Essay on Use of the Bird Motif in Invisible Man - 2374 Words

Use of the Bird Motif in Invisible Man Abstract: According to A Handbook to Literature, motif refers to a recurrent repetition of some word, phrase, situation, or idea, such as tends to unify a work through its power to recall earlier occurrences (264). One such type of motif which has seemed to receive less critical attention is Ellisons treatment of birds. Hence, my aim in this essay is to examine the references to birds in Invisible Man, attempting to show how Ellison uses the image of the bird to symbolize various forms of entrapment. In a 1965 interview, when asked his view on the role of the novelist, Ralph Ellison stated the following: I think that the good novelist tries to provide his reader†¦show more content†¦After the debut of Invisible Man in 1952, one reviewer wrote: This is an angry book filled with symbolism which confuses as well as expands its meaning beyond its apparent depth (Byam 284). According to A Handbook to Literature, motif refers to a recurrent repetition of some word, phrase, situation, or idea, such as tends to unify a work through its power to recall earlier occurrences (264). One such type of motif which has seemed to receive less critical attention is Ellisons treatment of birds. Hence, my aim in this essay is to examine the references to birds in Invisible Man, attempting to show how Ellison uses the image of the bird to symbolize various forms of entrapment. In Chapter 1 of Invisible Man, Ellisons unnamed protagonist relates the Battle Royal scene. The narrator describes the white female dancer, saying She seemed like a fair bird-girl girdled in veils calling to me from the angry surface of some gray and threatening sea (Ellison 19). With this metaphor Ellison suggests the lure that the white female represents to the young black boy. In Chapter 2, Ellison builds on the ornithological leitmotif, as the narrator contrasts the rather pastoral college campus How the grass turned green in the springtime and how mocking birds fluttered their tails and sang (34), with the nearby road to the insane asylum, which asShow MoreRelatedCritical Analysis: Ralph Ellisons Invisible Man Essay1651 Words   |  7 PagesEllison’s Invisible Man, we are presented with an unnamed narrator whose values and potentials are invisible to the world around him. Throughout the entirety of the novel, we see the unnamed narrator, also known as the Invisible Man, struggle in an attempt to uncover his identity buried beneath African American oppression and an aggregation of deception. Ellison shows us how lies and deceit may serve as a grave but invaluable obstacle to one’s journey to find their identity. Through the use of imageryRead MoreEarly Expression Of Religious Art1597 Words   |  7 Pageswhen a danger was threatening th e very existence of the whole tribe. God created their world, visible and invisible. The invisible world is inhabited by all sorts beings: spirits, (gentle or evil), ancestors who passed to the invisible world after their death. The beings in the invisible world could be called upon for assistance. The ordinary life of the visible world was entrusted to the invisible world beings by God. Therefore Africans would invoke them, pray to them, offer sacrifices to them. CarvedRead MoreInvisible, Invisible Man, By Ralph Ellison1994 Words   |  8 PagesInvisible Race and Gender in Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison In Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, the unnamed narrator shows us through the use motifs and symbols how racism and sexism negatively affect the social class and individual identity of the oppressed people. Throughout the novel, the African American narrator tells us the story of his journey to find success in life which is sabotaged by the white-dominated society in which he lives in. Along his journey, we are also shown how the patriarchyRead More Invisible Race and Gender in Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison2385 Words   |  10 PagesIn Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, the unnamed narrator shows us through the use motifs and symbols how racism and sexism negatively affect the social class and individual identity of the oppressed people. Throughout the novel, the African American narrator tells us the story of his journey to find success in life which is sabotaged by the white-dominated society in which he lives in. Along his journey, we are also shown how the patriarchy oppresses all of the women in the novel through the narrator’sRead MoreAchebes Portrayal of Women in Igbo Society2679 Words   |  11 Pagesoppressed group with no power. Women of the Igbo tribe were terribly mistreated, and had no respect outside their role as being a mother or a wife. In the novel, the author analyzes the destruction of African culture by the appearance of the white man in terms of the destruction of the bonds between individuals and their society(Chun, par1). I noticed that in the story the author explains the role of women in pre-colonial Africa, by telling stories of how women handle their business in Igbo societyRead MoreThe Wild Swans at Coole by W.B Yeats3540 Words   |  15 Pagessymbolic of the transitory nature of a love affair, again another aspect of Yeats’ life to be saddened about when reminiscing- his several proposals and at that several rejects by his one true love Maud Gonne. These attitudes are enhanced by Yeats’ use of techniques throughout the poem. In the opening stanza Yeats depicts the setting. Personification of ‘trees’ as they are ‘in their autumn beauty’ creates an immediate image of reality and serenity whilst the descriptive ‘beauty’ creates an idyllicRead MoreMorgan Le Fay5287 Words   |  22 PagesMacha, and Nemain. Scottish Tales The treacherous whirlpool in the Inner Hebrides, commonly known as the Corryveckan, is also known as â€Å"Morrigan’s Cauldron†. Manx Tale In Manx, there is a legend of a mermaid who lived in a creek on the Isle of Man. A young boatman fell in love with her and brought her an offering of apples, even planting an apple tree near the shore for her. It is said that he eventually left, and she wandered the shores looking form him in vain. Apples and Mermaids are bothRead MoreA Dialogue of Self and Soul11424 Words   |  46 Pagesto be able to leave the house, the narrator continues: ‘dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight . . . humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority’ (ch. 1).1 As many critics have commented, Charlotte Brontà « consistently uses