Movie Reviewed Phenomenon Essays - English-language Films, Films

movie reviewed: phenomenon approach adopted: humanist/ slightly auteurist John Travolta. Those two words used to send millions of women (and men) all around the world into a dancing frenzy back in the seventies. He could claim credit for the modern equivalent of the estrogen brigades (for the net crazy "X-philes") of Fox Mudler and Assistant Director Skinner. But nowadays, equipped with a paunch and that same disarming smile, he is proving himself to be more than a passing fever. Together with the great cast of this latest offering from the Disney studios, Travolta lifts "Phenomenon" (tele-kinetically, no less) above the mass of mediocre summer releases. For doubting thomases who thought his brilliant gun-slinging portrayal in "Pulp Fiction" was just "luck of the draw", his portrayal of a simpleton with nothing but heart should re-categorise Travolta from "comeback kid" to "talented actor"; he did not allow "Phenomenon" to degenerate into "Forrest Gump Part 2". The similarities are obvious: a nice, simple fellow earns the favour of Lady Luck and does extraordinary things. Yet, that's all there is. "Phenomenon" packs a higher reality-density than "Gump". Countless scenes in "Gump" had me trying to pull wool over my eyes just to stop myself from laughing at the sheer ludicrousness. Despite the fact that going to the movies is about the suspension of disbelief, it should never be equated with treating the audiences as hoards after hoards of idiots. George Malley (Travolta), on the other hand, comes across very naturally (and believably) as a small town simpleton who doesn't know what to make of his very strange birthday "present". One flash of light and he flips through calculus books in a flash. It's not heavenly intervention, but unleashing the possibility of what the mind is truly capable of. Yet, George quickly learns that he isn't capable of something: affecting what other people think. Small-town insecurities and parochialism soon turn once friends into dumber-than-simpleton fools; with the exception of three very well casted characters. Kyra Sedgwick plays Lace, George's love interest. The agony of having gone through the loss of her perfect family show through her smiles. Despite being intent on keeping George at arms' length, head-strong Lace falls in love with George, with no small help from her two precocious kids. Gerard Dipego's choice of the two kids as parallels and inversions of the adults' relationship is simply brilliant. It is the little girl who extends herself to George when Lace plays the silent, "I want to keep my life simple" girl. Lace's little boy, however, displays a careful attitude towards George. Both kids externalise, through inversion, the tension between George and Lace. It is an extremely in-your-face thematic twist that utilises brilliant irony; made more awe-inspiring for the fact that it doesn't degenerate into black humour. Forest Whitaker plays Nathan Pope, George's frequency band/ FM/ AM-dabbling friend. Last seen behind the cameras as the director of "Waiting To Exhale", Whitaker's small but important role lets us in on the tiny world of the small town person. One hobby, one obsession is all their little brains can take. Constantly chanting Supreme's hits (which I unabashedly sang along to), he displays a fear of change and of learning new things. Despite these "shortcomings", his innate far-sightedness extends beyond the narrow-minded and cloistered Northern Californian townsfolk psyche. His unflinching friendship to George is sufficient testimony to it. And then there is Robert Duvall as Doc. His recognition of his own feelings and his courage in expressing them carves yet another facet into this movie about the human spirit. Though the emphasis on George did marginalise Duvall's character and waste his talent somewhat, the incredible resonance in his little speech justified the inclusion of Doc. Both Nate and Doc shares the same operative sentiment in "Phenomenon" : George did not change. How ironic then, that the theme song by Eric Clapton and Babyface is titled "Change The World". It is another skillful play at the plot and its characters. The chorus goes : "If I could change the world/ I would be the sunlight in your universe/ You would think my love was really something good/ Baby, if I could change the world." In a rather subtle and implicit way, George did change the world. But the "George", the core of his own human identity, never changed. Yet the George that Lace fell in love with wasn't the George that changed the world, but "George" whose love was really something good. The rest of the movie soundtrack is also worth a listen, especially Aaron Neville's rendition of the Van Morrison classic "Crazy Love".

