Self-imposed Estrangement in Pauls Case Essay -- Willa Cather

Self-imposed Estrangement in "Paul's Case," by Willa Cather Many times, we try to separate ourselves from the world around us; we distance ourselves from society that gives us life. What is worse, we are voluntarily subjected to the lonesomeness which precedes wallowing in our own self pity. "Paul's Case," in which the theme of the fatal progression of deliberate seclusion presents the major conflict, centers around a young man, in his alienation, suppressing his need for attention and satisfying himself through his own world established through his seclusion. The author, Willa Cather, renders this main theme by her insinuations of the character, by the point of view she chooses to illuminate Paul"'"s characteristics, and by key symbols that contribute to the overall work. The character presented by Cather through Paul, withdraws himself from his environment creating the base for the theme of his progressively intensifying need for distinct separation. The reasons Paul acts the way he does seems two fold. First, the sequence of events could be caused by psychological damage or some mental condition, possibly stemming from his mothers death, which was only alluded to in the story. Paul was a teenager who displayed certain signs of a mental illness. According to The Medical Advisor#, Paul suffers from many of similar symptoms of a narcissist. Although the personality disorder was not diagnosed until 1977, and was not perfected until 1987 and expanded upon in 1994, Cather"'"s character of 1904 embodies many of the symptoms listed. Of those Paul qualifies for are: highly developed sense of self importance, preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, belief that he or she is special, feeling he has the envy of peers... ...in a connection with his mother. This bond further alienates him with the world by association with the departed; his mother is separated by death, thus by professing to the world his connection with his mother brings him one step further from sanity. As he comes to realize that the mere emotional connection with his mother is not enough to isolate him, the flower becomes submersed into a sea of white as it is buried in the snow, and Paul achieves his ultimate escape and suicide creates the desired connection with his mother. Willa Cather, carefully weaving together a deep character to which understanding is complex, an interesting and enlightening twist on the point of view, and multi-dimensional use of symbolic motifs that describe the character"'"s personality and dreams, has created a universal theme of the grave progression of self-imposed estrangement.