the opposed properties of ï ¬ re and ice to characterize Jane’s experiences, and her technique is immediately evident in these opening passages.2 For while the world outside Gateshead is almost unbearably wintry, the world within is claustrophobic,Read MoreRomanticism and Modernism as Strange Bedfellows: A Fresh Look at Jack Kerouacs On the Road12240 Words   |  49 Pagesbrothels of drunken prostitutes, and crippling marijuana hallucinations. These three thematic subjects of the novel—Dean, the west, and Mexico will comprise the basis of this argument. They were chosen for their sense of duality in analyzing the use of romanticism and modernism in the novel, and the basic significance each one contributes to novel’s composition as well as its portrayal of a search for meaning and a sense of identity. The three will illustrate how the novel’s romantic/modernisticRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesresolved is one within the protagonist’s psyche or personality. External conflict may reflect a basic opposition between man and nature (such as in Jack London’s famous short story â€Å"To Build a Fire† or Ernest Hemingway’s â€Å"The Old Man and the Sea†) or between man and society (as in Richard Wright’s â€Å"The Man Who Was Almost a Man†). It may also take the form of an opposition between man and man (between th e protagonist and a human adversary, the antagonist), as, for example, in most detective fiction. Internal

The Role of Fate in Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet

Theres no real consensus among Shakespearean scholars about the role of fate in Romeo and Juliet. Were the star-crossd lovers doomed from the start, their sad futures determined before they even met? Or are the events of this famed play a matter of bad luck and missed chances? Lets take a look at the role of fate and destiny in the story of the two teenagers from Verona whose feuding families cant keep them apart.  Ã‚   The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliets story begins in the streets of Verona. Members of two feuding families, the Montagues and Capulets, are in the midst of a brawl. When the fight is over, two young men of the Montague family (Romeo and Benvolio) agree to secretly attend a Capulet ball. Meanwhile, young Juliet of the Capulet family is also planning to attend the same ball. Romeo and Juliet meet at the ball and instantly fall in love. Each is horrified to learn that their love is forbidden, but they nevertheless secretly marry. A few days later, in another street brawl, a Capulet kills Romeos dear friend Mercutio, and Romeo, enraged, in turn, kills the Capulet. Romeo flees and is banned from Verona. Meanwhile, however, friends help him and Juliet to spend their wedding night together. After Romeo leaves the next morning, Juliet is counseled to drink a potion that will make her appear to be dead. After she is laid to rest, Romeo will rescue her from the crypt and they will live together in another city. Juliet drinks the potion, but because Romeo doesnt learn of the plot, he believes she is really dead. Seeing her dead, he kills himself. Juliet wakes, sees Romeo dead, and kills herself. The Theme of Fate in Romeo and Juliet The story of Romeo and Juliet asks the question are our lives and destinies preordained? While it is possible to see the play as a series of coincidences, bad luck, and bad decisions, most scholars see the story as an unfolding of events predetermined by fate.   In the opening lines of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare allow the audience to be party to his characters’ destiny. We learn early on what is going to happen to the title characters: â€Å"a pair of star-crossd lovers take their life.† Throughout the story, the words of the play encourage the audience to think about fate and to what extent our actions and outcomes are preordained.Before the Capulets party, in Act 1, Scene 3, Romeo is already feeling that fate is planning his doom. He wonders if he should attend the party, as my mind misgives/Some consequence yet hanging in the stars.  Ã‚  When Mercutio shouts â€Å"a plague on both your houses† in Act 3, Scene 1, hes foreshadowing whats to come for the title couple. This bloody scene in which characters are killed gives us a glimpse of whats to come, marking the beginning of Romeo and Juliet’s tragic downfall.Later, when Mercutio dies, Romeo himself foreshadows the outcome: This days black fate on more days doth depend/This but begins the woe, others must end. The others upon whom fate later falls, of course, are Romeo and Juliet.In Act 5, when he hears of Juliets death, Romeo swears he will defy fate: Is it even so? Then I defy you, stars! Later, in Juliets tomb, as he plans his own death, Romeo says: O, here/Will I set up my everlasting rest,/And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars/From this world-wearied flesh. This brave defiance of fate is especially heartbreaking because Romeos suicide is the event that actually leads to Juliets death. The idea of fate permeates many of the events and speeches in the play. Romeo and Juliet see omens throughout the play, continually reminding the audience that the outcome will not be a happy one. Their deaths are a catalyst for change in Verona: The dueling families are united in their grief and create a political shift in the city. Perhaps Romeo and Juliet were  fated to love  and die for the greater good of Verona. Were Romeo and Juliet Victims of Circumstance? A modern reader, examining the play through the lens of happenstance and coincidence, may feel that Romeo and Juliets fates were not wholly predetermined, but rather a series of unfortunate and unlucky events. Here are just a few of the coincidental or unlucky events that force the story into its apparently preordained track: Romeo and Benvolio happen to meet and talk about love on the very day of the Capulets ball. Had they had the conversation the following day, Romeo would not have met Juliet.Friar Lawrences messenger to Romeo, who would have explained the plan by which Juliet was to pretend death, is detained. As a result, Romeo doesnt get the message.Juliet wakes just moments after Romeos suicide. Had Romeo arrived just a few moments later, all would have been well. It is certainly possible to describe the events of Romeo and Juliet as a series of unfortunate events and coincidences, but that was almost certainly not Shakespeares intent. By understanding the theme of fate and exploring the question of free will, modern readers still find the play challenging and intriguing.

