Kurt Vonnegut Essay Example for Free

Kurt Vonnegut Essay Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, Slaughterhouse Five appeared on the list of Time magazine’s 100 all time best English language novels since 1923. Written in 1969, this novel is considered a classic and is also known as one of his best works. Slaughterhouse -Five spans the different time periods of the life of Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist. Vonnegut witnessed the Bombing of Dresden in World War II, and this novel portrays the aftermath of the war. Vonnegut uses time travel as the plot device to portray human conditions from an unusual perspective. He was a prisoner in the Battle of Bulge in December 1944; in Dresden, Germany as a battalion scout. In all likelihood, the bombing of Dresden saved him from being sent to the Auschwitz gas chambers. Vonnegut was among the few survivors that were taken as prisoners to a slaughterhouse during the war and he worked in a meat-locker under this slaughterhouse, making diet supplements for pregnant women . The title refers to the slaughterhouse where Billy stayed as the prisoner of war. Vonnegut combines science fiction elements along with human conditions in the aftermath of the Dresden bombing, to drive the point. Slaughterhouse-Five is the story of a man Billy Pilgrim who has â€Å"come unstuck in time†. This term refers to his surviving a plane crash where he suffers a minor brain damage. Vonnegut has created a satire on fatalism. He believes that no matter how distressing the situation of a man is; he has the power to create his own reality through the sheer power of imagination. Billy Pilgrim experiences different time periods of his life especially his experiences of the World War II. The seemingly random happening of his life structures the thematic elements of the novel in an unraveling order. The novel examines many events in Billy’s life. This includes the death of his wife, his capture by the Nazis in World War II, and the unfortunate bombing of Dresden, which also became the inspiration of this book. The major theme comprises of the narrative that depicts Billy’s difficult times in Dresden, the secondary theme that runs through is his easy and affluent life as an optometrist in the city of Illium, New York, which is a fictional stand-in for Troy, New York, the city of Schenectady, New York. This is the place where Vonnegut has based most of his novels. The fiction runs parallel to the story of Vonnegut’s own transition from the depressing years of 1930’s, which was also the time period when ‘The Great Depression’ occurred, to a well to do existence that followed. The satirical essence of the novel is portrayed by the repetitive phrase, â€Å"so it goes† which Vonnegut uses to describe death and dying; whether it is of man, animal or the bubbles of champagne. He uses it to downplay the fact of ‘mortality’; making it sound humorous and routine. Some would say that his writings are creepy, but the fact is that he wrote beautiful, bizarre and horrifying novels replete with dark humor, and that set him apart as a unique writer. In Slaughterhouse –Five he uses words and phrases such as, â€Å"mustard gas† and â€Å"roses† to describe the rotting smell of a corpse, and the breath of an alcoholic. This novel explores the idea of fate, freewill and illogical nature of human beings. In the first chapter the narrator apologizes about the fact that the novel is so â€Å"short and jumbled and jangled† and then goes on to explain the fact that there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. The satirical tone and the dark humor is the alibi, which he uses to describe the horrific aftermath of bombings and war in general. There are three themes that he uses in Slaughterhouse –Five. The first and foremost theme is the- War. He writes about the contrasts of war; which is love, beauty, humanity, innocence, humor etc. In Slaughterhouse –Five just like his many previous novels, he says that war is bad for us and it is better to love one another and live in peace, than have wars. However, she doesn’t use love as the contrast of war, since Billy Pilgrim was not shown as a man who is madly in love with his wife. Yet he chose to depict it in a light yet effective manner. An interesting contrast Vonnegut uses in his novels are differences between the characteristics of men and women. Men are shown as cruel and ready to he engage in war any time, and the females are the shields, playing the shock absorber’s effect capably, as they are always engaged in trying to dissuade men from getting into wars. Women in Vonnegut’s novels are more humane, loving and have strong wills. The most compelling theme is that we as people are like bugs trapped in an amber and there are no â€Å"whys â€Å" to it. In a sequence in the novel, when Billy is trapped in Tralfamadorin Flying Saucer he asks, â€Å"Why me? † â€Å"†¦. Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is . Have you ever seen bugs trapped in amber? † Billy was asked, and he recalls that he in fact had a paperweight in his office, which was a blob of polished amber with three ladybugs trapped inside it. Billy answers in affirmation and he is told: â€Å" Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why. † (ibid pg. 76-77). This extraterrestrial experience of Billy is symbolic of the fact that we are physically stuck in this world with no choice over our circumstances. In Vonnegut’s novels there are no set themes or plot that follows the story of heroes, heroines or villains. As Ernest W. Ranly says that all the characters in Vonnegut’s books are â€Å"comic, pathetic pieces, juggled about by some inexplicable faith, like puppets. † (Riley, 1974, pg. 54). Vonnegut himself says in his book Hocus Pocus that if there is no one to take the blame for the bad happenings in the book, it can only mean that the villain is God Himself; â€Å" or Herself or Itself or Whatever† (Vonnegut, Hocus Pocus, 1990). Another significant theme is that there is no soldier, only man. Being a soldier is a myth as a soldier is just a puppet of war used to do as the war demands. He doesn’t remain a human being anymore. Vonnegut expresses this thought most noticeably in this extract from the novel from the time when Billy was imprisoned in Dresden. When the three fools found the communal kitchen, whose main job was to make lunch for workers in the slaughterhouse, everybody had been waiting for them impatiently. She was a war widow. So it goes. She asked Gluck if he wasn’t awfully young to be in the army. He admitted he was. She asked Billy Pilgrim what he was supposed to be. Billy said he didn’t know. He was trying to keep warm. â€Å"All the real soldier are dead. † She said. It was true. So it goes. (Vonnegut 1969. Pg. 159). Another obvious theme is that death is inevitable. It also goes on to explain that life goes on, no matter what happens and who dies. The phrase â€Å"so it goes† occurs one hundred and six times throughout the novel; it happens every time someone dies, to take away the seriousness of death and impart a humorous quality to its inevitable graveness. This book has different meanings for different people, as everyone would be likely to interpret its subtle messages in their own way. The point that Vonnegut wanted to make was that no matter what happens , we should retain our humanity.

