A Summary of Margaret Atwoods The Edible Woman

The Edible Woman is the first novel by Margaret Atwood, published in 1969. It tells the story of a young woman who struggles with society, her fiancà ©, and food. It is often discussed as an early work of feminism. The protagonist of The Edible Woman is Marian, a young woman with a job in consumer marketing. After she gets engaged, she becomes unable to eat. The book explores Marian’s questions of self-identity and her relationships with others, including her fiancà ©, her friends, and a man whom she meets through her work. Among the characters is Marian’s roommate, who wants to get pregnant but surprisingly does not want to get married. Margaret Atwood’s layered, somewhat fanciful style in The Edible Woman explores themes of sexual identity and consumerism. The novel’s ideas about consumption work on a symbolic level. Is Marian unable to consume food because she is being consumed by her relationship? Additionally, The Edible Woman examines a woman’s inability to eat side by side with the unhappiness in her relationship, although it was published at a time when the psychology of eating disorders was not commonly discussed. Margaret Atwood has written dozens of books, including The Handmaid’s Tale and The Blind Assassin, which won the Booker Prize. She creates strong protagonists and is known for exploring feminist issues and other questions of contemporary society in unique ways. Margaret Atwood is one of the most prominent Canadian writers and a major figure in contemporary literature. Main Characters Clara Bates: She is a friend of Marian McAlpin. Quite pregnant with her third child as the book begins, she dropped out of college for her first pregnancy. She represents traditional motherhood and sacrifices for ones children.  Marian finds Clara rather boring and believes she needs rescuing. Joe Bates: Claras husband, a college instructor, who does quite a bit of the work at home. He stands for marriage as a way to protect women. Mrs. Bogue: Marians department head and a prototypical professional woman. Duncan: Marians love interest, very different than Peter, Marians  fiancà ©. He is not particularly attractive, not ambitious, and he pushes Marian to be real. Marian McAlpin: The protagonist, learning to cope with life and people. Millie, Lucy, and Emmy, the Office Virgins: they symbolize what is artificial in womens stereotypical roles of the 1960s Len (Leonard) Shank: A friend of Marian and Clara, a lecherous skirt-chaser according to Marian. Ainsley is trying to trick him into fathering her child, but he is the opposite of the married father, Joe Bates. Fish (Fischer) Smythe: Duncans roommate, who plays a special role near the end in Ainsleys life. Ainsley Tewce: Marians roommate, the ultra-progressive, aggressive opposite of Clara and, perhaps, also Marians opposite. She is anti-marriage at first, then switches two different kinds of moral earnestness. Trevor: Duncans roommate. Trigger: A late-marrying friend of Peters. Peter Wollander: Marians  fiancà ©, a good catch who proposes to Marian because it is a sensible thing to do. He wants to mold Marian into his idea of the perfect woman. Woman Down Below: The landlady (and her child) who represents a kind of strict moral code. Plot Summary Marians relationships are introduced and she introduces people to each other.  Peter proposes and Marian accepts, giving over her responsibility to him, though she seems aware that it is not her true self. Part 1 is told in Marians voice. Now with an impersonal narrator of the story, people shift. Marian becomes fascinated with Duncan and begins to have trouble eating food.  She also imagines her body parts are disappearing. She bakes a cake-woman for Peter, who refuses to take part in it. Ainsley teachers her how to put on a false smile and a fancy red dress. Marian shifts again, finding herself rooted again in reality and she watches Duncan eat the cake.

Types Of Perfectionism And Levels Of Recovery From Eating...

Introduction The research study examined possible correlations between various types of perfectionism and levels of recovery from eating disorders. The researchers conducted their experiment by comparing different conceptions of perfectionism across a healthy control group and fully recovered, partially recovered, and current (active) eating disorder groups. The researchers who conducted this experiment were Anna M. Bardone-Cone, PhD, Katrina Sturm, BA, Melissa A. Lawson, MD, Dr. Paul Robinson, MD, and Roma Smith, LPN. Anna M. Bardone-Cone, Katrina Sturm, and Melissa A. Lawson are from the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri in Columbia Missouri. Dr. Paul Robinson and Roma Smith are from the†¦show more content†¦There were 55 active eating disorder, 15 partially recovered, 20 fully recovered, and 67 healthy control individuals who participated in this study. The active eating disorder group was made up of people currently diagnosed with an eating dis order. Participants in the healthy control group were people who didn’t have a history of eating disorders in themselves or their families. Each group of individuals was evaluated on various types of perfectionism. The research hypothesis was that when eating disorder recovery was defined in a comprehensive way (physically, behaviorally, and cognitively), individuals who were fully recovered would have lower levels of perfectionism when compared to individuals with active eating disorders; and levels of perfectionism would be similar in partially recovered and active eating disorder cases. Participants All participants in the study were females ages 16 and older. Current and former eating disorder patients were recruited at the University of Missouri Pediatric and Adolescent Specialty Clinic. Individuals for the healthy control group were recruited from the same clinic as the current and former eating disorder patients, as well as from the university campus. As stated earlier, the control group