J.R.R. Tolkien Biography Essay examples - 1521 Words

J.R.R. Tolkien was born in South Africa, although he considered himself a British man throughout his adulthood. He experienced World War I firsthand in the trenches. He was a professor of Old English and other archaic languages and had a strong love for such languages. Tolkien also felt a strong tie for his homeland, England, and desired to create mythology for England. Tolkien was able to write the first modern fantasy novel through his life experiences and his love for archaic languages and British lore. Tolkiens mother, Mabel Suffield, left England in March of 1891 for South Africa to marry a man by the name of Arthur Tolkien. They had been engaged for years; however Mabels father had denied Mabel her marriage due to her†¦show more content†¦As an avid reader, Tolkien was influenced by some of the great writers of his day including G.K. Chesterton and H.G. Wells (Rayment). Mabel decided to join the Roman Catholic Church, splitting herself and the children from both sides of the family. In 1904, Mabel Tolkien was diagnosed as having diabetes. She passed away in November of that year leaving the two orphaned boys destitute. The familys priest, Father Francis took over, and took care of the children. Already, Tolkien displayed a remarkable skill for language. He proficiently learned Latin and Greek and was quickly became competent in a number of other languages, including Gothic and Finnish. He was already busy making up his own languages solely for entertainment (Doughan). At his boarding house, Tolkien fell in love with a young woman named Edith Bratt. Tolkien and Edith were caught in affectionate circumstances and so their relationship was frowned upon. Edith began to distract Tolkiens studies, and so Father Morgan split the young couple. At first try, Tolkien failed to enter college. Tolkien temporarily ended his affection and worked fruitfully and was awarded a scholarship to Oxford (Rayment). While attending Oxford, Tolkien found Edit h Bratt and proposed. Edith accepted the proposal and the couple married in 1906. World War I arrived in 1914. Tolkien saw many of his comrades pass away, and he himself would serve as an officerShow MoreRelatedEssay about J.R.R Tolkien and The Fellowship of the Ring997 Words   |  4 PagesJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien, better known as J.R.R. Tolkien, was born on January third 1892 in Bloemfontein South Africa and was the son of Arthur and Mabel Suffield Tolkien. After his fathers death in 1896 Tolkiens mother moved herself and her two children, J.R.R (at the time called Ronald) and his younger brother Hilary to Sarehole near Birmingham. When Tolkien was twelve his mother died and he and his brother were sent to live with one of their relatives when a Catholic priest became their legalRead MoreThe Story of J.J.R Tolkien700 Words   |  3 PagesThe Story of J.J.R Tolkien Have you ever wondered about all of the great authors of the world? Many great authors lived long before our times due to the huge amount of writing done in earlier years. Many did not even get recognition of their work for many years after their death but there are always acceptions. Some received credit where it was due and some became more popular than deserved and some were caught in the middle. J.J.R Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa on January 3, 1892Read MoreThe Myth about Tolkien Essay1529 Words   |  7 Pagesin the logic that race determines behavior.† (Ibata 2). Many people have tried to perpetuate the myth that J.R.R. Tolkien was racist. They cite various scenes in The Lord of the Rings, in both the books and in the movies. These people are lying or ignorant. J.R.R. Tolkien was not a racist, nor did he ever intend for his novels to be viewed as such. There is plenty of evidence to defend Tolkien from these claims such as: the themes of his novels, like The Lord of the Rings; the clear messages in hisRead MoreEssay about Timeline of Tolkiens Life1274 Words   |  6 Pageswas also known as ‘the war to end all wars.’ Tolkien met Edith Bratt as a teenager when they (both orphans) had lived at Mrs. Faulkner’s boarding house. At the time, Edith was 19 and Tolkien, or Ronald (as his friends called him), was 16. Edith and Ronald were inseparable, but she distracted him from his studies. When Father Francis, Ronald’s guardian, discovered their relationship, he forbade Ronald from seeing Edith until he was 21 and moved Tolkien and his younger brother to different lodgingRead More J.R.R. Tolkien Essay895 Words   |  4 PagesJ.R.R. Tolkien J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) gained a reputation during the 1960’s and 1970’s as a cult figure among youths disillusioned with war and the technological age. His continuing popularity evidences his ability to evoke the oppressive realities of modern life while drawing audiences into a fantasy world. John Ronald Reuel was born on the third of January, 1892, at Bloemfontein, South Africa, where his father, Arthur, had taken a position with the Bank of Africa. In 1895 Tolkien’sRead MoreOn Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings1250 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿ Final Paper- Evaluation Argument A Paper on the Complete Awesomeness of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien A good book according to Jim Menick, a writer for Reader Digest, must have believable and lovable characters, narrative drive, and stories that are entertaining rather than disturbing (Menick). A story’s characters must have depth, and feel real to the reader. If a character seems false, the whole book will. A book has to have a captivating storyline or readers will lose interestRead MoreAnalysis Of The Lord Of The Rings 1934 Words   |  8 PagesDanielle McDermott Dr. Oldakowski College Writing Research Paper 12/3/14 J.R.R Tolkien and WWI Influence in The Lord of the Rings War has affected the lives of people since the beginning of civilization. Even General Sherman, famous for his March to the Sea in America s Civil War, was known for his saying, War is Hell. That idea would only prove to be all too true for the soldiers of World War I. J.R.R Tolkien was among the young men that struggled for survival in the damp and deplorable trenchesRead MoreBilbo Baggins: A True Hero?1410 Words   |  6 Pagesand wealth? In the world of Middle Earth that J.R.R Tolkien has created, Bilbo Baggins shows us that a hero can be quite the opposite. He is offered (and partially set up by Gandalf the wizard) to partake in an adventure as a burglar to help reclaim the bearded Dwarves’ homeland from the dragon Smaug. The little hobbit is frightened by the mere thought of danger, but the adventure in him ignites and causes him to agree. Through a series of events, Tolkien uses Bilbo’s characterization and ethics toRead MoreThe Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey954 Words   |  4 PagesHobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. Accroding to Dictionary.com fantasy can be defined as the faculty or an activity of imagining things, especially things that are impossible or improbable. In a fantasy book or movie, like the definition states things that are used in the movie or the book tend not to be real. But that s un-realness almost makes it seem real and makes you want to be a part of the movie of the book. The movie takes place in Middle Earth. Middle-Earth is a made up place created by J.R.R. TolkienRead More J.R.R. Tolkiens Lord of the Rings Essay2306 Words   |  10 PagesJ.R.R. Tolkiens Lord of the Rings â€Å"One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them† (Tolkien, The Two Towers 233)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the masters of British Literature, J.R.R. Tolkien was able to create a fantasy world with an endless supply of parallelisms to reality. The fantasy world was found in the â€Å"Lord of the Rings.† Tolkien is able to create wonderful symbolism and meaning out of what would otherwise be considered nonsense.

