Weather, Evil, and Chaos in Macbeth

Weather, Evil, and Chaos in Macbeth â€Å"So foul and fair a day I have not seen† (1. 3. 38) proclaims Macbeth as he unwittingly echoes the Weird Sisters’ incantation from the opening scene of Macbeth. The imagery of foul weather permeates the play, setting the tone and underscoring the unnaturalness of Macbeth’s treacherous behavior. Foul weather symbolizes both evil and the chaos it creates, and the most important function of weather imagery is to link Macbeth with evil and chaos. The connection between foul weather and evil is emphasized from the opening of the play. The stage directions for scene I reads, â€Å"Thunder and lightning. As the witches enter and begin speaking, the connection between evil and weather is established: â€Å"When shall we three meet again / In thunder, lightning, or in rain? † (1. 1. 1-2). This is an interesting question, since the audience later learns (during the witches’ second appearance) that the witches themselv es can control winds and create storms. Before Macbeth appears on stage, foul weather is firmly associated with the forces of evil. Thus Macbeth’s opening line (quoted above) foreshadows his descent into evil. The evil that takes root in Macbeth’s soul ultimately leads to chaos. To early modern audiences, murdering a king represented perhaps the greatest evil that man might commit, for the monarch was the highest human link in the great chain of being linking man to God. When Macbeth murders Duncan, he severs the great chain, throwing everything into chaos. According to Tillyard, To us chaos means hardly more than confusion on a large scale; to an Elizabethan it meant the cosmic anarchy before creation and the wholesale dissolution that would result if the pressure of Providence relaxed and allowed the laws of nature to cease functioning. 16) That such chaos exists within the world of the play is emphasized when Lennox and Ross discuss the unnatural weather during the night of Duncan’s murder. Lennox’s remarks imply a connection between foul weather and chaos: â€Å"The night has been unruly†¦. Our chimneys were blown down†¦. Some say the earth was feverous and did shake† (2. 3. 50-57). Ross’s response suggests that natu re has died, an idea anticipated by Macbeth’s earlier observation, â€Å"nature seems dead† (2. 1. 50). In a sense, nature has died with Duncan, and the destructive weather reveals that evil and chaos rule in his place. The references to foul and unnatural weather underscore Macbeth’s relationship to chaos and evil. The murder of Duncan creates chaos that undoes many characters, until nature is revived by the death of Macbeth. Foul weather imagery is thus an important aspect of the play, serving not only to provide a sinister atmosphere but also to symbolize the chaos that follows the murder of a king. Such imagery powerfully contributes to making Macbeth one of Shakespeare’s darkest and most powerful tragedies.

An Analytical Essay on the Humor in Hamlet The Tragedy of Hamlet Essays

Humor was added to Hamlet by two major scenes, along with Hamlet's use of his antic-disposition. These two were: the scene between Hamlet and Polonius in the library, and the scene with the grave diggers (the clowns).    The scene between Hamlet and Polonius took place in Act II Scene 2. In Hamlet's first encounter with Polonius, he immediately insulted the old man by calling him a "fishmonger". He then quickly changed his opinion and complemented Polonius by calling him an honest man. Hamlet said, "to be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand". As we know Polonius definitely was not such a man. Hamlet was portrayed as a clever lad, who was playing a psychological game with an old fool. He asked Polonius whether or not he had a daughter, pretending he did not know that Ophelia was Polonius's daughter. When Hamlet was asked about what he was reading, he replied by saying, "words, words, words". Throughout this scene, Hamlet revealed himself to Polonius as a mentally unstable man. He was playing a fool himself, while ingeniously using this to make Polonius look like an even bigger fool. He cleverly insulted Polonius' appearances indirectly, by referring to the book he was reading. According to that book old men had grey beards, their faces were wrinkled, they had a plentiful lack of wit, and so on. He was describing Polonius exactly. Perhaps the most humorous part took place when Hamlet, while saying, "for yourself, sir, shall grow old as I am, if like a crab you could go backward",   he advanced towards Polonius, causing him to walk backwards. Those words and the actions on the stage   revealed Hamlet to be a daring young man. When Polonius finally left, Hamlet dropped his pretense and yelled, "These tedious old fools!". In Act III Scene 2, Hamlet used a recorder, the musical instrument, as a telescope when Polonius entered the scene. He asked Polonius, "Do you see yonder cloud that's almost in shape of a camel?". Hamlet always pretended to be the madman in front of Polonius, while he actually made him look like an old fool.    The scene with the grave diggers (the clowns), took place in Act V Scene I. The clowns were discussing Ophelia's death and were making fun of the case of Sir James Hales, who also drowned himself.