Role of Rosaline in Romeo and Juliet

Would anything be lost (or gained) if Rosaline were never mentioned? Rosaline is the niece of Lord Capulet whom Romeo falls in love with prior to the play, Romeo and Juliet; however, she doesn’t reciprocate Romeo’s feelings as she has chosen to remain celibate. In most film adaptations, she is usually omitted, yet Romeo is always grieving for his rejected love at the beginning of every adaption. Now, this is rather paradoxical as Rosaline is not important enough to be portrayed by an actor, yet she is always mentioned by Romeo. So would anything be gained or lost if Rosaline is removed from the original play? Theoretically, Rosaline is only important in this play for Romeo’s past with her, but if she is removed, Romeo wouldn’t have attended the party where he meets Juliet, and consequently he would appear less impulsive and passionate. To the audience, Romeo’s love for Rosaline helps them to understand the depth and nature of Romeo’s relationship with Juliet. When the audience first meet Romeo, he is seen moping around Verona because Rosaline cannot return his love as she chose to be chaste for life. This affects him greatly as he becomes depressed and he alienates himself from his friends and families; indeed, all he can think of is his rejected love. Subsequently, Benvolio, cousin of Romeo, attempts to make Romeo forget about Rosaline by telling him to examine other beauties of Verona, which Romeo refuses to do. However, when a Capulet servant asks them to read the guest list for the Capulet’s party, from which Romeo finds out that Rosaline, is expected to attend; Benvolio then suggests Romeo to crash the party in order to look at other beauties of Verona, and Romeo reluctantly agrees. While at the party, when he is looking for Rosaline, he sees Juliet for the first time and falls in love with her immediately. Therefore, Rosaline is often seen as a plot device as her presence at the Capulet party convinced Romeo to seek for her, where he would ultimately fall in love with Juliet. Romeo’s love for Rosaline has been dismissed by literary critics as childish and many believe that Shakespeare uses Rosaline’s unattainable love to contrast with Juliet’s feelings. Most characters use poetry to express their feelings, and Romeo is no exception to this, especially when declaring his feelings. There is a noticeable difference between the poems he writes for Rosaline and Juliet; the former focuses more on Rosaline’s beauty while the latter focuses more on the love they share between them. Friar Lawrence remarked that Romeo’s affection for Rosaline is not real as Romeo is repeating the poems that he memorised; however, the poems he makes for Juliet is spontaneous and far more affectionate. The origin of Romeo’s attention for Rosaline is questioned by critics and readers. There is no doubt that Romeo and Juliet are a pair of star-crossed lover who are meant to be together, and in many ways, Juliet influences Romeo. However, Friar Lawrence remarks to Romeo that â€Å"Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear, /So soon forsaken? Young men’s love then lies/Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes. † Therefore, it is possible that Romeo may have never conversed with Rosaline, thus the basis for his love would lie in her physical appearance. Comparing with a pre-destined love, Romeo’s reason for loving Rosaline appears childish and weak. Romeo’s relationship with Rosaline also makes his love for Juliet more secretive and it helps to emphasis the feud between the two households. Most of Romeo’s friend, including Benvolio and Mercutio, know of his love for Rosaline, as Mercutio is constantly making remarks about that â€Å"same pale hard-hearted wrench† and Romeo could do nothing more than saying â€Å"he jests at scars that never felt a wound† when he is alone. However, Romeo’s love for Juliet is only known to 2 people; the Friar and the Nurse, and if it had been known by more people, the feud between the Capulets and Montagues would have ended. On the day Romeo got married to Juliet, he is challenged by Tybalt but he declines it they are kinsman now, through his marriage. However, Romeo is unable to explain to Tybalt as to why he can’t duel him who then provokes Mercutio to duel Tybalt for Romeo, and it results in a death that leads to Romeo’s banishment. Lastly, Romeo’s love for Rosaline contributes greatly to Romeo’s characterization as a passionate and impulsive man. His passion is demonstrated by his willingness to be estranged from his family, as he tells no-one about his rejected love and he refuses to accept Benvolio’s advice, which is to forget Rosaline. His impulsivity is demonstrated through how quickly he forgets about Rosaline; in Act 1, Scene 4, Romeo says to Mercutio that â€Å"I am too sore enpierced with his shaft†¦Under love’s heavy burden do I sink. It is evident that he is still lovesick for Rosaline. However, in Act 2, Scene 5, he proclaims that â€Å"Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! † And in Act 2, Scene 3, Rosaline vanished from his memory altogether by his â€Å"I have forgot that name, and that name’s woe. † No-one can fall out of love in under a day, and thus, Rosaline helped to characterized Romeo as an impulsive man. In short, Rosaline is important to Romeo and Juliet not because that she is a major character; in fact, she isn’t portrayed in most film adaptations. However, she is important as she is a plot device, essential to Romeo’s first meeting with Juliet. Her relationship with Romeo is often used to contrast with his love for Juliet. Their relationship emphasises the secrecy of his bond with Juliet as the former is publically known while the latter is only known to two people; this also helped to stress the enmity between the Capulets and the Montagues. Finally, Romeo’s short-lived love contributes greatly to Romeo’s characterization as a passionate and impulsive man. Therefore, without Rosaline, the story would lose a great amount of detail.

