From the Middle Ages through the Renaissance Essay Example for Free

From the Middle Ages through the Renaissance Essay Artists bringing designs, paintings, choreography and music to life shapes the history of the Middle Ages. Middle Ages began from the very earliest single digit centuries. Middle Ages and Renaissance Age’s culture centered around religion. Religion was the purpose of all art. Artists living during the Middle and Renaissance ages created paintings, sculptures, music and other designs that were unique to their interpretations, relying on craft and communication. â€Å"We should not assume that our priorities necessarily match those of the original patrons. (Goffen, 1999, p. 207) Two memorable Renaissance artworks are Michelangelo’s Pieta and Da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks. The marbled Pieta sculpture design is Mary holding her son Jesus, who passed away. This image immediately shocks the viewer and is not easily forgotten. After really looking at the sculpture, the viewer does not have to be familiar with the story to realize an unusual message is coming through. â€Å"The point of the work was to engender empathic meditation and devotion on the part of the viewer. † (Kieran, 2004, p. 169) Mary’s facial expressions are calm, relaxed, untypical for a mother who lost her child. The fully grown adult child Mary is holding would be as big as her, if not bigger. To make the unexpected sculpture look realistic or proportioned, the artists relied on light colors and unusual sizing of objects. Mary’s body is bigger than the man’s body. (Kieran, 2004, P. 41) Further bringing the entire picture into perspective, the size of the arched window encasing Mary and Jesus, surrounding Mary’s upper body offsets illusions of sizes. http://enwikipedia. org/wiki/Piet%C3%A0_(Michelangelo) Analyzations of Da Vinci’s art goes on indefinitely. His Virgin of the Rocks shows baby Christ and St John. â€Å"The picture is conceived in a mood of great solemnity. The children no longer play as equals (Clark, 1939, p. 45) Baby Jesus sits independently with two hands bringing focus that he is guided by higher beings invisible to human perceptions. St John is limited to human protection or guidance. (Clark, 1939). The artists used darkened tone colors enhancing mystical moods that are unknown to humans. Natural background content consists of nature made subjects. The setting is taking place in a miniature cave allowing the trees blending with the sky to be visible. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Virgin_of_the_Rocks All types of art influences and guides human behavior, within reason. Religion is the background purpose for the invention and creative experimenting with art. Creative art encouraging individualism began in the Middle ages, and lead us into the Renaissance ages. Today’s art, sculptures, plays and architect is modern reinventions of artwork originating during the middle ages. References Clark, K. (1939). Leonardo Da Vinci: An Account of His Development as an Artist. New York: Macmillan. Retrieved March 1, 2008, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=od=6598638 Goffen, R. (1999). Behind the Picture: Art and Evidence in the Italian Renaissance. Renaissance Quarterly, 52(1), 207. Retrieved March 1, 2008, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=od=5001255997 Kieran, M. (2004). Revealing Art. New York: Routledge. Retrieved March 1, 2008, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst?a=od=108856090 Maes-Jelinek, H. (1997). Charting the Uncapturable in Wilson Harriss Writing. The Review of Contemporary Fiction, 17(2), 90+. Retrieved March 1, 2008, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=od=5000469960 OConnor, J. P. , Temple, V. A. (2005). Constraints and Facilitators for Physical Activity in Family Day Care. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 30(4), 1+. Retrieved March 1, 2008, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=od=5012125114 Osmond, S. F. (1998, December). The Renaissance Mind Mirrored in

