Three Men in Boat Essay Example for Free

Three Men in Boat Essay The book is narrated in the first person by the author, who is referred to as J by his friends. It begins with J, and his friends harris and George, deciding to take a boat trip up the Thames from Kingston to oxford, and then back again (the book was written in 1888, when boating on the Thames was enormously popular). They are unanimous in agreeing that this is a good idea (except for Js dog, Montmorency, who doesnt care for boating). They have trouble getting packed, and in the morning Harris and J take a train to Kingston, where the boat is waiting for them. George is joining them later when he has finished his work at the bank. They row up past Hampton Court, where Harris describes an incident when he got lost in Hampton Court maze with some friends (this is one of the funniest parts of the book). George joins the party, and they have trouble towing the boat, and later they have even more trouble trying to put the cover over the boat for the night. They all get fed up with each other, but cheer up when they have a good Tea. There is a long passage about the signing of Magna Carta (there are several passages like this in the book, where the author gets serious for a bit). They have various other mishaps as they travel up the river, like the time when they are having tinned pineapple for tea, and cant find the tin-opener. They spend a lot of time trying to open it with no success. And there are stories of other trips they made up the river, like the time J was ou tin a boat with his cousin, and they thought they were going crazy because they couldnt find Wallingford Lock (it turns out the lock had been demolished some years earlier). And there ere is the time when they are in an inn which has a stuffed trout in a case on the wall, and several different people come in and claim to have been the one who caught it, but when George stands on a chair to look at it, he knocks it down and it breaks it turns out to be plaster of Paris! When they reach Oxford, and start to travel back, it starts to rain, and they arent enjoying themselves so much. So they abandon the boat and take the train back to London, where they go to a show and then have a good dinner in a restaurant. They make a toast Heres to three men well out of a boat!

History Of Oslo Essay Example for Free

History Of Oslo Essay Oslo is Norway’s capital city. Oslo came from the Old Norse word â€Å"†¦os meaning mountain and lo meaning plain or river â€Å". In other words, Oslo can be described as a place beneath the mountains (â€Å"Oslo† 2006). People of German origin may have settled in the settlements along the Oslo Fjord who moved up to the north from mainland Europe (Zelko 63). The first evident settlement in Oslo was in the 8th century. (â€Å"Oslo† 2006). The first people of who inhabited Oslo lived in â€Å"humble wooden houses with turf roofs† that was surrounded with pens or sheds for goats, sheep and cows (â€Å"Oslo: City† 2006). Like all the other settlers of Norway, the people were grouped together in the form of a tribe and those who were landowners met with his other landed neighbors in a public assembly called Thing. Legislative assemblies were called Lagtings (Zelko 63). During the Viking age, AD800-1000 Oslo settlers grew rapidly as it had become the center for trade and shipbuilding activities and later it earned the name the† Viking Capital† (â€Å"Oslo† 2006). Viking means â€Å"a man from â€Å"Vik†, a huge bay between the Cape Lindesnes in Norway and the mouth of Gota River in Sweden (Britannica 1033). Norwegian Vikings, like other Vikings of Denmark and Sweden, were feared all over Europe as they had â€Å"superior ships and weapons as well developed military organization†. They were basically endowed with extraordinary hunger for adventure (Britannica 1034). Norwegian Vikings were known to be ruthless and brave fighters who killed their victims and greedily loots their conquered settlements and when they were done plundering destroyed the place with fire. They changed the face of Europe as they engaged in raiding and trade and then finally attracted by their conquered lands settled to live there. Their target places were mostly western European countries such as England, Scotland, and Iceland. Their active participation in trading had renewed the neglected European commerce of the middle Ages. Their contact with Western Europe was instrumental for their Christianization and eventually unification of Norway (Britannica 1033). In 885 the first Viking Monarch, Harold the Fair-haired united Norway (Halsey 239). During his reign the settlers of Norway, including Oslo, were commonly engaged in blood feuds, fightings that involve almost, if not all, disagreeing families. Even minor disputes can trigger the killing and maiming of both members of the quarreling families and if not settled can start an endless round of retaliation. The violence can be finally stopped when offending families pay the wronged families which they called â€Å"bot†. Sometimes family feuds were brought to the attention of the Lagtings who will decide the outcome of the disputes and impose penalties. The worst penalty they can give at that time was known as outlawry—a sentence that regarded the offender as if he died already. All his goods were taken away from him and he cannot exercise or claim any legal rights. In fact, anyone can kill him without facing the risk of penalty. These condemned people were left with no choice but to leave their homeland or live in the forest as an outlaw (Tseng 24). In 1050 Harald Hardrade or King Harald III officially founded Oslo and made it the center