The Evolution of Art

Stacie Mueller Art 100 Professor Morris 24 February 2012 The Evolution of Art To even begin to define art, we must have a starting point in history where something was first perceived as art. The question begs, though, why do we perceive it as art? To look up the word in a dictionary, you will find the term aesthetics almost always applied to its definition; however, much of we call art today is not exactly pleasing to the eye. Our shifting social attitudes have affected how art has been presented to us over time. We see depictions of hate, of war, of death, and many other forms of sorrow and horror.Moreover, we must consider how technology and modern conveniences have allowed a greater realm in the world of art: Photography and Photoshop programs, computer generated graphics, and applications for use with tablets and smart phones that allow us to modify images in an infinite number of ways. Loosely defined, the word art seems to be applied to almost anything: The written word, photo graphy, performance arts, computer graphics, commercial art, fashion, culinary, comics, and so on. For purposes of this research paper, however, the focus will be on the more concrete forms of art that we’ve come to know throughout history.The definition of art has certainly shifted and changed over time and across cultures; in this research paper we will explore how art has evolved. Art is many things to one person, and certainly carries different meanings for another person. However, anything and everything cannot be art or it would be difficult to appreciate art’s true essence; the quality that brings forth contemplation and deliberation. Besides creativity, art takes deep thought, imagination, and accomplishes a specific goal. Artists help us see things that matter and give us a different perspective with a specific goal in mind.The earliest art was discovered on cave walls in Lascaux, France. Paintings on the walls included large numbers of animals in various acti vities, as well as humans. In Art: A New History, Paul Johnson shows us the ingenuity of early artists: Pestles and mortars were found at Lascaux, with the discovery of â€Å"no less than 158 different mineral fragments from which the mixtures were made† (9). Techniques of these early artists included engraving with flakes of sharp flint, spraying paint, and the use of stencils.The use of colors, binding agents and tools to get the material to the walls such as brushes, and blow tools, is remarkable for the time period. It appears that the purpose of the cave paintings was to tell a story; as if the artists were attempting to make a connection with the animals they hunted and also feared (Getlein, 5). In the years since, many things have occurred in history affording great influence on art. The introduction of Christianity into the Roman Empire created a dynamic, cultural shift over religious beliefs (Getlein, 345).Realism, which centered around depictions of everyday life, w as seen in art during that period of time. As the Roman Empire shifted into the Byzantine Empire in the early Middle Ages, Emperor Constantine ruled that Christianity was to become the state religion. Hence, Byzantium art glorified Christianity in attempt to express its mystery. The subject matter became primarily religious and imperial, moving away from realism, while showing a more compressed, abstract style. Rather than depicting images of ordinary daily life, artists created more complex scenes that represented spiritual and heavenly splendor.Mosaic was a favored technique of Byzantium artists: An example of this is the mosaic depicting Christ as Pantokrator in the Santa Maria la Nuova (Getlein, 350). During the early Middle Ages we saw emotions in art shift back to realism in Carolingian art. When the emperor Charlemagne was crowned king in 800, uniting Christianity with Roman beliefs, chapels were designed to rival Roman and Byzantine architecture. The Chapel of Charlemagne is a mighty example of Carolingian art: Massive stone structure with an octagonal plan, mosaic decoration, and an interior framed by massive arches (Getlein, 15. 13).Some competition with Byzantium may also be implicit in Charlemagne's promotion of figural painting and carving, for he embraced and encouraged representational art at precisely the time when Byzantine rulers were renouncing images in favor of iconoclasm. The Romanesque period (1050 to 1200) gave us the proliferation of churches with thick stone walls, round arches and barrel vaulted stone ceilings. One such example is Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy (Getlein, 15. 14). Evolving from Romanesque style, Gothic art is more ornate. Churches are characterized by soaring interiors and large stained-glass windows.The Chartres Chapel exemplifies Gothic art in its flying buttresses and ornate towers (Getlein, 15. 18). During the late Middle ages, art became an even more powerful means of storytelling. This was a common device of religio us art of the Middle ages, for example in the frescoes by Giotto from the Church of San Francesco de Assisi, where sequences of panels were used to tell stories from the Scriptures or lives of saints (Getlein, 15. 26). The definition of art continues to change as we cross continents. The symbolism in African art, for example, was quite strong.The use of masks was one of the most interesting parts of their everyday life. Masks were meant to be kept in motion, as Getlein explains, because they represent â€Å"the head or face of a spirit being that has appeared in the community† (420). The nowo mask was used to represent the guiding spirit of Bondo, a women’s organization that regulates female affairs. Bondo is an initiation that prepares young girls for womanhood. An important feature of the nowo mask is the rings around its base; they are meant to represent a chrysalis, as girls emerge as women at the conclusion of Bondo (Getlein, 420).In more modern times we’ve seen various forms of â€Å"isms†: Impressionism, Expressionism, Naturalism, Realism, Modernism, and Surrealism – to name a few. Impressionist painting was perceived as working from outer appearances. Expressionistic artists intended to show a more inner dialogue, particularly with their use of color. The objective attention to appearances places Impressionism within the context Naturalism. While Naturalism and Realism are terms which are used interchangeably, the Naturalist is more impressed by the surface of things, such as the textures of fabric, the play of light, or the sheen of gold.The Realist tends to probe deeper into appearances, seeking the essence. Twentieth century Modernism is a reaction to Naturalism. Trevor Pateman describes Modernism as that which â€Å"can be defined as being concerned with the inner, or subjective, at the expense of the outer, or objective† (Pateman). The modernist viewed art as an agent of social change and even helped shape many political movements. The Surrealist movement sought techniques which would permit essence to break through the illusions of appearance, emphasizing imagery from dreams and fantasy.In this, Surrealists sought to act like Realists of the inner rather than the outer world. In all of these â€Å"isms,† however, there is a certain common ground: a focus on people, nature scenes, and everyday items. We can see that art has gone through many evolutions, but even though the technology of today has created more mediums for the creation of art, I wouldn’t say it has been transformed. Art, it seems, has forever been intended to speak the language of the unconscious mind. The human condition, nature, and events continue to capture the attention of artists. Works Cited Clowney, David. Definitions Of Art And Fine Art's Historical Origins. † Journal Of Aesthetics & Art Criticism 69. 3 (2011): 309-320. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Feb. 2013. Getlein, Mark. Living With Art. 9th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print. Johnson, Paul. â€Å"Painted Caves and Giant Stones. † Art: A New History. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. 7-16. Print. Keizer, Joost. â€Å"Michelangelo, Drawing, And The Subject Of Art. † Art Bulletin 93. 3 (2011): 304-324. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Feb. 2013. Pateman, Trevor. â€Å"Isms: Expressionism, Impressionism, Naturalism, Realism, Surrealism. † Selectedworks. co. uk. N. p. , 2005. Web. 2 Mar. 2013

