...there is still a discernable narrative that guides the film. The first shots in the film are entirely of naturally occurring landscapes and phenomenon that occur on Earth. Although no dialogue is ever spoken, the music combined with the scenic nature shots create a sort of “build up” to the next element introduced to the film, humans. The narrative throughout Koyaanisqatsi, seems to be a reflection of the increasing impact that sentient life has on a planet. It is interesting, however, to observe which footage Reggio used to depict this mounting involvement of humans and technology into the plot. At first, I thought Reggio was attempting to make a statement about the harmful impact of environmental pollution caused by man. However, as the film progressed, the footage of technology and man seemed to play an indifferent role towards nature. The footage of factories and vivid time-lapse shots of city skylines at night are not portrayed in a negative light but instead in more of a chaotic one. In my interpretation, this chaos of the human impact on nature and the growing complexity of technology are depicted because that is simply how life has become for modern humans. Life is chaotic and the addition of increasingly intelligent beings trying to make order out of chaos will ultimately be futile. In other words, the very attempt at creating order out of chaos is chaotic in and of itself. The footage of nature before the arrival of man shows the beauty and natural aesthetics of the...
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...aesthetic appeal and thus possesses a sense of beauty. Intellectual Value It stimulate critical thinking that enriches mental processes of abstract and reasoning, making man realize the fundamental of truths of life and its nature. Suggestiveness It unravels man’s emotional power to define symbolism, nuances, implied meanings, images and messages, giving and evoking visions above and beyond the plane of ordinary life and experience. Spiritual Value Literature elevates the spirit and the soul and thus has the power to motivate and to inspire. Permanence Literature endures across time and draws out the time factor: Timeliness – occurring at a particular time. Timelessness – remaining invariable throughout time Importance of Literature • •Studying literature is like looking at the mirror of life where man’s experiences, his innermost feelings and thoughts are reflected. • Through literature, we learn the culture of people across time and space•We understand not only the past life of a nation but also its present. • Moreover, we become familiar not only with the culture of neighboring countries but also with that of others living very far from us Literary Approaches Literary Approaches Moral or Humanistic Approach • Literature is viewed to discuss man and its nature. • It presents man as essentially rational; that is, endowed with intellect and free will; or that the piece does not misinterpret the true nature of man. • The approach is close to the “morality”...
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...out a series of doctrines which detail his personal philosophy on the relationship that exists between art and life, and the rolls that they should play. Chiefly these are: art should only express itself, expressing life and nature makes for bad art, life imitates art more than art imitates life, and that lying is the true aim of art . When applied to his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray these doctrines add an extra layer of meaning to the themes already presented, and this allows for a greater level of understanding. There are several instances during the narrative of the novel which show a relationship between the roles of art and life, and the ways in which they are separated, combined, and reversed. Understanding the theories set out by Vivian helps with comprehending the relationship between Dorian and his portrait, as well as with his friends Lord Henry and Basil Hallward. The Decay of Lying is presented as a slightly confusing and seemingly contradictory essay on the relationship between art and life which treads the border between being sincere and ironic, while The Picture of Dorian Gray is a metaphor infused novel which blurs the lines between art and life as actively as it seeks to separate them. Both writings leave room for speculation regarding their interpretations, be they the more obvious meanings or their ironic opposites. This is entirely suitable for an essay which aims to bring back the art of lying and the beauty of untruth. The inconsistency of interpretation...
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...6/9/13 10 - A History of English Literature Classic Literature Read about A History of English Literature. More E-texts A History of English Literature 1918 by Robert Huntington Fletcher Education Share Preface | How to Study | Tabular View | Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Assignments Chapter X. Period VIII. The Romantic Triumph, 1798 To About 1830 The Great Writers of 1798-1830 | Samuel Taylor Coleridge | William Wordsworth | Robert Southey | Walter Scott | Last Group of Romantic Poets | Percy Bysshe Shelley | John Keats | Summary | Lesser Writers | THE GREAT WRITERS OF 1798-1830. THE CRITICAL REVIEWS. As we look back to-day over the literature of the last three quarters of the eighteenth century, here just surveyed, the progress of the Romantic Movement seems the most conspicuous general fact which it presents. But at the, death of Cowper in 1800 the movement still remained tentative and incomplete, and it was to arrive at full maturity only in the work of the great writers of the following quarter century, who were to create the finest body of literature which England had produced since the Elizabethan period. All the greatest of these writers were poets, wholly or in part, and they fall roughly into two groups: first, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey, and Walter Scott; and second, about twenty years younger, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats. This period of Romantic Triumph, or of the...