of southern Norway. This site was located at the eastern side of the harbor on the left bank of the small Akers River (Halsey 239). Harald died in 1066 and his death ended the Viking period as raidings stopped (â€Å"Norway† 2007). Oslo experienced a great era during the reign of Haakon V who was crowned in 1299. He decided to build the Akershus fortress in Olso to serve as his home with his wife Euphemia of Rugens, a Northern German princess (â€Å"Oslo† 2006). He made Oslo the capital of Norway replacing Bergen. This time Oslo and the rest of Norway enjoyed relative peace (â€Å"Norway† 2007). In 1318 Norway was united with the kingdom of Sweden when Duke Erik of Sweden married Princess Ingebjorg, daughter of Queen Euphemia and Hakon V Magnusson. The unification of both countries was officially signed in the Bishops castle; now presently know as Oslo Ladergard (â€Å"Oslo: City† 2006). The saddest event that occurred in the early history of Oslo was the Black Death that terrorized the world in 1349. It was estimated that half of Oslo’s population died during the time of the Black Death or â€Å"bubonic† plague. Bubonic plague was carried by fleas in rats from England (â€Å"Oslo† 2006). Because of the loss of its inhabitants and damage to agriculture Norway united together with Denmark and Sweden via the Union of Kalmar 1397(â€Å"Norway† 2007). During this time Copenhagen, instead of Oslo, was selected as the actual capital of Norway. Consequently Oslo lost it political importance and was only regarded as a provincial administrative center while the kings lived in Copenhagen and Stockholm from 1400-1500 (â€Å"Oslo: City† 2006). In 1523, however, Sweden dropped out of the union, and weaker Norway was left in the care of Danish Kings(â€Å"Norway† 2007). Part 2 Modern Era Reformation Period Like the rest of mainland Europe, Oslo was greatly affected by the Lutheran Protestant Reformation of 1537 when the German Monk Martin Luther questioned the laws of Roman Catholic Church and sought to reform the religious beliefs of the Europeans. Oslo citizens were engaged in religious conflicts(Thodock 2003). The catholic bishop of Oslo, Hans Rev was converted to Protestantism despite the reluctance of the citizens( â€Å"Oslo:City† 2006). Since Oslo had slightly lost its political and economic importance as a city at this time as it was being ruled by Denmark most of the buildings constructed there was only made of wood so that the city was easily destroyed by fire in 1624. King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway decided to move the town to the right bank of the Akers River and rebuild it near the Akershus Fortress. The city buildings were constructed in a Renaissance city style with rectangular blocks and renamed it Christiania (Halsey). Scientific Revolution The scientific revolution changed the world’s beliefs entirely, and Norway is in the heart of it Religious beliefs were proven to be wrong and questions were answered. Copernicus first with his opinion on the heliocentric theory, Galileo second with proof of Copernicus theory, and Newton third with the laws of gravity to explain how and why the planets revolved around the sun. Enlightenment During the 1700’s the Age of Reason or the Enlightenment flourished in Europe particularly to the Norwegian trading partners of Great Britain and Holland. In these places people were trying to improve their lives with the use of reason instead of following traditional religious or accepted beliefs. Contact with the â€Å"enlightened† British and Dutch affected the daily life of the inhabitants of Christiania. Norwegian traders brought home with them not only the prized cargoes of tobacco, coffee, tea and spices but also enlightened ideas. They constructed luxurious houses with magnificent gardens in accordance with the style western Europe (â€Å"Oslo: City† 2006). Napoleonic wars At first, Denmark and Norway attempted to remain neutral in the Napoleonic wars between France and England and their respective allies in 1805. However, England attacked the entire Danish fleet in 1807 as a result Denmark joined with France against Britain (Britannica 1034). Britain cut-off trading with Norway and set up a continental blockade against Denmark and Norway wherein British navy prevented the goods from both Norway and Denmark in reaching its trading partners . This action greatly affected the economy of Norway. The export of fish and timber from Christiania as well as the import of grain from Denmark were blocked. As a result, citizens of Christiania faced an economic crisis and suffered hunger. To end their trouble, Britain loosened up its blockade against Norway in 1810-13(â€Å"Oslo† 1991). In 1814 the king of Denmark was forced to give up Norway to Sweden in a Treaty of Kiel when Napoleon I was defeated (â€Å"Oslo† 2006). Eager to rebuild their government the Norwegian created its first constitution on May 17 the same year and Christiania became the capital city. In time, Christiania replaced its rival Bergen as Norway’s largest city. The people celebrated with joy as Christiania was expected to reclaim its old glory without giving much thought at first that they were still under the control of a foreigner, Sweden. As a capital city, Christiania once again becomes important politically and economically. For its newly acquired role, new monumental buildings were erected as a venue for important functions. . They were the Royal Palace, Bank of Norway and the stock exchange Oslo Bors. Later, most Christiania citizens joined with the rest of Norway in demanding for a complete control of their own affairs. They did not want to recognize the provisions of the Treaty