Choose an artist (painter, sculptor, or architect) from the Research Paper

Choose an artist (painter, sculptor, or architect) from the Renaissance Era to - Research Paper Example The era witnessed a complete new pattern of color scheme, theme, motif and formation that the European history of art has never witnessed before. Renaissance art became a distinct school of art and with its deviation from its predecessors and evolved almost as a new genre of art form. Renaissance as a concept evoked the â€Å"rebirth† of the ancient tradition and with this perception; this genre of art took classical antiquity as the foundation of its art form. However, the artists associated with the school transformed the tradition by incorporating modern techniques pertaining to science which was witnessed as the recent developments during the period in the northern half of the Europe. This was manifested by the use of contemporary scientific knowledge and techniques. Gradually Renaissance art amalgamated with Renaissance Humanist Philosophy and as a coherent and integrated form spread throughout the continent of Europe. This newer concept influenced not only the artists an d the sculptors but also greatly moved their patrons who started taking great interest in the new form of painting. With the explicit use of newer techniques and developed artistic sensibilities, the Renaissance art stands as a milestone in the trajectory of the history of art as the Europe witnessed a transition from the mediaeval period to an early modern age (Hartt, 1970). Leonardo da Vinci: The Great Renaissance Painter Leonardo da Vinci, a multi-faceted archetypal Renaissance man was a genius. He was at the same time, a painter, sculptor, artist, scientist, botanist, architect, musician, writer, engineer, inventor, mathematician, anatomist, geologist and cartographer. His â€Å"unquenchable curiosity† launched him to a paradigm of genius (Gardner, 1970, pp. 450-456).   He was well known for his feverish inventive bent of mind and imagination. Born in the year 1452, Vinci illuminated the world and served the society with all his expertise from myriad domains till the ye ar 1519. Leonardo da Vinci is considered to be the greatest painter and perhaps the most widely and diversely talented personality of all times (IEEE, n.d.). Helen Gardner, the famous art historian visions about the great man in the following words, â€Å"the scope and depth of his interests were without precedent and "his mind and personality seem to us superhuman, the man himself mysterious and remote" (Gardner, 1970, pp. 450-456).   But Marco Rosci contends that the vision of Leonardo should not be considered as something mysterious, rather it is essentially logical in the eyes of Rosci and he believed that the empirical methods which Leonardo employed were unusual in his contemporary era (Rosci, 1977, p. 8). Leonardo da Vinci is primarily known for his path-breaking Renaissance paintings. Leonardo is well-known for his supreme masterpieces which despite of his diversified expertise has captivated his name and fame even after four hundred years of his survival. Leonardoâ€℠¢s paintings as a product from the school of Renaissance painting is always appreciated and discussed at a great length by the patron, connoisseurs and critics of art. The explicit use of light and his detailed knowledge of anatomy which he used extensively in his paintings reached the masterpieces at a different dimension. His knowledge of botany and geology also becomes evident through his paintings and his interest on physiognomy well reflected through the minute lines and curves his paintings bear. The greatest

A Preview Of The Twentieth Century Essay Example for Free

A Preview Of The Twentieth Century Essay History tells us so much that the essence of humanity would be of a void nature without it. We can safely say that history is the collective experience of humanity itself. Thus, a distortion made upon history is irreverence to our collective experience. If one distorts history, he/she changes humanity’s life story. There is a need to preserve history as it happened. From history we learn lessons and avoid doing things that lead us to our own destruction. Take for example the two world wars that happened, if a third world war happens, then we, humanity, did not learn and care at all about our own history. History distortions commonly happen in the ideological and political arena. These distortions kill human lives. Conflicts that happen in the Europe and the Middle East as well as in America are caused by differences on the way people view religion and faith. Infamous of these are bombings caused by Muslim fundamentalists. Hence, history should be taught as it happened. History should be taught with clarity and vividness. People are intelligent enough to discern between the good and bad events that happened. Respect given for each other’s perspective and ideology should be encouraged to avoid conflicts. An integration of history arriving at the closest description of events as they happen should be done taking into consideration the differences in the religious and political beliefs of different races. Research should be done in order to correct the mistakes made on writing history. Yet, the most important of these is respect. If people cannot agree on a particular issue of history, then their only option is to respect its other’s views. There is no other alternative, they must respect each other. History is what we are. If we distort our perception of history, we change our very lives’ meaning.

