...Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, published in 1854, is a book composed of the author’s reflections on living simply for several years near Walden Pond. One of the final chapters of this book entitled “Spring” opens the gateway for a physical and metaphorical change in the author’s life. This chapter will be examined through several topics including historical context, the audience, the speaker and the text itself in an attempt to analyze the rhetoric utilized by Thoreau. “Spring” calls forth a transformative and, almost, biblical attitude leading those who read this excerpt to sense the physical changes occurring at Walden Pond. Thoreau, himself, anxiously awaits this seasonal change as it is almost as if the Earth is experiencing a rebirth of its own. “…One attraction in coming to the woods to live was that I should have leisure and opportunity to see the Spring come in” (Thoreau, 1854, p. 322). Thus, the analysis will commence as the historical context of this chapter is investigated further. When examining the historical context of this chapter from Walden, one must first understand that not only is the transformative period of Walden Pond documented, but it is possible that Thoreau could’ve hinted towards changes within the United States as well. When this book was published, slavery was still very much commonplace and the Kansas-Nebraska Act had just blossomed two new territories. The crescendo of tension over whether these territories would allow slavery spurred the creation...
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...An Analysis of the Central Themes of The Bhagavad Gita and its Influence on Significant Historical Figures and Literature. Gavin McClung “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” -Eleanor Roosevelt The Bhagavad Gita has been estimated to have been in existence since about 500 BCE although the oldest known handwritten copy is in a museum in London and is dated to 1488. It predates the Bible, the Quran, and 50 Shades of Grey. As one of the oldest pieces of literature known to us it has gained a reputation as one of the most insightful tomes into the human condition and it’s philosophies and themes have influenced many of the most historically significant people and their actions. Mahatma Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, Henry David Thoreau, and even Albert Einstein all read the Gita and were deeply moved by it. These are not normal run of the mill people, but were great thinkers, people of action and world-changers. Surely, the world has been influenced by such a powerful text through the many people it has inspired and taught with it’s central themes of Yoga and Renunciation, and Dharma and Karma among others. Here we will take a look at some of the major themes of the Gita as well as some of the historically significant figures it has influenced and...
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...Do You Hear People Sing? — A Brief Analysis of Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience Abstract: Civil disobedience is the valuable spiritual wealth of American spirits. From Henry David Thoreau to Martin Luther King, civil disobedience theory also had developed into a new stage. American people began to commonly accept and practice the civil disobedience theory, which pushed American Civil Rights Movement forward. This essay focuses on the origination of the civil disobedience and briefly introduces its development. Key Words: Civil disobedience Conscience Government 1、 Thoreau’s Imprisonment The Mexican-American war, which started from 1846, was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico over the territorial dispute of Texas. Most abolitionists and transcendentalists were against this war, because they thought that this war was an act of a bullying government anxious to grab land from a weaker nation. Some even thought this war was a conspiracy of the southern slaveholders. Then Texas admitted slavery, while Mexico forbade slavery. They regarded this war as the expansion of slavery, which could strengthen the influence of the south in federation. Therefore the abolitionists and transcendentalists did their best to resist this war. Among them, Henry David Thoreau was a famous representative. Thoreau did not agree this aggressive war. To resist, he refused to pay the Massachusetts poll tax, which was a “per head” tax imposed on...
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...Epidemics in America Since the proclamation by John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, that America should view herself as a "city upon a hill", Americans have strived to create a utopian society (Brinkley, 40). Winthrop viewed America as God's country, a place where the troubles of Europe and the rest of the world would not be repeated. This ideal is still valued by American society, yet it has prevented Americans from accepting the notion that an epidemic could strike their own country. Epidemics in the Modern World by Joann P. Krieg examines American society's reaction to the outbreak of epidemics in this country. Krieg threads the theme of American Romanticism throughout her work, as she explores the reactions of politicians, literary figures, and society in general to the outbreak of disease. Krieg also gives some biological information on the diseases that have haunted the American utopia. While this potpourri of information creates a valuable source for one studying the social effects of disease, its extensive discussion on literary topics becomes long-winded and irrelevant. Krieg explores the outbreak of five American epidemics: smallpox, cholera, yellow fever, TB, and AIDS. While reactions to each were different, Krieg shows that American Romanticism, the notion that "it couldn't happen to us", was prevalent in each of society's reactions to these epidemics. American Romanticism limited the swiftness to which the government, as well...