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...history, for today’s student to master. “Someone should write a film version of Harold Bloom’s The Western Canon,” a writer from The Independent suggested, and “the person who should write it,” he said, looking at me, “is you.” I looked to Walter, who replied, “If you write it, I’ll publish it.” And the die was cast. Faber offered a contract, and I set to work. Following the Bloom model I decided it should be an elitist canon, not populist, raising the bar so high that only a handful of films would pass over. I proceeded to compile a list of essential films, attempting, as best I could, to separate personal favorites from those movies that artistically defined film history. Compiling was the easy part—then came the first dilemma: why was I selecting these films? What were my criteria? What is a canon? It is, by definition, based on criteria that transcend taste, personal and popular. The more I pondered this, the more I realized how ignorant I was. How could I formulate a film...
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...women, I could not photograph her if I could not establish some relationship with her that transcended the superficial. I had to spend time with my models, grow with them in some way and understand them, and them myself, to the point where I only needed to provide them with the most minimal of direction during the shoot, and the rest they were able to guide independently. More generally speaking, the relationship between a photographer and those models who remain a distinctive presence in front of the camera amid the “make-up, hairstyling, and clothing being documented” (Koda and Kohle), is particularly fascinating in it’s ability to create additional layers of depth both within the assembled image and the ever-evolving idea of feminine beauty. Accordingly, photographers and designers have been able to portray their artistic visions within the framework of a model’s physical and mental intricacies, which, in practice, renders the model a muse. This title asserts the model as more than just a pretty face, and instead advances her as a creative influence, “the embodiment of fashion” (Cosgrave), and an individual image mindfully absorbed into a photograph, waiting to be disseminated to the eyes and minds of the public....
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...Chrystal Hemphill Dr. Kilpatrick ENG 500 10/12/2015 The Role of Knowledge and Preference in Literary Criticism Some argue that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, while others argue that there are scientific and social factors that contribute to a clear definition of beauty. The same type of argument comes into focus when one considers literature. Dictionary.com defines literature as “written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit,” but this brings into question how one is to judge whether a work has greater or enduring artistic value. This question is addressed in Plato’s Ion. In Ion, Plato addresses whether it is through experience and skill or through divine intervention that Ion judges the merit of works. Through an explication of the text, one can consider whether it is knowledge or preference that leads to determining value through literary criticism. The dialogue opens with Socrates speaking to Ion who is a rhapsodist, or a professional performer of epic poetry. The reader learns that Ion is a skilled rhapsodist as he has just won first place among competitors at the festival of Asclepius. It is upon this knowledge and skill that Ion bases his affinity for Homer. Ion makes the claim that Homer is a superior poet and because of this, Ion is better able to interpret his works as compared to his inability to interpret other poets’ works. When this claim is made, Socrates goes through a series of deductions in order...
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...Societal expectations for acceptance. The way individuals choose to carry themselves in everyday life is affected by societal expectations. These societal expectations are sort of an unofficial guideline by which individuals live their lives. Whether it’s gender roles or just wanting to be accepted by others, people feel the need to “live” according to these guidelines. As time progresses so do the “guidelines” and if the individuals cannot keep up with these norms, they can be left behind or deemed as an outcast. Gender roles seem to be the most common. From the day a child is born societal norms are placed on them. For example a young boy’s room will be probably be blue and filled with sports items, while a young girls room will be pink and be filled with dolls and a play kitchen set. These small details, along with expectations, begin to shape their role in society. “Barbie Q” by Sandra Cisneros is a perfect example of societal expectations. In this short story Cisneros introduces two young girls who are playing with their Barbie dolls. The girls go into great detail when describing their dolls and the outfits the dolls are wearing. One can conclude that the girls are poor when the main character tells the reader that they only have one outfit for their dolls. They even had to make a dress from a sock because they could not afford other outfits. This is further illustrated when the girls begin describing how they will play with the dolls. Everyday...