of Kiel and instead preferred a Danish King to rule them. Because of the political unrest , Sweden was forced to make the Act of Union of 1815,that gave Norway the privilege of having its own army, navy and parliament(Storting) and was permitted to control their own internal affairs in exchange for their strict compliance to the Treaty of Kiel(â€Å"Oslo† 2006). Renaissance Period Because of their internal independence, Christiania’ economic and political power rose. By mid 1800’s, Christiania grew into a major administrative, economic and military center. The economic success brought about by the shipping and agricultural industry made Christiania a dominant economic city of Norway (World Book 1981). The site of rapid industrial revolution in Oslo started at the Aker River around 1840. The development of Industries relied in the electricity provided by this River. Old buildings along the River were demolished and replaced with concrete large textile industrial buildings . Because of the increased jobs offered by industries the population of Christiania increased as peasants and rural populace moved to the cities hoping find work. In the beginning of the Industrial Revolution Christiania’s industrial workers, like most of European industrial cities, lived in poverty since income was low. They mostly lived in crowded houses meant for workers in which sanitation was bad. As a result, sickness was common and spread easily. To augment family income, the children aged below ten were forced to work in the industries, an environment that was not conducive for their well-balanced growth. In fact, industries were noisy and dusty. They caused water and air pollution. Because of this, the health of the children suffered and their resistance to sickness decreased as they lacked the time to play and sleep. In fact, schoolwork was unavoidably neglected (â€Å"Off â€Å"2007). Revolutions of 1848 The political revolutions in Europe in 1848 had increased the desire of Norway to demand for independence from Sweden. In the late 1800’s popular Norwegian playwrights Henrik Ibsen and Bjornstjerne Bjorjornson staged a play in Christiania’s theater with a theme about political hypocrisy, rights of women and social problems. These plays helped Norwegians develop a sense of nationalism. In 1901 the city of Christiania was selected by the notable Swedish inventor, Alfred Nobel to be the site for the awarding of the most prestigious Noble Peace Prize (Lundestad 2001). By 1905 Sweden granted independence to Norway and Christiania at last was freed from foreign interference that began 1300’s (Halsey 240). Industrial Revolution World War One was inevitable due to industrialization and the desire each country had to become supreme. Firstly, relationships between the nations of the world were dramatically altered by the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century. Tensions between the industrial powers began to rise. The intensity between the industrial powers grew more and more as each country sought to expand its sphere of influence at the expense of others. Secondly, there was a growing desire by ethnic populations within the larger countries to become independent nations. Norway separated from Sweden and revolts occurred in colonies such as China, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Ireland. War broke out in the Balkans in 1912 and again in 1913, as Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia, and Greece fought first the Ottoman Empire and then Austria-Hungary. Lastly, Colonies around the world were a valuable asset for supporting the host countrys economy. The great European powers needed raw materials and outlets for their goods. They wanted to expand into new colonies while still protecting the ones they already had. World War I The economy of Christiania steadily grew until before World War I. When the First World War broke out in 1914 Norway declared its neutrality. However, Christiania benefited economically from the war by carrying British cargoes inspite the loss of Norwegian lives and ships that were caught in the war (Compton 610). After the war Christiania settled back to its normal life. In 1924, Christiania was renamed back to Oslo (â€Å"Oslo: City† 2006). World War II. On April 9, 1940 Oslo was defeated by the Germans almost with only a slight resistance due the betrayal of Norwegian Officer and Fascist politician Vidkun Quisling who collaborated with the Nazis. As a result, the city was only slightly damaged during the war (Halsey 239). In 1942 Germany installed a puppet government in Norway under National Union leader Vidkun Quisling. However, the Norwegians resisted the Germans and its puppet regime. Oslo became a place of opposition strikes. Other citizens were secretly involved in the large-scale industrial sabotage and espionage on behalf of the allied powers. (â€Å"Oslo† 2006). During their occupation of the city the Nazis used Akershus as a prison and place of execution for those convicted of allied conspiracy and today its the site of Norways Resistance Museum, which provided a detailed account of German takeover and the Norwegian struggle against it (Thodock 2003). The German forces that overrun Norway surrendered in May 8, 1945 enabling the exiled King Hakon VII to return to Norway from London in June. Oslo then began to rebuild its ruin buildings while at the same time prosecuted â€Å"about 90,000 alleged cases of treason and defection†. Convicted traitors faced execution foremost of which was Vidkun Quisling (â€Å"Oslo† 2006). War had been going on for a very long time when it came to The Cold War, the postwar to World War II. After World War