The Millennium Development Goals Mdgs Sociology Essay

The Millennium Development Goals Mdgs Sociology Essay The Millennium Development Goals are an integrated set of eight goals and 18 time-bound targets for extending the benefits of globalization to the worlds poorest citizens. The goals aim to stimulate real progress by 2015 in tackling the most pressing issues facing developing countries poverty, hunger, inadequate education, gender inequality, child and maternal mortality, HIV/AIDS and environmental degradation. UNDP helps countries formulate national development plans focused on the MDGs and chart national progress towards them through the MDG reporting process (Wacc, 2006). In most developing countries, gender inequality is a major obstacle to meeting the MDG targets. In fact, achieving the goals will be impossible without closing the gaps between women and men in terms of capacities, access to resources and opportunities, and vulnerability to violence and conflict. Millennium Development Goal 3 is to promote gender equality and empower women. The goal has one target: to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005 and to all levels of education no later than 2015. Four indicators are used to measure progress towards the goal: the ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education; the ratio of literate women to men in the 15-to 24-year-old age group; the share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector; and the proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments. The existence of a separate goal on gender equality is the result of decades of advocacy, research and coalition-building by the international womens movement. Its very existence demonstrates that the global community has accepted the centrality of gender equality and womens empowerment to the development paradigm- at least at the rhetorical level. Gender inequality means inequality between men and women in accessing the existing resources (Saroukhani 1991:673). In the view of Krammara Treicehr any kind of behavior, policy, languages, and other actions that represents a fixed, comprehensive, and institutionalized view in regard to women as inferior beings, means gender inequality. (1985:185). Therefore, gender inequality refers to the differences between men and women in receiving social and economic advantages which is often to the benfit of men at the expense of women, which means men take superiority over women. Men and women experience the world of work quite differently. Wage disparities, occupational sex segregation, and gender differences in authority, for example, are well recognized (e.g., Padavic and Reskin 2002). Despite distinguished changes in work, meaningful differences in these areas remain persistent features of contemporary society (England 2006, 2010). While there are certainly other factors at play, this paper focuses on discrimination in a variety forms, including in hiring (Gorman 2005; Goldin and Rouse 2000), promotions (Olson and Becker 1983), wages (Meitzen 1986), glass ceiling, and as well as sexual harassment (Welsh 1999).Of course, documenting the contemporary occurrence of gender discrimination in employment is only a first step. As Reskin (2000, 320) argues, We need to move beyond demonstrating that employment discrimination exists, and investigate why it persists in work organizations. We must look at processes that lead to unequal outcomes for women and men. The real challenge is to uncover how discrimination unfolds in actual work settings. The issue of gender inequality can be considered as a universal feature of developing countries.One of the areas of disparity between males and females is related to the difference in their employment status which is present through occupational segregation, gender-based wage gaps, and womens unequal image in informal employment, unpaid work and higher unemployment rates (UNFPA, 2005). As women in developing countries have low status in the community, the activities they perform tend to be valued less; and womens low status is also perpetuated through the low value placed on their activities (March et al., 1999). In the case of Mauritius, even though there has been a rapid change in the society where women have reached a high level and hold status such as Judges, Directors, Engineers which were unconceivable to be the fields where women could emerged; there are still some occupation where women are entangled in the culture norms and could not take the lead. For example, there are some sectors such as Fire Men at the Fire Services where there are no female officers. There are less women who work as Electrician, Plumber or even Carpenter, as these occupations do not allow women to perform well due to their physical strength. Besides there is no doubt that there are organisations which are gender biased. Most of the organisations are entirely rules by male managerial culture as when organisations were first performed; only males were in the paid workforce.   Despite there has been an increased in the education field at all level and the increase of women in the workforce, there has been a minor change to the men dominated culture in the workplace where women are still treated as inferior agents. Our study focused on how gender inequality still has an impact on the Mauritian female within the workplace. General context An Overview of Gender Inequality in Developing Countries The issue of gender inequality can be considered as a universal aspect of developing countries. Unlike women in developed countries who are, in relative terms, economically empowered and have a powerful voice that demands an audience and positive action, women in developing countries are generally silent and their voice has been stifled by economic and cultural factors. Economic and cultural factors, together with institutional factors state the gender-based division of labour, rights, responsibilities, opportunities, and access to and control over resources. Education, literacy, access to media, employment, decision making, among other things, are some of the areas of gender disparity. One of the areas of disparity between males and females is related to the difference in their employment status which is distinct by occupational segregation, wage inequality, and womens unequal representation in informal occupation, unpaid work and higher unemployment rates (UNFPA, 2005). As women in developing countries have low status in the community, the activities they perform tend to be valued less; and womens low status is also perpetuated through the low value placed on their activities (March et al., 1999). In-depth analysis of DHS by Hindin (2005) showed that only 17% of women in Zimbabwe, 12% in Zambia and 4% in Malawi have higher status job than their partners. The respective percentages of women whose partners have higher status jobs are 52, 43 and 53. Women are also overrepresented in the informal sector. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 84% of womens non-agricultural employment is informal compared to 63% of mens. The figure is found to be 58% and 48% for women and men, respectively in Latin America (UNFPA, 2005). Studies generally show that women are more likely to be engaged in work which is for longer hours than men. For instance, in 18 of the 25 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, greater than 50% of women were employed and even in six of these countries the percentage of employed women was greater than 75% (Mukuria et al.,2005). However, as most of the employed women work in agricultural and other activities which are mostly considered to be having limited or no financial returns, their employment does not contribute much to their status in the workplace. Thus, women in those countries are dependent on their partners in most aspects of their life. In spite of its importance in enabling women to get access to information about personal health behaviours and practices, household, and community, the percentage of women exposed to different types of media is limited in most developing countries. Womens limited access to education, employment opportunity, and media, attached with cultural factors, reduces their decision making power in the society in general and in a household in particular. Regarding their participation in decision making at national level, though the number of women in national parliaments has been increasing, no country in the world has yet achieved gender parity. According to the millennium indicators data base of the United Nations, cited in the UNFPA (2005), the percentage of parliamentary seats held by women in 2005 was 16% at world level, 21% in developed countries, and 14% in developing countries. This low representation of women in national parliaments could be due, among others, to type of electoral systems in different countries, womens social, economic status and beliefs about womens place in the family and society, and womens double responsibilities for work and family (UNFPA, 2005). Women are underrepresented in the formal sector of employment. The survey conducted by the Central Statistical Authority (CSA, 2004) showed that women account for less than half (43%) of the total employees in the country. Considering the percentage of female employees from the total number of employees by employment type, the highest was in domestic activities (78%) and followed by unpaid activities (59.3%). In other types of formal employment (e.g. government, NGOs, private organizations), the percentage of female workers is less than 35. On the other hand, the survey showed overrepresentation of female workers in the informal sector. About 58% of working women work in the informal sector whereas the percentage of working men in the informal sector was 37.7 % (ibid).The breakdown of the federal government employees by occupational groups also indicated gender disparity. From federal government employees found in the clerical and fiscal type of jobs 71.3 % were female, while the percentage of females was slightly more than half (51%) in custodial and manual type of jobs. Women make up 25% and 18% of the administrative and professional and scientific job categories, respectively, indicating that upper and middle level positions are overwhelmingly dominated by men (Federal Civil Service Commission, 2005). This concentration of women in the informal sector and low level positions has implication on their earnings. In this regard, the survey showed four out of ten women civil servants earn Birr 300 a month compared to two out of ten for men (Federal Civil Service Commission, 2005).Ethiopian womens access to mass media is one of the lowest. In their DHS comparative report, Mukuria et al. (2005) show that, among 25 Sub-Saharan African countries. Chapter 2 Component of gender inequality-horizontal and vertical segregation Jonung (1984, p. 45) defines the presence of occupational gender segregation as when women and men are given different occupations that is reliable with their overall shares of employment, irrespective of the nature of job that they have. Gender segregation mean when the percentage of one gender is higher than that of males and females in an occupation. It reflects the gender differences in employment opportunity. The number of occupation with segregation against women is far greater than the number of occupations with segregation against men. Occupational gender segregation consists of two main component dimensions known as horizontal and vertical segregation (Blackburn et al, 2000). Horizontal segregation is known as under or over representation of certain group in the workplace which is not ordered by any criterion (Bettio and Verashchagina, 2009). According to Anker (1998) horizontal segregation is an absolute and universal characteristic of contemporary socio-economic systems. It focuses mainly when men and women possess different physical, emotional and mental capabilities. Such discrimination occurs when women are categorized as less intelligent, hormonal and sensitive (Acker 1990). Women are labeled as unreliable and dependent workers when they are pregnant. They are less competent as they will not work as long and hard as others. They become more stressful and sensible to tiny issues happen in the workplace. Martin (1994) declared that in masculine management style, most of the time women possess soft skills and men possess hard skills. It is this concept which creates gender segregation in the workplace. Vertical segregation referred to the under or over representation of a clearly identifiable group of workers in the workplace at the top of an ordering based on desirable attributes such as income, prestige, authority and power. Huffman (1995) finds that women do not possess enough supervisory authority at work, in education, occupational experience and prestige. One reason that women lack authority is because most women are more concentrated in female-dominated occupations which comprise fever position of authority than male-dominated occupations. Moreover, it is viewed that mens have greater status value, that is mens personality are more valuable than womens and they are much more skilled. (Broverman et al. 1972; Deaux and Kite 1987; Eagly 1987). Men possess more powerful position in the workplace (Bridges Nelson 1989). Womens wage rates are lower than mens even if their qualifications are similar. As women enter in the workplace, this reduces the level of prestige related with the task and men leave these occupations. Sex discrimination-discrimination, harassment and glass ceiling In many parts of the world, women have experienced breakthroughs in their rights in employment. Despite these advances, women from every country and culture continue to face sex discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace. The international community has recognized both discrimination based on sex in the terms and conditions of employment and sexual harassment as violations of the fundamental human rights of women (Gudrun and Danya, 1998). Although sex discrimination is prohibited by law, it continues to be a widespread problem for working women. There are three forms of sex discrimination that have an effect on women in organizations: overt discrimination, sexual harassment and the glass ceiling. Each has negative effects on womens status and ability to perform well at work. Overt discrimination Overt discrimination is defined to make gender as a decisive factor for employment-related decisions. This type of discrimination was targeted by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited making decisions based on sex in employment-related matters such as hiring, firing, and promotions. It consist such behaviours as to refuse to hire women, to pay them inequitably or even to steer them to womens jobs. Overt discrimination also led to occupational sex segregation where jobs are classified by low pay, low status and short career ladders (Reskin, 1997). Sexual Harassment MacKinnon (1979:1) defined sexual harassment as the unwanted imposition of sexual requirements in the context of a relationship of unequal