Free Great Gatsby Essays: Sensational, Blatant, Ugly and Pointless :: Great Gatsby Essays

The Many Flaws of The Great Gatsby There are a few, very rare, moments where Fitzgerald allows some insights in the characters of his novel, The Great Gatsby. These occasions should be marked red. Most of the time, the story annoys the reader with imaginary pictures of the Golden 20’s, which really were never that golden, or images of our hero, Gatsby. All the wonderful things that critics see in the story: the novel of manners, love, American Dream, and romance have been interpreted into the story long after the fact. There are some slight hints towards these topics, but they are not really developed by Fitzgerald (e.g. the love between J. Gatz and Daisy Fay). The missing relationship between Gatsby and Daisy is but one of the flaws of the novel. Fitzgerald shows a lack of care in developing Gatsby as a person of the "New Money", dreaming all the day, having and being tasteless in everything he has and is, in addition to being a criminal (though there ´s no real evidence for that), and developing Daisy as a character, coming from a well-known family "Old Money" and being not guilty ("white", to use Fitzgerald ´s riduculas color symbolism). It was just impossible for a mediocre writer like Fitzgerald was, to develop a relationship between such different persons (though they have one thing in common: their lack of taste). The Great Gatsby is an absurd story. One cannot consider this â€Å"masterpiece† as a love story - the only love is one by a shy daydreamer, admiring a lady from the upperclass and doing every possible stupid thing to get her, but who, after not having succeeded, becomes a "tragic hero". Just blindly applying ancient and worn storylines doesn’t make a good book. One cannot consider it as a plain record of lifestyle in the 20 ´s because it simply is not. To suppose that it is a symbol for the American Dream (which isn ´t dreamt by Americans only) it is just ridiculous. These things are not definable by some characters written on a virgin white (color symbolism !!!) sheet of paper. The same goes for those who consider The Great Gatsby as a romantic novel: Ripping off people who buy alcohol, accumulating that dark (color symbolism !!!) money and then filling a pool with it, just to impress a teen love is not very romantic in the opinion of most people.