Daniel Harold Rolling, the Gainesville Ripper

Daniel Harold Rolling, the Gainesville Ripper Daniel Harold Rolling, also known as the Gainesville Ripper, murdered five University of Florida students in the summer of 1990. The killings terrified residents of the otherwise sleepy Southern college town and became front-page news for days on end.  After being apprehended, Rolling would be linked to three more deaths in Louisiana and would remain a figure of media curiosity until he was executed in 2006. Early Life Rolling was born on May 26, 1954, in Shreveport, La., to James and Claudia Rolling. It was an unhappy home life, Rolling would later say. His father, a Shreveport police officer, abused him from an early age, both verbally and physically. As a teen, Rolling was a poor student and worked only sporadically. He was also arrested several times for burglary. Apart from these details, little is known of Rollings early life before the murders. One incident, however, stands out. During a heated argument with his father in May of 1990, Rolling brandished a gun and shot the older man. Rolling fled. His father lost an eye and an ear but survived. Death in Gainesville The first murder took place on Aug. 24, 1990. Rolling broke into the apartment of college students Sonja Larson, 18, and  Christina Powell, 17. Both girls were asleep. He attacked Sonja first, who was asleep in her upstairs bedroom. First, he stabbed her chest, then taped her mouth, then as she struggled for her life, he stabbed her to death. He then went back downstairs and taped Christinas mouth and bound her wrists behind her back. He then cut off her clothing, raped her and stabbed her multiple times in the back, causing her death. Deciding that he wanted to leave some kind signature, he then mutilated the bodies and posed them in sexually suggestive positions and left. The next night Rolling broke into the apartment of Christa Hoyt, 18, but she was not at home. He decided to wait for her and made himself at home. When she arrived mid-morning, he crept up behind her, startling her, then attacked her, placing her in a choke-hold. After that, he taped her mouth, bound her wrists and forced her into her bedroom, where he removed her clothing, raped her, then stabbed her in the back multiple times causing her death. Then, as a way to make the scene more horrific, he sliced open her body, cut off her head and removed her nipples. When authorities arrived, they found Christas head on a bookshelf, her torso bent at the waist, on the bed and the nipples placed next to the torso. On Aug. 27, Rolling broke into the apartment of Tracy Paules and Manny Taboada, both 23. Powerfully built, Taboada was asleep in his bedroom when Rolling attacked and killed him. Hearing a struggle, Paules hurried to her roommates room. Seeing Rolling, she bolted back to her room, but he pursued her. Like his other victims, Rolling bound Paules, removed her clothing, raped her, then stabbed her in the back multiple times. Sometime later, the apartment complexs maintenance man showed up for an appointment. When no one answered at Paules and Taboadas unit, he let himself in. The sight that greeted him was so horrible that he turned and left immediately, then rushed to call the police. He later described to the police that he saw Tracys bloodied body on a towel in the hallway, with a black bag placed near the body. When police arrived five minutes later, the door was found unlocked and the bag was gone. The news media was quick to cover the murders, dubbing the killer The Gainesville Ripper. It was the beginning of the semester and thousands of students left Gainseville out fear. By Sept. 7, when Rolling was arrested in nearby Ocala on an unrelated supermarket robbery charge, the Ripper was on the front page of every newspaper. Rollings whereabouts between the time of the last murders and his arrest are only partially known. During a subsequent search of a wooded Gainesville encampment where Rolling had been living, police found evidence tying him to a recent bank robbery. They also found evidence that later would be linked to the Gainesville killings.   TheWrong Suspect The investigation into murders of the five college students led to one of seven main suspects. Edward Humphrey was 18 years old and diagnosed with bipolar disorder. During the same time that the students were murdered, Humphrey was suffering from a bipolar flareup after skipping his medication which resulted in aggressive behavior and violent outbursts. Humphrey had been living in the same apartment complex as Tracy and Manny, but he was asked to leave by the apartment manager after fighting with his roommates. He also harassed people living in the apartment complex across the street. Other similar incidents of Humphreys combative nature surfaced and investigators decided to put a surveillance team on him. On Oct. 30, 1990, he had an argument with his grandmother that grew into a physical altercation with him striking her one time. This was a gift to the police. They arrested Humphrey and had his  bail set at $1 million, even though his grandmother had dropped all charges the same day and it was his first offense. At trial, Humphrey was found guilty of assault and was sentenced to 22 months in Chattahoochee State Hospital, where he would remain until Sept. 18, 1991, when he was released. There was never any evidence found that Humphrey had anything to do with the murder. The investigation was back to square one. Confession, Trial, and Execution Rolling stood trial in early 1991 for the Ocala robbery and was convicted. He was later convicted of three burglaries committed in Tampa shortly after the Gainesville killings had occurred. Facing life in prison, Rolling confessed to the string of murders, later corroborated by DNA evidence. In June of 1992, he was officially charged.   While awaiting trial, Rolling began exhibiting odd behavior that would eventually lead to a diagnosis of mental illness. Using a fellow inmate as an intermediary, Rolling told authorities that he had multiple personalities, which he blamed for the Gainesville killings. Rolling also alluded to the unsolved 1989 murders in Shreveport of William Grissom, 55, his daughter Julie, 24, and his 8-year-old grandson Sean.   On Feb. 15, 1994, just weeks before Rollings trial for the Gainesville murders was set to begin, he  told his lawyer that he wanted to plead guilty. His lawyer warned against it, but Rolling was determined, saying he did not want to sit there while the pictures of the crime scene were shown to the jury. Rolling was sentenced to death in March and executed on Oct. 25, 2006.   Sources Cochrane, Emily, and McPherson, Jordan. All is Well: Gainesville Murder Victims Remembered After 25 Years. Alligator.org. 28 August 2015.Dean, Michelle. The True Story Behind the Horrific Murder Spree That Inspired Scream. Complex.com. 20 December 2016.Goodnough, Abby. Killer of 5 Florida Students Is Executed. NYTimes.com. 26 October 2006.Schweers, Jeff. Gainesville Student Murders: 25 Years Later. Gainesville.com. 24 August 2017.