The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - 700 Words

The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki The United States was completely unjustified in dropping the atomic bomb because it was used so we could have a sense of â€Å"power† over the rest of the world. President Harry Truman had paid no heed to his prior statements as to the intended use of the bomb; and not only had it violated the Hague Convention, but it also caused lifelong repercussions for Japan’s land and people. The United States, nearly 70 years later, has yet to apologize to the victims or their families or pay compensation for Japan’s tragic loss; and the United States has not acknowledged that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were carried out in transgression of international law. Section 2, Chapter 1, Article 25 of the Hague†¦show more content†¦He and I are in accord. The target will be a purely military one and we will issue a warning statement asking the Japs to surrender and save lives. Im sure they will not do that, but we will hav e given them the chance. It is certainly a good thing for the world that Hitlers crowd or Stalins did not discover this atomic bomb. It seems to be the most terrible thing ever discovered†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (United States, National Archives and Records Administration) Although President Truman stated that the United States would issue a warning statement, they did no such thing. Only after the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, did the United States admit that they were going to drop another one only two days later. The Truman administration may have felt pressure due to the fact that the atomic bombs had cost $2 billion to develop (Jefferies) so if they did not utilize them within a certain amount of time, then the people may have felt like their money was wasted or that the United States had some ulterior motive for the usage of the bomb. However, even if the Truman administration was receiving public ridicule for spending billions of dollars, the deaths of thousands and thousands of innocent people in no way makes up for it. Not only had the bomb killed 100,000 in Hiroshima in the first ten seconds (Batten) and roughly 37,000 in Nagasaki, but it killed even moreShow MoreRelatedThe Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki1720 Words   |  7 PagesPart A: Plan of Investigation To what extent did the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan justified? The Manhattan project was the reason the bomb, ‘Little Boy’ and ‘Fat Man’ were dropped in Japan. The Manhattan project was created because America was frightened, that Germany was already creating nuclear bombs. (http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki) So, America started the project in 1949. The reason Japan became the target was because, JapanRead MoreHiroshima And Nagasaki Bombing Of Hiroshima1206 Words   |  5 PagesWar Two Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombing The Bombing In 1945, the US dropped 2 atomic bombs on the cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, causing hundreds of thousands civilian deaths. Some people say that this act helped to end the world war and save more lives, but others think that it was not needed and wasn t the cause of the Japanese surrender. Sequence of Events 5th August 1945 President gives approval to use bombs 6th August 1945 Bombing of Hiroshima 9th August 1945 Bombing of Nagasaki 15th AugustRead MoreThe Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki1902 Words   |  8 Pages Hiroshima and Nagasaki altered the course of world events by starting the Cold War, ushering advancements in technology, and by influencing cultures worldwide. Occurring on August 6 and August 9 in 1945, the bombing of the cities set of a series of events that would forever change history. The United States and the Soviet Union emerged from the war as superpowers with seemingly limitless power. Their ideologies, however, contrasted greatly, and the once allied nations would turn against each otherRead MoreThe Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki1474 Words   |  6 PagesNuclear Paper: The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki World War Two is arguably the most famous war in world history. It is remembered as a very tragic and influential historical event across the globe. Many countries joined the war at different times, but the general start date has been narrowed to the period of time between 1931 and 1939. The war was primarily between two main powers; the Axis nations, consisting of Nazi Germany, Italy, and Japan, and the Allied nations, led by Britain and CommonwealthRead MoreThe Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki1593 Words   |  7 Pages Bombing of Hiroshima On August 8th 1945 the first atomic weapon, a fission bomb, was dropped on the city of Hiroshima in an attempt to force the Japanese to surrender in World War II (Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 2009). This event exposed the danger of nuclear energy. This massive explosion demolished 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people. This was only the beginning though, tens of thousands of innocent people died due to the aftermath of radiation exposure for anotherRead MoreThe Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki1165 Words   |  5 Pagesnot entered the war at the time. It wasn’t until after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 that the U.S. had officially declared war on Germany and Japan. After Germany had agreed to an unconditional surrender, therefore ending the war in Europe, the U.S. was still at war with Japan and the U.S, hesitant to risk more American lives, made the difficult decision to drop the atomic bomb over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Both bom bings resulted in the instant deaths of about 135,000 people andRead MoreThe Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki888 Words   |  4 PagesThe Bombing of Hiroshima Nagasaki Would you kill a thousand to save millions? Well the drastic actions taken by the United States did save millions. There were two actions that had to occur to save the millions and end the war, the dropping of the two atomic bombs being the first of their kind were to be the most powerful bomb ever invented using atomic and nuclear forces so create it and packed over 20,000 tons of TNT and was about ten feet long. The bomber that transported and dropped themRead MoreThe Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki1051 Words   |  5 PagesThe bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is one of the most talked about events in human history. It was the first and last time an atomic bomb was used in the history of the world. The bombing did not only mark the end of a battle with the Japanese but provided humanity a first-hand preview into the effects of the man-made device. Since the bombing there have been many discussions such as: who should possess such power, will mankind be the reason for its own d emise, and why did America decide to useRead MoreThe Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki1559 Words   |  7 Pagesalready been devastated by airstrikes. It was hoped that the bombing of Hiroshima with an atomic weapon would cause Japan to finally surrender unconditionally. That did not happen. Three days later on Aug 9, 1945 Nagasaki was bombed with the second atomic bomb. Japan surrendered unconditionally Aug 14, 1945. The United States had already been bombing Japan for years with a net effect worse than the outcome of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but Japan did not show any signs of surrendering. Why did theRead MoreThe Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki1174 Words   |  5 PagesMorality of The Bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki There have been various arguments regarding the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that continually surface as to whether it was necessary or morally right to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. Depending upon whose side of the argument you have heard causes one to question whether this was a morally right or wrong decision that was made. Serious reconciliation is needed due to this event, and both sides of the argument need to be strongly considered

Colosseum Free Essays

The Colosseum is so important to society today, because not only is it a major accomplishment for architecture, with the styles and techniques that were used, It also had a major effect on our athletics that we have today. The Colosseum was such a huge achievement for not only Rome but also other countries like our very own United States of America, because it had an everlasting impact on our society today. The Colosseum was so important to Rome in terms of entertainment and athletics. We will write a custom essay sample on Colosseum or any similar topic only for you Order Now The sound waves of gladiatorial battles, naval clashes, and savage beast wars urrounded the Colosseum, amplifying the crowds’ intensity and excitement to a whole new level. It was such a dangerous area that a lower wall with a railing was surmounted around the arena (Colosseum 1). The Colosseum is located in Rome, Italy, originally called the Amphitheatrum Flavianum. The Colosseum is a symbol of Rome’s power and is one of the world’s greatest wonders. The structure is composed of travertine blocks, a broken down marble rock, forming an ellipse 1,719 feet in circumference and 159 feet in height, with an area 282 feet by 177 feet. Soaring four tories high, arcades with pillars of Doric form the first three stories, as well as Ionic and Corinthian orders, meaning that all three were combined to form a new design. The Doric order being typically used for temples and is the simplest of the three, Ionic was a stockier look that was used usually for small buildings, then Corinthian was the â€Å"leafy’ look that you would typically see at the top and bottoms of pillars. The interior of the building had three sections of marble seats for roughly 50,000 spectators. Beneath the sand were hidden passageways for the Gladiators preparing or battle and some were areas for the beast to remain until they were called upon (Titus Flavius Vespasianus 1). Fans adored Gladiators because they were strong and courageous, they were aware of the consequence, if they did not perform well, being death (Lendon 1). Though many gladiators did die in the arena clashing with another gladiator for respect and possibly even a little fame, most died from the nonfatal wounds that would get infected. For some time the gladiatorial combat was on the rise and then began to fade away, this was around the time the Visigoths invaded Rome in 410. This then set the Empire on a decline resulting in very little money for the gladiator games. There is no mention of the games in the surviving records after the 430’s. The Colosseum however was not deserted. Such massive buildings were far too valuable to be left alone. Builders hauled away the Colosseums stones to repair other structures or to build new buildings, such as churches and public spaces (Lendon 2). When looking at athletics today, there are similarities to the Colosseum. The Stadiums or arenas that are used today all reflect the basic principles of the Colosseum. Sports such as football, basketball, soccer, and track, all consist of an â€Å"arena† where dominate athletes will participate in showcasing their elite and overpowering athletic abilities, competiting either as a team or individually to be the best. Surrounding that â€Å"arena† can compare the Colosseum’s idea of an appropriate spectators view was given but at a price, exactly like our society today. It you nad t money you could afford the best seat in the stadium, and if you didn’t, you had to settle for a seat that didn’t have nearly as good of a view. It is apparent more space as provided for the spectators, because for the sake of being able to entertain a large crowd. Within a stadium are important areas to an athlete, in Rome these areas were passageways within the bottom layer of the Colosseum and the gladiators would be training and working on their combat skills and preparing for their battle (Lugli 1). A more common comparison would be a football stadium in which there are training rooms for the athletes and the locker room where all of the pre-game preparation is done. The athletes put all of their focus on the training, because the sport has major importance to them. The Colosseum impacted more than athletics, but also the Architecture that we see today is still being used and the ideas are being improved. When you look at the Colosseum you can see columns, arches, and other detailed designs within in the walls. Much like the Romans, Americans tend to salvage the good remains of buildings so that they can be used elsewhere. Today there are many buildings that have the same type of construction. Two examples