...Trial” and “The Metamorphosis” Works from the one of the most influential author, Franz Kafka, is like trying to read hieroglyphics. Unless, of course you are Egyptian. It is difficult to comprehend someone that comes from a total different era or background. Usually an author, relates their theme of their works with simple and easy literary devices, such as symbolism. So does Franz Kafka, but on a greater scale. All of the aspects and elements of his works seem unimportant, because of the different interpretations of his works. Most of his works , depicts his own thoughts and dreams. Like some authors, Kafka focuses on a single character symbolizing himself or his life. To fully recognized and understand this method , the audience must study his background and just basic history to understand his motive. He stands out against all these other authors because he goes against the flow of the writing norms. Some of the genre's found in his works are Kafkaesque, Magic Realism,Dystopia,Fantasy,Science Fiction,Modernism,Post Modernism and Existentialism. First time reading one of Kafka's predominant novel, "The Trial" was pretty overwhelming. Personally, I have nothing to compare his works to, other than his own work, in particular, "The Metamorphosis." While these two have some obvious similarities, there are some hidden and usually inconspicuous ones that readers, like myself, don’t usually pick out. Finding some common themes in “The Trial” and “The Metamorphosis” provides a...
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...“dressed in elegant clothes that weigh her down, she drowns in a stream filled with flowers.” The river and elegant clothes serve as a metaphor for the stifling societal expectations of young women that sap them of their personality, drowning their old, adventurous selves. Furthermore, the juxtaposition of a flower-filled stream and elegant clothes with death shows the irony of society’s demands — hundreds of advertisements by multimillion dollar companies cater to teenage girls, each advocating for a separate type of individuality or creativity like wildflowers in an endless stream of suggestion, but they coalesce to prevent the growth of natural individuality and creativity. Furthermore, Pipher argues that increasing societal expectation of dependance promotes self-sufficient girls to give up their autonomy. She describes this phenomenon by referencing fairytales, illustrating princesses who “wander away from home, encounter great dangers, are rescued by princes and are transformed into passive and docile creatures.” The sentence itself transitions from active voice to passive voice, mimicking the mental metamorphosis Pipher describes, and the shift in the middle subtly suggests a separate storyline for those fairytales. Since it is the young girls that encounter the...
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...A Glossary of Literary Devices Allegory A symbolic narrative in which the surface details imply a secondary meaning. Allegory often takes the form of a story in which the characters represent moral qualities. The most famous example in English is John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, in which the name of the central character, Pilgrim, epitomizes the book's allegorical nature. Kay Boyle's story "Astronomer's Wife" and Christina Rossetti's poem "Up-Hill" both contain allegorical elements. Alliteration The repetition of consonant sounds, especially at the beginning of words. Example: "Fetched fresh, as I suppose, off some sweet wood." Hopkins, "In the Valley of the Elwy." Antagonist A character or force against which another character struggles. Creon is Antigone's antagonist in Sophocles' play Antigone; Teiresias is the antagonist of Oedipus in Sophocles' Oedipus the King. Assonance The repetition of similar vowel sounds in a sentence or a line of poetry or prose, as in "I rose and told him of my woe." Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" contains assonantal "I's" in the following lines: "How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, / Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself." Character An imaginary person that inhabits a literary work. Literary characters may be major or minor, static (unchanging) or dynamic (capable of change). In Shakespeare's Othello, Desdemona is a major character, but one who is static, like the minor character Bianca. Othello...
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...challenged his students to seize the day by avoiding anything that might be challenging.The school’s principal went on to say, “I do not believe that we’re censoring. I really do believe that this is an opportunity for the school to step forward and listen to the students.” We’re not even allowed to use words like “censoring” or “banned” anymore. Do you see the irony? Nevertheless, I’m not sure I’d call removing the most important work of literature in American history to be a “step forward.” Oh, and by the way, the students also hate math. So get rid of it. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an exciting, poetic tale, incorporating many of the same issues of racism and intolerance that we still grapple with today. First published in 1884, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has stood the test of time, a work of genius that challenges one to think about the effects of slavery and society’s complex morality. So what book are you going to replace it with? Yes, I get it. This situation in Philadelphia is not really a Constitutional thing. There was no government ban. Words are just words. Yet there has been a metamorphosis in the decline of free speech; we’ve gone from being challenged to being offended to being outraged to feeling marginalized. Listen, as a general rule, I totally support the complete removal, from every aspect of society, of absolutely anything related to absolutely anyone who says absolutely anything that might be remotely offensive to absolutely anyone. And if...