World history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

World history - Essay Example By the time of the Revolution, they numbered about 10000 in number but regardless of this, they were the largest landowners in the country. Most of the land that the clergy held was done in the name of the Church and given that, this institution was recognized to be supreme in the state, all its members were exempted from payment of tax. The nobility, whose titles were hereditary and, passed down from generation to generation, formed the Second Estate and they too were exempt from taxes, despite their large number. The Third Estate consisted of those people who were from the lower classes of the society and at the top of this group were the bourgeoisie. These tended to find ways of escaping the burden of taxation in various ways and this left the burden on the poorest elements of French society. Moreover, these elements were for a large part responsible for the development of the Revolution because of the oppression they felt from the other Estates. This body was formed during the transitional period of the Revolution after the collapse of the Estates General. The members of the Third Estate, who after growing dissatisfied by the ineffectiveness of the Estates General chose to take matters into their own hands, mainly dominated it. As a result, by means of this dominance came political power and this made some members of the First and Second Estates to join them eventually for their own survival. The formation of this assembly met with stiff resistance from the king, who felt that his power was being eroded. On the other hand, despite this resistance, the assembly continued to meet until it finally came to be officially recognized. This assembly declared the right of man and citizen in France, stating that all men born within its territory was free and equal. This body was later on reconstituted and in its place, the National Constituent Assembly was formed. This idea is a legacy of the Revolution that was inherited from the ideas of the

Michelangelo on the Divine, Universal truth and Beauty Research Paper

Michelangelo on the Divine, Universal truth and Beauty - Research Paper Example elangelo, a renowned artist whose works of early thirteenth century are popular, is a proper example of artists whose works illustrates philosophy behind it. This paper seeks to examine Michelangelo’s works of art on Divine, universal truth and beauty. Michelangelo’s creative work of sculpture in Rome brings about the issue of divine and beauty. We view him presenting the images of the characters in the bible and their actions. We see Adam’s image eating the apple, and besides him there is Eve (Michelangelo 56). Everything that happened in the Garden of Eden is captured by his work. He even goes to the extent of imagining the image of the angel who gave the orders in the Garden of Eden. He further decorates the chapel with beautiful images of Cain and Abel offering their sacrifices and their reactions after the sacrifice. Daniel, Zachariah and Haman are among the characters Michelangelo sculpts in the chapel thus decorating it (Condivi 24). I can imagine the scenery in the chapel accompanied by its divine significance to the ones who see them. The fact that Michelangelo chose to use the characters of the holy bible to do his work signifies some kind of divine connection. The writer of Michelangelo’s biography describes the situation under which Eve sculpted by Michelangelo acts. How she is guilty and fearful of justice and hope for divine mercy. The fact that Michelangelo’s paintings are more beautiful is not something easy. When asked, Michelangelo argue that all the work of paintings is done by his brains and not the hands (Molyneux 78). This implies that Michelangelo frequently prefer to link the philosophical art with his brain. Moreover, he lends himself fully to the source of divine things in his art; the beautiful nature. Each and every thing that is in nature should be looked at with appropriate keenness (Kool 15). It is by observing this nature keenly that Michelangelo came up with such beautiful paint ings. As the saying goes that

Interview of Business Professional Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Interview of Business Professional - Essay Example Although he had a chance of executing the employment alone, he sought to follow the right procedures. The position was eventually filled with the most appropriate person by following employment procedures thus issues of ethical concern were avoided. I would have done the same. The dilemma would have been a violation of the company policy since the company requires that there be at least three possible suitors from which the best is picked. Although I could have had prior experience with the potential employee, following protocols were the right ethical thing to do. In addition, following right procedure would have safeguarded the company and me (Mathis and Jackson 2010). The ethical dilemma did not violate any law or company policy. It is advisable that personal judgment be followed and further official consultations made to avoid ethical conflicts. Choosing between personal conscience and company policies is difficult but it is more appropriate to follow the conscience. Under the same circumstances, I would have acted the same way as my interviewee to avoid ethical