power. As in overt discrimination, sexual harassment is a persistent gendered problem for women in the workplace around the world. Sexual harassment is a type of sex discrimination, but one manifestation of the larger problem of employment-related discrimination against women. It now appears obvious that sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination. There are three psychological dimensions of sexual harassment that continued to persist worldwide: sexual coercion, gender harassment and useless sexual attention ((Fitzgerald et al., 1995; Gelfand et al., 1995). The case of sexual harassment in the workplace is mainly due to obtain more power and status than the opposite sex (e.g., Baugh, 1997; McKinney, 1992; Piotrkowski, 1998; Riger, 1991; Welsh, 1999) Statistical discrimination is another form of sex discrimination in the workplace, it consists of sex-typed job assignment (i.e. error discrimination-Aigner Cain 1977, England McCreary 1987, Bielby Baron 1986a). For example, employers put men into jobs which consist physical demands and women into jobs demanding social skills (Bielby Baron 1984, Farkas et al 1991). However, employers introduce gender segregation in job assignments exceeds technical or economic justifications: within the mixed-sex occupations that either sex could presumably perform, small differences in job requirements were accompanied by large differences in sex composition (Bielby Baron 1986a:782). The Glass ceiling The term the glass ceiling was coined in a 1986 Wall Street Journal report on corporate women. The glass ceiling is a concept that most frequently refers to invisible or artificial barriers that do not allow women from advancing past a certain level in corporations, government, education and nonprofit organization (Federal Glass Ceiling Commission -FGCC, 1997; Morrison and von Glinow, 1990). These barriers reflect discrimination a deep line of demarcation between those who prosper and those left behind. The glass ceiling is the unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements (Federal Glass Ceiling Commission 1995b:4; emphasis added). This official description suggests that the definition of glass ceiling must know that it reflects job inequality that is unexplained by a persons past qualifications or achievements; it reflects labor market discrimination, not ju st labor market inequality. For the purpose of this study, the glass ceiling concept is discussed regarding women who suffer from discrimination in the workplace. The usual method to know where there is discrimination is to look for inequalities that are unexplained by prior personality of the employees. Inequalities that originate from past discrimination in education or training or from choices that people make to pursue nonmarket goals such as family, volunteer work or leisure are not generally measured as part of a glass ceiling. Therefore, glass ceiling inequality represents a gender or racial difference that is not explained by other job-relevant characteristics of the employee. The glass ceiling is a third type of discrimination that affects women in the workplace and it is an important factor for women who do not get enough access to power and status in organizations. It also includes gender stereotypes, lack of opportunities for women to get promotion and prevent women to get higher income than men.

A Review of the Beck Youth Inventories for Children and Adolescents Es

The Beck Youth Inventory Test was developed in 2001 by Judith Beck, Aaron Beck, John Jolly, and Robert Steer. The purpose of this psychological testing tool is a brief self-report to measure the distress in children and adolescents (Flanagan & Henington, 2005). The Beck Youth Inventory includes using five self-administered scales. The five tests include the Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Anger Inventory, Beck Disruptive Inventory, and the Beck Self-Concept Inventory. These tests can be administered individually or in combination to the youth. The intended population for this test is ages 7-14 years (Flanagan & Henington, 2005). This test is used to assess symptoms of depression, anxiety, anger, disruptive behavior, and self esteem (Beck, 2001). The Beck Depression Inventory measures depression criteria as evidenced in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition (Flanagan & Henington, 2005). The Beck Anxiety Inventory assesses childhood fears related to health and school (Flanagan & Henington, 2005). The Beck Anger Inventory appraises the individual’s opinion of mistreatment, negative thoughts, and physiological arousal (Flanagan & Henington, 2005). The Beck Disruptive Behavior Inventory measures behaviors and attitudes related to oppositional and defiant behavior (Flanagan & Henington, 2005). This is consistently seen in youth diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder. Lastly, the Beck Self-Concept Inventory assesses feelings of self-worth and competence (Flanagan & Henington, 2005). The theory of the Beck Youth Inventory Test was derived from the adult Beck Scales (Beck, 2001). The authors of this testing instrument saw a need for this... ...ne only individually in order to encourage honest responses and not have any peer influences (Flanagan & Henington, 2005). Overall, the Beck Youth Inventory is a useful tool, but should be used in conjunction with other assessment instruments. References Beck, J. (2001, November). New Scales for Children: The Beck Youth Inventory. The Beck Institute, 1-5. Copyright 1999-2007. www.beckinstitute.org Beck, J. (2001). Beck Youth Inventories for Children and Adolescents (2nd ed.). PsychCorp: Harcourt Assessment, Inc. Flanagan, R., & Henington, C. (2005). Review of the Beck Youth Inventories for Children and Adolescents: Second Edition. Mental Measurements Yearbook, 18, 18123501 Trochim, W. (2006). Reliability and Validity: What’s the Difference?. Retrieved February 8, 2010, from http://socialresearch methods.net/tutorial/Colosi/lcolosi2.htm

Success Essay -- essays research papers

~~†If one advances confidently in the direction of their dreams, and endeavors to lead a life which they have imagined, they will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.† – Henry David Thoreau What is success?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Is it the process of doing a task and receiving a positive result, or is it simply achieving ones own personal goals? One’s ability to succeed in life is almost directly related to an image of the perception of what success is. Many of America's most successful businessmen, such as J.P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie, understood what it took to survive in the rapidly evolving business world. Their belief was that success is tangible only through smart business interactions and good money management, personality and good looks only serve as a bonus. Rene Gallimard in Madame Butterfly and Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman evidently did not grasp these experts' concept of success. Both Willy Loman and Rene Gallimard define success as their antithesis, and measure their level of accomplishment against their individual barometers for success. Willy Loman preaches that success comes hand in hand with a great smile and a jovial personality but he believes that success is hidden in far off opportunities. Rene Gallimard defines a successful person as one who has the ability to control and maintain power over another. Both of these images are tainted because they are simply representations of their maligned, s...