being The White House and the Washington Capitol Building, two buildings represent power much like the Colosseum, both buildings consisting of the similar style columns and arches. You could sit here and try and convince yourself that there are differences between these buildings and the Colosseum, like it not being a similar shape but its not about that, the main importance would be how the structure is being held up and that would be with the strong, sturdy pillars that carry the image of power. This idea has been carried on through schools, Police departments, Courts, and even some banks have had similar structures. All of these buildings symbolize a lot of power over people for their own individual reasons. Though many will debate that perhaps the Colosseum is no longer important to ociety, It can be studied not only for its fascinating architecture but it can be used as a reminder of the sports that we have today and where our modern sports evolved from. The building itself is fascinating in the way it was put together with the lack of technology back then. Today something like that could be built faster and could be even more stable and perhaps more unique. The designs and the arches used could be even more developed and its look could be more eccentric, but acquiring the travertine block was difficult during this era, which adds to the significance of this marvelous building. How to cite Colosseum, Papers

Education And Egalitarianism In America (4737 words) Essay Example For Students

Education And Egalitarianism In America (4737 words) Essay Education And Egalitarianism In AmericaEducation and Egalitarianism in America The American educator Horace Mann once said: As an apple is not in any proper sense an apple until it is ripe, so a human being is not in any proper sense a human being until he is educated. Education is the process through which people endeavor to pass along to their children their hard-won wisdom and their aspirations for a better world. This process begins shortly after birth, as parents seek to train the infant to behave as their culture demands. They soon, for instance, teach the child how to turn babbling sounds into language and, through example and precept, they try to instill in the child the attitudes, values, skills, and knowledge that will govern their offsprings behavior throughout later life. Schooling, or formal education, consists of experiences that are deliberately planned and utilized to help young people learn what adults consider important for them to know and to help teach them how they should respond to choices. This education has been influenced by three important parts of modern American society: wisdom of the heart, egalitarianism, and practicality. .. the greatest of these, practicality. In the absence of written records, no one can be sure what education man first provided for his children. Most anthropologists believe, though, that the educational practices of prehistoric times were probably like those of primitive tribes in the 20th century, such as the Australian aborigines and the Aleuts. Formal instruction was probably given just before the childs initiation into adulthood the puberty rite and involved tribal customs and beliefs too complicated to be learned by direct experience. Children learned most of the skills, duties, customs, and beliefs of the tribe through an informal apprenticeship by taking part in such adult activities as hunting, fishing, farming, toolmaking, and cooking. In such simple tribal societies, school was not a special place. .. it was life itself. However, the educational process has changed over the decades, and it now vaguely represents what it was in ancient times, or even in early American society. While the schools that the colonists established in the 17th century in the New England, Southern, and Middle colonies differed from one another, each reflected a concept of schooling that had been left behind in Europe. Most poor children learned through apprenticeship and had no formal schooling at all. Those who did go to elementary school were taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion. Learning consisted of memorizing, which was stimulated by whipping. The first basic textbook, The New England Primer, was Americas own contribution to education. Used from 1690 until the beginning of the 19th century, its purpose was to teach both religion and reading. The child learning the letter a, for example, also learned that In Adams fall, We sinned all. As in Europe, then, the schools in the colonies were strongly influenced by religion. This was particularly true of the schools in the New England area, which had been settled by Puritans and other English religious dissenters. Like the Protestants of the Reformation, who established vernacular elementary schools in Germany in the 16th century, the Puritans sought to make education universal. They took the first steps toward government-supported universal education in the colonies. In 1642, Puritan Massachusetts passed a law requiring that every child be taught to read. And, in 1647, it passed the Old Deluder Satan Act, so named because its purpose was to defeat Satans attempts to keep men, through an inability to read, from the knowledge of the Scriptures. The law required every town of 50 or more families to establish an elementary school and every town of 100 or more families to maintain a grammar school as well. Puritan or not, virtually all of the colonial schools had clear-cut moral purposes. Skills and knowledge were considered important to the degree that they served religious ends and, of course, trained the mind. We call it wisdom of the heart. These matters, by definition, are anything that the heart is convinced of so thoroughly convinced that it over-powers the judgement of the mind. Early schools supplied the students with moral lessons, not just reading, writing and arithmetic. Obviously, the founders saw it necessary to apply these techniques, most likely feeling that it was necessary that the students learn these particular values. Wisdom of the heart had a profound effect of the curriculum of the early schools. As the spirit of science, commercialism, secularism, and individualism quickened in the Western world, education in the colonies was called upon to satisfy the practical needs of seamen, merchants, artisans, and frontiersmen. The effect of these new developments on the curriculum in American schools was more immediate and widespread than its effect in European schools. Practical content was soon in competition with religious concerns. The academy that Benjamin Franklin helped found in 1751 was the first of a growing number of secondary schools that sprang up in competition with the Latin schools. Franklins academy continued to offer the humanist-religious curriculum, but it also brought education closer to the needs of everyday life by teaching such courses as history, geography, merchant accounts, geometry, algebra, surveying, modern languages, navigation, and