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...Epidemics in America Since the proclamation by John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, that America should view herself as a "city upon a hill", Americans have strived to create a utopian society (Brinkley, 40). Winthrop viewed America as God's country, a place where the troubles of Europe and the rest of the world would not be repeated. This ideal is still valued by American society, yet it has prevented Americans from accepting the notion that an epidemic could strike their own country. Epidemics in the Modern World by Joann P. Krieg examines American society's reaction to the outbreak of epidemics in this country. Krieg threads the theme of American Romanticism throughout her work, as she explores the reactions of politicians, literary figures, and society in general to the outbreak of disease. Krieg also gives some biological information on the diseases that have haunted the American utopia. While this potpourri of information creates a valuable source for one studying the social effects of disease, its extensive discussion on literary topics becomes long-winded and irrelevant. Krieg explores the outbreak of five American epidemics: smallpox, cholera, yellow fever, TB, and AIDS. While reactions to each were different, Krieg shows that American Romanticism, the notion that "it couldn't happen to us", was prevalent in each of society's reactions to these epidemics. American Romanticism limited the swiftness to which the government, as well...
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...Grant Still MGMT 320 Section C November 18, 2014 Consumerism: Gotta Buy ‘Em All It is the day after Thanksgiving, known colloquially to Americans as “Black Friday”. Hundreds of thousands of shoppers line up outside of department stores, anxiously waiting to get their hands on the latest of gadgets and gizmos to purchase for families, friends, and loved ones for the holiday season. Many of the retailers in America have offered attractive promotional sales on this day to attract high traffic and volume in their stores. Realizing this, consumers in America who take a part in Black Friday see this as a fight to the death. This “fight to the death” literally came true in the year 2013, as one death and fifteen injuries resulted from the madness of the shopping event, according to BlackFridayDeathCount.com. On the flip side for businesses, Americans spent an average of $407.02 from the Thursday through Sunday that bookends Black Friday, as stated by the National Retail Federation. This topsy-turvy day recognized by a vast majority of American culture has been seen by many as the yearly peak of the country’s ever-increasing trend towards consumerism. Consumerism, the belief that goods give meaning to individuals and their roles in society, has presented itself to Americans in both a positive and negative spirit. On the one hand, consumer spending drives the economy, gives consumers a vast myriad of retailers to choose from, and renders shopping as a social experience. ...
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...PREFACE This major project examines the indispensable desiderata of Transcendentalism in comparison to the Dark Romantics background and how these technicalities prepare this work of art as an influential synthesis of human imagination incorporated with mystic facts. Transcendentalism and Dark Romanticism were two literary movements that occurred in America during roughly the same time period (1840—1860). Although the two had surface similarities, such as their reverence for Nature, their founding beliefs were quite different, enough to make one seem almost the antithesis of each other. Moreover one’s genesis is ventured out from other; i.e. Dark Romanticism from the roots of Transcendentalism or precisely the lacunae are best determined for raising up the term called Dark Romanticism. Contents S. No. Page no. Chapter 1.........................................................................................................4-14 Chapter 2.........................................................................................................15-23. Chapter 3..........................................................................................................24-27 Resolution.........................................................................................................28-29 Work Cited................................................................
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...The Concept of Nature in the Poetry of William Wordsworth and Robert Frost : A Comparative Study Chapter One Introduction 1. Background Poets have long been inspired to tune their lyrics to the variations in landscape, the changes in season, and the natural phenomena around them. The Greek poet Theocritus began writing idylls in the third century B.C.E. to glorify and honor the simplicity of rural life--creating such well known characters as Lycidas, who has inspired dozens of poems as the archetypal shepherd, including the famous poem "Lycidas" by John Milton. An idyll was originally a short, peaceful pastoral lyric, but has come to include poems of epic adventure set in an idealized past, including Lord Alfred Tennyson's take on Arthurian legend, The Idylls of the King. The Biblical Song of Songs is also considered an idyll, as it tells its story of love and passion by continuously evoking imagery from the natural world. The more familiar form of surviving pastoral poetry that has retained its integrity is the eclogue, a poem attuned to the natural world and seasons, placed in a pleasant, serene, and rural place, and in which shepherds often converse. The first eclogue was written by Virgil in 37 B.C.E. The eclogue also flourished in the Italian Renaissance, its most notable authors being Dante and Petrarch. It became something of a requirement for young poets, a form they had to master before embarking upon great original work. Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia and Edmund Spenser’s...