Commensality Defines As Fellowship At Table Sociology Essay

Commensality Defines As Fellowship At Table Sociology Essay Commensality is eating with other people, and commensal eating patterns reflect the social relationships of individuals (1). According to Mennell et al., (1992), the relationship between food, eating, and society will be discussed in a range of ways that include commensality. Until recently, sociologists expressed relatively little interest in what we eat, how we prepare and consume food, how we feel about it and why. Paradoxically, when the relationship between food, eating and society is discussed, this is often in functionalist terms of commensality, that is, the social significance of living and eating together that is thought to lie at the heart of our sociality. Yet, from time to time, changes take place in the way our structures and interactions are perceived and prioritised. In addition, when children opened their lunch boxes, they displayed some of the opportunities and constraints of familial food choices. In effect, home was made visible. The data also illustrated that womens position in the domestic division of labour was intimately linked to the distribution of food, including that consumed at school. In interviews, parents explained that their influence over what went into the box was mediated by several factors which, together, were described in terms of eating compromises or bargains. The combination of (predominantly) mothers ideas about what was nutritionally balanced with their positioning of a snack meal as a stop-gap to the main meal event in the evening, was mediated not only by childrens food preferences but also by what was affordable and practically stored in a lunch box. Most people get married or spend time living with a partner at some stage in their lives. But what effect does this change have, if any, on their eating habits? The transition from bachelor or spinster to young couple represents a major lifecourse change and this paper looks at the role that eating together plays in the lives of a group of young Scottish couples recently married or cohabiting with their partner. The key question here is what role do meals play in all of this and how are eating activities arranged in these households. In an attempt to move the debate on meals beyond the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“traditional family unità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  it considers what eating à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“properlyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  meant for these couples. The paper looks at the importance of the evening meal as a site for sociability in married and cohabiting couples and examines the process of social interaction, focusing on temporal and spatial aspects of eating together as a couple. It reports on what men an d women said in individual interviews and recorded in personal food diaries, contrasting this with their behaviour when they were living separately from their partners (1) A study explained usual meal partners in commensal units and frequency of eating with others in commensal circles among 663 adults responding to a mailed questionnaire in one community. Meal partner data revealed that most respondents ate alone at breakfast, alone or with co-workers at lunch, and with family members at dinner. Commensal frequency data revealed some eating at the homes of other family members, little eating at friends homes, and almost no eating at neighbors homes. Few demographic variations existed in commensal eating, except that unmarried individuals more often ate breakfast and dinner alone and more often ate with friends. These finding suggest that contemporary work-oriented society may lead people to eat alone during the day but share evening meals with family, and that people maintain commensal relationships primarily with family members rather than friends or neighbors. Peoples social worlds appear to be focused on the nuclear family, and family members are al so the people they usually eat with (2). According to findings from a qualitative study of views and understandings of dietary practices in middle class families. Thirty five parents/main food providers of boys and girls aged 13/14 years, living in Eastern Scotland, were interviewed about their and their teenagers everyday lives, food, health and family practices. One of our aims was to understand more about the social and cultural conditions which might be promoting more positive dietary health and physical well-being amongst middle class families. Most parents accounts appeared rooted in a taken-for-grantedness that family members enjoyed good health, lived in relatively secure and unthreatening environments regarding health and resources, and were able to lead active lives, which they valued. Although controlling teenagers eating practices was presented as an ongoing challenge, active supervision and surveillance of their diets was described, as was guiding tastes in the right direction. Parents described attempts to ach ieve family eating practices such as commensality, cooking from scratch, and encouraging a varied and nutritional adult diet and cosmopolitan tastes, though work and activities could compromise these. These middle class families might be characterized as having future oriented hierarchies of luxury and choice, in which controlling and moulding teenagers food practices and tastes was assigned a high priority (3). As well as, Murcott (1988) has pointed out, public and fictional allegiance to the importance of shared meals persists, along with anxiety about their supposed decline. Together, anxiety about what, how, and with whom we eat has surfaced in relation to the health and physical well-being of adults and children and in cultural concerns about the disintegration of family life and values(4). The above mentioned studies illustrate that commensality in school can and does show a variety of formations. This applies also to understandings about parental choice and influence. At Fieldgate School, family influences were revealed more directly because children brought to school visible aspects of their home life, albeit contained in a school lunch box. Such influences were reinforced and thwarted by a variety of other factors, including peer group influence, but overall, parental choice was considered paramount. It should be the responsibility of both home and school, both really. I mean we need food to grow so that should be an educational thing and also put into practice at home via the parents. Food needs to be taught properly. As well as, the experience of becoming the provider of their own food changes the students food behaviors and representations. Diet quality, patterns of commensality and social representations of food provide input for developing healthy diet care and health promotion (5). According to ALLEN et al., (1970) the strongest relations occurred among the nutrition factors and family commensality was the most influential. The degree of family commensality was related not only to increase in food likes and dietary adequacy but also to health and academic performance. Food likes and diet adequacy were both correlated with academic skills, work rating, expectation of success and college preparation. Conclusion: Sharing meals together, both in terms of common understandings about their construction and the social rules which govern behaviour, is thought to be the very essence of sociality. The individualisation of our eating habits, it is claimed, means that both meals, and by implication, critical aspects of our sociality are disappearing (Burnett, 1989). In response, education has been advocated as a mechanism to halt a trend which is thought to threaten our health, our family life, and our sense of social cohesion. Set at the interface between home and school, the above mentioned papers have explored commensality at home and school, and has considered the overlap between the two, using data which prioritise the views of parents and, to a lesser extent children, rather than the perspectives of educationalists, nutritionists, or teachers. Advocates of nutritional improvement in childrens diets have stressed the importance of a school meals service. The discussion of eating provision in scho ol highlights the complex issues underpinning this assertion, not only in terms of nutritional impact but also in relation to the sociality of eating and the cross-cutting effects of institutional practice, socioeconomic advantage and disadvantage (discussed also by Dobson et al., 1994), and cultural preference. As we discussed in the above sections, the strongest relations occurred among the nutrition factors and family commensality was the most influential. The degree of family commensality was related not only to increase in food likes and dietary adequacy but also to health and academic performance. Food likes and diet adequacy were both correlated with academic skills, work rating, expectation of success and college preparation. 1. Marshall DW, Anderson AS. Proper meals in transition: young married couples on the nature of eating together. Appetite2002 Dec;39(3):193-206. 2. Sobal J, Nelson MK. Commensal eating patterns: a community study. Appetite2003 Oct;41(2):181-90. 3. Backett-Milburn KC, Wills WJ, Roberts ML, Lawton J. Food, eating and taste: parents perspectives on the making of the middle class teenager. Soc Sci Med Oct;71(7):1316-23. 4. Murcott A. Sociological and social anthropological approaches to food and eating. World Rev Nutr Diet1988;55:1-40. 5. Alves HJ, Boog MC. [Food behavior in student residence halls: a setting for health promotion]. Rev Saude Publica2007 Apr;41(2):197-204.

