...“The Wild Swans at Coole” by W.B Yeats and “Stony Grey Soil” by Kavanagh both convey their views of nature and landscape. Throughout their poetry, both Yeats and Kavanagh convey very different views about the themes of nature and landscape. In “The Wild Swans at Coole”, Yeats is reminiscing of his first visit to Coole Park, nineteen years prior, where the beauty and immortality of “nine and fifty swans” inspired him to reflect upon his own self and his poetry. Kavanagh, however, is bitterly expressing his frustration with his homeland of Monaghan. He addresses the soil directly, accusing it of robbing him of his youthful hope with its “grey” influence. Yeats primarily addresses themes of swans and the freedom and strength of nature. He views the swans as “mysterious, beautiful”, creating a sense of immortality, which he then contrasts with his own old and withered self, being now 50 years old. As Yeats reflects on the beautiful nature of theses swans he finds himself exploring themes of loneliness and depression – he likens himself to the one swan that will remain after all “nine and fifty” had mated for life, expressing his desire for an intimacy similar to that found in nature. Kavanagh, however explores themes of nature and landscape in a more bold manner, repeating the title in the opening line “O stony grey soil of Monaghan” creating a sense of bland, barrenness from the outset of the poem. He adds to this unpleasant view by further exploring the theme of landscape from...
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...Part 2 Cézanne Compare and contrast Cézanne’s Bathers (Plate 1.3.4) with Correggio’s Leda with the Swan (Plate1.3.8). The first painting I will examine is one piece of a long series of paintings by the artists’ artist Paul Cézanne. The collection is known as Bathers, which hangs in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Said paintings have been produced over a long period of time, from 1894 to 1905 – a year before Cézanne’s death. The painting in question displays an array of six naked females in an outdoor setting. Other than this the narrative seems to be missing. The figures in the painting seem strangely distanced from each other as the landscape dominates the front of the image where the bathers are backwards in the painting. The faces of the females are devoid and lack expression and their bodies seem to merge with the landscape. The figures are not defined, uneven and appear unpersuasive. It is as if the painter had finished painting the figures and returned to the finer details of the landscape. The dense space between the figures caused to become a difficult image to read to the average spectator. To the left of the image we see parts that do not seem to make sense, due to their ambiguity of form. Even though Cézanne did not conform to the century’s norm, the formal way of the painting – i.e. how the artist lays the painting, the way the painting is composed and the colours the artist chooses, is constructed in a very traditional manner. He depicted the human...
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...Introduction In my essay I am going to be discussing ‘Tragic Ballets ‘and ‘Heroines’. As a child I spent a brief period studying ballet and on a visit to Prague, in February 2013, I enjoyed watching the Russian Ballet perform 'Giselle' at the Prague State Opera House. I have often wondered why so many ballets and the female heroines in them end in tragedy. My essay will discuss the issues that female heroines face and the events that eventually bring them to their fate. I will also discuss the origins and definitions of ‘heroine’ and ‘tragedy’. In order to examine my chosen themes I started my investigation by watching, analysing and comparing the films ‘Black Swan’, ‘The Red Shoes’ and the ballet ‘Giselle’. I read the feminist writings of Marina Warner on the portrayal of women, the Catholic Church and also her book on ‘Joan of Arc. In my essay I will be discussing the themes of love, conquest, devotion, deception, spirituality and how they play a role in altering the lives of the female protagonists in various different situations and offer my own opinions on how the tragedies are formed. I will begin my comparison of the female heroines that I will be discussing, with Giselle. Figure 1'Giselle and Count Albrecht' The Russian Ballet Giselle is a poor peasant’s daughter who falls in love with Count Albrecht. Count Albrecht’s character plays the main part in the protagonist Giselle’s downfall during the ballet, as he breaks her heart when she learns that he is betrothed...
