are much simpler than those found in novels and essays.

Re: which vs of which

CalifJim — Wed, 21 May 2008 01:47:44 GMT

which, of which, among which, to which, about which, for which, ...

Combine The car is big with the following:

The car is blue. > The car which is blue is big. [no preposition before the car]

The car is parked there. > The car which is parked there is big. [no preposition before the car]

I bought the car. > The car which I bought is big. [no preposition before the car]

Helen likes the car. > The car which Helen likes is big. [no preposition before the car]

The workmen repaired the car in two hours. > The car which the workmen repaired in two hours is big. [no preposition before the car]

The strongman picked up the car. > The car which the strongman picked up is big. [no preposition before the car -- pick up is a phrasal verb]

The Smiths auctioned off the car. > The car which the Smiths auctioned off is big. [no preposition before the car -- auction off is a phrasal verb]

Jerry is talking about the car. > The car about which Jerry is talking is big.

I paid $10,000 for the car. > The for which I paid $10,000 is big.

The new puppy is afaid of the car. > The car of which the new puppy is afraid is big.

Robert traveled to Chicago in the car. > The car in which Robert traveled to Chicago is big.

A breeze is blowing through the car. > The car through which a breeze is blowing is big.

I hit a tree with the car. > The car with which I hit a tree is big.

A truck is headed toward the car. > The car toward which a truck is headed is big.

The children danced around the car. > The car around which the children danced is big.

Karen knows the owner of the car. > The car of which Karen knows the owner is big.

Albert lost the key to the car. > The car to which Albert lost the key is big.

Marty had trouble with the car. > The car with which Marty had trouble is big.

Lucy set a book on the car. > The car on which Lucy set a book is big.

There's not enough gas in the car. > The car in which there's not enough gas is big.

A stranger walked up to the car. > The car up to which a stranger walked is big. [up to - a compound preposition]

The stranger ran away from the car. > The car from which the stranger ran away is big. [run away - a phrasal verb]

______

Note that these sentences are for pattern practice only. They are not particularly useful in conversations or in written essays!

Re: Essay:Agree/disagree? Television has detroyed communication among friends and family.

julielai — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:04:14 GMT

Highlighted a few things for you to fix.

Topic: Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Television has detroyed communication among friends and family. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

While some people have stated that television has destroyed communication among friends and family, I can only disagree with this statement. The main reasons is that television program is among the most popular topics in everyday talk. In addition, many sport lovers always find live sport program a great time for gathering. And, believe it or not, talking about weather forecast is a very effective way for many to start a conversation.

To begin with, many often find themselves engaging in a conversation about last night shows on television. Teenagers and women are especially ~~the~~ big fans of television series and soap operas. And they find it enjoyable telling people, including family members and friends, about their impression on certain scenes and sharing their opinions of characters in the show they had watched.

Also, Many sport lovers have found live sport program a great time for gathering of friends. Nothing is better than having friends around, talking about what is going on in the game, and maybe bet on the winner of the game. World Soccer, for example, always attracts a crowd of men; and this exciting game will last as their main talk for many weeks. This principle can also be applied to many family as well.

Finally, talking about weather forecast is a very effective way to start a conversation. Not everybody is born to be talkative. Many survey have indicated that a sentence like, âIt's hot today, isn't it?â is one of the easiest and widely used tools in beginning a talk. A few minutes of watching television forecast would help one who is not talkative feel more comfortable when starting a conversation.

In conclusion, ~~when one carefully look at the facts that~~ most conversations are usually about soap operas and television programs. Men always love watching and talking about sport shows with their friends. And weather forecast can be a big help for many to begin chatting. This is why I strongly disagree with the remark that televisions make communication less important.

Essay:Agree/disagree? Television has detroyed communication among friends and family.

T_nattawat — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:22:45 GMT

It's been quite sometime I've not write any essay. I have been really busy about getting into college and working as an F+B attendant. It seems like my writing skill get rush away after this couple months of not-writing-at-all; and it need to be brushed up a little(well, maybe whole lots).

Please look through, correct grammatical errors, and make some comment about the content. Also, please tell me the weaks ans the strengths of my essay. Thank you mak mak kub.

Topic: Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Television has detroyed communication among friends and family. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion. While some people have stated that television has destroyed communication among friends and family, I can only disagree with this statement. The main reasons is that television program is among the most popular topics in everyday talk. In addition, many sport lovers always find live sport program a great time for gathering. And, believe it or not, talking about weather forecast is a very effective way for many to start a conversation.

