President Ronald Reagans The Challenger Address Essay

President Ronald Reagans The Challenger Address - Essay Example It was a speech given in the White House to console a grieving nation after the loss of the astronauts in front of the world. As expected, the speech was emotionally charged with the President seeming apologetic to the general public. Of all the elements in rhetoric, pathos or emotional appeal were used heavily in the speech. The speech was literally peppered with words of consolation and gratitude in a hope to at least console a grieving nation. It was also a day consecrated for mourning as President Reagan uttered †Today is a day for mourning and remembering. The second paragraph resembles a logos in rhetoric or reasoning that such accidents comes with the job by citing a similar incident in the ground where three astronauts also perished. Perhaps this was an attempt to console the grieving families and the public in general that what happened was not entirely unnatural because similar accident also happened before thus making it more easier accept. This was craftily followed by the speech of remembrance that the nation was forever ingratitude with what they did beginning with citing each of the astronaut’s name and following with the emotionally charged statement such as Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace to impress to the audience that their death was not in vain.

Ferguson Case Study Essay Example for Free

Ferguson Case Study Essay Ferguson biggest reason for drop in income of 1980 was the cost of goods sold. It accounted for $2,568 (U. S. $millions) of cost and expenses on the income statement. The reason for this high cost of goods sold is because of the decline in value of the U. S. dollar in relation to other countries in which the firm was operating in. For instance a good majority of their product was made in England at a time when the pound was at an all-time high which made the cost of selling the good in the U. S. ollar extremely expensive to American firms. Also their operations in Germany were halted because they German mark was appreciating in value at the same time the United States dollar was depreciating which made it too hard to sell the products for Massey- Ferguson at a profit. 2. Massey- Ferguson market value of common stock at the end of the fiscal year of 1980 was 176. 9 million dollars. This number was much lower than its book value of equity because the market was unsure of the company’s ability to pay back its short and long term debt causing a plunge in its market value. The debt was being used to expand its operations before 1980 and because of this the book value of equity in the company was high because they had a lot of assets that they had purchased in the company’s growth period. 3. The Canadian government had a big incentive in helping to refinance Massey- Ferguson Company. They wanted to keep them operating in Canada because they provided a lot of jobs to Canada and because it was politically convenient because an election was about to take place. Another big reason was because Argus Company was invested in Massey – Ferguson and if they had to provide more cash for Massey- Ferguson to not go under they may scale back some of their growth and possibly lay people off or pursue other opportunities elsewhere so that cost of making their products is even lower than Canada. 4. It would be hard for Massey-Ferguson to pay down their debt by issuing equity because of the lack of new ways to pay for the new debt that they are acquiring. Many investors were already weary of the ability for Massey-Ferguson to become competitive again because of the massive amount of debt that they already had. Also borrowing more to pay the debt that is already owed is not a good strategy for reparining a decaying company. Furthermore they had failed to pierce the US market which provided a lot of new revenue and continued to fail at adjusting to foreign markets which were outperforming the US at the time making it hard for them to compete because of the exchange rate between the foreign country and the US firm.

Gun Control is Racial Discrimination Essay -- Gun Control Essays

Gun violence is one of the most serious problems in the United States. Each year in the U.S., more than 35,000 people are killed by guns, a death rate much higher than that in any other industrial nations. In 1997, approximately 70 percent of the murders in the United States were committed with guns. However, ironically, the United States also is the country that has the most gun control laws. Gun control laws generally focus on passing legislation—by local state, or national government—to restrict legal ownership of certain firearms. Seemingly, gun control laws may decrease criminals’ access to guns, but in fact the same laws also have their negative effects. Thus, the controversy over gun control is always heated. But my paper is not about whether guns should be controlled or not. From another angle, looking closely at those gun control laws and their enforcement, we can not only see the criminal problem in America, but also another important social problem in America—racial discrimination. The racial problem of gun control has raised attention of some American scholars in the U.S. For example, a black man, General Lancy, who is the founder of a little organization known as the National Black Sportsman’s Association, often called â€Å"the black gun lobby† said when asked his opinion of gun control: â€Å"Gun control is really race control. People who embrace gun control are really racists in nature. All gun laws have been enacted to control certain classes of people, mainly black people†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Some white men have said almost the same thing. Investigative reporter Robert Sherrill concluded in his book The Saturday Night Special that the object of the Gun Control Act of 1968 was black control rather than gun control. Congress passed the act... ...ontrol certain classes of people†¦Ã¢â‚¬  References: 1. Sam B. Girgus, 1981, The American Self. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. 2. Michael Golay and Carl Rollyson, 1996, Where American Stands. Canada: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 3. Seymour W. Itzkoff, 1994, The Decline of Intelligence in America. London: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. 4. Don B. Kates, Jr., 1988, Restricting Handguns. Durham, N.C.: Duck University Press. 5. Jonathan Rauch, 1994, Demosclerosis: The Silent Killer of American Government. New York: Time Books. 6. James D. Wright, Peter H. Rossi, and Kathleen Daly, 1988, Under the Gun: Weapons, Crime, and Violence in America. Colorado: Sage Books. 7. Zhu Yongtao, 1991, Essentials of British and American Cultures. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. 8. http://www.handguncontrolinc.org/history.htm