astronomy. These subjects were more practical, seeing as how industry and business were driving forces in the creation of the United States. Religion classes could not support a family or pay the debts. By the mid-19th century this new diversification in the curriculum characterized virtually all American secondary education. America came into its own, educationally, with the movement toward state-supported, secular free schools for all children, which began in the 1820s with the common (elementary) school. The movement gained incentive in 1837 when Massachusetts established a state board of education and appointed the lawyer and politician Horace Mann (1796-1859) as its secretary. One of Manns many reforms was the improvement of the quality of teaching by the establishment of the first public normal (teacher-training) schools in the United States. State after state followed Massachusetts example until, by the end of the 19th century, the common-school system was firmly established. It was the first rung of what was to develop into the American educational ladder. After the common school had been accepted, people began to urge that higher education, too, be tax supported. As early as 1821, the Boston School Committee established the English Classical School (later the English High School), which was the first public secondary school in the United States. By the end of the century, such secondary schools had begun to outnumber the private academies. The original purpose of the American high school was to allow all children to extend and enrich their common-school education. With the establishment of the land-grant colleges after 1862, the high school also became a preparation for college; the step by which students who had begun at the lowest rung of the educational ladder might reach the highest. In 1873, when the kindergarten became part of the St. Louis, Mo. school system, there was a hint that, in time, a lower rung might be added. Practicality allowed this change in the high school system. Schools now needed to ready the students for college an even higher form of education instead of preparing them to immediately enter the work force. Americas educational ladder was unique. Where public school systems existed in European countries such as France and Germany, they were dual systems. When a child of the lower and middle classes finished his elementary schooling, he could go on to a vocational or technical school. The upper-class child often did not attend the elementary school but was instead tutored until he was about 9 years old and could enter a secondary school, generally a Latin grammar school. The purpose of this school was to prepare him for the university, from which he might well emerge as one of the potential leaders of his country. Instead of two separate and distinct educational systems for separate and distinct classes, the United States provided one system open to everyone a distinctly egalitarian idea. As in mid-19th-century Europe, women were slowly gaining educational ground in the United States. Female academies established by such pioneers as Emma Willard (1787-1870) and Catharine Beecher (1800-78) prepared the way for secondary education for women. In 1861, Vassar, the first real college for women, was founded. Even earlier, in 1833, Oberlin College was founded as a coeducational college, and in 1837, four women began to study there. In the mid-19th century there was yet another change in education. The secondary-school curriculum, that had been slowly expanding since the founding of the academies in the mid-18th century, virtually exploded. But the voice of practicality cried out again. A new society, complicated by the latest discoveries in the physical and biological sciences and the rise of industrialism and capitalism, called for more and newer kinds of knowledge. By 1861 as many as 73 subjects were being offered by the Massachusetts secondary schools. People still believed that the mind could be trained, but they now thought that science could do a better job than the classics could. The result was a curriculum that was virtually saturated with scientific instruction. The mid-19th-century knowledge explosion also modestly affected some of the common schools, which expanded their curriculum to include such courses as science and nature study. Burial Practices Of The Ancient Egyptian And Greco Essay The purpose of the school, however, is not to re-create an environment of relatively random activity but to create an environment where activities are carefully chosen to promote the development of intelligence. Carefully selected and guided, they become nets for gathering and retaining knowledge. Instead of presenting children with an already packaged study of elementary science, Dewey might well have recommended that they study life in an aquarium. The childs natural curiosity should lead to such questions as, Why does the fish move his mouth like that? Is he always drinking? His search for the answer will lead his intelligence in the same direction as that taken by the scientist the direction of formulated conclusions based on observation of the phenomenon. He will be learning the method as well as the subject matter of science; learning to think as a scientist does. Moreover, the inquiry process need not be confined to one narrow area of knowledge but can be guided naturally by the teacher into investigations of fishing and then, conceivably (depending on the maturity of the young learner), of the role of the sea in the life of man. The barriers between subjects thus break down as the childs curiosity impels him to draw upon information from all areas of human knowledge. Books, films, recordings, and other such tools serve this end. Learning the skills reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic can be made meaningful to the child more easily if he is not forced through purposeless mechanical exercises, which, he is told, are important as a preparation for activities in later life. He should be led to discover that in order to do something he recognizes to be important right now, he needs certain skills. If he wants to write a letter, he must know how to spell; if he wants to make a belt, he must know how to measure the leather correctly. Of course, Dewey was not suggesting that in order to learn an individual must restate the whole history of the human race through personal inquiry. While the need for a background of direct experiences is great in elementary school, as children get older they should become increasingly able to carry out intellectual investigations without having to depend upon direct experiences. The principle of experiencing does apply, however, to the elementary phase of all subjects even when the learner is a high-school or college student or an adult. The purpose is to encourage in the learner a habitual attitude of establishing connections between the everyday life of human beings and the materials of formal instruction in a way that has meaning and application. The