Nature of Love in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

Love is a universal theme for many art forms.   More often than not, it is love that is spoken of, whether in songs or films.   This fact holds most true for literature. Countless poems, short stories, novels and plays revolve around the concept of love.   One notable piece of literature that thoroughly deals with love and its nature is A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. The story features four types of love through its characters: forced love, parental love, romantic love, and love between friends.   This essay aims to analyze all the aforementioned types of love in the play and how they are portrayed.Love has multiple dimensions; it comes in many forms. The play is a testament to that, as Shakespeare explores the various types of love within the story.   The play begins with the first type of love, which is forced love between Theseus and Hippolyta.   The story starts with both characters speaking of their upcoming marriage and how soon it will come (Shak espeare).   However, the duke and his bride will marry not because they fell in love with each other.   The union existed because Hippolyta was betrothed to Theseus.   In the play, Theseus said: â€Å"I woo'd thee with my sword,/ And won thy love, doing thee injuries;/ But I will wed thee in another key† (Shakespeare).Love formed through betrothal is considered forced because it was prompted by circumstance to exist.   One does not love another upon such imposition.   Rather, one learns to love the other.   Love is spontaneous; if love is to be learned, it means that one has to force himself/herself in loving the other.   In the play, Theseus and Hippolyta did not seem to have any problems with such arrangement.   Both were minor characters, so the details of their relation were not exactly revealed in the play.   In the past, betrothals are common and the arrangement did not seem to be problematic at that time.   However, in essence, forced love is not re ally love.   Love is a spontaneous emotion that is evoked, as opposed to one that is merely forced.The second type of love is the parental kind, as exhibited by the relationship of Egeus to his daughter Hermia.   In the play, Egeus complains to Theseus that while he had given consent to Demetrius to marry Hermia, it is she who seeks to disobey for her love of Lysander (Shakespeare).   Egeus warns that her disobedience may result in death, while Theseus presents another option which is becoming a nun (Shakespeare).Parental love is that which is received upon birth, a love expressed by parents to their children (Hammack 2).   Among all kinds of love, parental love is most continuous; it is the secure kind of love that remains throughout one's life.   There is nothing more fulfilling than being loved by and having a strong close relationship with the family.   However, this kind of love is not without fault.   Parents may have a negative effect on their children when the former force their will or decisions on the latter.For instance, in the play, Egeus believes that Demetrius is the one most fit to marry Hermia; in his resolve, he discards the feelings of his own daughter for his decision. Thinking his daughter’s life is not hers but his, Egeus says, â€Å"And she is mine, and all my right of her/ I do estate unto Demetrius† (Shakespeare).   As Hermia's father, Egeus acts like he owned her and made decisions with her in mind. Egeus may have preferred Demetrius to be Hermia's husband because he thought that was what was best for her.   Nonetheless, it was Lysander whom Hermia loved, and they did end up together eventually.The third kind of love featured in the play was romantic love.   In the story, two couples demonstrated this kind of love: Hermia and Lysander, and Helena and Demetrius.   In the case of Hermia and Lysander, the feeling was mutual.   They reciprocated each other's love, and it caused them to defy Athenian la w by eloping (Shakespeare).This is the typical concept of romantic love.   It is characterized by the fervent desire to have that special someone in one's life (Hammack 3).   It is also marked by a compromise, in which both shared and carried the load that came with the relationship. Lysander knew that his relationship with Hermia was in danger due to Egeus and Demetrius.   Not wanting to part from his beloved, Lysander suggested that they elope to a place in which the Athenian law cannot hinder their love (Shakespeare).Hermia complied, and together they struggled to overcome the obstacle in their relationship.   Such bold action can only be done by people experiencing romantic love.   One becomes willing to face hardships for the sake of the other, as there is a strong need to be with the beloved and make him or her happy (Hammack 3).The case of Helena and Demetrius is different because even if it still falls under romantic love, it initially involved unrequited love.   Helena is in love with Demetrius, but Demetrius has only eyes for Helena's friend Hermia (Shakespeare).   Hermia informs Helena of their elopement, hoping that she would keep it a secret.   She did not; instead, she thought of Demetrius' welfare and told him of Hermia and Lysander's plans.   She did betray her friend's trust, but she simply wanted to win Demetrius.   Despite the fact that he did not love her, she still wanted him to be happy.   That is why she told him of Hermia's plans.   Helena's love is a romantic one because she sought to make her beloved happy, even if it was at her own expense (Shakespeare).One aspect of romantic love is the desire to look after the happiness of the beloved (Hammack 3).   Helena did that to Demetrius; she knew he loved Hermia, so she told him her whereabouts.   Another aspect of romantic love, as was mentioned earlier, is the need to be with the beloved (Hammack 3).   