To begin with, many often find themselves engaging in a conversation about last night shows on television. Teenagers and women are especially the big fans of television series and soap operas. And they find it enjoyable telling people, including family members and friends, about their impression on certain scenes and sharing their opinions of characters in the show they had watched.

Also, Many sport lovers have found live sport program a great time for gathering of friends. What is better than having friends around, talking about what is going on in the game, and maybe bet on the winner of the game. World Soccer, for example, always attracts a crowd of men; and this exciting game will last as their main talk for many weeks. This principle can also be applied to many family as well.

In conclusion, when one carefully look at the facts that most conversations are usually about soap operas and television programs. Men always love watching and talking about sport shows with their friends. And weather forecast can be a big help for many to begin chatting. This is why I strongly disagree with the remark that televisions make communication less important.

PS: I have tried to revise and edit this essay a couple time by reading it aloud as well as finding as many errors as I could find; but I'm sure there still many of them in it. As you have read through my essay, do you have any suggestion about what I have missed when revising? Could you please suggest me some articles or something on this matter as well? Again, Thank you so much. I will try my best to keep my writing skill up.

Can someone look over my essay ? thank you so much

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:47:26 GMT

Internet is recently one of the fast, convenient ways for people to communicate with other people around the world. Especially with social networking sites, people are now able to create their own world online. They can do all the things they want to do even things they cant do them in their real lives. Most likely, teenagers are a great numbers of users and members of the networking sites such as Myspace, Hi5, Facebook and Friendster. They usually get online and join those sites on their free time. Adults are not exceptions here, they use networking sites to do research, communicate with others or do their work online. In some aspects, those networking sites have shared the bad publicity of identity theft, false profiles, and online predators. In fact, those things have happened recently because social networking sites can not control what kind of people will be online and join their sites, so the risks are obviously not created by their faults. Despite of those bad publicities, social networking are still popular for their great functions and features. Specially, creating a comfortable entertain atmosphere, helping people improve their social skills, and providing interesting information for users to learn and expand their knowledge.

First, social networking sites create a comfortable entertain atmosphere that people can access anytime when they are at home. These sites are like playground where people can find things to do. For example, for bored people, it is probably a good place for them to spend their time. Moreover, these social networking sites allow people to create a personal profile in order to keep in touch with old friends, make new friends and even to look for a date online. For instance, I have been using Yahoo360 for two years, and I was surprised that this site helped me to reunite my old friends in high school in Vietnam. It was amazing that I also have a lot of new friendships since I have used it. Moreover, social networking sites also encourage people to create their own profiles, which can include their persona information, their interest, their photo slides, blog entries and even music clips. These are great features because people can share not only their information with others but also share their interests and hobbies as well. For example, for every social networking sites I use, I love to put my favorite songs or video clips to share with my online friends. Some people write their dairies in blogs, where entries are made in journal style, to share with others and allow people to post comments in comment box. Therefore, social networking sites are good places for people to make friends and express their feelings with online world.

Next, another advantage of social networking sites is helping people to practice and improve their social skills. Just like talking on the phone, socialization on the internet give people chances to think about their conversation and have more time to think how to response. Thus, this kind of socializing is more convenience than face-to-face interaction. It is a good opportunity for them to experiment with greetings and response, especially with kids and teenagers who are anxious when they involve in conversations. It works for me because I am myself a shy person, I have hard time to communicate in real life. In fact, I usually have slow responses or donât know how to answer, but when I use social networking sites to communicate with friends there, I recognize that I feel more comfortable and are able to response easier than face-to-face interaction. Moreover, social networking sites are also useful for people with special needs can express themselves, including thought and feeling, more easily and without fear of being teased or rejection they may have in real life. Specially, for people with learning disabilities, these sites help them to socialize anonymously. For instance, they can present different personas or act as people who they really are when they create profiles online, because in real life they donât have chances to be themselves in some ways. By using these sites, they will have a great experience with initiating and maintaining online friendships. They will become more confident and improve their social skills, which they may carry over into real life and give them courage to maintain friendship in real life.