How Technology Has Changed Our Lives Essay

Technology has altered our lives significantly in 20 years. It has advanced in many things like phones, computers, television, science, etc. Devices I think devices have improved the most in 20 years. In my opinion, I feel it has made our lives more independent. It enables us to wonder about things further, and then become curious and Google it. For example, when we aren’t sure of what to do (for school projects, DIY jobs) we can just pull up a site such as Ask.com, Answers.com and get instant help. Devices also have several reminder, alarm, note and calculator applications, making you stress-free. The internet now allows shopping lovers to purchase everything, from pencils to penthouses. And when you’re on the go, you’ll never be bored with games and book applications. Education Education has changed a lot too, and you might not notice it. If a kid is doing geography, they can access sites like Google Earth and explore the world in 3D. They are now able to access websites for checking homework, reminders, and important events. Teachers hardly ever use blackboards now, thanks to the new touch sense screens called SmartBoards. And for homeschooled kids ,they get just the same education as regular schooled kids. They can log on to online programs where they have lessons from real teachers via voice calls. Now a teacher is not limited by the number of chairs in her classroom. One teacher can teach 100 kids at a time. Medicine In the field of medicine, technology has truly saved millions of lives. Doctors have found cures to so many diseases, which were otherwise at one time fatal. Doctors can study the human body so very closely now, with things like CT scans and x-rays. With CT scans, doctors can examine everything in the human body to determine a certain problem that the person may have. Doctors have also developed more antibiotics, which are mandatory when a person is sick. These are just a few of the reasons how technology has changed our lives in 20 years. Read more:Â  Technology Improving Our Lives

Ponzi scheme and Madoff Fraud

Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent undertaking whereby the investors are duped into a seemingly profitable deal. The clients are asked to â€Å"invest† their money in a venture to earn huge interest rates. This normally works through the payment of the earlier investors’ interests and principals by using the later investors’ principal amount. This illegal activity got its name after Charles Ponzi of England (1920s). Bernard L. Madoff and Ponzi scheme Bernard Madoff, 70, is the former chairman of Nasdaq Stock Market. He held the position till December 2008 when he was arrested over alleged possibly the largest fraud ever in history.He is the founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, which undertakes market-making, and acting as middleman in buying and selling of securities, but is since under receivership after a court order was obtained to place an injunction on its operations by the Security Exchange Commission. (Mike, 2008) It was revealed that Madoff had a separate and secretive investment arm of his firm which was running on a separate floor of their premises. The firm’s financial statements were kept â€Å"under lock and key† and Madoff was â€Å"cryptic† about the firm’s investment arm, according to some top level management employees of the firm.This secret investment arm is the one under investigation due to believe that it is where the Ponzi scheme was perpetrated. (Mike, 2008) Madoff was very smart in playing the Ponzi scheme. He filed false returns with the Securities Exchange Commission, and fabricated gains claiming that its investments together with accounting and audit firms it ran were highly lucrative. At some point for example, Fairfield Sentry Ltd, Madoff’s hedge fund ran by Madoff Investment Services to invest in the shares in Standards & Poor’s 500. Fairfield claimed that its share index had risen by 5.6%, while that of S&P 500 had fallen by more than 30%. Fairfield was late r said to be down by 0. 06% when that of S&P 500 had fallen by about16%. The firm was averaging 10. 5% annually since its inception in 1990. These statistics are quite illogical to believe, and is one way in which Mr. Madoff managed to survive through his Ponzi scheme. (Mike, 2008) The firm’s losses accrued up to $50 billion since it was no longer able to meet its customer demands. This is after clients requested for about $7 billion when they had only about $250 million in the account. (Mike, 2008)Prevention of similar frauds The SEC should be made more proactive. For instance, warnings such as those of Harry Markopoulos, a financial analyst, should have been taken seriously by the SEC since he started his revelation back in 1999. The hedge fund of Mr. Madoff too didn’t register till September 2006, which is too late. Recommendation for enforcement of law, such as Sec. 17 (a) of the Securities Act 1933, Sec. 10 (b) of Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and rule 10b-5 th ere under, and sections 206(1&2) of the Advisors Act of 1940, will also help prevent such frauds.It is worth to make public the reality of rates of interests offered by a firm to its clients. This creates transparency and some sense of genuineness of a firm’s undertaking. The accounting professionals also should be made to learn from such cases to prevent future occurrences of the same vice. Public awareness programs can be broadcasted through media too. This will warn investors to be careful in their choice of investments portfolio. Reference: Mike, S. (2008, December 13th). Biggest Fraud in History $50 billion Madoff Ponzi Scheme. Retrieved April 4th, 2009, from The Market Oracle: http://www. marketoracle. co. uk/Article7769. html.