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...Thematic Questions 1. What is a crucible and how is it used? Justify Miller’s choice of title for his play. A crucible is a ceramic container that can withstand very high temperature and is used for metal, glass and pigment production as well as a number of modern laboratory processes. Miller’s choice of the title “The Crucible” is due to the same reason as the courtroom being referred to as a crucible: using the heat of questioning and scrutiny, they burned away all the impurities, i.e. lies and half-truths, to get the purified product the “truth”. 2. How do Hale’s preconceptions influence his interpretation of events? How does his interpretation change? What are the implications of his conversion? Hale’s preconceptions has influenced his interpretation of events in that he initially thought that he had the authority over the town due to his extensive knowledge of witchcraft. He expected to find witches, however his interpretation changes throughout the play as he realises that innocent townspeople are being falsely accused, such as John Proctor. The implications of his conversion are when he encourages the accused to confess, i.e. the good people to lie, even though he believes that he is doing the “Devil’s work”. 3. Proctor calls Hale “Pontius Pilate.” Explain the allusion. Do you agree or disagree? The allusion is that Pontius Pilate was the ruler in Bethlehem who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus Christ at the order of the Jewish leadership, despite the...
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...ANALYSIS OF THEME IN METAMORPHOSIS THEMES ANALYSIS The theme of "The Metamorphosis" is modern man's sense of isolation. Driven to work long hours in meaningless jobs around people who do not care about others, just like Gregor, mankind seems to live a meaningless and ineffectual existence. Although Gregor's metamorphosis is actual and physical, Kafka implies through his change that all too often mankind is forced into an insect-like existence, no better than the bugs at the bottom of the natural order. When mankind tries to rise above their insect status and connect with humanity, as Gregor did when he emerged from his room to see his sister and listen to the violin, they are cruelly driven back into isolation and alienation. Through Gregor, Kafka presents a totally tragic view of man's existence. Kafka also shows that mankind is driven by materialism, often to the exclusion of developing human relationships. Modern life demands that a person have a job to earn money to fulfill materialistic desires. The materialistic mind-set usually enslaves the individual and transforms him into a beast or insect who does not have time to care for others. Gregor is the perfect example. He hates his job as a salesman but endures it in order to provide material things for his family. In order to have and give financial security, he sacrifices a social life, companionship, pleasure, and dreams. His life is miserable, and he counts the days until he can quit his job. Ironically, the people...
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...Scott Hicks is the epitome of ingenious when it comes to channelling his creativity into his wonderful creations. Some attributes of Hicks directorial style demonstrated in my chosen visual text Shine include camera work, music, and the terrifyingly subtle use of lighting to develop the atmosphere and create apprehension in the audience. On the contrary, Stephen Chow’s ostentatious special effects, camera work, lighting and sound in Kung Fu Hustle in no way waned to present the same ideas and rivet the audience on to the end of their seats to witness the anticipated metamorphosis of antagonist to protagonist. In Shine, Hicks’ concoction of multiple cinematic techniques effectively portray the idea of the change and the transition from the suppression of the individual to the strength of the individual. Hicks’ use of specific techniques helps the audience learn more about Peters Authoritarian mindset and further develops the oppression felt by David’s character whilst portraying the idea of change. This enables the audience to understand the more complex underlying themes in the film and makes the audience more aware to the specific role of each character in the film and how they are all intertwined with each other at a deeper level. Consequently, it successfully challenges us, the audience, to consider how we might have felt in David’s situation and helps us draw conclusions about the nature of relationships and family dynamics. A scene, in Shine, that Hicks uses cinematic...
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...From How to Read Literature Like a Professor Thomas C. Foster Notes by Marti Nelson 1. Every Trip is a Quest (except when it’s not): a. A quester b. A place to go c. A stated reason to go there d. Challenges and trials e. The real reason to go—always self-knowledge 2. Nice to Eat With You: Acts of Communion a. Whenever people eat or drink together, it’s communion b. Not usually religious c. An act of sharing and peace d. A failed meal carries negative connotations 3. Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires a. Literal Vampirism: Nasty old man, attractive but evil, violates a young woman, leaves his mark, takes her innocence b. Sexual implications—a trait of 19th century literature to address sex indirectly c. Symbolic Vampirism: selfishness, exploitation, refusal to respect the autonomy of other people, using people to get what we want, placing our desires, particularly ugly ones, above the needs of another. 4. If It’s Square, It’s a Sonnet 5. Now, Where Have I Seen Her Before? a. There is no such thing as a wholly original work of literature—stories grow out of other stories, poems out of other poems. b. There is only one story—of humanity and human nature, endlessly repeated c. “Intertexuality”—recognizing the connections between one story and another deepens our appreciation and experience, brings multiple layers of meaning to the text, which we may not be conscious of. The more consciously...