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...because these factors contribute and influence an author’s point of view as well as each author’s unique voice and message depending on the time period. Harriet A. Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, is a slave narrative. The literary conventions of the slave narrative define the work. Slave narratives echo biblical stories that often reflect persecuted groups attempting to escape to freedom. Jacobs’s piece details her struggle to escape her master from sexual abuse. Vivanco (2003), “The process from sin to rebirth in spiritual autobiographies is paralleled by the process from slavery to freedom in slave narratives. Slaves experience a change from chattel, enduring suffering, to man or woman living in the Promised Land, the North,” (para. 5). Further distinction of the slave narrative is how authors shape the story, often chronologically. Slave narratives illustrate an author’s personal experience though many share common themes of extreme violence/abuse and racial prejudice. Slave narratives are essentially autobiography, which offer an author’s own experience for readers to find meaning. Jacobs’s female voice sheds light on issues affecting slave women; sexual abuse and losing children to death or slave trade particularly. Jacobs’s narrative is a prime example of how different slave women were treated as opposed to men. Both...
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...Arabic-influenced languages such as Swahili, Urdu, Persian, Turkish, a blessing from God in the form of spiritual wisdom or divine presence. Also a spiritual power believed to be possessed by certain persons, objects, tombs. * Baraka, a rarely used French slang term for luck, derived from the Arabic word * Baraka, fully ḥabbat al-barakah, aka Nigella sativa, a spice with purported health benefits * Baraka Bashad, meaning "may the blessings be" or just "blessings be", originally a Sufi expression and also used in Eckankar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baraka a spiritual power believed to be possessed by certain persons, objects, tombs, etc http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/baraka Content: Baraka is a documentary film with no narrative or voice-over. It explores themes via a kaleidoscopic compilation of natural events, life, human activities and technological phenomena shot in 24 countries on six continents over a 14-month period. The film is Ron Fricke’s follow-up to Godfrey Reggio’s similar non-verbal documentary film Koyaanisqatsi. Fricke was cinematographer and collaborator on Reggio’s film, and for Baraka he struck out on his own to polish and expand the photographic techniques used on Koyaanisqatsi. Shot in 70mm, it includes a mixture of photographic styles including slow motion and time-lapse. To execute the film’s time-lapse sequences, Fricke had a special camera built that combined time-lapse photography with perfectly controlled movements. Locations featured...
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...What is literature? * Creative writing of recognised artistic value. * Written works of fiction and non-fiction in which compositional excellence and advancement in the art of writing are higher priorities than are considerations of profit or commercial appeal. * Literature is literally "an acquaintance with letters" as in the first sense given in the Oxford English Dictionary (from the Latin littera meaning "an individual written character (letter)"). The term has generally come to identify a collection of texts. The word literature as a common noun can refer to any form of writing, such as essays or poetry; Literature as a proper noun refers to a whole body of literary work, world-wide or relating to a specific culture... * lit·er·a·ture n. 1. The body of written works of a language, period, or culture. 2. Imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized artistic value:"Literature must be an analysis of experience and a synthesis of the findings into a unity" 3. The art or occupation of a literary writer. 4. The body of written work produced by scholars or researchers in a given field: medical literature. 5. Printed material: All the available collected literature on the subject. 6. Music: All the compositions of a certain kind or for a specific instrument or ensemble: the symphonic literature. Good literature has something important to say about life. If we take the time to read and understand the literature...