measuring and comparative grading of a students assumed abilities, processes that reflect the educators desire to assess the results of schooling, are incompatible with Deweys thinking. The quantity of what is acquired does not in itself have anything to do with the development of mind. The quality of mental process, not the production of correct answers, he wrote, is the measure of educative growth. Because it is a process, learning is cumulative, and cannot be forced or rushed. For Dewey, the educative growth of the individual assures the healthy growth of a society. A society grows only by changes brought about by free individuals with independent intelligence and resourcefulness. The beginning of a better society, then, lies in the creation of better schools. At about the same time that a few pioneering schools of the 1920s were trying to put Deweys theories into practice, the testing movement, which started in about 1910, was working up steam. The child had first become the object of methodical scientific research in 1897, when experiments conducted by Joseph M. Rice suggested that drill in spelling did not produce effective results. By 1913 Edward L. Thorndike had concluded that learning was the establishment of connections between a stimulus and a response and that the theory of mental faculties was nonsense. Alfred Binet, in 1905, published the first scale for measuring intelligence. During the 1920s, children began to be given IQ (intelligence quotient) and achievement tests on a wide scale and sometimes were carefully grouped by ability and intelligence. Many of the spelling and reading books they used, foreshadowing the 1931 Dick and Jane readers, were based on controlled vocabularies. After the shock Americans felt when the Soviets launched the first space satellite (Sputnik) in 1957, criticism of the schools swelled into loud demands for renewed emphasis on content mastery. The insistence on cognitive performance and excellence accomplished four things. It increased competitive academic pressures on students at all levels. It stimulated serious and sustained interest in preschool education, which manifested itself in various ways from the revival of the Montessori method in the 1960s to the preschool television series Sesame Street in 1969. In addition, it created a new interest in testing, this time in such forms as national assessments of student performance, experiments with programmed materials, and attempts to gauge when children could begin to read. And it stimulated interest in the application of technology and instructional systems to education as a means of improving student instruction. It was practical to open up new avenues of education the United States was in competition with the Soviet Union. The Space Race was well on its way and America needed to change the way they learned. And practicality was the key. From the 18th century onward, as knowledge of the world increased, new subjects had been added and old ones split up into branches. Later, new combinations of courses resulted from the attempt to put the scattered pieces of knowledge back together again. The purpose was to make knowledge more rational and meaningful so that it could be understood instead of mechanically memorized. It also encouraged young learners to begin to think and inquire as scholars do. In other words, many of the new programs developed for use in the schools, particularly in the 1960s, stressed the inquiry approach as a means of mastering a body of knowledge and of creating a desire for more knowledge. Resistance to the 1954 United States Supreme Court decision terminating segregation placed the schools in the middle of a bitter and sometimes violent dispute over which children were going to attend what schools. By 1965, when a measure of genuine integration had become a reality in many school districts, the schools again found themselves in the eye of a stormy controversy. This time the question was not which children were going to what schools but what kind of education society should provide for the students. The goal of high academic performance, which had been revived by criticisms and reforms of the 1950s and early 1960s, began to be challenged by demands for more humane, relevant, and pressure-free schooling. Many university and some high-school students from all ethnic groups and classes had been growing more and more frustrated some of them desperately so over what they felt was a cruel and senseless war in Vietnam and a cruel, discriminatory, competitive, loveless society at home. They demanded curriculum reform, improved teaching methods, and greater stress and action on such problems as overpopulation, pollution, international strife, deadly weaponry, and discrimination. Pressure for reform came not only from students but also from many educators. While students and educators alike spoke of the need for greater relevance in what was taught, opinions as to what was relevant varied greatly. The blacks wanted new textbooks in which their people were recognized and fairly represented, and some of them wanted courses in black studies. They, and many white educators, also objected to culturally biased intelligence and aptitude tests and to academic college entrance standards and examinations. Such tests, they said, did not take into account the diverse backgrounds of students who belonged to ethnic minorities and whose culture was therefore different from that of the white middle-class student. Whites and blacks alike also wanted a curriculum that touched more closely on contemporary social problems and teaching methods that recognized their existence as individual human beings rather than as faceless robots competing for grades. Alarmed by the helplessness and hopelessness of the urban ghetto schools, educators began to insist on curricula and teaching methods flexible enough to provide for differences in students social and ethnic backgrounds. In this way, egalitarianism entered into the education system. Rather than keeping whites and blacks segregated in the schools, egalitarianists provided a way for the two groups to co-exist equally. In this case, the standards were raised instead of lowered in order to promote this new equality. Previously, whites and blacks studied on very different levels. Unfortunately, blacks were not given the same opportunities as whites were and they did not receive the attention needed to improve the environment in which they studied. Things changed, however, when egalitarianists raised the standards to promote equality. Clearly, the American education system has changed drastically over the years. From one-room schoolhouses to acres of college campus.. . from Pestalozzi to Dewey from simple religious studies to graduate programs, education has been influenced by many different factors, such as egalitarianism, wisdom of the heart, and most importantly, practicality. Necessity is the mother of invention, they say Just as practicality is the mother of educational reform.Education Essays