Inspector Goole in J.B.Priestley’s play, An Inspector Calls :: English Literature

What is the function of Inspector Goole in J.B.Priestley’s play, An Inspector Calls? An Inspector Calls was written in 1945 by John Boynton Priestley. The play was set in 1912 two years before the first world war so from this their would have been irony as the audience would know. The play is set in a dining room in the Birling’s residence in Brumley, North Midlands which was a fictional industrial city. At the time the play was set the world was a very class conscience place with higher and lower class depending on one thing: money. The country was set up in two categories with the socialists which consists of the Political System in which ways of community and sharing are promoted and capitalists which is the political system which values private ownership and the individual. The country really was involved around capitalist values. For example there was no welfare state. In this essay I will be focusing on the main functions of the inspector. The inspectors role is a key to the plot and conclusion and delivers morals and principles and how the functions of the inspector get used in specific places throughout the play. The play opens with the Birling family and Gerald celebrating the engagement of Gerald and Sheila. It is dramatically effective because you get to see all the characters in one room therefore seeing their personalities, instead of them being introduced one-by-one. They are celebrating and at ease which means they are a little bit drunk. The mood is very relaxed and everyone having a nice time. From the stage directions it says the mood is â€Å"pink and intimate†. We learn from Mr.Birling that he is selfish and a capitalist from his speech. He sums himself up within the opening of the play saying â€Å"that a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own-and-†(act one page 11) this indicates that he is a selfish man and cares for his family only (Mr.Birling is a capitalist). The mood is soon to change from relaxed and chilled to harsh when the inspector arrives. At the last word of Mr. Birlings speech the door bell rings at the right time to create tension, the doorbell ring was purposely put their to create tension and to stop Birling preaching about capitalist views. Its clever even how one word â€Å"and† can be such a tensional word as the door bell rings. In the stage directions â€Å"the lighting should be pink and intimate until the inspector arrives, and then it should be brighter and harder† it changes to as if all the characters were being