Social Studies Form 2

Section A : INDIAN OCEAN 1. The largest ocean in the world is A. Pacific Ocean B. Arctic Ocean C. Indian Ocean D. Antarctic Ocean 2. The line of latitude that divides the world into two is A. Tropic of Capricorn B. Tropic of Cancer C. Equator D. Greenwich Meridian 3. Which stretch of water is found between East Africa and Madagascar? A. Mozambique Channel B. Red Sea C. Arabian Sea D. Persian Gulf 4. Very long ago , the eastern coast of Africa was peopled by a mixture of different tribes who spoke A.Creole language B. English language C. Arabic language D. Bantu language 5. The musical instrument used by Indonesians very long ago was known as A. flute B. valiha C. guitar D. tabla 6. Four thousand years ago , Egyptians used to sail to the country of Punt which is actually A. the coast of Somalia B. Kenya C. Tanzania D. Uganda 7. Four thousand years ago , Egyptians used to sail to the country of Punt which is actually A. the coast of Somalia B. Kenya C.Tanzania D. Uganda 8. From what an imal is ivory obtained ? A. Cattle B. Camel C. Sheep D. Elephant 9. Which one of the following statements describe plantation farming? A. A company like LONRHO cultivating sugar cane on a large extent in Mauritius. B. A planter cultivating vegetables on a small plot of land. C. A small land holder cultivating tea in Mauritius. D. A man cultivating pineapples for his own use. 10. The Arabs travelled in ships called A. Canot `a balancier B.Bateau cousu C. Dhows D. Chinese Janks 11. Why did Vasco da gama sail close to the Eastern coast of Africa ? A. They could stop in any country in case of difficulty. B. They had heard of its great wealth. C. They were the greatest European sailors of the time. D. They wanted to trade with Indians. 12. Why are some tankers not able to pass through the suez canal? A. Because are too big B. Because are too small C. Because the roads are renovated D. Because there was no petrol