Impact of the Internet on Thinking by Alan Greenblatt Essay

Impact of the Internet on Thinking by Alan Greenblatt - Essay Example This paper illustrates that researchers have studied and expressed views on social, psychological, intellectual and physiological perspectives that are summarised and quoted in this report. Greenblatt begins his survey giving examples of instances of the impact of Internet use as a pervasive and addictive influence on people’s lives. Although the compulsive use of electronic media is quite unlike an addiction to chemical substances, China and South Korea already recognize it as a public health concern. Greenblatt quotes Nicholas Carr as expressing concern that the Internet can have ‘bad effects on our brains’. Jonah Lehrer argues that such ‘concerns are overstated.’ Research by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found the majority of technology experts disagreeing with Carr, who held varied opinions on the merits of the Internet. One interesting finding was that some believed that it helped create a â€Å"hive brain† enabling ‘peopl e to share thoughts and come to collective solutions to complex problems’. Robert Thompson is concerned that the ‘flood of information’ leaves people no ‘time for contemplation’ and ‘deeper reflection’. Paul Saffo says that video games ‘stimulates and strengthens parts of the brain’, but worries that such technology ‘causes ... people to... concentrate on the immediate at the expense of the long-term’... Elias Aboujaoude cites an increase in attention deficit disorder, though this may not be directly related to Internet use. However, he is certain that ‘those who spend a lot of time online have shorter attention spans’. The conclusion to this section is that with increasing availability of electronic media, the responsibility is on the individual to choose wisely as to how much time to spend on the Internet. Greenblatt points to historical resistance to new inventions leading to improved communicati on from the time of Socrates. The 15th-century invention of printing, and more recently the telegraph, the telephone and the postal service, all raised concerns, but the world has embraced and accommodated to such changes. Greenblatt explores the current situation and says that the Internet has ‘not finished evolving yet’, and forecasts that in the future people would learn to ‘disconnect’ from the Web. He concludes by quoting Aboujaoude as pessimistic about our capacity to understand the effects of the Internet ‘on our brains’, while Levy postulates two possible scenarios for the future. Either ‘we slow down and better modulate all this’ or ‘we adapt to these changes’ adding that we may not be ‘at the limit’ yet. The three basic questions that intellectuals and social critics have posed are: 1) Is the Internet making us smarter or stupid? 2) Is it addictive? 3) Does it affect our attention span? These que stions are dealt with above. 1) Carr (for) vs. Lehrer (against); 2) Aboujaoude (for) vs. Rainie (Pew Internet & American Life Project) (against); 3) Gentile (for) vs. O’Reilly (against).

SUSTAINABLITY IN THE DESIGNED ENVIRONMENT Assignment

SUSTAINABLITY IN THE DESIGNED ENVIRONMENT - Assignment Example This has lead to the rising demand and need for carbon footprint calculations. There are several approaches that have been proposed to provide estimates ranging from simple online calculators to sophisticated life cycle analysis. Despite these approaches, a definite definition for carbon footprint has not been established. According to Wackernagel (1996), carbon footprint is generally termed as the quantity of gaseous amount that contribute towards global warming. The sources of carbon could be human production and consumption activities. The ISA Research Report (p. 4) defines carbon footprint as a measure of elusive total amount of carbon dioxide emissions directly or indirectly caused by an activity in its life stages. These activities include individual activities, populations, government, companies, organizations, processes, industries, among others. According to this definition, carbon footprint is restricted from area-based indicator. The total amount of carbon is measured in mass units such as kilograms and tons. This form of measurement does not give room to area unit hence there is no conversion to area unit such as ha, m ², and km ². Conversion into land area must be based on various assumptions and this increases uncertainties and errors related to particular footprint estimates. This is the main reason why accountants prefer to use appropriate units of measurement. The concept of carbon footprint should be all-encompassing and issue relative causes that lead to the rise of carbon emissions. Accurate measurement of carbon footprint ripples importance and precariousness in carbon offsetting. When considering indirect quantities of carbon emissions, the methodologies applied should eradicate undercounting and double counting of emissions. This substantiates the inclusion of the word ‘exclusive’ in the definition for carbon footprint. Life-cycle