Half-Caste and Nothing’s Changed Essay

Following that the third and fourth build up to the short fifth and sixth three line stanza turning round the poem showing that it isn’t him that is half a person but the ones that are biased are. Both structures of the poem are quite different but both do use the structure as a climax. Both poems create different moods maybe because of the period of time. Also Nothing’s Changed is more serious. Half-Caste has both a humorous and questioning mood. ‘Ah listening to yu wid de keen half of mih ear’ makes you think that it is ridiculous and wonder they are not half a person. By saying outrageous things like that John creates a mood. In contrast Tatamkhulu isn’t humorous in ‘Nothing’s Changed’ but in a protesting manner. Half-Caste is in a Caribbean dialect which makes it a quite fast paced poem. The rhythm is relatively exhilarating. The phrase ‘Explain yuself wha yu mean’ is emphasised because of the dialect and is repeated plenty as well. John gives importance to this phrase because he is reaching out to the reader to make them understand why people judge mixed race people to be ‘half-caste’. He doesn’t believe just because they are mixed race that they are half a person and by turning it around in the last stanzas he shows how it feels to go through what he goes through. However Nothing’s Changed has nor a lively or upbeat tempo but more of a slow rhythm because then Tatamkhulu can emphasise most of the words in the poem because of the slow pace to it making the reader acknowledge every word and recognise his aim. The rhythm helps the reader value his rage in various parts of the poem such as ‘and the hot, white, inwards turning anger in my eyes’. Also the four consecutive ‘ands’ in the 2nd stanza before the phrase quoted before really give the anger its climax. Nothing’s Changed captures all the words making you reflect about every line in more depth then usual. On the contrary Half-Caste being in a Caribbean dialect is more dynamic, but in this circumstance it helps the poem. For instance ‘wid de whole of yu eye n de whole of yu ear an de whole of yu mind’ would be difficult to comprehend but reading it promptly and in a Caribbean dialect would make it comprehensible. Both poems paint pictures in your mind of images that John and Tatamkhulu create with their poetry. Nothing’s Changed give details to most of the environment in which the poet go through and come across, like when he is striding above the ‘hard stones’ and ‘amiable weeds’. As a reader you can picture Tatamkhulu looking up from the ‘grasses’ and have a image of a board saying ‘District Six’ but then disappearing like it was never there but just in his mind’s eye. In addition his hands metamorphosing from his accustomed colour to white illustrating his fury, transforming the complete atmosphere very cold. Half-Caste alternatively doesn’t produce images seen by John in real life but generating pictures of examples of features in the world that have a combination like ‘half-caste weather’ or ‘half-caste symphony’. He constructs visions of a ‘cast half-a-shadow’ of a ‘half-caste human being’. Half-Caste uses repetition for its key features, in addition to catch the reader’s attention. It is also in a Caribbean dialect. John exploits the phrase ‘Explain yuself wha yu mean’. He emphasises his point by having a none stop twenty six line stanza which clarifies all his various fusions in life which are a mixture like ‘half-caste canvas’. In contrast Nothing’s Changed uses the structure as a approach to get his key features at certain points. ‘No sign say it is but we know here we belong’ is isolated into a two line stanza. John Agard in a manner has an absolutely different way of expressing his key points. In conclusion both Half-Caste and Nothing’s Changed has very serious issues in which they write about. Both being from the party in which are being attacked. Being from different time periods makes it slightly diverse. Tatamkhulu has been influenced by his culture and background in the way that there were only non-whites and whites in that particular area. Taking that into consideration most non-whites would have despised all whites thinking all of them would be against them so the anger in his poem would explain that. Whereas John’s culture and background does have some bearing on his opinion but he in fact knows that not everyone would think of him as half a person to another human being or any other mixed race individual. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE John Agard: Half-Caste section.

Richards Wright essays

Richards Wright essays Close you eyes and try to visualize a world where economic prosperity and civil rights was the one thing you dreamed about every night? Or, what is your place in a world when your whole race has to face racism? Richard Wright found his place in such a world just like this one. Wright became one of the best writers of his time. "Words can be weapons against injustice," wrote Richard Wright. These words are evidenced by Wrights own career as a successful black writer emerging during a period of racial oppression and economic hardship. He used is short stories, novels, and poetry to show the world what Blacks had to endure. Even more important, however, are the ways Wright wove his themes of human fear, alienation, identity, and dread into the overall texture of his work. Wrights world view was one of social inequalities. Although Wright wrote short stories his novels reveal is world view the best. He all so had very strong Communist believes. Wrights Communist affiliation only compound ed the negative reactions he suffered on account of his stark portrayals of American racism. Wright used is characters to interpret the world in which he grew up in. A lot of his short stories are similar to his on life story. The first part of the Native Son is called fear. According to Edward Margolies the author of The Art of Richard Wright, the first section of Native Son traces all the different kinds of fear that determine Bigger Thomas's actions. Growing up in a world where you have no real place in it, you learn to fear a lot of things. Like majority of Blacks in the early 1900s Wright feared racism. Wrights family was victims of racial acts. When he was young his uncle was lynched. As a result Wright had to stop going to school and move out of the state. Poverty besides racism is the main thing Wright feared and had strong views on. Wrights world view of poverty can be seen in a lot of h ...