II, as the Cold War began two major alliances were created. Although, in World War I a systems of alliances did not work, the systems of alliances that formed after World War II were bigger and they werent buddy-buddy alliances. These two alliances were formed to bring peace throughout the world, to end The Cold War, and to prevent anymore future high scale wars. Toward the end of the war, hostility between Norwegians and the German occupying forces grew considerably stronger. A prime cause was the German withdrawal from all fronts. Retreating German units from the fronts in the north, the USSR and Finland, withdrew to Norwegian territory. In the autumn of 1944, the Red Army followed the Germans into Finnmark, where it liberated Kirkenes and the northeastern areas. As the occupying troops retreated, they ordered an evacuation of the entire Norwegian population in Finnmark and in Troms south to Lyngen. In Lyngen, three German army corps dug in. Then the entire region north of Lyngen was burned and destroyed. The destruction included 10,400 homes, bridges, power stations, factories, fishing vessels, telephone facilities and other types of infrastructure. The scorched earth area was much larger than all of Denmark. After the Soviet Red Army crossed into North Norway, a Norwegian military mission and a small number of Norwegian soldiers from Great Britain and Sweden followed. The Russians withdrew from Norway in September 1945, a few months after the German capitulation.

Understanding Communication in Animals

Understanding Communication in Animals Ever since the beginning of animal and human existence, there has been a continuous flow of information between individuals and groups. The term communication comes from Latin word commÃ…Â «nicÄ re to share and defines the process of giving information or of making emotions or ideas known to someone (MacMillanDictionary n.d.). Human communication has a very elaborated structure. A language is a complex communication system and it occurs when the speaker and the listener possess a representational process that is common and that ensures similar coding and decoding of signal meaning (Rendall et al. 2009) Even if animals might not have the ability to speak a language or utter various words, they have many other ways of expressing themselves. In animal communication, scent is probably the most common sense used by animals in order to mark their territory, to warn off or even scare intruders, to show their readiness to mate or even to attract the prey. In general, they use strong smelling urine for these purposes but some animals possess scent glands that produce persistent odours. Skunks are widely known for their anal scent glands that spray an oily liquid towards their enemy. The foul mist does not do any serious damage to the victim but it scares him off and it could linger on his body for a few days. Snakes and lizards use their tongues in order to collect the scent particles in the air then they analyze the information inside their mouths. Many insects, such as bees, ants and moths use pheromones to communicate, mostly for attracting males. Another source of scent utilized by some animals (for example: the rabbit, the hippopotamus, the vicuna) to make their presence be felt on different territories is excrements. The y try to mark their territory by dropping large heaps of feces so others would keep distance. The second sense that animals rely on to a great extent is hearing. In order to survive and succeed, animals guide themselves by the acoustic signals that they produce and receive. There is an ample variety of sounds that could be produced by animals, depending on size and species. Numerous acoustic signals that are transmitted by animals are not distinguished or noticed by humans because of the ultra-low sounds that can’t be perceived by human ear. The most vocal animals are birds that are well-known for their songs in different tonalities and cheerful chirping, especially in spring and summer. Whales, the largest of all mammals, are experts in the art of sound communication. They use various types of sounds, like whistles, clicks and pulsed calls for multiple purposes: echolocation, mate calling, and social interaction (Anon n.d.). Other animals that are often heard by humans are frogs and toads that have developed their vocal signals by using little bags of air as sound res onators which are situated on the sides of the head or in the throat. Elephants can produce a wide range of sounds, from rumbles to snorts and cries, going from very low frequencies to higher ones. When they are in danger or they are in a state of extreme excitement they use their trunks to deliver long resounding trumpeting. Their large ears allow them to have a great sensitivity to lower frequencies and also a better capacity in localizing sounds. A third sense that helps animals communicate is sight. Visual signals at animals are diverse and they can come in many forms of display, such as mimicry, body posture, and facial expressions. For example, male peacocks and lyre birds display their exquisite colorful feathers and bodies in order to attract females for mating, visual communication being used in their advantage. Body language is frequently used by dogs, cats, monkeys and other animals. An example would be the moment when two dogs meet for the first time and they start setting their hierarchical position through body postures. If one holds its tail between the legs it means that the dog is found in a submissive position, allowing the other, with raised tail, to exercise power and dominance. Dogs also make use of their tails by wagging them in order to