Revised GRE

[pic] GRADUATE RECORD EXAMINATIONS ® Practice General Test #1 Answer Key for Sections 1-4 Copyright  © 2010 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo, GRADUATE RECORD EXAMINATIONS, and GRE are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS) in the United States and other countries. Revised GRE ® Practice Test Number 1 Answer Key for Section 1. Verbal Reasoning. 25 Questions. Question 1 Answer: A. In various parts of the world, civilizations that could not make iron from ore fashioned tools out of fragments of iron from meteorites.Question 2 Answer: A. An increased focus on the importance of engaging the audience in a narrative Question 3 Answer: C. speak to Question 4 Answer: A. People with access to an electric washing machine typically wore their clothes many fewer times before washing them than did people without access to electric washing machines. Question 5 Answer: C. insular Answer in context: In the 1950’s, the country†™s inhabitants were insular: most of them knew very little about foreign countries. Question 6 Answer: E. insincereAnswer in context: Since she believed him to be both candid and trustworthy, she refused to consider the possibility that his statement had been insincere. Question 7 Answer: A. maturity Answer in context: It is his dubious distinction to have proved what nobody would think of denying, that Romero at the age of sixty-four writes with all the characteristics of maturity. Question 8 Answer: C. comparing two scholarly debates and discussing their histories Question 9 Answer: D. identify a reason for a certain difference in the late 1970’s between the origins debate and the debate over American women’s status Question 10Answer: D. Their approach resembled the approach taken in studies by Wood and by Mullin in that they were interested in the experiences of people subjected to a system of subordination. Question 11 Answer: A. gave more attention to the experi ences of enslaved women Question 12 Answer: A. construe F. collude in Answer in context: The narratives that vanquished peoples have created of their defeat have, according to Schivelbusch, fallen into several identifiable types. In one of these, the vanquished manage to construe the victor’s triumph as the result of some spurious advantage, the victors being truly inferior where it counts.Often the winners collude in this interpretation, worrying about the cultural or moral costs of their triumph and so giving some credence to the losers’ story. Question 13 Answer: B. settled E. ambiguity G. similarly equivocal Answer in context: I’ve long anticipated this retrospective of the artist’s work, hoping that it would make settled judgments about him possible, but greater familiarity with his paintings highlights their inherent ambiguity and actually makes one’s assessment similarly equivocal.Question 14 Answer: A. a debased E. goose bumps Answer in con text: Stories are a haunted genre; hardly a debased kind of story, the ghost story is almost the paradigm of the form, and goose bumps was undoubtedly one effect that Poe had in mind when he wrote about how stories work. Question 15 Answer: C. patent E. improbable Answer in context: Given how patent the shortcomings of the standard economic model are in its portrayal of human behavior, the failure of many economists to respond to them is astonishing.They continue to fill the journals with yet more proofs of yet more improbable theorems. Others, by contrast, accept the criticisms as a challenge, seeking to expand the basic model to embrace a wider range of things people do. Question 16 Answer: B. startling D. jettison Answer in context: The playwright’s approach is startling in that her works jettison the theatrical devices normally used to create drama on the stage. Question 17 Answer: B. create F. logical Answer in context: Scientists are not the only persons who examine the world bout them by the use of rational processes, although they sometimes create this impression by extending the definition of â€Å"scientist† to include anyone who is logical in his or her investigational practices. Question 18 Answer: C. It presents a specific application of a general principle. Question 19 Answer: A. outstrip Question 20 Answer: B. It is a mistake to think that the natural world contains many areas of pristine wilderness. Question 21 Answer: C. coincident with Question 22 Sentence to be Completed:Dreams are BLANK in and of themselves, but, when combined with other data, they can tell us much about the dreamer. Answer: D. inscrutable, F. uninformative Question 23 Sentence to be Completed: Linguistic science confirms what experienced users of ASL—American Sign Language—have always implicitly known:   ASL is a grammatically BLANK language, as capable of expressing a full range of syntactic relations as any natural spoken language. Answer: A . complete, F. unlimited Question 24 Sentence to be Completed:The macromolecule RNA is common to all living beings, and DNA, which is found in all organisms except some bacteria, is almost as BLANK. Answer: D. universal, F. ubiquitous Question 25 Sentence to be Completed: Early critics of Emily Dickinson’s poetry mistook for simple-mindedness the surface of artlessness that in fact she constructed with such BLANK. Answer: B. craft, C. cunning This is the end of the answer key for Revised GRE Practice Test 1, Section 1. Revised GRE Practice Test Number 1 Answer Key for Section 2. Verbal Reasoning. 25 Questions. Question 1Sentence to be Completed: In the long run, high-technology communications cannot BLANK more traditional face-to-face family togetherness, in Aspinall’s view. Answer: C. supercede, F. supplant Question 2 Sentence to be Completed: Even in this business, where BLANK is part of everyday life, a talent for lying is not something usually found on one’s resume. Answer: B. mendacity, C. prevarication Question 3 Sentence to be Completed: A restaurant’s menu is generally reflected in its decor; however despite this restaurant’s BLANK appearance it is pedestrian in the menu it offers.Answer: A. elegant, F. chic (spelled C H I C) Question 4 Sentence to be Completed: International financial issues are typically BLANK by the United States media because they are too technical to make snappy headlines and too inaccessible to people who lack a background in economics. Answer: A. neglected, B. slighted Question 5 Sentence to be Completed: While in many ways their personalities could not have been more different—she was ebullient where he was glum, relaxed where he was awkward, garrulous where he was BLANK—they were surprisingly well suited.Answer: D. laconic, F. taciturn Question 6 Answer: D. spirituals Question 7 Answer: B. They had little working familiarity with such forms of American music as jazz, blues, and popular songs. Question 8 Answer: E. neglected Johnson’s contribution to classical symphonic music Question 9 Answer: C. The editorial policies of some early United States newspapers became a counterweight to proponents of traditional values. Question 10 Answer: A. insincerely Question 11 Answer: Blank 1 C. multifaceted Blank 2 F. extraneousAnswer in context: The multifaceted nature of classical tragedy in Athens belies the modern image of tragedy:   in the modern view tragedy