Understanding Genetic Engineering Essay - 1835 Words

What if cancer could be cured by eating a pear? Or if a crop of wheat could be developed so that it never rotted? These may sound like science fiction but theyre not as strange as they first seem to be, and may even be reality in the future. Fifteen years ago who would have thought that plants could be created to be immune to pesticides or that it would be possible to create a sheep that is exactly like its parent in every physical way? And yet both of these currently exist due to genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is a developing science that is viewed with a lot of public apprehension. No one seems to be able to explain what genetic engineering is, when it first began, or what the possibilities are for the future of this science.†¦show more content†¦Each rung of the ladder connects correlating pieces of information. There are four different connections, called DNA bases: adenine connects to thymine, and guanine connects to cytosine. Each pair forms a rung on the la dder. See figure 2 in the appendix. Although these four DNA bases can be placed in any different order, the correlating base will always be found on the opposite side of the ladder. Because there is no limit to the number of times that a base can be repeated there are unlimited possibilities for base combinations. Certain patterns in the DNA bases tell the cell what it will become. These patterns are called genes. Genetic engineering uses three different techniques to rearrange the pattern of the DNA bases and form different genes. The first of these techniques is called either the plasmid method or recombinant DNA. Plasmids are small rings of DNA that are separate from the chromosomes, these are often found in bacteria and can be easily manipulated using other bacteria or viruses(Call). The DNA code is broken by the bacteria or virus and a new pattern is able to be inserted into the DNA. The cell then reads the information and begins to produce the new trait. Another way of c hanging the genes is to use a needle to inject the new code into the cell. This process is called microinjection, and it is most easily done with larger cells. The third technique is called bioballistics; itShow MoreRelatedGenetic Engineering : The Field Of Biomedical Research1710 Words   |  7 PagesGenetic engineering is the latest experimental practice used in the world of biomedical research. This practice refers to humans modifying an animals’ genetic component in order to express a particular trait (Dale et al). The scientific community calls the animals produced by this practice as transgenic animals in order to distinguish between its wild type relative. This innovative technology paved ways for medical breakthroughs, along with the expansion of human understanding towards the mechanismsRead MoreDustin Peacher . Engl 1302.C09. Professor Mccovery. 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Automatic Upgrade by Maggie Robb free essay sample

The short story Automatic Upgrade, written by Maggie Robb, is a story about a young, Indian man named Ramesh. He is a 26 year old man who chose to work in the mobile phone business instead of pursuing his career as a doctor, even though he had been studying for five years and his family had paid his fees throughout these five years. Ramesh and his grandmother Nani were on a plane heading towards Surrey, which is a county in the South East of England, where they would visit Rameshs sister and her husband (his brother-in-law). After being told that Ramesh had stopped pursuing his career as a doctor, his grandmother started complaining and telling him how wrong it is. She keeps comparing him to his sister, because he is 26 years old and doesnt have a job or a family of his own. After a while Ramesh fell asleep and woke up later and noticed how the lights in the plane had been dimmed and the people around him were mostly asleep. We will write a custom essay sample on Automatic Upgrade by Maggie Robb or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He looked over at his grandmother and guessed straight away that she was dead, but had to make sure. As he found out that his grandmother had died, and it was supposedly his fault, he started panicking but tried to remain as calm as possible. He went and talked with the flight attendants about it and they gave him and his grandmother a place in first class. 2. Characteristic of Ramesh Ramesh is a 26 year old Indian man. He is unemployed and his family has very high expectations of him. He knows what is best for him, but struggles to make his family, mostly his grandmother, understand. As its written on the first page of this short story, Ramesh claims that he will make much more money in the mobile phone business and he calls it progress. He respects and keeps his family close, but at times its just too hard for him. 3. Comment on the grandmother and her expectations of Ramesh Rameshs grandmother, Nani, is a stubborn old Indian lady who cares too much about her grandsons career. She has a bit of an attitude and an old fashioned behavior. She doesnt really care what other people think about her, but Ramesh finds her embarrassing at times. She seems to talk a lot about her family and she wants people to agree with her opinions. A good example of this could be when she talked to a stranger about Rameshs education and future and comparing him to his sister who seems to be more successful. Her expectations of Ramesh are high and she wants him to be a doctor so she can be proud of him. But when Ramesh told her about his decision she was so disappointed and stubborn that she had a heart attack. 4. Essay in which I discuss to what extent young people today are free to choose how to lead their lives The majority of young people nowadays choose their own profession and way of leading their own lives. School and education plays a big role in this decision on how young people choose to lead their own lives. It might also be based on social heritage; a persons acquisition of knowledge, attitudes and personality traits from parents through their childhood. Back in the days children would follow their parents footsteps; have the same profession throughout generations. This might not be the case anymore. Individualism is slowly taking over and children are becoming more independent and choose how to lead their own lives. In Rameshs case its the same, in a way. Rameshs family wanted him to become a doctor and even paid his fees. Ramesh studied for five years and finally made the decision not to pursue his career as a doctor, but instead work in the mobile phone business. Ramesh obviously didnt want to become a doctor, but his family chose his life and profession for him beforehand and yet he decided not to become one. Ramesh could be considered a pattern breaker in a way because he chose not to become a doctor, even though his parents probably were doctors too.