show happiness, excitement or pleasure. In opposition, cats waving tail is a signal of anger and irritation. The non-human primates, the monkeys, use a lot of facial expres sions and body language to express their feelings. They flutter eyelids and raise eyebrows to denote pleasure, they hug to show friendship towards the other, and the males hit their chests in order to show superiority. The art of mimicry is a fascinating modality of visual communication between animals. Mimicry occurs when an animal copies the actions, the appearance or the sounds of another animal or even the surrounding itself in order to avoid predators and enemies and to get them confused. For example, the peacock butterfly has large eye-spots on its wings to give the predator the false impression that it represents something bigger than it actually is so that would scare him off. Another example is the elephant hawk moth caterpillar who inflates its snake-like- head when being attacked to create the illusion of being a bigger and scarier animal. Other type of visual communication is warning coloration which can be found at caterpillars, various insects, frogs and snakes, the bright colors representing a warning for the potential predators. Their coloration pattern shows how dangerous or poisonous they can be and also if they have a dreadful taste. So, in general, animals learn how to avoid the danger in such cases. Even though it might not be as important as other senses, touch is used by some animals in order to communicate their feelings towards others. As humans make certain gestures like shaking hands, kissing or hugging when meeting someone, monkeys also hug as a sign of affection. In addition to humans, they have a special and unique greeting which consists in placing the hand in the each other’s mouth as a sign of trust and friendliness between them. Cats are creatures that are avid after tactile communication with others of their kind or even with humans. They usually rub their bodies against each other, especially around the face area but also along their bodies, intertwining their tails. Some domestic and savage cats use each other as â€Å"cushions†, this behavior being some form of social bonding and affection. They love grooming each other and curl up together. Owner of over 1000 tiny receptors, the crocodile is very sensitive to any kind of presence or movement. These receptors are present around their jaw line and they can easily detect vibrations in the water and the location of their prey even when a small insect stops by to take a drink. Animal communication has always been fascinating to humans as we try to understand which are the similarities and differences between human language and animals’ ways of expressing themselves. Karl von Frisch, a professor of zoology at the University of Munich, conducted some research on bee communication during around thirty years and he revealed some important principles that helped us understand more about animal communication(Benveniste 1953) First of all, we found out that there are some similarities between bee communication and human language. They are able to offer and to receive messages that contain real data, they can describe the location and the distance of a certain object and they can communicate all these by using various somatic movements. Therefore, it was demonstrated that bees own some kind of â€Å"memory† which enables them to store all the data and then transmit it to others. On the other hand, the differences between human language and bee communication are significant. Bees can only transmit the message through body language without being able to create sounds through vocal organs. Their communication can occur only during daylight, an element that permits visual perception while human communication is not limited by this factor. Another important difference between the two ‘languages’ is the fact that, unlike humans, bees can’t carry a dialogue therefore there is no exchange of linguistic information and no reply from the receiver of the message. Also, bees’ messages can’t be analyzed because they can only be seen as a general reference to a total content. But in human’s speech, each utterance can be reduced to parts that could easily be combined according to some certain rules so there is a great variety in human language. So, we got to the conclusion that bee’s communication is not a language but a signal code because there is an invariability of the message, a unilaterality of transmission, an impossibility of separating the elements of the message and also fixity of the topic. Studies made on non-human primates showed that while humans acquire extra information about a speaker’s intentions, wishes, and beliefs during a dialogue, apes and monkeys appear to have no such abilities because there is no theory of mind. Their way of communicating might appear a bit chaotic when it is compared to human language. For example, when they encounter dangerous situations, they create some alarm vocalizations which are not structured but short and noisy. These sounds are ideally produced to capture the listener’s attention as quick as possible in order to warn it about the potential dangers and to make it react really fast. To conclude, the lack of a real language in animal communication does not mean that there is no similarity between human language and animal communication. Humans will always make research about animal communication in order to get a better understanding of the way the non-human beings express themselves. Bibliography and References Anon, Whales make noise to communicate, locate food, and find each other. , p.http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/whalesounds.htm. Available at: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/whalesounds.htm [Accessed January 15, 2014]. Benveniste, E., 1953. Animal Communication and Human Language: The Language of the Bees. Diogenes, 1(1), pp.1–7. Available at: http://dio.sagepub.com/cgi/doi/10.1177/039219215300100101 [Accessed January 11, 2014]. MacMillanDictionary, No Title. Available at: http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/communication [Accessed January 14, 2014]. Rendall, D., Owren, M.J. Ryan, M.J., 2009. What do animal signals mean? Animal Behaviour, 78(2), pp.233–240. Available at: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003347209002589 [Accessed January 11, 2014]. 1

