The Comic Hero in Aristophanes and Charlie Chaplin :: Cominc Hero Aristophanes Chaplin Essays

The Comic Hero in Aristophanes and Charlie Chaplin The comedic works of both Aristophanes, a fifth-century ancient Greek playwright, and Charlie Chaplin, an actor of the early twentieth century, center around one character. Aristophanes' play Clouds, first produced in 423 B.C.E., concerns Strepsiades and his many debts; he plans to learn from Socrates the art of the Inferior Argument so that he may convince his creditors that he does not have to pay them anything after all. In his later play Birds, first produced in 414 B.C.E., the main character is Makemedo, a man so determined to get out of Athens that he convinces a collection of birds to defy the gods, establish themselves as the rulers over the earth, and build a brick city in the sky from which they can reign and where he can also live. In each of Chaplin's films The Immigrant (1917), The Count (1916), and Easy Street (1917), he acts as a kind of "tramp" who overcomes his low status in society and achieves what he wants, even if only for a short time. Strepsiades, Makemedo, and Chaplin all shamelessly pursue their desires with little regard for the rules and standards of society around them. In his published lecture concerning Aristophanes' plays, Cedric H. Whitman discusses what he considers as the general template of all of Aristophanes' main characters: the comic hero. Whitman defines a comic hero as possessing great individualism, a good deal of poneros, meaning wickedness, and striking a balance of eiron and alazon, which translates into being a mixture of an ironical buffoon, who makes fun of himself for his own amusement, and an imposter, who disguises his true identity or feelings. He sees the comic hero as one who is extremely self-motivated and self-centered: "whatever is heroic is individualistic, and tends toward excess, or at least extremes. It asserts its self primarily . . ." Whitman also declares that poneros is necessary in the character of the comic hero, that this person is villainous, manipulative, and very convincing. The comic hero is shameless in expressing his desires, and he has no shame in pursuing them by any means necessary, whether such acts would be considered right or wrong. Whitman also recognizes the mixture of eiron--ironical buffoonery--and alazon--being an imposter--in the comic hero of Aristophanes' plays. "The mere buffoon, says Aristotle, makes fun for the sake of getting a laugh for others; the ironical man makes fun for his own amusement, which is more worthy of a free man.

Animal Farm, by George Orwell :: Animal Farm Essays

â€Å"All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.† This simple quote from Animal Farm, which at first seems merely humorous, can provide valuable insight into the values and ideas expressed in the novel. George Orwell uses various language forms and features to convey the ideas that are evident in Animal Farm. Such features include allegory, fable, satire, imagery and characterization. They are used to provide understanding of the purpose of the composition and in doing so convey ideas such as greed, propaganda, utopia, work ethic, betrayal and warnings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The form of allegory in Animal Farm is used to convey the composer’s ideas. Animal Farm is a composition which includes a deeper level of meaning beneath the superficial children’s story. One particular perception of the audience is that it is a subtle warning that power can corrupt any government. This can be seen through the character Napoleon and several of his porcine counterparts. As the novel develops, the pigs gradually obtain more power, which they use to take advantage of the less intelligent animals on the farm. This supports the idea that Orwell is possibly warning the audience that no matter what the original intentions are, power can corrupt anyone. Orwell uses a deeper level of meaning to act as a vehicle to convey his idea in the form of a warning.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Animal Farm is a fable which is used to teach a lesson in morality. One such lesson can be that greed reveals the worst in everyone. In the novel, the pigs were driven by their own personal interests and ambition until they became just as bad as their enemies (and even friends with them). The earliest example of greed is when the pigs steal the apples and milk for themselves under the false pretence of it being for the benefit of the farm. Later on, they become even bolder when Napoleon declares that what was to become the retirement paddock was to be sown with barley. This evidence is directly linked to the idea that greed produces the worst in everyone. Therefore Orwell’s ideas on greed are conveyed through the form of a fable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Satire is also used in Animal Farm to help achieve the writer’s purpose. Animal Farm is a satirical view of Russian politics in the early to mid twentieth-century. This can be deduced from several key factors. The composer parallels the characters in Animal Farm to key Russian leaders by mimicking their personalities to their human equivalents.