Helena followed Demetrius in the woods, and even though h e made it clear that he did not want to be with her, she still pursued (Shakespeare).   If Oberon did not take pity on her and if Puck did not put the potion on Demetrius' eyes, Helena would have continued to suffer.   In the end, everything went well, with Demetrius declaring â€Å"The object and the pleasure of mine eye/Is only Helena† (Shakespeare).The last type of love portrayed in the play is a love that is shared by sisters, a love grounded on friendship.   Hermia and Helena shared a special friendship that was almost destroyed by Puck's error (Shakespeare).   Because of Puck, both Lysander and Demetrius fell in love with Helena.   This made Hermia think ill about her friend, making them argue in the process (Shakespeare).The love shared between friends is marked by concern for the welfare of the other (Helm).   This stems from the fact that it involves an extent of intimacy, which in part plays a crucial role in one's personal development.   Love between friends is also characterized by caring for one another (Helm).In the play, after Puck had committed the mistake, Helena thought that the declarations of love from Lysander and Demetrius were mere mockery (Shakespeare).   She also thought that Hermia was also involved.   That is the reason why she spoke about their friendship in detail.   Helena narrates that she and Hermia had a vow of sisterhood; for all the times they spent together, they were like two entities with a single heart.   Their friendship originated from childhood, and continued until their days in school.   That is why Helena was hurt when she thought that Hermia was also mocking her (Shakespeare).Hermia and Helena are bound by love that unites friends.   They are already like sisters. Because they have been together for a long time, they have developed a level of intimacy that they cannot share with others.   Their relationship which began as early as childhood made them responsible for each other's gr owth.   Because there is caring involved between friends, to be mocked by a friend would surely hurt.   Hermia's anger toward Helena when the former thought that the latter stole her lover away was out of the sense of betrayal she felt as a friend.Love indeed comes in many forms, and has numerous different variations. In the playA Midsummer Night's Dream alone, there are four types of love that Shakespeare openly explored: forced love, parental love, romantic love and love between friends.   All these are simply part and parcel of the universal concept that is love.Works CitedHammack, GS. â€Å"Different Types of Love.† Associated Content. 12 June 2006.   12 May 2008 ;https://www.yahoo.com/?err=404;err_url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.yahoo.com%2farticle%2f37378%2fdifferent_types_of_love.html%3fpage%3d3%26cat%3d41;.Helm, Bennett. â€Å"Friendship.† Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 17 May 2005. 12 May 2008 ;https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/friendship/;.Shakespeare, W illiam. A Midsummer Night's Dream. 13 November 2000.   12 May 2008 . Nature of Love in â€Å"A Midsummer Night’s Dream† Love is a universal theme for many art forms.   More often than not, it is love that is spoken of, whether in songs or films.   This fact holds most true for literature. Countless poems, short stories, novels and plays revolve around the concept of love.   One notable piece of literature that thoroughly deals with love and its nature is A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. The story features four types of love through its characters: forced love, parental love, romantic love, and love between friends.   This essay aims to analyze all the aforementioned types of love in the play and how they are portrayed.Love has multiple dimensions; it comes in many forms. The play is a testament to that, as Shakespeare explores the various types of love within the story.   The play begins with the first type of love, which is forced love between Theseus and Hippolyta.   The story starts with both characters speaking of their upcoming marriage and how soon it will come (Shak espeare).   However, the duke and his bride will marry not because they fell in love with each other.   The union existed because Hippolyta was betrothed to Theseus.   In the play, Theseus said: â€Å"I woo'd thee with my sword,/ And won thy love, doing thee injuries;/ But I will wed thee in another key† (Shakespeare).Love formed through betrothal is considered forced because it was prompted by circumstance to exist.   One does not love another upon such imposition.   Rather, one learns to love the other.   Love is spontaneous; if love is to be learned, it means that one has to force himself/herself in loving the other.   In the play, Theseus and Hippolyta did not seem to have any problems with such arrangement.   Both were minor characters, so the details of their relation were not exactly revealed in the play.   In the past, betrothals are common and the arrangement did not seem to be problematic at that time.   However, in essence, forced love is not re ally love.   Love is a spontaneous emotion that is evoked, as opposed to one that is merely forced.The second type of love is the parental kind, as exhibited by the relationship of Egeus to his daughter Hermia.   In the play, Egeus complains to Theseus that while he had given consent to Demetrius to marry Hermia, it is she who seeks to disobey for her love of Lysander (Shakespeare).   Egeus warns that her disobedience may result in death, while Theseus presents another option which is becoming a nun (Shakespeare).Parental love is that which is received upon birth, a love expressed by parents to their children (Hammack 2).   Among all kinds of love, parental love is most continuous; it is the secure kind of love that remains throughout one's life.   There is nothing more fulfilling than being loved by and having a strong close relationship with the family.   