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...only free to explore different subjects, they were, by in large, forced to find something new, portrait work having slowed. Switching focus, artists flung themselves to the outdoors, to the beauty of nature, an altogether more challenging subject, one much more open to interpretation. “For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at every moment; but its surroundings bring it to life – the air and the light, which vary continually”…(1891) Claude Monet, perhaps the most prominent Impressionist artist, comments on the then experimental nature of his art. This cause and effect of innovation begetting innovation is not a unique phenomenon. With the inception of new technologies and ideas, artists and engineers alike forge new paths so as not to be left in the future’s wake. Portraits from Gauguin or Picasso give new life to portrait painting, with interesting interpretations of the human face and form. Likewise, awe inspiring photography of landscapes and the abstract developed from experimental movements, of which Impressionism helped lead the vanguard. While photography drove artists to experiment by making their current style conventional and commonplace, new media technologies have and are forcing literature tobranch out. Because the idea of a narrative has been shown in so many ways, television, cinema, and the internet, writers are in a position where they can explore the world of writing and find new formats and styles. One might even say...
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...Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions The Copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyright material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction not be "used for any purposes other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. CHAPTER ONE Once There was a Time An Introduction to the History and Ideology of Folk'and Fairy Tales To begin with a true story told in fairy-tale manner: Once upon a time the famous physicist Albert Einstein was confronted by an overly concemed woman who sought advice on how to raise her small son to become a successful scientist. In particular she wanted to know what kinds ofbooks she sll ould read to her son. "Fairy tales," Einstein responded without. hesitation. "Fine, but what else should I read to him after that?" the mother asked. "More fairy tales, "Einstein stated. "And after that?" "Even more fairy tales. " replied the great scientist, and he waved his pipe like a wizard pronouncing a happy end to a long adventure. It now seems that the entire world has been following Einstein's advice. By 1979 a German literary critic could...
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...ASSIGNMENT MODERNIST SHORT STORY Submitted By: Steffy Johnson 11/PELA/026 INTRODUCTION Modernist literature is the literary expression of the tendencies of Modernism, especially High modernism. Modernistic art and literature normally revolved around the idea of individualism, mistrust of institutions mainly government and religion, and the disbelief of any absolute truths. Modernism as a literary movement reached its height in Europe between 1900 and the middle 1920s. Modernist literature addressed to aesthetic problems and can be viewed largely in terms of its formal, stylistic and semantic movement away from Romanticism, examining subject matter that is traditionally mundane. It often features a marked pessimism, a clear rejection of the optimism apparent in Victorian literature. It attempted to move from the bonds of Realist literature and to introduce concepts such as disjointed timelines. Modernism as a literary movement is seen, in large part, as a reaction to the emergence of city life as a central force in society. Furthermore, an early attention to the object as freestanding became in later Modernism a preoccupation with form. Modernist writers were more acutely conscious of the objectivity of their surroundings. The most prominent modernist authors are: T. S. Eliot, W. B. Yeats, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, D. H. Lawrence, E. M. Forster, Ernest Hemingway, Joseph Conrad, Franz Kafka, Knut Hamsun, Gertrude Stein, Mikhail Bulgakov, MarcelProust, John Steinbeck...
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...physical environment and our human relationships. Mrs Dalloway, a novel by Virginia Woolf explores the life of a women in one day, the audience is able to see what she is doing, what she feels and what is going on in her head all at the same time. Similarly a film directed by Stephen Daldry titled the Hours explores three narrative streams looking at both the external events and internal thoughts of three separate women. These texts use the context of Virginia Woolf’s own life and the time periods in which they focus on including the 1920’s, 1949 and 2001 to express various thematic concerns. They delve into the multifaceted nature of individuals, women’s experience, a sense of mortality felt by the protagonists and ones sensitivity to nature and people. In searching for one’s identity and true self we often question the nature of our experiences and the relationships we have with those around us. It is a constant battle between putting on a social mask to manage perception, or alternatively expressing our inner self and risking ridicule. Woolf depicts reserved the agony of Clarissa’s loneliness, which can be seen as a result of her sexual repression, reserved nature and her submission to the social norms. The human personality is not one given mixed monolithic entity, but a shifting combination of impressions and emotions including ones dreams, memories and fantasies....
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