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...ALLEGOR AND IRONY IN 'OTHELLO' Y ANTOINETT B. DAUBER E Othello is Shakespeare's Spenserian tragedy, in which the theme of slandere d chastity becomes a vehicle for exploring the problems of an allegorica l art . Allegory is the mode of selfconscious faith, and Spenser's corpus may be rea d as a portrai t of the artis t as allegorist , wrestling first with the burdens of selfconsciousness and then with the burdens of faith.l In Othello, Shakespeare compresses and objectifies this struggle. Unlike Spenser, he is not committed to the maintenance of allegory, and so he freely dramatizes the interna l weaknesses and external onslaughts that lead to its destruction. What I am calling the 'Spenserian ' quality begins with the chivalric elements in the tragedy. Truly, Othello is a kind of Savage Knight, Desdemona, the absolutely, almost miraculously, worthy lady, and Iago, something of a manipulator like Archimago.2 But more particularl y I would call attention to a specific engagement with Spenserian rhetoric . Consider Cassio' s words of welcome to the disembarking Desdemona: Tempests themselves, high seas, and howling winds, The gutter'd rocks and congregated sands, Traitors ensteep'd to enclog the guiltless keel, As having sense of beauty, do omit Their mortal natures, letting go safely by The divine Desdemona. (2.1.68-73)3 He sets her in the line of Spenser's heavenly allegories . As a parallel , we may recal l Una , slandere d by the arch-magician , abandone d by 123 her...
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...Religion and Politics and the effect of religion in America For a virtuous instance of how religion affects politics in our current world we need not look very distant but rather look around you. The influence of Catholicism on Latin American politics, and the role religion plays on Middle Eastern politics have had a profound affect in those related societies. After examining the effects of religion into the above mentioned societies it is clear that the introduction of religion into politics has proven to be suppressive and counterproductive to most third world countries, and various subcultures in first world countries. A very well known writer and scholar on the history of Egypt, Budge, E. A. Wallis, "Egyptian Religion and Society: Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life (Library of the Mystic Arts)". Citadel Press. August 1, 1991. Wrote, “Most scholars have concluded that, in later times at least, there was no close personal tie between the individual Egyptian and the gods, that the gods remained aloof, that their relationship to humans was indirect, communicated to him by means of the king”. We must remember that there was no established book or set of teachings, as the Bible or the Qur'an, and few prescribed conditions of behavior or conduct. Humans were guided essentially by human wisdom and trusted in their belief in the goodness of the gods and of their divine son, the king. An important concept in Egyptian life was the idea of justice. Although the Egyptian was entirely...
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...I N DI A / H AT E P O L I T IC S into a taxi late one night two years ago. Tehelka, the newsmagazine I work with, had just broken a major investigation. It was an hour past midnight. e airwaves were still crackling with the amplifying shames of the story as television anchors quizzed a conveyor belt of public figures on its implications. In February 2002, 59 Hindu pilgrims returning from Ayodhya – the symbolically surcharged birthplace of Lord Ram – had been burnt alive in a train by a Muslim mob in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Over the next week, retaliatory Hindu mobs hacked and burned 2,500 Muslims across the state. As the world watched in shock, an impenitent government led by the rightwing Hindutva Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) put out smart theories about ‘action and spontaneous reaction’ – Hindu retaliation for Muslim crime – and refused to apologize. A year later, though evidence of his culpability was piled high, Gujarat strongman Narendra Modi – an inscrutable fascist and skilled demagogue – was re-elected as Incandescent: Hindutva chief minister of Gujarat on a zealots rage against the mega vote: a terrifying reflection arrest of Sadhvi Pragya, of popular Hindu sentiment in the a Hindu ascetic, under state. Success can be a tremendous suspicion of a terror attack. sanction. With the fig leaf of the popular mandate in his pocket, even India’s liberal élite began to look the other way. Now four years later – S H A I L E N D R A PA N D E Y / T E H E L K A coincidentally...