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...Introduction Meister Eckhart (1260 - 1328) has been known as the father of German mysticism and the greatest of all mystics. Several authors reference him with the honour "the man from whom God hid nothing." He is known as a philosopher and a theologian but it was as a mystic that Meister Eckhart excelled. In his day Meister Eckhart enjoyed success as a popular preacher and churchman of high rank in his order, the Dominicans. However, Meister Eckhart was the only theologian of the medieval period to be formally charged with heresy. The shock of his trial for heresy and the condemnation of some of his work by Pope John XXII in Argo Dominco has cast a shadow over his reputation and a lingering suspicion over his orthodoxy that has lasted to this day. This research paper will focus on the intellectual and social history of Meister Eckhart. The development in thought of any theologian emerges from the life world of the theologian. [4] The life world is formed by the meeting of the cultural, social, and religious history of the day. Theologians are continually searching for new and meaningful ways to interpret religious experience. Meister Eckhart interpreted the religious experience of his day in a way that no others at the time did. I will explore in this paper some of the intellectual forces at work at the time and how he interpreted and connected with these. Secondly, it is important to understand the social history of the time. No theologians' thought is ever formed...
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...Introduction Meister Eckhart (1260 - 1328) has been known as the father of German mysticism and the greatest of all mystics. Several authors reference him with the honour "the man from whom God hid nothing." He is known as a philosopher and a theologian but it was as a mystic that Meister Eckhart excelled. In his day Meister Eckhart enjoyed success as a popular preacher and churchman of high rank in his order, the Dominicans. However, Meister Eckhart was the only theologian of the medieval period to be formally charged with heresy. The shock of his trial for heresy and the condemnation of some of his work by Pope John XXII in Argo Dominco has cast a shadow over his reputation and a lingering suspicion over his orthodoxy that has lasted to this day. This research paper will focus on the intellectual and social history of Meister Eckhart. The development in thought of any theologian emerges from the life world of the theologian. [4] The life world is formed by the meeting of the cultural, social, and religious history of the day. Theologians are continually searching for new and meaningful ways to interpret religious experience. Meister Eckhart interpreted the religious experience of his day in a way that no others at the time did. I will explore in this paper some of the intellectual forces at work at the time and how he interpreted and connected with these. Secondly, it is important to understand the social history of the time. No theologians' thought is ever formed by simply...
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...Introduction Mass culture would have most readers and viewers believing that the Post-modern American male is a simple creature. Common stereotypes margin male satisfaction in a minimal setting – a Lazyboy armchair in a lounge with a flat screen TV playing ‘the game’ along with primal banter regarding women. More often than not, this is washed down with a beer. With this array of comfort and leisure we are inclined to believe that male lifestyle has reached its peak on the timeline of satisfaction. This was until David Fincher took Chuck Palahniuk’s novel Fight Club and made it into a big budget Hollywood blockbuster. With the male demographic being the hardest to pinpoint in the literature sense, David Fincher’s adaptation helpfully put Palahniuk’s thoughts into the cinematic forefront. This increased the popularity of Palahniuk’s other works and placed him in the cannon of Post-modern American fiction. It is the issues of modern masculinity that grasps critics’ attention more so than any other Palahniuk themes. It is very apparent that masculinity has changed as a natural progression of modernisation. This dissertation will analyse masculinity as it is depicted in Palahniuk’s writings and explore Palahniuk’s intentions and beliefs. I will interpret the responses of select critics in order to gain some understanding of what Palahniuk deems to be the ideal model of masculinity in the modern world, beneath his post-modern twists, transgressive characterization and...