Hegelian Dialectics

Hegelian Dialectics Introduction Hegel formulated a method that would be used in resolving conflicts among members of society. He suggested that a conflict would be resolved in three stages.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Hegelian Dialectics specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In his analysis, a thesis would generate a reaction that he referred to as the antithesis. The two would always be in conflict for quite some time before forging a common position, something he termed as a synthesis. In the phenomenology of spirit, Hegel presented the science of experience of consciousness whereby he described the process through which people’s consciousness develops over time. People’s minds go through a number of stages as regards to consciousness. The development of the mind starts with the lower levels and ends with the high levels. This article analyzes how Hegel used the idea of the master and the slave to bring out the conflicts that usually exist among various groups in society. The article situates the reasoning of Hegel in two articles, one being the Second Sex by Simone and the other is the modern woman as a subject by Fanon. Hegel’s Dialectics In his works on phenomenology, Hegel discussed the idea of independent and dependent self-consciousness whereby he talked about lordship and bondage in detail. He also discussed two critical issues related to life and desire. Hegel employed several concepts in analyzing how self-consciousness forms. Through self-awareness, a group of people develop certain knowledge, spirit, and sciences meaning that what people know are always held as true (Hegel 112). Knowledge develops when one consciousness recognizes the existence of another consciousness meaning that conflicts among groups will never take place without each group developing a sense of belonging. Knowledge development, according to Hegel, does not follow the basic rules of science, but instead it dev elops through a phenomenological construct, which has a clear history. This entails a group demanding for freedom after realizing that another group interferes with its interests. Regarding master-slave dialectic, the views of Hegel were that the relationship between the owners of the means of production and the proletariat could be understood through an internal analysis or process, particularly when it occurs in one individual. Moreover, the same could be comprehended through an external process, particularly when it takes place between two people or two groups. Based on his view, whatever takes place in the mind of an individual would be the same thing that would take place in an individual’s life. This means that if an individual feels oppressed in his or her reasoning, there is a high likelihood that such an individual would indeed be oppressed even in normal life.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Hegel was of the view that the objective suppression and objective sense of inferiority would gel to become one thing. The two levels of consciousness are never in harmony and they can even be in conflict to an extent that they fail to agree. The self at this moment is viewed as a foreign object whose existence interferes with proper reasoning. The two types of consciousness would as well perceive each other as animated objects as opposed to equal subjects. Based on this, Hegel concluded that the self does not appreciate the existence of another self. One self views the other self as an ordinary object with an autonomous shape. Due to this, a contradiction emerges, but the self tries to resolve the conflict through negating the other self, using a dialectical method. Since an agreement will not be readily reached, the two will be engaged in constant process of convincing each other. This struggle persists until death, even though no self-conscious ness would want death to take place since it would have fuelled a natural negation. The two forms of self-consciousness try as much as possible to avoid death. Therefore, the two tend to strike a deal to cooperate through constant communication and acceptance of subordination. The master would be willing to negotiate since she understands that life without self-awareness is useless. The slave accepts slavery because of the fear of death. The slave allows he master to control his life. Application of Hegel’s Ideas The second sex is the writing of Simone, which talks about the position of women in history. The scholar observed that women have never been given an opportunity to express themselves socially, politically, and economically due to the presence of men. Men are like masters who understand that life would never be enjoyable without self-consciousness. On their part, women accept their position as slaves since they fear death. Women have always engaged men in several fro nts in order to realize their dreams in society. In her works on history, she notes that reproduction is considered slavery to women because it denies them an opportunity to engage in economic and political development. Men have different views, which are perceived as the thesis since they control the affairs of society while the views of women are believed to be the antithesis because they oppose the position of men. Since the two forms of self-consciousness fear destruction, they will agree to form a working formula, which would result to a synthesis. Under the new arrangement, women would be given adequate chances to participate in economic and political development. Their physical weaknesses would not be used to undermine their positions in society. In the second part of her works, she opposes the idea of marriage since it undermines the position of women in society. Women are mainly relegated to the private domain of the home since their role in marriage is related to performin g domestic chores. Fanon suggested that the white race is always perceived as a superior race because of its physical qualities and skin colour. The black race is viewed as an inferior race, whose major role is to serve the black race.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Hegelian Dialectics specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Since time in memorial, the black race has never occupied its position in society, just like women (Fanon 191). During colonialism, the white race misused the labour of the black race to benefit itself while the black race was simply languishing in poverty. In this regard, the views of the white race are perceived as the thesis since they dictate all forms of life in society. The black race is always in constant conflicts with the white race hence its views are believed to be antithesis. The conflicts between the two races will persist for years until the time when the black race will rise up to chall enge the position of the white race. Since the white race is aware that life without self-awareness is useless, it will decide to engage the black race in talks in order to resolve the conflicts. A relationship would be established, with new ideas referred to as the synthesis. Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin, White Masks. New York, NY: Grove Press, 2008. Print. Hegel, Georg. Phenomenology of Spirit. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1998. Print.