However, this kind of love is not without fault.   Parents may have a negative effect on their children when the former force their will or decisions on the latter.   For instance, in the play, Egeus believes that Demetrius is the one most fit to marry Hermia; in his resolve, he discards the feelings of his own daughter for his decision.Thinking his daughter’s life is not hers but his, Egeus says, â€Å"And she is mine, and all my right of her/ I do estate unto Demetrius† (Shakespeare).   As Hermia's father, Egeus acts like he owned her and made decisions with her in mind. Egeus may have preferred Demetrius to be Hermia's husband because he thought that was what was best for her.   Nonetheless, it was Lysander whom Hermia loved, and they did end up together eventually.The third kind of love featured in the play was romantic love.   In the story, two couples demonstrated this kind of love: Hermia and Lysander, and Helena and Demetrius.   In the case of Hermia and Lysander, the feeling was mutual.   They reciprocated each other's love, and it caused them to defy Athenia n law by eloping (Shakespeare).This is the typical concept of romantic love.   It is characterized by the fervent desire to have that special someone in one's life (Hammack 3).   It is also marked by a compromise, in which both shared and carried the load that came with the relationship. Lysander knew that his relationship with Hermia was in danger due to Egeus and Demetrius.   Not wanting to part from his beloved, Lysander suggested that they elope to a place in which the Athenian law cannot hinder their love (Shakespeare). Hermia complied, and together they struggled to overcome the obstacle in their relationship.   Such bold action can only be done by people experiencing romantic love.   One becomes willing to face hardships for the sake of the other, as there is a strong need to be with the beloved and make him or her happy (Hammack 3).The case of Helena and Demetrius is different because even if it still falls under romantic love, it initially involved unrequited love .   Helena is in love with Demetrius, but Demetrius has only eyes for Helena's friend Hermia (Shakespeare).   Hermia informs Helena of their elopement, hoping that she would keep it a secret.   She did not; instead, she thought of Demetrius' welfare and told him of Hermia and Lysander's plans.   She did betray her friend's trust, but she simply wanted to win Demetrius.   Despite the fact that he did not love her, she still wanted him to be happy.   That is why she told him of Hermia's plans.   Helena's love is a romantic one because she sought to make her beloved happy, even if it was at her own expense (Shakespeare).One aspect of romantic love is the desire to look after the happiness of the beloved (Hammack 3).   Helena did that to Demetrius; she knew he loved Hermia, so she told him her whereabouts.   Another aspect of romantic love, as was mentioned earlier, is the need to be with the beloved (Hammack 3).   Helena followed Demetrius in the woods, and even tho ugh he made it clear that he did not want to be with her, she still pursued (Shakespeare).   If Oberon did not take pity on her and if Puck did not put the potion on Demetrius' eyes, Helena would have continued to suffer.   In the end, everything went well, with Demetrius declaring â€Å"The object and the pleasure of mine eye/Is only Helena† (Shakespeare).The last type of love portrayed in the play is a love that is shared by sisters, a love grounded on friendship.   Hermia and Helena shared a special friendship that was almost destroyed by Puck's error (Shakespeare).   Because of Puck, both Lysander and Demetrius fell in love with Helena.   This made Hermia think ill about her friend, making them argue in the process (Shakespeare).The love shared between friends is marked by concern for the welfare of the other (Helm).   This stems from the fact that it involves an extent of intimacy, which in part plays a crucial role in one's personal development.   Love bet ween friends is also characterized by caring for one another (Helm).In the play, after Puck had committed the mistake, Helena thought that the declarations of love from Lysander and Demetrius were mere mockery (Shakespeare).   She also thought that Hermia was also involved.   That is the reason why she spoke about their friendship in detail.   Helena narrates that she and Hermia had a vow of sisterhood; for all the times they spent together, they were like two entities with a single heart.   Their friendship originated from childhood, and continued until their days in school.   That is why Helena was hurt when she thought that Hermia was also mocking her (Shakespeare).Hermia and Helena are bound by love that unites friends.   They are already like sisters. Because they have been together for a long time, they have developed a level of intimacy that they cannot share with others.   Their relationship which began as early as childhood made them responsible for each other 's growth.   Because there is caring involved between friends, to be mocked by a friend would surely hurt.   Hermia's anger toward Helena when the former thought that the latter stole her lover away was out of the sense of betrayal she felt as a friend.Love indeed comes in many forms, and has numerous different variations. In the playA Midsummer Night's Dream alone, there are four types of love that Shakespeare openly explored: forced love, parental love, romantic love and love between friends.   All these are simply part and parcel of the universal concept that is love.Works CitedHammack, GS. â€Å"Different Types of Love.† Associated Content. 12 June 2006.   12 May 2008 .Helm, Bennett. â€Å"Friendship.† Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 17 May 2005. 12 May 2008 .Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream. 13 November 2000.   12 May 2008 .