Films Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Films - Essay Example The premise that there is no relation between the viewer and the film, almost telling the audience directly that "it is only a movie" is "a symptom of an imagined loss of concrete, physical bond of belief between the viewer and the film";1 hence reinforcing the statement that all films are illusions. It is this connection between the film and the viewer is one that sets the illusion. Films are a wide array of pictures that move, creating motion that gives way to the creation of real movements. Since their creation, viewers have been accustomed to watch films regularly as part of entertainment. The narrative, special effects, sound, and cinematography all contribute in creating one interesting and engaging motion picture. However, technically speaking, films are just illusions. This illusion-character of films is important in a technical pursuit of using elements such as sound, cinematography, special effects, narrative, mise-en-scene, and the like in order to put across a film of good taste. Special effects are illusions used in order to stimulate imagined series of events in films. These are used in order to make film frames or images appear photographically. Illusions in special effects are seen in the use of mechanized props, scenery, or atmospheric effects producing physical rain, snow, clouds, or fog. Mechanical facts can be used to make a car drive by itself, or a building blowing up. Mechanical effects as a form of special effects are formed in a set that suggests a certain atmosphere or sight, such as break-away doors or walls. It is apparent that films use visual magic in order to create illusions and some trick effects in order to affect the audience to startle. The persistence of vision through special effects is proved to produce smooth, flowing action when projected, just as what is mentioned earlier. In-camera effects are common features of special effects, such as making a miniature appear bigger as in the case of robots in Japanese television programs, o r the use of back projection or matte paintings. Three-dimensional models are also used in order to establish in-house special effects such as in the movie King Kong and Terminator II which used three-dimensional effects. With the use of special effects, there is no need to capture a scene with the use of real-life objects and events that endanger the lives and limbs of people. Rather, through the visual illusions depicted in films through the use of technical effects, objects are made to appear larger or smaller; buildings are made to appear uprooted from the ground, and ships are made to appear sinking. However, in King Kong's production, the usage of sets was not maximized due primarily to the unfamiliarity of sets in the 1920's and 1930's. Thus, in King Kong, the camera/gun trope was used, with the cameraman takings shots of animals in the jungle of the African veldt.2 The special effects during the production process enhanced the photographed animals and sceneries. This enhancement is again, to create further illusion among the audiences. In Forbidden Planet (1956), the special effects are seen to stimulate the imagination of the audience in order for them to

Behavior management Inventory Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Behavior management Inventory - Case Study Example I’m not coming and you can’t make me!† I think this is probably the best way to handle this, because there is already a conflict and it gives the student an out. They can choose to keep their ‘pride’ and continue to be defiant by going to the principal’s office, or by simply following the instructions in class. Over one-half of your class is constantly asking, â€Å"Will this be on the test? How many pages does it have to be? Can I use a pencil? Does neatness count? Is it due at the beginning or at the end of class?† You set up a rule forbidding such questions, but they keep coming anyway. This situation should eventually stop the questions, hopefully, because the students will learn that they aren’t getting any new information by asking those kinds of questions. If a question isn’t addressed by those groundrules, it is either a good one or could be added to the groundrules. It also sets up a positive culture where the students know what is and isn’t important to me as a teacher. Micky hasn’t done his homework in over six weeks. He always has an excuse such as he lost it, he left it at home, or his baby sister ripped it up. He has a difficult time reading and comprehending and seldom participates in class. You have discussed the matter with Micky and have met with Micky and his mother who works second shift. Still the homework is never done. Obviously in this situation Micky is having trouble with the school work, and his family can be of little help. But he also has to understand that the classroom community has expectations, and doing homework is one of them. By eventually putting him in detention for missing so many homeworks it at least gives him time where he has no excuse and forces him to do some, so I can see where he is and where he needs more

Societys Fascination with Reality TV Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Societys Fascination with Reality TV - Essay Example Watching a standard TV program is like escaping into a world of fiction and fantasy, where the shocks and jolts that are associated with real life may sometimes be absent. But reality TV offers the lure of so-called truth. It portrays life as it happens, with all its disappointments, hope, anxieties and unexpected events, as well as its mundane, daily grind. The fascination of reality TV for the viewer is in gaining insight into the fears, dreams and expectations of real people. Reality TV programs focus on ordinary, working and middle-class citizens, so it becomes easier for viewers to identify with the characters. To some extent, the fascination for reality TV may also lie in the fact that participants reveal some of the most intimate aspects of their lives. For example the Celebrity Big Brother TV show in the UK where celebrities are asked to live together without contact with the outside world and satisfy certain conditions (www.tv.com). Such programs offer viewers the opportunit y for a voyeuristic look into other peoples’ lives, while for the ones participating in the programs, the focus is a narcissistic one. With the onset of more and sensational kinds of programs on TV, reality TV which attempts to compete with it, offers an equal amount of shock value but drawn from â€Å"reality†, which packs a bigger thrill for viewers as compared to standard TV programs, where viewers are aware that the events are fictional or doctored up in some way. For example, TV shows like â€Å"The Bold and the Beautiful† and â€Å"Dynasty† are enjoyed by viewers, but they are aware of the fictional content of these programs. Reality TV, however, does not represent â€Å"fluff† in any sense of the word. In some instances, it may offer valuable insight into the fears, perceptions and feelings of actual people and viewers are irresistibly drawn by the lure of participating, even temporarily, in other peoples’ lives.