Furthermore, social networking sites also provide interest information for people to learn new things and expand their knowledge. People can learn how to create their profiles online in different ways. For example, a boy who really like comic can be the king of comic knowledge online without being teased about it. He can also find the great peer groups who share the same interests and appreciate this aspect of him. Therefore, everyone can make their dreamed persona come true when they join those social networking sites because they are free to express what they think and feel. In addition, some social networking sites provides useful information about technology and future discovery; therefore, when people access to those sites, they will learn about the necessary information in detail accordingly. For example, there are automobileâs sites which allow people to give comments, grade their cars and discover new brand cars. It is a great way to find out what kind of car they want to buy in the future. Moreover, by using social networking sites, people have more opportunities to learn about different cultures in the world. For instance, if people are planning a vacation to different country, they can get enough information and advice when they reach their destination from the sites. They can also learn about dos and donâts in that country in order to avoid making mistakes while visiting.

In short, social networking sites provide many benefits for people who are members of online world despite of bad publicity. Their advantages help people improve their social skills and enlarge their knowledge. I think as long as they use social networking sitesâ feature correctly; there will be no bad publicity such as online predators and identity theft. Moreover, those networking site has privacy protection which allow people to restrict who can and cant view their page or share information with them. Lastly, peopleâs safety when using networking sites depend on how they corporate with the sites they are using.

Help proofreading "A Doll's House"

Anonymous — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 03:40:25 GMT

I have finished writing an essay, which is due tomorrow. As an ESL student, I have the feeling that I have a lot of grammatical mistakes. Is there any sentence where you wonder what the heck I am trying to say? Hope anyone can help!

The Woman Within the Doll

The Baltimore Sun wrote that back in 1879, âA Doll's Houseâ by Henrik Ibsen âshocked and offended people wherever [it] was played,â and that the dramatist assured it was not about a woman, but about âanyone who had to live according to the rules created by othersâ (Hyder). Society thought to be outrageous that a woman would get involved in manly things, for her role in society was exclusively to care for the family and please her husband. Women did not enjoy the rights women do now. They were not taken seriously, and decisions were made by the man who was and still is considered the head of the family. Nora's choice to become free, independent and leave her husband, along with some of the characters' actions made this play to be scandalous for its time.

Ibsen wrote in a letter that the story in âA Doll's Houseâ was about a woman who feels:

ppressed and bewildered by belief in authority, she loses her faith in her own moral right and ability to bring up her children... [She is bittered because,] like certain insects, (ought to) go away and die when she has done her duty towards the continuance of the species... [she shakes] off of cares, [but then she feels] a sudden return of apprehension and dread. She must bear it all aloneâ (Doll).

Nora had a beautiful life, she had a husband, beautiful children, and everything she wanted. Earlier in her marriage, his husband suffered of an illness of which he needed to recover somewhere in the south, but this was concealed from him by the doctor and Nora. Not having the means to afford a trip so costly and out of love and desperation, Nora decides to ask for a loan without letting Tolvard know. She forges her father's signature to obtain the loan because she does not want to trouble her father either, who is very ill himself too. However, she is responsible and works secretly from home in order to make the payments. Eventually, Tolvard finds out about her secret and feels that his life, happiness and reputation will be lost once Krogstad, who lent the money, publishes the then scandalous situation out of revenged for having fired him from the bank he now manages. He quickly turns against her. That is the moment when Nora starts to understand things she did not understand before; she realizes she does not love Tolvard anymore just as he does not really love her as she thought, and decides to leave for good to discover herself.

The scenery consists of the Helmer's apartment and nowhere else. The description of the apartment depicts the decision that Nora will have to make. There is a door to the right which leads to the entryway and another to the left which leads to Helmer's study. Nora will have to decide which door to take: freedom or Helmer. The place is not âexpensively furnishedâ, but it is comfortable, just like Nora's marriage, she lives a comfortable life, but there are certain things she lacks that are more important than riches. No woman could even consider back in the 1800s doing such a scandalous things as to leave not only the husband, but her children too.

The main character in the story is Nora, a seemingly selfish, materialistic woman who cares a lot about money and in living a good life. This is to be expected since her father liked to spend money himself and live a life he could only could afford with credit. He used to called her his âdoll-child, and he played with [her] the way [she] played with [her] dollsâ (Ibsen 1041). She was obviously very protected and spoiled by both, her father and her husband, who provided anything she needed or wanted. Her father raised her not think for herself and just play her role in society. âWhile [she] was at home with [her] father, he used to tell [her] all his opinions, and [she] held the same opinions. If [she] had others [she] said nothing about them, because he wouldn't have liked itâ (1041). This repeated again as a married woman; she would not express her opinion to Tolvard, for they never talked seriously, but seemed to have trusted Dr. Rank better. Norah was greatly misunderstood. She was a loving person, she loved her husband so much that she was willing to forge her father's signature to obtain a loan to take her husband south in order for him to recover from a deadly illness. She is willing to do anything for him. Eventually she realized she does not have to play the doll anymore. One can only imagine people's reaction throughout the play's events.