Federalism and Separation of Power

Democracy as a system of political administration has been termed over years as a product of several institutions working together to ensure the sustainability of an exclusive political system. Democratic institutions in a state are saddled with the responsibility of sustaining a nation’s democratic process such institutions like legislature, judiciary and the executive are the major institutions that guarantee efficiency in a democratic system. ( Ologbenla 1996) Basically, the legislative arm is the major institution that guarantees such because it represents the generality of the people’s interest.The doctrines of separation of power and checks and balances are two major tenets of democracy. Both doctrines provide basic principles that should be upheld in any democratic state. The adherence to these democratic tenets depends largely on the level of political adherence that follows the basic rules and regulations that guides the conduct of both the ruler and the ruled in an exclusive political community. Such rules and regulation are codified in a document known as constitution. A constitution is a legal framework that spells out the composition, function, and jurisdiction of government officials. Almond et al. 1966) It is a body of fundamental rules guiding the affairs of state. It states the relationship between the governors and the governed. Separation of powers is a doctrine propounded by Baron de' Montesquieu which stipulates that in order to avoid arbitrary use of power, power should be decentralised and shared among the organs of government such that no organ becomes too powerful. (Neumann 1949) The principle of checks and balances states that an organ of government should act as a watchdog on the other organs of government so as to curb their excesses.In a democratic system all governmental powers are derived from the constitution, it also spells out the functions and relationship of major governmental institutions such as the executive, judiciary and the legislature such that no organ of government can interfere in the affairs of the other. The constitution makes each arm of government to be an independent and coordinate unit, independent in terms of its sphere of influence and coordinate in its inter-governmental relationship with other arms of government.With cognisance to the American democratic structure, the constitution provides for separation of powers by stipulating the functions of the various arms of government and also the jurisdiction of the different tiers of government, whereby the executive cannot meddle in the affairs of the legislature and vice-versa. The primary function of the legislature is the making of laws ;( Easton 1961) it would be a total negation of the principle of separation of power if such function is being exercised by the executive.Although, the executive can propose a bill after much deliberation by the legislature can be passed into law but the power to make laws lie in within th e jurisdiction of the legislature. But in recent times the principle had been challenged due to the overwhelming power and personality of the executive. For example, President George Bush after the Sept 11 attack on the world trade centre proposed a bill to the congress to invade Iraq. Before the house could pass the bill he had sent troops to wage war in Iraq.This was contrary to the constitutional provisions which states that before United State would engage in a war it must be ratified by the congress in a joint session. Checks and balances on the other is to serve as a balance between the various organs of government in such a way that an arm of government serve as the watchdog over the other arms of government. (Neumann 1949) This function is majorly that of the judiciary this is the done through judicial reviews which help scrutinize both activities of the executive and the legislature.For this function to be performed to the optimum level there is the need for an independent judiciary that is free from executive manipulation. A bill is a proposed law that is not yet law until it is passed by the law making body in the country and received the executive or presidential assent. (Easton 1961) There are several stages that are involved in the passing of a bill before it becomes law. The first stage of the bill is the first introduction of the bill to the house. The introduction of bill could either be a private member bill or it originates from the lower house depending on the type of legislative chamber in operation.In a two chamber legislative house, bills originate from the lower house and are deliberated on in a joint session. This stage marks the first reading of the bill to the house. The second reading marks a stage where the bill is fully deliberated upon by lawmakers and it represents a crucial stage in the passing of such bill into law, because this stage determines whether such bill would become law. After the bill had successfully passed through the second reading then a committee would be constituted to critically examine and analyse the bill, give recommendations and possible impact of the bill if passed into law.This stage represents the committee stage. After constituting the committee, the next stage is the report stage where the committee presents their report to the house on the bill. After the committee stage the bill is presented to the lawmakers for adoption. It should be noted that at this stage the bill can still be rejected if the lawmakers refuse to adopt the bill by voting against it. But if the bill was accepted by the lawmakers then it can now proceed to the third stage which requires the president’s assent.If the bill passed by the legislature was not assented to by the executive, the legislature can constitutionally veto such bill into law after a period of 14 days. Federalism is a political system in which governmental powers are shared among the different tiers and organs of government such that each tier and organ is coordinate, independent, and exclusive in its own sphere of authority. (Leslie 1954) With reference to the debate on whether state power had been reduced or increased in a federal structure, cognisance would be given to emerging democracies mostly in third world countries where democratic structures are still growing.In Nigeria, state powers are gradually reduced as the constitution vested much power in the exclusive legislative list which only allows the federal government to legislate. (Ologbenla 1996) Matters such as currency, defence, health, mining, state creation, local government creation, boundary adjustment, leaving the state with little area to exercise its sphere of control. Unlike other federal structures like the United State of America where states have the autonomy on state police, the Nigerian federal structure did not provide for such provisions even at the agitation of states to have their autonomy on the issue.In 2003, the Lagos state gover nment embarked on the creation of local government which was later regarded as unconstitutional and led to a legal matter between the state and the federal government. (Tadese 2012) The judgement was later passed in favour of the federal citing that states do not have the constitutional right to create such establishment. In the American federal structure allows for state power to be shared between the central, state, and municipal governments in such a way that each state has its own constitution where it derives it powers from.Although when such laws clashes with national constitution the latter prevails. Federalism has been the major factor sustaining the democratic values as it has it functionality in both the principle of separation of powers and checks and balances which is maintained through the efficacy of institutions that guarantees a smooth democratic process.References Almond Gabriel, Gabber Powell. (1966). Comparative Politics: A developmental approach; Little Brown ; C o, Boston. Print. Easton David. (1961). A framework of political analysis, Yale University Press, New Haven. Print. Leslie Lipson. (1954). The Great Issues of Politics (5th edition) Prentice-Hall, New Jersey. Print. Neuman Franz. (1949). Introduction to Montesquieu’s Spirit of Laws. Translated by Thomas Nugent: Halfner publishers, Chicago. Print. Ologbenla Derin. (1996). Introduction to political science, Olucity Press Limited, Lagos. Print. Tadese. Oyeniyi. A battle of legal supremacy; Lagos State faces FG on creation of local government. Vanguard Newspaper. Web 30 September 2012.