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...Introduction The world is a place for everyone and everything to live comfortably. In order to fulfill this comfort that we are supposed to have, we have to keep a healthy environment. Everything that everyone does affects the environment, in good and bad ways. There are things that go unnoticed in everyday life that needs to be looked at more seriously in order to improve the environment. Recognizing and correcting the problem and promoting the positive aspects will ultimately improve the environment. In order to maintain a healthy environment, society must become aware of how day-to-day activities impact the environment and they also need to be ready to approach and change such lifestyles. So how can we, as individuals, improve the environment? Why When talking about environment related issues, most people just don’t care; they are only doing enough to get by for themselves. The only concerns they have are paying their bills on time, taking care of their family, keeping their job, and being happy. People are contemplating the fact that they are just one person, and the changes they make won’t make a difference so why should it matter. (Savage) If this mind set of people changes then that one person will turn it to hundreds and thousands of people and differences in the environment will start to be seen. There are multiple different reasons on why you should care about the environment and what impacts it. Approximately 40% of deaths globally are cause by pollution, and...
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...http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb466232.aspx#eacompar_topic4 Home Library Learn Downloads Support Community Sign in | United States - English | Preferences Expand MSDN A Comparison of the Top Four Enterprise-Architecture Methodologies Roger Sessions ObjectWatch, Inc. May 2007 Applies to: Enterprise Architecture Summary: Twenty years ago, a new field was born that soon came to be known as enterprise architecture. This paper covers a broad introduction to the field of enterprise architecture. Although the history of the field goes back 20 years, the field is still evolving—and rapidly so. (36 printed pages) Contents Executive Summary Introduction A Brief History of Enterprise Architecture Case Study The Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architectures The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA) Gartner Comparison Conclusion Glossary References Executive Summary Twenty years ago, a new field was born that soon came to be known as enterprise architecture. The field initially began to address two problems: System complexity—Organizations were spending more and more money building IT systems; and Poor business alignment—Organizations were finding it more and more difficult to keep those increasingly expensive IT systems aligned with business need. The bottom line: more cost, less value. These problems, first recognized 20 years ago, have today reached a crisis point. The cost...
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...Unlock your verbal edge for success Dr. J. Michael Bennett with Paul R. Scheele Million Dollar Vocabulary Million Dollar Vocabulary Playbook The course manual is for your personal use only and is to be used with the six audio recordings from the Million Dollar Vocabulary Personal Learning Course. All worldwide rights are reserved and exclusively owned by Learning Strategies Corporation. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in part or in whole in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of Learning Strategies Corporation. Copyright 1999 by Learning Strategies Corporation “Paraliminal,” “Natural Brilliance,” “PhotoReading,” “EasyLearn,” “Personal Celebration,” and “Accelements” are exclusive trademarks of Learning Strategies Corporation worldwide. “Spring Forest Qigong” is a registered trademark of Chunyi Lin. “Diamond Feng Shui” and the Diamond Feng Shui Diamond are trademarks of Marie Vyncke-Diamond. ISBN 13: 978-0-925480-64-4 ISBN 10: 0-925480-64-9 FIRST EDITION June 1999 Printed in the United States of America For coaching and additional support, visit our online Discussion Forum at www.LearningStrategies.com Learning Strategies Corporation Innovating ways for you to experience your potential 2000 Plymouth Road Minnetonka, Minnesota 55305-2335 USA Toll-Free 1-888-800-2688 • 1-952-767-9800 Fax 1-952-475-2373 Mail@LearningStrategies.com www.LearningStrategies.com v042507 ...
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...THE CONSEQUENCES OF MASS COMMUNICATION Cultural and Critical Perspectives on Mass Media and Society Kirk Hallahan ii For Jean and Jenna Copyright info to be set by McGraw-Hill. iii Foreward This book is a brief survey of contemporary ideas about the cultural impact of mass media on society. The use of consequences in the title reflects the fact that most cultural researchers prefer this term (instead of media effects) to describe media's influence on human experience. During the past 30 years, culture has emerged as a major theoretical framework in which to investigate media. Chapter I examines how media influence culture generally, as suggested by various contemporary media scholars and others. Chapter II then focuses on critical-cultural theories about the nature of media power and its potentially negative influence. This book can adopted as a supplementary text in introductory mass media courses along with a survey text such as Joseph R. Dominick's The Dynamics of Mass Communication (available from McGraw-Hill). It also can serve as a foundational text for other assigned readings in advanced courses dealing with mass media and society, communication theory, or cultural studies. Students are encouraged to focus thoughtfully on the main ideas, not attempt to merely memorize details. Important concepts and names appear in boldface and are defined in italics. The abridged Subject Index lists the page with the primary discussion of each topic. Sidebars throughout...
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