Integrating Social Media into Mainstream News Essay

Integrating Social Media into Mainstream News - Essay Example The social media therefore cannot be replaced with the mainstream news in entirety due to the fact that the social media is still a great deal behind the mainstream news in terms of authenticity and genuineness of its content. This has been implicated time and again by the immense changes which have come about within the related ranks of technological growth and development. Even though the technology has markedly changed and for the better, there still are many apprehensions within the minds of the conservatives and thinkers of the society who believe that social media cannot and will never replace the traditional news methodologies and conventions which have been there for such a long period of time. Hence one comes to the conclusion that the pitfalls are immensely driven in order to understand how the social media has lagged far behind in its race to achieve supremacy over the mainstream news. This is because the mainstream news takes into perspective many different conventions an d routines which the social media does not really pay heed to2. The social media looks at delivering the message of the common man and woman on the ground where more personalization and customization of processes is undertaken. The mainstream news is a collective mesh of all these angles and points of view where emphasis has remained on getting the job done through a pool of news reports, stories and events’ coverage. The social media has therefore been treated differently by distinctive sets of people. This is because they require that the news stories are propagated by renowned institutions and corporations which are more reliable and easily digestible by the audiences3. What is even more interesting is the observation that the social media does not really solve the quandaries that are related with the collective wisdom of the people rather it focuses on the individuals who hail within a singular group or faction for that matter. The real world examples that could be quoted here comprise of individuals who have become famous for leaking news stories and reports over the Internet before the traditional mainstream news has even gotten a clue about the same. This is a very interesting observation that has been much quoted and discussed at length within the relevant circles and thus has been given significance by people from varied strata of life. Some of the more common examples include the live embedding of video, images and sounds over the Internet which is virally transmitted to people4. This is markedly different from what is transferred over the traditional mainstream news where a great of control and influence is exerted by the news makers and news controllers. What is even more significant is how they exert this control to get their point of view across which is exponentially increased within the reigns of the social media phenomenon. Hence a great deal of positive and negative aspects come about when one speaks of the discussion as to whether int egrating the social media into mainstream news would do any good. What this would eventually mean is the fact that this integration shall result in perspectives that are result-oriented and which would do more good than harm in entirety5. How this discussion will be summed up is dependent on how problems need to be tackled which come up close and personal within the related spheres. The

Phil Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Phil - Essay Example He advised the youth to be super historical and unhistorical. Additionally, he emphasized that the condition of being both upper historical and unhistorical usually allows the youth to develop a stable character in terms of religion and art (Nietzsche 60). As the youths avoid basing their lives on the past events, they will overcome a condition referred to as historical malady. This is an important process because it helps youths uphold their culture in the society. Advantages and shortcomings of history to life According to Nietzsche, every person is usually part of the task of existence. It is clear that for existence to occur, human beings need to have knowledge and truth about their past (Nietzsche 1). He still insists that without history, people will lack humanity because narrations constitute the record of self-production. History is important because retaining the culture in a society, as well as, ensuring that young generation acquires useful values such as respect and hones t is fundamental. According to Nietzsche, the historical sense stifles or limits the human creativity by ruining the people’s identity and their meaning in the society. During the process of finding truth and knowledge about the past, deadly facts are sometimes gathered. This is likely to ruin the lives of people (Nietzsche 1). As Nietzsche put it, some of the activities involved in the process of gathering knowledge are usually perverted. This is attributable to the supposition that facts obtained are not applicable in any activity that is likely to change the lives of people (Nietzsche 2). Nietzsche criticizes history because it does not promote life, but employs deadly practices. Effects of excess history Excess history refers to a process that allows an individual to gain knowledge about the past without any intention of applying it. The excess history results in a condition called modern pseudo-culture where historical knowledge is not put to any particular use. After we akening personality, this condition usually turns resourceful people into actors in the society. The excess history depletes the instincts of people limiting them from attaining a certain level of growth or maturity. Nietzsche suggests that in order to increase the capacity for growth in future, it is necessary to emphasize on the past, and connection between the present and the past. This move will tend to direct the society on the best use of the history knowledge that serves life. History should be instrumental in the growth of modernity (Nietzsche 12). Question 2 The Response of Modern Philosophy to the Genesis Account of Human life Using the outline of The Book of Genesis, Kant developed speculations about the beginning of the human history. According to Genesis 4:2, man is said to have been feeding on roots before taming animals or engaging in agricultural activities. Kant points out the slow transition of man from being a hunter to taming animals and engaging in agricultural activities. The beginning of the strife separated people according to their different ways of life. Consequently, people moved to different parts of the world. Some people engaged in farming activities that was characterized by the challenges of unpredictable weather conditions; while others still engaged in hunting because of the availability of extensive grazing land. Since the agricultural activities required the farmers to settle in specific locations, they needed to protect their cultivated land and themselves from