Huck Fins Emergence :: essays papers

Huck Fins Emergence Huck’s Emergence Throughout the book The Adventures of Huck Finn, the author Mark Twain, portrays the character Huck Finn as a child who, through numerous experimentations, learns to feel compassionate for his fellow human beings. Huck thought twice before he helped Jim escape from entrapment. When the Duke and the King steal the money from the Wilks Family, Huck feels bad for the family just walking into the situation with blindfolds on, so he decides to steal the money back and makes sure that the sisters have their late brother’s inheritance. But then Huck feels remorse when he lies to the King and Duke about stealing the money. When Duke and King get caught he also feels remorse about them getting tarred and feathered. Huck obviously goes through phases in which his judgement is one sided, but in the end he always feels for his fellow humans. When it was revealed to Huck that his best friend Jim had been sold he got angry. The Duke and the King sold Jim off to a slave holder. Huck went through some moral decision making before he decided what to do. At first he wanted to write a letter trying to persuade the slave holder to let Jim go with Huck. Then he just decides to let his friendship take over and he decided to go help Jim escape. Huck came about this radical decision because he realized through the journey that Jim was also a human being that had feelings of his own and Huck respected that. He thought, â€Å"I’d go strait to hell.† The Duke and the King are devious fellows. They are very hard to trust. They pull scam after scam. The biggest scam that they tried to pull was when they pretended to be the Wilks brothers. The family hadn’t ever seen them because they lived in England so, knowing all the information,made everyone in the town think they were the real Wilks brothers. Huck felt sorry for the sisters of the â€Å"Wilks† brothers because he knew what was going on and how blind they were to it. He decide to steal the gold from the Duke and the King and secretly give it back to the family that it belonged to. Then after doing this he felt bad about stealing the money from the Duke and King because he betrayed them. His emotions were always shown pretty well, â€Å"I couldn’t’ let the sisters be without their money.

Reception Theory and Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) :: Liaisons Dangereuses Dangerous Liaisons

Reception Theory and Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) Of all the literary critical theories yet discussed, I find reception theory by far the most intelligent and rewarding. After all, where does literature become literature, where does it "happen" so to speak, if not in the mind of the reader? Without the reader, literature is inky blobs on paper. This correlates to Berkeley's solipsistic analogy of a tree falling in the woods. Without a listener does it make a sound? Well, technically, it emanates vibrations, but only an ear will interpret those vibrations as sound. Thus with literature. The mind of the reader, operating on the text with it's various literary and extra-textual codes, makes it literature. In the case of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, reception theory is not only helpful, it is positively essential to any sort of literary discussion of the novel. Considerations of authorial intent are clearly to no avail, in that, due to the epistolary format, no such intent can be gleaned from the text. Try as we might to construct some sort of original meaning in the mind of the author, we find at last that the meanings we come up with have been supplied by ourselves. Laclos is like the hand of the puppeteer: we never see it, although we know that it is controlling the whole show. All we see are the ornate, 18th century marionettes as they dance through each dastardly deception, each "dangerous liaison." Even more maddening than trying to find authorial intent in the pages of Les Liaisons Dangereuses is the (one would think) comparatively simple task of ascertaining the moods and motivations of the characters themselves. Since we know that the majority of the characters are moderate to full-blown liars, writing one thing to one person and quite another to another, who do we believe? When seeming to bear one's soul is just one more weapon in the arsenal, how are we supposed to determine when actual soul-bearing is taking place? Here, again, reception theory comes to our rescue. By looking at our own literary and non-literary conventions, we begin to feel more confident about the proposition that Valmont really is in love with the Presidente and that the Marquise really is in love with Valmont. After all, that's what makes it good, isn't it? Without having love rear it's ugly head at some point, the book would be a monotone, an unrewarding and depressing look at people at once glamourous and depraved.