Examine the techniques Iago employs to achieve his aims in the play Othello

In traditional Shakespearean tragedies the protagonist is destroyed through their own fatal flaw. The play Othello is different because there is a villain which is unusual for a Shakespearean tragedy. In the play Macbeth, the tragic events occur because of Macbeths own fatal flaw of ambition. However in the play Othello; Iago, one of the main characters manipulates Othello's fatal flaw of jealously which leads to the tragic ending of the play. He says how he is using Othello by â€Å"following him I follow but myself†; he is pretending to be loyal to Othello but is really doing it for his own benefit. Iago plans revenge on Othello when he gives Cassio the job of lieutenant instead of to him; he describes himself as â€Å"worth no worse a place† and is showing that he thinks highly of himself. Even after he manages to get Cassio dismissed and replaces him as lieutenant, he still continues to carry out his plan of destruction. This reveals that the reason of Iagos plans are merely just for fun. Iago deceives everyone even Roderigo who supports him, not knowing everything about Iago's plans, he even questions why he â€Å"ever made a fool my purse† which shows he is only using Roderigo for his own benefit. No-one in the play seems to know what Iago is really like. He manipulates everyone in the play to gain their trust although he only uses them. Cassio praises Iago by saying that he had sung â€Å"an excellent song†, this is because he doesn't know that it was actually because of Iago that he was dismissed from the job of lieutenant. Iago is seen as a manipulative and evil character, he betrays Othello by telling Brabantio that Desdemona is married to Othello; â€Å"you're robbed†¦ an old black ram is tupping your white ewe†, he uses crude, sexual imagery to make their marriage seem worse than it is to make Brabantio angry because his daughter got married without his consent. He constantly makes racist comments about Othello; by referring to him as â€Å"thick-lips† and tries to make him seem like a bad character, because in Shakespearean times it was seen as wrong for a white woman to marry a black man. Iago tries to convince himself that Othello has had an affair with is wife; â€Å"I hate the Moor, And it is thought abroad that ‘twixt my sheets He's done my office. † Iago is jealous even though he is not completely sure that Othello has had an affair with his wife. He treats Emilia badly he tells her to â€Å"be not acknown on't† he makes her do what he wants and tell her to pretend she does not know anything about Desdemona's handkerchief. He also makes general bad comments about women; â€Å"she give you so much of her lips as of her tongue† he is saying that Emilia talks too much, something which she shouldn't do. Iago has a general dislike for women and stabs Emilia when she realises what he has done he also causes Othello to hit Desdemona in public and makes him call her a â€Å"whore† to her face. To make Othello jealous he makes out that Desdemona is having an affair but he only hints, â€Å"Lie – † this makes Othello jump to conclusions and finish off the sentences himself; â€Å"Lie with her? Lie on her? † Iago does not try to correct him â€Å"With her, on her, what you will† he just agrees with what Othello is saying. Sometimes when talking to Othello he says something and immediately takes it back to get Othello curious. Othello gave Desdemona a handkerchief which had been passed through his family, Iago tells Emilia to steal it for him and plants it in Cassio's bedchamber. He tries to wind up Othello by discretely reminding Othello that Desdemona did not have the handkerchief anymore: â€Å"But if I give my wife a handkerchief†, he is tormenting him with the thought that Desdemona is not acting truly loyal to Othello, like Emilia would to Iago. Shakespeare uses asides and soliloquies throughout the play as a dramatic technique. While talking to Othello, Iago says â€Å"O, you are well turned now! But I'll set down the pegs that make this music, As honest as I am† it reminds us of Iago's evil nature, and shows how he is planning Othello's destruction. Soliloquies are similar to asides in what they do in the play. They remind us of what Iago is planning and also show us what he thinks about what he has achieved so far.

Marijuana1 essays

Marijuana1 essays Drugs are a major influential force in our country today. The problem has gotten so out of hand that many options are being considered to control it or even solve it. Ending the drug war seems to be a bit impossible. The war on drugs seems to be accomplishing a lot but this is not true. Different options need to be considered. Legalization is an option that hasn't gotten a chance but should be given one. Although many people feel that legalizing marijuana would increase the amount of use, marijuana should be legalized because it will reduce the great amounts of money spent on enforcement and it will increase our country's revenue. There are also many benefits that can be uncovered to help people if legalization of marijuana is given a chance. Legalizing marijuana would increase our economy's revenue. During Prohibition alcohol use was still sold and used, but people were doing it illegally. The 21st amendment repealed prohibition and alcohol taxes were increased. The same thing should happen with drugs. Marijuana should be taxed heavily to increase our revenue. Marijuana and other drugs would be made by the same people who make aspirin so the quality would be assured, containing no poisons or adulterants. Sterile hypodermic needles will be readily available at corner drug stores. These could be taxed heavily because the users will be assured of "clean drugs." Making drugs legal will reduce the great amounts of money spent on enforcement every year. Drug dealers and users are one step ahead on the enforcement process. If one drug lord is caught, another one will show up somewhere else. We cannot win. "In 1987, 10 billion dollars were spent alone just on enforcing drug laws. Drugs accounted for about 40 percent of all felony indictments in the New York City courts in 1989. This figure is quadruple what it was in 1985. . Forty percent of the people in federal prison are drug law violators" (Long...