Geroge Orwell Essay -- Essays Papers

Geroge Orwell â€Å"One of the things Orwell bequeathed us was the adjective ‘Orwellian’†¦. It is a frightening word, generally applied to a society organized to crush and dehumanize the individual, sometimes signifying the alienation of that individual if he dares to rebel† (Lewis 13). George Orwell, the pseudonym for Eric Arthur Blair, depicted the importance of the individual in society and the danger of too much community in his literature. Through his personal experiences, however, he explored the ideas of socialism and was torn between the individual and community ideals. In his literature and his past, Orwell spoke against movements that remove the individual, but still emphasized the importance of community. Thus, he advocated a need for balance between the two concepts. In 1922, Orwell began working as the assistant superintendent of police in Myaungmya, Burma, and this is where his hatred toward imperialism and its tyrannical rule over the underdogs in society developed. He felt guilty torturing and flogging unwilling subjects. The community had taken too much power over the individual, and the imperialist society commanded Orwell to enforce this injustice: â€Å"I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible. With one part of my mind I thought of the British Raj as an unbreakable tyranny†¦with another part I thought the greatest joy in the world would be to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest’s guts. Feelings like these are normal by-products of imperialism† (qtd. in Lewis 41). Obviously, imperialism had affected Orwell to the point where he developed animosity towards the Burmese. As a policeman doing â€Å"the dirty work of the Empire† (qtd. in Lewis 41), Orwell acquired a hatred for imperialism, a belief that is focused on dominion over other individuals. Orwell later moved on to Spain where he joined the Partido Obrero de Unificacià ³n Marxista (POUM), or the Workers’ Party for Marxist Unity, and began his belief in socialism. When he arrived in Barcelona, he noticed an almost complete elimination of the social class structure: â€Å"Waiters and shop-walkers looked you in the face and treated you as an equal. Everyone called everyone else Comrade and Thou†¦. In outward appearance, the wealthy had practically ceased to exist†¦. In some ways I did not... ...nstantly struggled between these two ideas, and throughout his life he fought for a socialist society in Britain to represent his belief in the need of both community and the individual. He wrote powerfully and blatantly to illustrate the concept of balance between the affects of community and the individual. Bibliography: Chen, Anna. George Orwell a Literary Trotskyist? 2 Oct. 2000. K1 Internet Publishing. 13 Dec. 2000 . Lewis, Peter. George Orwell: The Road to 1984. New York and London: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981. Orwell, George. 1984. New York: Signet Classic, 1961. Orwell, George. â€Å"Shooting an Elephant.† Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays. Ed. Sonia Orwell. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1950. 3-12. Orwell, George. â€Å"Reflections on Gandhi.† Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays. Ed. Sonia Orwell. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1950. 93-103. Teck, Yee. Nineteen Eighty-Four and Personal Freedom. 2 Oct. 2000. K1 Internet Publishing. 13 Dec. 2000 . Williams, Rhodri. Orwell’s Political Messages in Animal Farm, Homage to Catalonia and Nineteen Eighty-Four. 2 Oct. 2000. K1 Internet Publishing. 13 Dec. 2000 .

Ignorance Is Happiness

Ignorance is happiness Think about communication now, how do people talk to each other? Think about entertainment, how do people have fun? Or how about knowledge, how do people share information? How do people find out about history? People today use cell phones, the Internet, and the television. But until about a century ago, no one had any of that. No one had Phones or flat screen TV’s. No one had Facebook or Twitter accounts. So how did people back then live and work? The answer is with writing, with books. People still read today, but what if people lost all interest in books?What if people turned on books? Would mass book burnings start? Would books be outlawed and become illegal? What would society be like then? This is exactly what Ray Bradbury’s novel is about. In this book, the author describes a society where books have been banned by the government, and because of that, ignorant is all that the people there are. In Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, he utilizes the setting, conflict, and point of view to enhance this theme. In literature, the setting is the time and place a story takes place.Ray Bradbury used the futuristic setting to show what a world where television and sea shell radios are the most important things in a person’s life would be like. He’s created a society sometime after 1990, in a place called Elm City. It is a place where every one is equally ignorant, where the government tries to brainwash everyone to not question anything. Beatty quoted, â€Å"The home environment can undo a lot you try to do at school. That’s why we’ve lowered the kindergarten age year after year until now we’re almost snatching them from the cradle† (Bradbury 60).In order to make sure people grow up the way they want, the government has made sure children are taught from a very young age what they should believe in. Kids like Clarisse McClellan are thought of as outcasts because she questions everything around her. The citizens then do not like to think independently either. Faber said, â€Å"Off-hours, yes. But time to think†¦ rushes you on so quickly to its own conclusions your mind hasn’t time to protest, ‘what nonsense! ’ (Bradbury 84). The quotes, â€Å"patience, Montag. Let the war turn off the ‘families. Our civilization is flinging itself to pieces. Stand back from the centrifuge† (Bradbury 87), and, â€Å" In again out again Finnegan† (Bradbury 94), shows that people who they should care about are not important. Husbands are off at war, and their wives do not care at all. The setting contributes a lot to the theme, without the futuristic setting, the impact would not have been as great. Characterization also plays a part in the story. Characterization is when the writer reveals the personality of or describes a character.This helps by letting the readers gain more understanding of the people of that time. Mrs. Phelps stated, â€Å" He (her husband) said, if I get killed off, you just go right ahead and don’t cry, but get married again, and don’t think of me† (Bradbury 95). This quote shows that relationships are not significant anymore; people do not take the time to keep healthy relationships and communicate. Mildred quoted, â€Å"It’s only two thousand dollars. And I think you should consider me sometimes. † (Bradbury 20).Even though Guy Montag said that in order to have the fourth wall put in, he’d have to pay a third of his yearly pay, Mildred does not seem to care. All she wants is her entertainment. Not all people then are like Mildred and Mrs. Phelps though, there are people like Clarisse McClellan. She said, â€Å"I rarely watch the ‘parlor walls’ or go to races or Fun Parks. So I’ve lots of time for crazy thoughts, I guess† (Bradbury 9). Clarisse does not spend her time driving around at insane speeds running over ped estrians. She likes to take walks, enjoy nature.She likes to taste the rain and smell the flowers. But because of this she was thought of as weird and crazy. There is definitely something wrong with a society like that if someone like Clarisse became an outcast. The last thing that Ray Bradbury in cooperated into his novel was the conflicts. Conflicts are struggles between two forces. There were both external and internal conflicts in the story. One conflict is and internal conflict when Montag burned the woman, and starts to see that everything he had been doing his whole life was wrong, and starts wondering what books have to say. There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing† (Bradbury 51). Another conflict is between him and Mildred. â€Å"Books are not people. You read and I look all around, but there isn’t anybody! † (Bradbury 73). T his shows how ignorant and shallow people like Mildred can be. She spends all day watching the television, completely immersed with her parlor ‘families’. The last conflict is between Montag and Beatty, or the society he lives in. Beatty said, â€Å" serenity, Montag.Peace, Montag. Take your fight outside. Better yet, into the incinerator†¦burn all burn everything. Fire is bright and fire is clean† (Bradbury 59-60). Beatty said that he too, was once curious about books, so he read them, laws or no laws. But he did not want to think about the meanings behind the words in books, and he turned against them. Beatty does not burn books because he is told to, but he actually believes in burning books. He believes that books cause confusion, contradictions, and disorder. But the one thing that he does not realize is that, that is what literature is for.There are many important messages that Fahrenheit 451 portrays. In order to help us understand them, Ray Bradburyà ¢â‚¬â„¢s novel, Fahrenheit 451 uses the setting, characterization, and conflict to help underline these themes. The setting that was created was a futuristic society. This helped the readers imagine what a world without books or knowledge would be like. The characterization of the people showed that everyone was happy without knowledge, and the people who were not were outcasts. Lastly the conflicts between the characters demonstrate the ignorance of the people.