What is the federal theatre project Essay -- essays research papers

What Was The Federal Theatre Project????? Throughout the late 1920's an important theatrical movement developed: The Workers' Theatre Movement. In the end, it diminished around the middle of the 1930's, and one of the developments aiding the decline of the Workers' Theatre Movement, was the creation of the Federal Theatre Project. The Federal Theatre Project was the largest and most motivated effort mounted by the Federal Government to organize and produce theater events. Once the government took on the duty of putting people to work, it was able to consider the movement. The Federal Theatre Project’s purpose was â€Å"to provide relief work for theatrical artists that utilized their talents and to make their work widely available to ordinary Americans, thus democratizing high culture.† (www.answers.com) Furthermore the FTP tried to present theatre that was relevant socially, politically, and had popular prices, such as free shows. The majority of its famous productions, although not all of them, came out of Ne w York City. New York had many units, such as, a classical unit, Negro unit, units performing vaudeville, children’s plays, puppet shows, caravan productions, and the new plays unit. The Federal Theatre Project was â€Å"the only fully government-sponsored theatre ever in the United States†. (Witham 16) During the late 1920s, in October 1929, the stock market crashed which led to the Great Depression. By winter 1930 through 1931, four million people were unemployed; by March 1931, eight million. By the year 1932, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected, the national income was half that of 1929; there were twelve million unemployed, moreover, there were one of four. Within two weeks of his inauguration, in the year 1933, FDR reopened three-fourths of the Federal Reserve Banks and tried to save the economy. Many called Franklin Delano Roosevelt's administration "the Alphabetical Administration; it was often ridiculed because it seemed to have so many different organizations designated by different groups of letters.† (Witham 48) For example, the C. C. C., the Civilian Conservation Corps, started in the year 1933 and found jobs for over 250,000 men. The Federal Emergency Relief Act, or F. E. R. A., started in the year 1933, led by Harry Hopkins put $500 million back into circulation. By the year 193... ... held on the last day of the Federal Theatre Project existence, which was June 30, 1939. Fairly because of long held doubts that the FTP was fraught with Communists and fellow travelers and the18-month-long rehearsal time, Congress shut it down. The remaining three Arts Projects, Music, Art, and Writing, survived and were financed by Congress until the year of 1941. Concluding the Federal Theatre Project, it has accomplished the goal of introducing theatre to millions who had never seen theatre before. It employed thousands of people, initiated European epic theatre and Living Newspaper theatre techniques to the United States, and for this reason could be seen as a vast achievement. Work Cited 1, Bordman, Gerald. American Theatre: Chronicle of Comedy and Drama 1930- 1989. Chicago: Oxford University Press, 1996. 2. Manning, Susan H. Modern Dance, Negro Dance: Race in Motion. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 2004 3. Witham, Barry. The Federal Theatre Project: A Case Study. Nevada: The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 2003. 4. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fedtp/ftwpa.html 5. http://www.answers.com/topic/federal-theatre-project

Achilles

* Wrath in its fullest potential can fuel the most heated of battles, but it can also corrupt and destroy the rational mind. In Homer’s, Iliad, wrath is a key component to understanding Homer’s input of emotion on the battlefield of Troy. Achilles creates this emotion throughout the epic. He shows his anger in three ways. First, he leaves command with his soldiers. Second, he curses the Greeks. And finally he kills Hektor to avenge Patroklos. He is justified in revenge because Agamemnon dishonored him by taking his concubine.He has a right to get revenge and reclaim his honor because he is a superior fighter. Achilles, however, was taken over by anger and acts dishonorably in this haze of emotion. * The beginning of Achilles’ wrath begins when he becomes infuriated by the way Agamemnon has publicly humiliated and dishonored him. Achilles feels that he is a greater warrior than Agamemnon and deserves more than he is rewarded after battles because he shows more hon or and bravery than any other man.After being publicly humiliated and dishonored, Achilles is pushed to the edge of anger and announces, â€Å"So must I be called out every order you may happen to give me. Tell other men to do these things, but give me no more commands, since I for my part have no intention to obey you. And put away in your thoughts this other thing I tell you. With my hands I will not fight for the girl’s sake, neither with you nor any other man, since you take her who gave her. † Achilles leaving with his soldiers is dishonorable because he must fight to fulfill his fate and he cannot gain any glory by not fighting.Achilles inhibits his destiny to leave after he is humiliated by Agamemnon and striped of his concubine Briseis. If Achilles does not fight in Troy, he will not be able to fulfill his destiny of bringing honor and having his name live on forever. This state of wrath he feels inside almost destroys his path to destiny by bringing him away f rom battle. As