is austere and stripped down, its representations of ideological and emotional conflicts so superbly compressed that there’s nothing extraneous for time to erode. Question 12 Answer: Blank 1 C. ambivalence Blank 2 E. successful Blank 3 H. assuage Answer in context: Murray, whose show of recent paintings and drawings is her best in many years, has been eminent hereabouts for a quarter century, although often regarded with ambivalence, but the most successful of these aintings assuage all doubts. Question 13 Answer: B. a doctrinaire Answer in context: Far from viewing Jefferson as a skeptical but enlightened intellectual, historians of the 1960’s portrayed him as a doctrinaire thinker, eager to fill the young with his political orthodoxy while censoring ideas he did not like. Question 14 Answer: C. recapitulates Answer in context: Dramatic literature often recapitulates the history of a culture in that it takes as its subject matter the important events that have shaped and guided the culture. Question 15 Answer: E. ffirm the thematic coherence underlying Raisin in the Sun Question 16 Answer: C. The painter of this picture could not intend it to be funny; therefore, its humor must result from a lack of skill. Question 17 Answer: E. (Sentence 5) But the play’s complex view of Black self-esteem and human solidarity as compatible is no more â€Å"contradictory† than DuBois’s famous, well-considered ideal of ethnic self-awareness coexisting with huma n unity, or Fanon’s emphasis on an ideal internationalism that also accommodates national identities and roles. Question 18 Answer: C.Because of shortages in funding, the organizing committee of the choral festival required singers to purchase their own copies of the music performed at the festival. Question 19 Answer: Blank 1 C. mimicking Blank 2 D. transmitted to Answer in context: New technologies often begin by mimicking what has gone before, and they change the world later. Think how long it took power-using companies to recognize that with electricity they did not need to cluster their machinery around the power source, as in the days of steam. Instead, power could be transmitted to their processes.In that sense, many of today’s computer networks are still in the steam age. Their full potential remains unrealized. Question 20 Answer: Blank 1 B. opaque to Blank 2 D. an arcane Answer in context: There has been much hand-wringing about how unprepared American studen ts are for college. Graff reverses this perspective, suggesting that colleges are unprepared for students. In his analysis, the university culture is largely opaque to entering students because academic culture fails to make connections to the kinds of arguments and cultural references that students grasp.Understandably, many students view academic life as an arcane ritual. Question 21 Answer: Blank 1 C. defiant Blank 2 D. disregard for Answer in context: Of course anyone who has ever perused an unmodernized text of Captain Clark’s journals knows that the Captain was one of the most defiant spellers ever to write in English, but despite this disregard for orthographical rules, Clark is never unclear. Question 22 Answer: A. There have been some open jobs for which no qualified FasCorp employee applied. Question 23 Answer: C. presenting a possible explanation of a phenomenonQuestion 24 Two of the answer choices are correct: A. The pull theory is not universally accepted by scie ntists. B. The pull theory depends on one of water’s physical properties. Question 25 Answer: E. the mechanism underlying water’s tensile strength This is the end of the answer key for Revised GRE Practice Test 1, Section 2. Revised GRE Practice Test Number 1 Answer Key for Section 3. Quantitative Reasoning. 25  Questions. Question 1 Answer: A. Quantity A is greater. Question 2 Answer: BQuantity B is greater. Question 3 Answer: BQuantity B is greater. Question 4 Answer: D.The relationship cannot be determined from the information given. Question 5 Answer: D. The relationship cannot be determined from the information given. Question 6 Answer: A. Quantity A is greater. Question 7 Answer: D. The relationship cannot be determined from the information given. Question 8 Answer: C. The two quantities are equal. Question 9 Answer: D. The relationship cannot be determined from the information given. Question 10 Answer: B. [pic] three halves Question 11 Answer: The answer to q uestion 11 consists of four of the answer choices. A. 12 ° B. 15 ° C. 5 ° D. 50 ° Question 12 Answer: A. 10 Question 13 Answer: D. 15 Question 14 Answer: A. 299 Question 15 Answer: In question 15 you were asked to enter either an integer or a decimal number. The answer to question 15 is 3,600. Question 16 Answer: A. 8 Question 17 Answer: In question 17 you were asked to enter either an integer or a decimal number. The answer to question 17 is 250. Question 18 Answer: C. Three Question 19 Answer: B. Manufacturing. Question 20 Answer: A:5. 2 Question 21 Answer: B. More than half of the titles distributed by M are also distributed by L.Question 22 Answer: A. c  +  d Question 23 Answer: In question 23 you were asked to enter either an integer or a decimal. The answer to question 23 is 36. 5. Question 24 Answer: D. [pic] two fifths Question 25 Answer: D. [pic] three halves This is the end of the answer key for Revised GRE Practice Test 1, Section 3. Revised GRE Practice Test Number 1 Answer Key for Section 4. Quantitative Reasoning. 25   Questions. Question 1 Answer: A. Quantity A is greater. Question 2 Answer: D. The relationship cannot be determined from the information given. Question 3 Answer: D.The relationship cannot be determined from the information given. Question 4 Answer: D. The relationship cannot be determined from the information given. Question 5 Answer: B. Quantity B is greater. Question 6 Answer: A. Quantity A is greater. Question 7 Answer: C. The two quantities are equal. Question 8 Answer: A. Quantity A is greater. Question 9 Answer: C. The two quantities are equal. Question 10 Answer: D:j  k  +  j Question 11 Answer: In question 11 you were asked to enter a fraction. The answer to question 11 is the fraction [pic] one over four. Question 12Answer: The answer to question 12 consists of four of the answer choices. B. $43,350 C. $47,256 D. $51,996 E. $53,808 Question 13 Answer: E. 676,000 Question 14 Answer: E. [pic] s squared m inus p squared Question 15 Answer: B. [pic] k minus 1 Question 16 Answer: B. 110,000 Question 17 Answer: B:3 to 1 Question 18 Answer: E. 1,250 Question 19 Answer: C:948 Question 20 Answer: The answer to question 20 consists of two answer choices. B. Students majoring in either social sciences or physical sciences constitute more than 50 percent of the total enrollment.C. The ratio of the number of males to the number of females in the senior class is less than 2 to 1. Question 21 Answer: B. [pic] 33 and 1 third percent Question 22 Answer: A. 12 Question 23 Answer: D. 4,400 Question 24 Answer: In question 24 you were asked to enter either an integer or a decimal number. The answer to question 24 is 10. Question 25 Answer: The answer to question 25 consists of 5 answer choices. B. 3. 0 C. 3. 5 D. 4. 0 E. 4. 5 F. 5. 0 This is the end of the answer key for Revised GRE Practice Test 1, Section 4.