Tolvard Helmer seemed to be an ideal husband. He is loving, admirable, honest, ethical, hard-working and successful, but there seems to be a dark side of him. He is a prideful man, he won't ask for money to anyone, to do so would be humiliating. To him, honor and appearances are more important than family. He does not believe people can change and become good, as he did not believe Krogstad was a good person although he had been honest for a long time already. Also, he is so affectionate that makes one wonder of his sincerity; he calls Nora diminutive names such as featherbrained, spendthrift, a squirrel, a song-bird, lark, strange little being all the time (994). One cannot think of a woman who would like being called like that and who would not be affected emotionally. Tolvard's reaction after finding out Nora's secret is amusing. He had told Nora that sometimes he wished â[she] was in some terrible danger, just so [he] could take [his] life and soul and everything, for [her] sakeâ (1038), yet he quickly turns against her calling her a wretched woman, a criminal, unprincipled, untrustworthy of raising her children, incapable, etc. His hypocrisy is clearly revealed when as soon as he realizes that Nora's mistake won't affect his reputation he forgives her (1039-1949). There's a saying that goes something like a good friend is hard to find, specially during difficult times; Tolvard was nor a good friend neither that perfect husband he seemed to be. He loved to have control of his wife's life, and his conversations usually tend to imply that Nora would be lost without him; that she needed his guidance and teaching. Tolvard did not love Nora, â[he] thought it fun to be in love with [her]â (1041).

Dr. Rank is in love with Nora, and that seems to have been the main reason he visited the Helmer's house. This character is not essential in the play, but it causes outrage when he dares to reveal Nora his secret. This is almost vulgar for him to do, and very dishonorable, specially during those times in which people were very conservative. It is as if he had taken advantage of the trust the family had in it and ended up tarnishing his reputation.

Mrs. Linde is one of Nora's old friends from school. She gave up her true love for money, but in the end things did not turn out the way she had expected. Her husband died leaving her in a terrible financial situation making it necessary for her to work in order to sustain her mother and brothers. After her mother passed away and her brothers did not need her help she left town. Not to have someone to take care of made her feel âcompletely alone in the worldâ, and it frightened her âto be so empty and lostâ (1032). She needed âsomeone to take care ofâ, she wanted to be a mother and wanted the companionship of a husband. In the end, she was supposed to have helped Nora hide her secret. She could have convinced Mr. Krogstad to get the letter back, but she did not intercede (1033). She might have been envious of Nora, after all, Nora had all she was longing for; a husband, beautiful children, and a good life.

Lastly, Krogstad is the one who lent Nora money to save her husband, and threatens her to tell her husband if she does not convince Tolvard to let him keep his job at the bank, but just as Nora did, he once made a mistake, which caused him to loose his reputation. He was a man who seems to have been harden by life's difficulties. When he was left by the woman he dearly loved âit was as if all the solid ground dissolved from under [his] feetâ (1031). This might have caused him to become the âhalf-drownedâ kind of man, as he refers to himself. After finding love in his life he turns from the revengeful person into a forgiving one.

In conclusion, Nora realized of her true value as a human being and as a woman. She decides to leave everything and everyone, husband, children, luxuries to a journey to liberate herself. To do such thing was unthinkable at that time and caused turmoil, but it was the best choice she could ever make. To leave one's children is a terrible things to do and was not necessary, but looking beyond that, without prejudices, it is not hard to understands she is trying to figure out who she really is and what she believes in. This is essential to one's happiness; therefore she is determined to make necessary changes in her life even if people think bad of her. It seems that daring to do so back in the 1800s was just as bad as selling drugs or prostituting oneself.

Works Cited

"A Doll's House." Triton College. 21 Feb. 2008 <http://academics.triton.edu/uc/files/dollshse.html>.

Hyder, Willian. "A Doll's House is No Toy Effort." Baltimore Sun. 15 Feb. 2008. 21 Feb. 2008 <http:// www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/howard/bal-ho.chesapeake15feb15,0,4775242.story>.

Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll House." The Norton Introduction to Literature. New York: Norton & Co., 2006. 993-1045.