he leaves in his rage, he sends a prayer to his mother asking that the Trojan armies defeat his fellow Achaians to bring shame on Agamemnon, which is a result of his wrath.As the war rages on, the Trojans have pushed the Achaians back to their ships. This is a huge turning point in the war for the Trojans, because if they are able to set fire to one ship, they could destroy the whole camp, leading to a swift defeat of the Achaians, thereby fulfilling Achilles prayer. Achilles cursing the Greeks is somewhat justified because he is using tricks to gain honor. Lendon takes this theory of trickery and expands saying the smartest and strongest warrior will bring gain the most honor.Achilles’ act of ensuring the Greeks will be brought to the edge of defeat will ensure that he will be able to come in at the end when all hope is lost and save the day by fighting to the death, making him the greatest warrior of all time and carving his name into immortality. When Achill es hears of his beloved friend, Patroklos’ death he weeps, tearing his hair and throwing himself to the ground. This sets the tone of revenge in his heart, as he decides to enter the war, and slay Hektor and twelve Trojans at the funeral prye of Patroklos.Homer brings to this scene the fury of a man who has lost everything that he held dear to his heart. His king stripped his honor, his lover was taken away from him, and now his closest friend was brutally killed by Hektor. Achilles rage and wrath become so great in this book that he accepts his fate of entering the war, and gaining the glory and honor he deserves by ultimately dying in the war. This act of extreme lament and sadness shows how much Achilles truly cared and respected Patroklos as a person. He becomes enraged from the loss of his ally, and swears to have Hektor slain.Revenge is a way of honor in the Greek culture. If a father is slain in battle by someone, it is usually the son’s mission to revenge kill the person who had slain his father. In this case Achilles was going to slay Hektor to make right what happened to Patroklos. As the battle rages on, Achilles slays many Trojans. His honor comes into question, as his wrath is so overwhelming he kills opponents before they even have time to announce themselves. Achilles’ honor is somewhat lost as he disrespects the bodies he has slain, by filling up the River Xanthos with blood.The disrespect of the bodies even angers the river god, who chases Achilles across the battlefield. As his wrath reaches its climax Achilles finally finds Hektor and faces him in combat, killing him in the process. Achilles’ honor comes into question again as he maliciously drags Hektor’s body around the Trojan wall. Achilles is justified in killing Hector to avenge Patroklos, but he acts dishonorably when he defiles Hector’s body. By killing Hektor, Achilles has restored honor to his dead friend Patroklos by revenge killing Hektor. In the heat of the moment Achilles becomes overwhelmed with wrath and drags Hektor’s body around the walls of Troy. He greatly dishonors the body by letting it get eaten by dogs, and by not giving it to Troy for a proper burial. His wrath at this point has reached its climax, until the old king of Troy, Priam, snaps him out of his wrath by reminding him of when he yearned to have a proper burial for his father. As he becomes remorseful, he becomes ready for the final chapter of his life and Troy falls and his death becomes eminent.When you look at how Achilles acted on the battlefield, with his bravery and anger, the feeling seem must be mutual for other Greeks. As the readings Achilochus of Paros and Tyrtaus show that Homer’s views changed dramatically in the Archaic age. These views of the Archaic age changed so drastically due to the formation of the phalanx style of war, by bringing single fought combat to a larger scale combat where honor was gained by killing one person, but holding your line in the phalanx and protecting your brothers you were fighting with.Achilochus first poem states that cowardice is acceptable as long as you survive battle. This goes against every moral fiber of a Homeric point of view. In Homer’s view this would be a sign of great shame and dishonor. His second poem is about how leaders should be experienced in battle and not fresh out of training. This agrees with Homer’s view of how the greatest warriors have been in the most battles. Tyrtaus poem states that holding the line in a phalanx is honorable, while in Homer’s view Achilles gained the most honor, by acting alone and fighting for his own personal glory.These views of the Archaic age changed so drastically due to the formation of the phalanx style of war, by bringing individually fought combat to larger scale combat where honor was gained by not necessarily by killing, but holding your line in the phalanx and protecting your brothers you were fighting with. Wrath in its fullest potential can fuel the most heated of battles, but it can also corrupt and destroy the rational mind. He became justified in revenge because Agamemnon dishonored him by taking his concubine.He reclaimed the honor of his fellow friend. And he ultimately slain Hektor and brought forth his of his name living forever. Achilles, however, was taken over by anger and acts dishonorably in this haze of emotion. Bibliography Homer, Illiad, translated by Richmond Lattimore (Chicago: TheUniversity of Chicago Press 1951) Lendon, J, Solders & Ghosts (New Haven: Yale University, 2005) ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Lendon, J, Solders & Ghosts (New Haven: Yale University, 2005)