Good TOEFL Scores for Top Universities

Good TOEFL Scores for Top Universities The TOEFL, or Test of English as a Foreign Language, is designed to measure the English proficiency of non-English speaking people. Many universities require this test for admittance for people who typically speak a language other than English. Although the test isnt necessarily a competitive exam (college admissions officers arent using the scores like they would the GRE or SAT), it is an incredibly important  exam because a good TOEFL score is not subjective.  Among the 8,500 universities that accept TOEFL scores, each university to which you submit your TOEFL score has a published minimum score they accept. There are no, Is my score good enough? worries because universities and colleges publish the absolute minimum scores they will accept on this exam. The TOEFL process is pretty straight-forward. The only reason youd need to retake the test is if you did not make the minimum score requirement of the university or college to which you are thinking of applying.   To find out the minimum TOEFL score requirement for the school to which youre interested in applying, contact the universitys admissions office or check out the website. Each school typically publishes their minimum TOEFL requirements.   Here are a few examples of good TOEFL scores, based on the best universities in the United States. Good TOEFL Scores for Top Public Universities University of California - Berkeley TOEFL iBT: 68TOEFL Paper:570 University of California - Los Angeles TOEFL iBT: 87TOEFL Paper:560 University of Virginia TOEFL iBT: 80TOEFL Paper:550 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor TOEFL iBT: 88 - 106TOEFL Paper: 570 - 610 University of California - Berkeley TOEFL iBT: 79TOEFL Paper:550 Good TOEFL Scores for Top Private Universities Princeton University TOEFL iBT: 108TOEFL Paper: does not typically accept Harvard University TOEFL iBT: 100TOEFL Paper: 600 Yale University TOEFL iBT: 100TOEFL Paper:600 Columbia University TOEFL iBT: 100TOEFL Paper:600 Stanford University TOEFL iBT: 100TOEFL Paper:600 TOEFL Score Info for the Internet-Based Test As you can see from the numbers above, the TOEFL iBT is scored much differently from the paper-based test. Below, you can see the ranges for high, intermediate and low TOEFL scores for the test taken online.   Reading Skills: High: 22-30 points; Intermediate: 15-21 points; Low: 0-14 pointsListening Skills: High: 22-30 points; Intermediate: 14-21 points; Low: 0-13 pointsSpeaking Skills: Good: 3.5-4.0; Fair: 2.5-3.0; Limited: 1.5-2.0; Weak: 0-1.0Writing Skills: Good: 4.0-5.0; Fair: 2.0-3.0; Limited: 1.0-2.0 The Speaking and Writing sections are converted to a 0-30 scale like the Reading and Listening sections. If you add them all together, which is how the scores are tabulated, the highest total score possible you could receive is a 120 on the TOEFL IBT.   TOEFL Score Info for the Paper-Based Test The TOEFL paper test is quite different. Here, scores range from from 31 on the low end to 68 on the highest end of three separate sections. Hence, the highest total score you can hope to achieve is a 677 on the paper-based test.   Listening Comprehension: Score range: 31 (low) - 68 (high)Structure/Written Expression:Score range: 31 (low) - 68 (high)Reading Comprehension: Score range: 31 (low) - 67 (high)Total Score:  Score range: 310 (low) - 677 (high) Boosting Your TOEFL Score If you are on the fringe of getting the TOEFL score you would like, but have taken the test or numerous practice tests, and just arent quite getting to that minimum, then consider using some of these test prep options to help you out. First, figure out which method of test prep suits you best - an app, a book, a tutor, a test prep course or a combination. Then, use the TOEFL Go Anywhere free prep offered by ETS to get started on preparing for this exam the right way.