Laugh in Spanish With the Verbs Reír and Reírse

Laugh in Spanish With the Verbs Reà ­r and Reà ­rse Is there a difference in meaning between reà ­r and reà ­rse? Dictionaries give the same definition for both. The two verbs, which mean to laugh, mean basically the same thing. Although you will find some regional variations, reà ­rse is the more common of the two. Thus, while reà ­ would be understood to mean I laughed, it would be more common to say me reà ­. Reà ­r by itself can sometimes sound poetic or old-fashioned. When Reà ­r or Reà ­rse Is Required There are at least two cases where one form is required: More commonly, when followed by de, the reflexive form reà ­rse usually means to make fun of or to laugh at: Me reà ­a de mi hermano, pero ahora somos amigos. (I used to make fun of my brother, but now were friends.)14. 3/19. Expanded, fixed error, added takeawaysSe reirn de su falta de sofisticacià ³n computarizada. (They will laugh at your lack of computer sophistication.)Me quiero reà ­r de mà ­ mismo. (I want to laugh at myself.) If you are talking about  what makes a person laugh, the reflexive form isnt used. Hacer is typically used as the verb for to make: Me hace reà ­r cuando estoy triste. (She makes me laugh when Im sad.)Austin Powers no me hizo reà ­r ms de una vez. (Austin powers didnt make me laugh more than once.)Ayer me hiciste daà ±o y hoy me vas a hacer reà ­r. (Yesterday you hurt me and today youre going to make me laugh.) Theres no logical reason why reà ­rse de is used to mean to laugh at rather than reà ­rse a or even reà ­rse en. Thats just the way it is. This is one of those cases where you should learn the preposition along with the verb. Conjugation of Reà ­r and Reà ­rse Reà ­r is one of the very few -ir verbs with an accent on the final syllable. It is conjugated irregularly, but only in terms of writing, not pronunciation. An written accent is needed in many forms to prevent the e of the stem and and à ­ of the ending from forming a diphthong. And example of the written irregularity can be seen in the indicative present forms with the irregular forms shown in boldface): yo rà ­o, tà º rà ­es, usted/à ©l/ella rà ­e, nosotros/as reà ­mos, vosotros/as reà ­s, ustedes/ellos/ellas rà ­en. Words Related to Reà ­r Among the Spanish words related to or derived from reà ­r: la risa - laugh (noun), laughterrisible - laughablerisià ³n - mockery, ridicule (noun)la risita - chuckle (noun)el riso - chuckle (noun; word used in limited areas)la risotada - guffawsonreà ­r - to smilesonriente - smiling (adjective)la sonrisa - smile (noun) Among the few English words etymologically related to reà ­r are derision and risible. All these words come from the Latin  ridÄ“re, which meant to laugh. Phrases Using Reà ­r or Reà ­rse Here are four common expressions that use these verbs, most often reà ­rse. Translations other than those given here can be used: reà ­rse a carcajadas - to laugh ones head off, to laugh ones tail off, to roar with laughter, etc. (A carcajada is a loud laugh or a guffaw.) - Nos reà ­amos a carcajadas de las cosas que decà ­a el cà ³mico. (We roared with laughter at the things the comic said.) A more colloquial way of saying the same thing is reà ­r a mandà ­bula batiente, literally to laugh with a flapping jaw.reà ­rse entre dientes - to chuckle (literally, to laugh between the teeth) - La tenista rià ³ entre dientes y sacudià ³ la cabeza. (The tennis player chuckled and shook her head.)reà ­rse hasta el llanto - to laugh until crying - Muchos dà ­as nos reà ­amos hasta el llanto. (Many days we would laugh to the point of crying.)reà ­rse para adentro - to laugh on the inside - Me rà ­o para adentro cuando recuerdo lo que escribià ³. (I laugh on the inside when I remember what she wrote.) Key Takeaways Both reà ­r and its reflexive form, reà ­rse, mean to laugh, and they are often interchangeable with little to no change in meaning.The reflexive form reà ­rse is used in the phrase reà ­rse de, meaning to laugh at, while the simple form reà ­r is used in the phrase hacer reà ­r, meaning to cause to laugh.Reà ­r and reà ­rse are conjugated regularly in terms of pronunciation, but a written accent is often needed to maintain that pronunciation.