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...Ariel Thomas Mrs. Mitchell English IV-4 7 May 2012 The Ugly Duckling Analysis As the ugly duckling in the fairytale finds himself transformed into a beautiful swan surrounded by all of the other swans and creatures who once rejected him, he hears a young child exclaim that He is the most beautiful. Throughout the story, the ugly duckling calls the swans he sees “royal birds.” At the end he becomes one of these birds and exclaims “such happiness I did not dream of when I was the ugly duckling.” In society, many people are constantly comparing themselves to others every chance they get. There are only few to accept who they are and then work each and every day to their fullest potential to become the best they can be; to challenge themselves, question everything they do, and then reflect upon each experience in the end. Society is full of ugly ducklings that cross paths with cats and hens; however few have the attitude that the ugly duckling has. Most people dream of looking like someone else, wishing they would be treated as the others they see are, and find themselves trying to live up to others standards, rather than their own. The ugly duckling gave all he can to life and fought for himself rather than listening to the other animals. The duckling tried not to bother others and just exist as he was, never even wishing to be someone else, no matter how happy others seemed or how easy their lives appeared. He used all of his inner strength to be himself, something many...
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...British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) Alana Finn 14R Media Studies Miss Garry The British Board of Film Classification, known as the BBFC, was set up in the film industry in 1984. It is an independent regulator of non-governmental body that classify films before they go to the cinema. They are currently based in Soho Square, London, Regulating the UK only and have a requirement to classify videos, and DVDs as well as some video games under the Video Recordings Act (1984), acknowledging and reflecting the UK's diverse cultural society. Originally set up in 1912 in order to put together rules and judgement on censorship, the British Board of Film Classification was known as the British Board of Film Censors until 1985. The BBFC then changed their name for the reason that they wanted to be known for the much larger role of actual classification that went into the boards work, rather than censorship, also applying the test of 'suitability for viewing in the home'. In the case of films shown in cinemas, local authorities have the final legal authorisation over who can view a particular film. The majority of the time, legal authorities accepts the Board's recommendation for a certificate for a film. Although there have been some exceptions, particularly in the 1970's when the board allowed films such as The Last Tango In Paris and The Exorcist to be released with an X certificate (18+), but many local authorities chose to ban the films regardless. The BBFC is a non-profit...
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...Brittany Wiegreff Professor Eichler English 102 B16 10/18/2011 Essay 2 The Ugly Duckling Analysis The tale of “The Ugly Duckling” has been told for many generations. It is the story of a little swan that is mistakenly hatched in a duck’s nest and because of his strange and different appearance he is teased and ridiculed. Even his mother can’t understand how this “ugly duckling” could be one of her own. The ugly duckling goes through many hardships and a long, lonely winter. Then upon seeing his reflection in the pond he realizes that he has become a beautiful swan and happily swims off, joining a group of nearby swans. At first glance, many may perceive this as a cut and dry fairy tale. Sending the message that without outward beauty, you will never be able to achieve inner peace and happiness. I feel that with the writing of this tale Andersen was trying to send a different message. I think Andersen was trying to encourage us to be true to ourselves and to have tolerance and acceptance of others. By remaining true to ourselves and following our dreams we will someday acquire the inner peace and happiness we desire. Next, there are four themes of writing to choose to follow from. In this story the theme is man vs. society. It is man vs. society because the little duckling is being left out and made fun of by society. He is being treated differently because he looks different than a normal duckling should look like. Because he was born later than his siblings and he looks...
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...The Art Of Ballet The production of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake tells a beautiful story that differs completely from the original Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. He presents to the audience story line through well-choreographed ballet that is clear and does not require an extensive reading of the program notes to comprehend (Motzkus). The audience does not have to be well experienced or have any background in dance to grasp the understanding of the plot and characters development. Bourne’s Swan Lake takes the world by storm by replacing the main roles such as Odette/Odile and the swans, always played by ballerinas, with male dancers and presents before us his interpretation of Swan Lake. But what is the typical swan from Swan Lake? My first thought, like many others, would be just like this group of female dancers in their ruffles of tutu, tights, and tiara headpiece. A group of swans dance around their princess. They hope that she will find a prince of pure of heart who will pledge his love to her in order to break the curse. However the prince and princess are face with many challenges that will test their love and devotion to one another. It was only in death were they finally able to be together. And all this express with no words just dance movement and climatic music. [pic] [pic] Picture 1 Picture 2 But here comes Matthew Bourne who takes these thoughts and replaces all that everyone is used to in the performing arts with a group of dancers in knee-high feathered trousers...