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...Aibhi Biswas M.A English (Final) 4 November 2013 Two need to play this game: ambiguity in Marquez’s the chronicle of a death foretold The chronicle of a death foretold is an ambiguous novella in terms of genre, narration, resolution, aim and in terms of giving agency and power to the reader/ author. The novella can be seen as a parody, a suspense thriller and a detective novel of journalistic trend. The death is the central event but there’s no mystery regarding it rather completely different questions are raised. The aim of this paper is to show that the narrator is distinct from the author but sometimes they intersect. Thus Ronald Barthes statement that the author is dead is not completely true. The authors’ present but it’s not an omnipotent presence, controlling the universal subject (the reader). But this does make the reader all powerful. Barthes implies in his essay Death of the Author. The reader follows the patterns presented by the author but the final impression, overall opinion of the text and the reader’s reaction are not prefigured or controlled by the author. Thus the author and the reader together form the overall value of the text. Raymond Williams explains the formation of the category of Literature, its ever expanding and changing parameters\paradigms are explained in his essay Marxism and Literature. This paper will show the growing value of Latin American Literature, becoming a part of the literary canon, valued as a skillful piece of art. This...
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...Cross Cultural Management (BUS6060) Professor Dr. Wendy Chung San Diego Campus Research Paper - Great Britain - Cross Cultural Management Alliant International University Author Note Arturo Morales Student ID: 516395 Jeremy Liu (Fangming Liu) Student ID: 617063 Maria Röttgers Student ID: 617666 Historical Overview England itself is actually not a country, but part of Great Britain, which again is part of the United Kingdom. Great Britain consists of the three regions England, Scotland and Wales. Besides Great Britain, Northern Ireland is also part of the United Kingdom. The history of England goes back to thousands years before Christ. Therefore, this historical overview will outline some major events in British history and will concentrate more on the last century. Major events in British history were The Hundred Years War against France during the 14th century and the civil war that was also known as the War of Roses: the House of York was fighting against the House of Lancaster for the English throne, which weakened the power of the English aristocracy. (Strasbourg l’europénne: 2014) Another aspect of the British history is that England, Scotland and Ireland are very different countries with different histories. Each kingdom favored a different form of religion. The English favored a moderate form of Protestantism, the Scottish were Calvinist and the Irish were stouthearted Catholics. But each kingdom also had strong minorities of other religions...
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...Title: The Problem of Faith in 'Young Goodman Brown' Author(s): Leo B. Levy Publication Details: JEGP: Journal of English and Germanic Philology 74.3 (July 1975): p375-387. Source: Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Juliet Byington. Vol. 95. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. p375-387. From Literature Resource Center. Document Type: Critical essay Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group, COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale, Cengage Learning [In the following essay, Levy examines Faith as a character, an allegorical figure, and a symbol.] Few of Hawthorne's tales have elicited a wider range of interpretations than “Young Goodman Brown.” The critics have been victimized by the notorious ambiguity of a tale composed of a mixture of allegory and the psychological analysis of consciousness. Many of them find the key to its meaning in a neurotic predisposition to evil; one goes so far as to compare Goodman Brown to Henry James's governess in The Turn of the Screw [Darrel Abel, in “Black Glove and Pink Ribbon: Hawthorne's Metonymic Symbols,” in NEQ 42, 1969]. The psychological aspect is undeniably important, since we cannot be certain whether “Young Goodman Brown” is a dream-allegory that takes place in the mind and imagination of the protagonist, an allegory with fixed referents in the external world, or a combination of these that eludes our ordinary understanding of the genre itself. The story is all three: a dream vision, a conventional allegory, and finally an inquiry into the problem of faith...
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...between the leader and the follower(s) is critical. Without the construction and preservation of said relationships, the style could not work. (Vann, Coleman, & Simpson, 2014) Transformational leaders model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable and empower others to act, and encourage the heart. (Kouzes & Posner, 1987, 2002) They employ idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. (Avolio, 1999; Bass & Avolio, 1990) They are the social architects of their organization, and use trust and creative development of self and others through positive self-regard as their chosen tools. (Bennis and Nanus, 1985) A true transformational leader will “cause a metamorphosis in the form or structure, a change in the very condition or nature of thing, a change into another substance, a radical change in outward form or inner character.” (Burns, 2003, p.24) According to Vann, Coleman, and Simpson (2014) “transformational leadership assumes institutions need, and require, a transformation; that innovation is always preferable to the status quo, and that followers are eager to have personal and intimate relationships with their leaders.” (p. 31) Thus, transformational leadership will only work as long as a change is necessary, the leader seeks change for the benefit of the group, the follower is willing to be transformed, and an emotional connection is made between the leader and the follower. (Vann, Coleman...
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