Kate Chopin And Jane Austin Feminism - 1881 Words

Since the first real forms of feminist expression came about, it has and will remain a topic of serious discussion and debate. However, thanks to women like Kate Chopin and Jane Austin feminism was able to reach a much larger crowd and project its message on to more than just its few basic closet followers. Throughout the Victorian era, many women began to question their place in this world. Self-expression became a more common thing among women and thus works of literature and art such as The Awakening and Emma came to be. These two novels especially started a foundation for many other feminist artists and writers to build their platforms on and follow in the footsteps of the women and equal rights activists before them. Kate Chopin,†¦show more content†¦Edna took it upon herself to become a symbol of empowerment, no matter the consequences. Edna wasn’t sure of what exactly she wanted, but she did know what she didn’t want and made sure to get as far away from that as possible. Part of her journey to accepting herself was overcoming the monetary things of life. In chapter thirty nine, Edna frees herself of one of the most basic human things, clothing. â€Å"Edna had found her old bathing suit still hanging, faded, upon its accustomed peg. She put it on, leaving her clothing in the bath-house. But when she was there beside the sea, absolutely alone, she cast the unpleasant, pricking garments from her, and for the first time in her life she stood naked in the open air, at the mercy of the sun, the breeze that beat upon her, and the waves that invited her. How strange and awful it seemed to stand naked under the sky! How delicious! She felt like some new-born creature, opening its eyes in a familiar world that it had never known.† This was her first step towards freedom This is why the symbol of the bird is so important throughout the novel. Birds have the capability to go wherever they want, whenever they please, yet they often donà ¢â‚¬â„¢t use these benefits. This is because moving on to something new or experiencing a new challenge is not always easy and although it might not be what is best for a person it is often easiest to just stay in the same spot and accept the cards that have been dealt. â€Å"A bird with a broken wingShow MoreRelatedKate Chopin Feminism And Feminism967 Words   |  4 PagesAmerican Author, Kate Chopin came from the Victorian Era where women were oppressed and restricted from the freedoms most women enjoy today. Her contributions to American Literature through her numerous short stories and novels are often described as the beginning of modern feminism. There are claims that the feminist movement was born through her stories and books, Chopin is often described as a feminist writer of her time, although she did not see herself in that way. Many of her short stories