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...A Black Swan is a sudden, and an unexpected event with a major impact and consequences. There are negative black swans such as wars, natural disasters, and pandemic, and there are positive black swans such as the internet, Harry Potter books, and scientific discoveries. All those phenomena have deeply impacted the world, and transformed lives. Nassin Nicholas Taleb was forced out of Lebanon because of a civil war that was thought unimaginable due to the secular characteristic of its society The author first experience of the Black Swan was the civil war in Lebanon in which different religious factions were fighting one another. At the beginning everyone thought that it will be short, since all the communities were living in harmony. As every Black Swan the impact is tremendous like it was the case in this civil war were family were force to moved out which also created mistrust between communities. the author has also focused a big part of the book describing two worlds. The first world is the Mediocristan in which everything is predictable or for the most part. In this world people earnings are correlated to their work, and in this segment events can be explained using the Gaussian distribution curve. The second world is the Extremistan, in which events are highly unpredictable, and their impact are sudden and can be catastrophic. One of this even would be 9/11 or the black Monday and Tuesday, when the U.S stock crashed causing a 22% decline of the market. For Taleb, Extremistan...
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...THE B L A C K SWAN The HIGHLY I mpact IM of the PROBABLE Nassim Nicholas Taleb U.S.A. $26.95 Canada $34.95 is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpre dictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9 / 1 1 . For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives. A BLACK SWAN Why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans until after they occur? Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is that humans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focused on generalities. We concentrate on things we already know and time and time again fail to take into consideration what we don't know. We are, therefore, unable to truly estimate oppor tunities, too vulnerable to the impulse to simplify, narrate, and categorize, and not open enough to rewarding those who can imagine the "impossible." For years, Taleb has studied how we fool our selves into thinking we know more than we actually do. We restrict our thinking to the irrelevant and inconsequential, while large events continue to surprise us and shape our world. Now, in this reve latory book, Taleb explains everything we know about what we don't know. He offers...
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...Auteur Theory: Translated from the French, auteur simply means "author". There have been varied perceptions regarding this theory, its importance and effectiveness. Auteur theory is essentially “a method of evaluating films based on the director’s involvement and input”. The concept of ‘Auteur’ was first introduced by François Truffaut in 1954 in A Certain Tendency in French Cinema.(1) In this work he claimed that film is a great medium for expressing the personal ideas of the director. He suggested that this meant that the director should therefore be regarded as an auteur. According to him, there are three forms in which a director may be regarded as an Auteur. He agreed with André Basin’s idea that the film must be the direct expression of the director’s vision. The second aspect was that the director must be skilled with the camera. He believed the director is to camera as the writer is to pen. Lastly he believed for a director to be considered as an Auteur, he must leave behind a distinctive signature (based on Alexander Astruc’s idea), visually or as an idea in the film. (2) Years later, this concept was reintroduced by Andrew Sarris in 1962, in a publication titled “Notes on Auteur theory” (3). Accordingly, for a director to be considered as an auteur, the director must be well versed with the technical aspects of the film. The director must have a distinct style or a signature that distinguishes his films from the others. The movies must have a theme, an inner meaning...
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...Movie Critique The focus of this critique is on the film Black Swan, directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, and Vincent Cassel. A movie about a young woman’s consuming desire for perfection as a ballerina in the role of a lifetime. Throughout this film the mise-en-scene was raw and grainy with diverse camera angles that gave an out of control feel that added to the instability within the scenes. As the film progresses the viewer becomes increasingly unsure of the reality that the Nina character is experiencing. The tight quarters of the sets, apart from the practice room, emphasized and helped to showcase the pressure at the studio and the controlling atmosphere at home. The editing in this film was linear and showed the gradual and increasing mental instability of Nina. At times it was difficult to know where in her mental decline she was at and what she was experiencing versus what was only in her mind. Had the film been edited in a nonlinear fashion it would have added a tremendous amount of confusion for the viewer and destroyed the continuity of her experiences and gradual mental deterioration. Sound is effectively used in scenes depicting the reality of particular events. The harsh sounds of the cutting and clipping of Nina’s fingernails sounded like the snapping of small bones. The sound of grinding the bottoms of the ballet slippers in the resin box, the scraping, scratching sound of the knife slicing the bottoms of the...