Free Essays on WOMEN OF THE MIDDLE AGES

â€Å"WOMEN OF THE MIDDLE AGES† Dr. James Pavlin Women of the Middle Ages Many argue and assume that the position of women hardly changed throughout the Middle Ages. According to various researchers and historians, there was definitely some form of a revolution toward the female sex. Up until the twelfth century, women were ignored in literature. Either they were briefly mentioned in passing, or they were used to describe subservient status. They had no say in marriage issues and were unable to inherit any possessions. Many other restrictions prohibited women to have many of the rights and freedoms males were able to exercise and enjoy. According to Jo Ann McNamara and Suzanne F. Wemple, â€Å"Women were able to ensure their independence within the limits of whatever social sphere they occupied by their control of some property of their own† (Sherman 145). This proves that the lives of the women of the Middle Ages had greatly improved from previous centuries. All though many aspects of their lives seemed to be changing for the better, there was always that one that would place a restraint on the women of that society. This minor restraint was social class. Social status influenced the sort of life a medieval woman might lead. Many women either belonged to the upper class, referred to as the urban patriciate class, or to the lower class, named the artisan class. The women who belonged to the urban patriciate were very isolated from society and were by far, the most economically dependent. As widows, these women were given the right to inherit property, sign contracts, and were able to sue anyone in court, on their own behalf. The patrician widows were able to become investors, unlike the women of the artisan class. All though of a lower social status, the roles of women among the artisan class were equally important to the society of the Middle Ages. Among the interdependent peasant communities, medieval coun... Free Essays on WOMEN OF THE MIDDLE AGES Free Essays on WOMEN OF THE MIDDLE AGES â€Å"WOMEN OF THE MIDDLE AGES† Dr. James Pavlin Women of the Middle Ages Many argue and assume that the position of women hardly changed throughout the Middle Ages. According to various researchers and historians, there was definitely some form of a revolution toward the female sex. Up until the twelfth century, women were ignored in literature. Either they were briefly mentioned in passing, or they were used to describe subservient status. They had no say in marriage issues and were unable to inherit any possessions. Many other restrictions prohibited women to have many of the rights and freedoms males were able to exercise and enjoy. According to Jo Ann McNamara and Suzanne F. Wemple, â€Å"Women were able to ensure their independence within the limits of whatever social sphere they occupied by their control of some property of their own† (Sherman 145). This proves that the lives of the women of the Middle Ages had greatly improved from previous centuries. All though many aspects of their lives seemed to be changing for the better, there was always that one that would place a restraint on the women of that society. This minor restraint was social class. Social status influenced the sort of life a medieval woman might lead. Many women either belonged to the upper class, referred to as the urban patriciate class, or to the lower class, named the artisan class. The women who belonged to the urban patriciate were very isolated from society and were by far, the most economically dependent. As widows, these women were given the right to inherit property, sign contracts, and were able to sue anyone in court, on their own behalf. The patrician widows were able to become investors, unlike the women of the artisan class. All though of a lower social status, the roles of women among the artisan class were equally important to the society of the Middle Ages. Among the interdependent peasant communities, medieval coun...