A response to a book called the emergence of the church By A Patzia Essay

A response to a book called the emergence of the church By A Patzia - Essay Example As part of that background he describes Judaism as it was in first-century Palestine as well as describing what life was like in the rest the Roman empire in general with a well presented exposition of what the Bible says about the growth of Christianity. The early church gained new recruits and spread over a greater geographical despite official persecution after Rome was burnt down, and Nero blamed the Christians for doing so. The books sources are pretty strictly biblical: the Didache is dated at or beyond 100 (p.99), and discussed only at the fringe, and the clearly first-century ROTAS square. In terms of evidence about the development and the eventual emergence of the early church as a distinct religion that was able to spread throughout the Roman Empire not mentioning the ROTAS square is arguably a serious omission. The ROTAS stone was actually found buried in the remains of Pompeii, being buried under the vast amount of waste products produced by the disastrous volcanic eruption of AD 79, and does not figure in this book. The ROTAS stone gives details of the early Christian presence in Pompeii, though of course nobody actually survived the volcanic eruption. Even if not mentioned anywhere else in his book, Patzia does not go into detail about the stone when discussing whether or not there were first-century churches in the Italian peninsula outside of Rome. Although it is not surprising that Patzia would want to concentrate upon the early church’s beginnings in Rome given its later importance for the Christian religion.1 If description and discussion of what the Bible says about the early Church is what youre looking for, this is as good a book to choose as any other. If you want too find out about the emergence and also the development of the early church from non-biblical sources then buy, or burrow another book on the early church.2 The ambience is distinctly Fuller, and here and there this brings up

Fundamental of Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Fundamental of Finance - Essay Example In our case, proposal A takes 4 years to recover the investment and proposal B takes only 3 years for the recovery of such investment. Accordingly the proposal B is ranked above the proposal A. The limitation in this method is that it does not consider time value of money. Net present value is a discounted cash flow approach to capital budgeting. â€Å"If the present value of future cash flow is greater than the initial cost, the project is worth undertaking. On the other hand, if the present value is less than the initial cost, a project should be rejected because investor would lose money if the project were accepted.†(Angelico A. Groppelli and Ehsan Nikbakhat, page 159)ii Assessing from this point of view, both proposal have a positive net present value. But as the net present value of proposal A is more than that of proposal B. Accordingly NPV method ranks proposal A ahead of proposal B. There are various shortcomings in methods of evaluation of capital projects that do not consider time value of money. It is generally felt that discounted cash flow methods provide a more objective basis for evaluating and selecting investment projects. These methods take account of both the magnitude and the timings of expected cash flows in each period of project’s life. Internal rate of return, like net present value method, is such a method that uses the discounted cash flow criteria to evaluate different capital projects. â€Å"The IRR for an investment is the discount (interest) rate that will make the present (or discounted) value of the cash flows from the operation equal to the initial outlay of the investment. An IRR above the minimum rate of return specified by management (called hurdle rate) is considered acceptable. When mutually exclusive projects are being compared, the project with highest IRR will be preferred.† (Ralph S.