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...INTO THE WILD STUDY GUIDE How would you describe Krakauer’s tone in this first chapter? Does he seem sympathetic toward Chris McCandless? | Why do you think Chris would have lied about his name and age to Jim Gallien? Why would someone who was raised in a privileged manner want to hitchhike and live in the wilderness out West? How would you describe Chris McCandless after reading this section? For someone who claimed to be a loner, why did Chris befriend so many people? Do you believe the stories the people in this chapter tell Krakauer are true? How effective is Krakauer’s exploration of these other adventurers? Do you think Chris shared similarities with them? Krakauer is not a psychologist; do you think he is overstating the effects of a strained father-son relationship on the actions of these men? Is it possible that many men have strained relations with their fathers during their early adulthoods as they attempt to establish their own manhood and Krakauer plays on this commonality to make Chris McCandless seem tied to these other men? Do you think these men are foolish or brave, or can they be both? How does the McCandless family’s description of Chris differ from the others we have heard? Do you think Chris’s anger towards his father was deserved? Do you think Chris’s relationship with his father mirrors the relationships the men in the last section had with their fathers? Having learned that Chris was an entrepreneur and considered law...
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...and one day she is asked to make an autobiography of the wild pop singer Kenney Loathsome. The meeting between them is a big change and eye-opener to Edith. This text is all about the clashes between cultures and classes and knowing who you are... Edith is a quiet and plain woman. She lives in an apartment in Peckham High Street with her cat. She enjoys peace and quiet and the only noise she makes, is when she sings in the choir. On the surface she seems happy and very comfortable with her life. She loves to read books by great philosophers and poets, and she quotes them at any given chance. She is quite conservative. She has no understanding for heavy and noisy music, and she prefers to stick to herself and stay out of the spotlight. She does not have any close friends, let alone a boyfriend. She is closed and reserved. The only social contact she has is with her co-workers and she does not get along with them very well. At Edith’s two weeks stay at Kenny Loathsome’s place in Nice, she starts to change. Suddenly she starts wearing contacts instead of glasses. She starts to get a tan and thinks about her looks in a different way. She tries to impress Kenny Loathsome, but he does not deign to look at her. She becomes kind of fascinated by him. He is the opposite of her and that is why she finds him interesting. Opposites attract. Even though she finds him interesting, she is on one hand horrified. He uses drugs, he is wild and uncontrollable and she does not know what his next move...
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...into the wild 4 Into the Wild is a popular film, based on a non-fiction novel written by Jon Krakauer, detailing the journey of Christopher McCandless, a young Emory university graduate who hailed from Virginia, and who took a hike in solitude, in an attempt at self-actualization by bonding with nature and seeking spiritual nourishment. This essay briefly examines the crux of the film. Having graduated on top of his class in 1991 and having attained repute as an athlete, Christopher McCandless left everything in his possession, donated his lifetime savings to the tune of $24,000 to Oxfam International on charitable grounds and set for his pilgrimage. In April 1992 he departed from his daily well-to-do life, torched his wallet with cash inside, renamed himself “Alexander Supertramp’’ and like a pilgrim, headed to the north of Mt. McKinley on his way to Alaska. While on his way there, he stumbles upon a succession of different people and events which influence his life. Though he was cash-strapped, he was determined to make it to the ‘promised land’. He sojourned in America to experience her as a country and her citizens. Among the activities he was involved in on his way to Alaska included a trip with a canoe on high waters, a sojourns with a couple and old widower. He had to endure the vagaries of a long, unplanned expedition: fatigue, hunger and cold, which nearly worked against him. All this while his family never heard from him nor anything related to his whereabouts...
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...Life Nature’s role in the book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer plays a significant part in Chris McCandless’ life. My argument or topic sentence would be that “Nature gives freedom, and man’s ultimate joy can only be found in man’s communion or relationship with nature”. “...there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun” ( p. 79). “You think that I am stubborn, but you are even more stubborn than me. You had a wonderful chance on your drive back to see one of the greatest sights on earth, the Grand Canyon, something every American should see at least once in his life” ( Chapter 6, p. 57). “But in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure” (Chapter 6, p. 57). “...they present to Alex a route which apparently will take him to the ocean. He is overjoyed and hope bursts back into his heart” (Chapter 4, p. 34). “Flying would be cheating . It would wreck the whole trip”( Chapter 7, p. 67). “Hey Guys! This is the last communication you shall receive from me. I now walk out to live amongst the wild. Take care, it was great knowing you” (Chapter , p. 69). ‘This is the last time you shall hear from me Wayne….I want you to know that you’re a great man. I now walk into the wild” (p. 69). Analysis Paragraph In the book “ Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer, Nature plays a significant...
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