A Visual Interpretation of Lautrec’s “At the Moulin Rogue”

The painting â€Å"At the Moulin Rouge† by Lautrec gives me a feeling of gaudiness and activity as I look at it.   It shows the diverse kinds of activities done in the Moulin Rogue; however, it seems to lack the glamour and fanciness of a typical night club.Even the faces of the women, who I assume are hospitality girls, as is normal in a nightclub, lack luster, instead they are painted using pale colors; the blue hints on the face of the woman on the right even leads me to think that the woman is sickly.Noticeable also are the expressions in the faces of the people.   As opposed to the excitement that would be expected in the faces of people who go our partying in the evening, the faces in the painting seem to show a certain level of dissatisfaction, misery, or boredom.   Even the smile of the woman on the right side seems to be forced.The dominance of earth colors and faded hues in the painting give the viewer a feeling of tiredness and gloom.   The colors seem to ma ke the painting drab instead of what it is supposed to be as a painting of a club where people frequent in the evenings for drinks.   These are not the kinds of colors that one would normally see in a night club – even so, if it is set during an early period where people would most likely be more flamboyant as compared to party-goers of today.There is also a lack of light in the painting; despite the consideration that this is a night club and it opens in the evenings, it is strange that the light sources in the painting seem to be diffused or faded.   The colors and the lighting in the painting give me an overall feeling of monotony and blandness, like when you taste a piece of cake and it is not as sweet as expected despite the visual appearance of the cake.If I was to take notice of composition in the painting, the elements are quite scattered, perhaps to give the viewer a feeling of activity.   However, there are certain portions of the painting where sight is drawn towards, like the central portion which shows a group of people gathered around a table and looking down on the table, probably at cards (for gambling), and the lady at the right side of the painting.These elements of the composition that grab my sight were probably put there to emphasize what these elements denote.As mentioned earlier, the feeling that I get when I see the face of the lady is one of illness and a forced sense of joy, so the painter must have wanted the viewer to feel these emotions which is why he emphasized the element in the first place by putting it in a composition hotspot.   The central table also has the same effect of drawing the viewer towards that area of the painting, which shows, as well the pale faces of the people and the pensive moods that they are in.There is a dominance of curved lines in the picture as clearly shown by the backrest of the chair, the borders of the dresses of the ladies, and the outlines of the glasses and the bottles; this parti cular dominance of curved lines gives the painting a sluggish feel.As would normally be done, curved lines are usually used to invoke grace and softness, but in the painting these lines, in combination with the other elements somehow convey the feeling of lethargy to the viewer – that although there is activity in the Moulin Rogue, the people participating in the activity seem to be tired of what they are doing, or perhaps tired of something else which is why they waste their time in a pub.It also gives me the feeling that the people in the painting have been doing what they are supposedly doing in the painting for many, many times, repeatedly, and have grown exhausted of it.In terms of contrast, the painting is apparently, intentionally blurry and grainy, again making the viewer strain hard enough when looking into the painting.This gives me an added feeling of tiredness around the eyes, effectively conveying the physical equivalent of the abstract emotions that the painting would like to convey.   The different textures in the painting again, give me a feeling of activity, the movements, and the brushstrokes all show the repletion of activity in the painting.   So, although I feel that the painting   is about activity in the pub, it sends out a different message.A detail to note in the painting is the sporadic clean and sharp lines on the gentlemen’s top hats.   This sets the men apart from the women, giving the viewer a sense of aggressiveness when viewing the men in the painting in particular; however, even with this particular feature, notice again that the rims of these top hats are down turned, again giving the viewer the same feeling of tiredness from the painting.The piece, is also, in a way imbalanced, drawing the viewers sight to the right side and the center areas of the painting in particular; but perhaps the artist intended this to be to give the viewer a feeling of drowsiness or disorder; the feeling that one would get from intoxication, which also, by the way, is achieved by the bluntness in contrast, the graininess, and the noise in the painting.Overall, the elements of color, lines, balance, contrast, and texture in the painting contribute to its general feel.   Art is always intentional and the emotions that it convey to a viewer are quite likely, the same emotions that the artist wanted to convey in the first place.Strictly speaking though, a painting of a night club or a pub would contain a diversity of bright psychedelic colors if the norm was to be followed.   However, because perhaps the painter wanted to convey a sense of irony in the painting, the artist succeeded in using the elements of art to achieve this effect.

Impact of Technology Essay

Every day we cannot live without technology. We wake up in the morning, we take a bath, we have breakfast, we do our daily activities, and all are affected by something called technology. From the simplest form of it until the most complex one, technology filled our daily life. The famous phrase â€Å"Information Technology† of course is one of the forms of technology. Before we continue talking about technology, we must know its definition. Shortly, technology is something related to science and engineering, which is used by the human or other creatures in dealing with their environment, to make their life easier. The technology develops fast. From the ancient age to the modern age, there are billions of its products that have made our life easier. In prehistoric age, the ancient human created the tools made of stone. They also invented the wheel, which is very important to the next centuries. Imagine that there weren’t any invention of wheel. We must give a lot of energy to move our goods from one place to another. Many centuries later, there are a lot of important inventions for human’s life, such as the invention of telephone. Using it, we may communicate through long distances. And the latest technology which has given many changes to the world and is still being developed is the information technology. The development of technology gives some impacts to human beings and the other creatures. The positive impact is, it makes our life easier. Without the inventions of technology, I think we would live our lives just like the prehistoric men did. Technology, just like the other things in this world, also has negative impacts. I’ll give you three examples. First, technology takes out the filters, like social filter, cultural filter, and religious filter. We can see in Internet technology. Internet is a medium in which no filter and censorship. Without parental guidance, your children may consume inappropriate materials from the Internet. The second one is the decrease of your social skills. Too much usage of technology makes you more antisocial. In the past, children used to play traditional games with their friends outside the house. But now they prefer playing video games in their own room, all by themselves. The easy access of technology also makes you too dependent to it. In the past, our people had more memorizing skills. They had to memorize things, because there was no tool to use to record things, except notebooks (the original phrase of notebook, not the portable computer). But nowadays, by using the computer, you can save any information you want in its memory to retrieve it in another day. In advance, by using the Internet connection, you may search any information you need through any search engine like Google, Yahoo, Altavista instantly. Dealing with those negative impacts, what can we do? First, we must be aware of them. We must be aware that technology could also cause bad things. After that, we must give the people knowledge of those negative impacts and how to deal with them. The government also has to do some actions about this. They must give some regulations relating with the press and the media. It is just need to be done to protect our society, not to restrain the press. And then, to increase the social skills, we must create the real community; build the real network, makes friends in the real world, of course not in the cyber world. By doing that, it will take us back to our nature as social creatures.