Transformation of London in the 1790s :: European Europe History

Transformation of London in the 1790s Many changes were occurring in London during the 1790s. New ideas were emerging within England and around the world. The onset of the French Revolution contributed greatly to the unrest and the turmoil of the times. As the English citizens responded to both internal and external affairs, religious movements, social and political reform parties, and governmental reactions gained momentum. In addition, many writers responded and contributed to the progressive environment by giving the people a voice and further pointing out injustices. These movements and literary contributions influenced later writers and the lifestyles of people in and outside of London. In the 1790s, certain religions were being revived in London. Methodism and the Church of England were reaching out more to the citizens and affecting more lives. Methodism was thought to be an integral part in the social evolution of the country. It had a stabilizing effect for those involved with the church, as well as a model for the political development of the working-class people. The church believed in equal political, economic, and social rights for all people and it also had a strict, structural organization, which encouraged stability amongst its members. (1) While the churches had a soothing effect on the citizens of London, social and political reform increased concern, awareness, and uncertainty. The organization of the government in London contributed to the discontent of its citizens. The official City of London, which was only about one square mile, had the main banking center of the metropolis and a history of independent government established through two separate governing councils, something most sections of London decidedly lacked. Their setup was similar to Parliament, in that one council represented the wealthy, and the other represented more "ordinary" people, and was therefore more prone to agitate at any given time. In 1795, that lower council became fed up with the conflict with France and the unfavorable effect it was having on the merchants they represented. They directly charged the king to end the war and restore their prosperity. The motion failing, the City's council was more conservative afterwards. However, the no tion that a part of London could challenge its sovereign must have given hope to many of its citizens. (2) Westminster's municipal government was far from inspiring, as judges rather than representatives ruled the borough. However, this area "enjoyed a very wide parliamentary franchise, open to all resident householders.

Literary Analysis of Shakespeare’s Hamlet Essay

In the English Renaissance, identity was an important concern, particularly the construction of identity. As Stephen Greenblatt argues, â€Å"there is in the early modern period a change in the intellectual, social, psychological, and aesthetic structures that govern the generation of identities †¦ that is not only complex but resolutely dialectical† (1). The identity of the sovereign was of particular importance: how monarchs shaped their own identities, and how these identities affected their subjects. Taking Greenblatt’s argument, this paper examines the construction and manipulation of identity in Shakespeare’s Hamlet: in particular, the ways in which Elizabeth I’s self-representations inform the play. In addition, the paper will show how the characterization of Hamlet is shaped by the rule of Elizabeth I, who controlled her public image through elaborately constructed self-representations. Reflecting her use of these representations, Hamlet, who possesses stereotypically feminine attributes, fights to recreate himself as a masculine character to recover his family’s and kingdom’s honor. The late Elizabethan period was filled with anxiety and dismay over the aging of Queen Elizabeth I. Concern about her impending death was only made worse by her refusal to name a successor. When Shakespeare composed Hamlet in 1600, the playwright was subject to an aging, infirm queen, who at sixty-seven had left no heirs to the English throne. In Hamlet, Shakespeare thus addresses two political problems that England faced at the beginning of the seventeenth-century: royal succession and female sovereignty. As Tennenhouse argues, â€Å"History plays could not be written after Hamlet, †¦ because †¦ the whole matter of transferring power from one monarch to another had to be rethought in view of the aging body of the queen† (85). The preoccupation of the English public with who would become their new ruler, along with eager anticipation of male kingship, is expressed throughout Hamlet. Although the play is not written as a political allegory, undeniable similarities do exist between aspects of Queen Elizabeth I’s public persona and the character of Hamlet. Before further explaining this comparison, however, it is necessary to describe how Elizabeth I shaped her public persona. Elizabeth I’s Image As head of the Anglican Church, Elizabeth I was wary to align herself in marriage with a Catholic. Accordingly, Carole Levin argues that Elizabeth I promoted the image of herself as a pristine maiden well into the middle and advanced years of her life: â€Å"Elizabeth presented herself to her people as a symbol of virginity, a Virgin Queen† (64). Whether political or personal, her refusal to marry was in many ways advantageous, for she avoided the disaster of Mary I’s match with Phillip II. Yet it also caused a great deal of concern among the populace. As Levin observes, by not marrying, Elizabeth also refused the most obvious function of being a queen, that of bearing a child. Nor would she name a successor as Parliament begged her to do, since Elizabeth was convinced this would increase, rather than ease, both the political tension and her personal danger (66). Elizabeth I’s strategy to retain political power may have prevented the usurpation of her authority by a husband, but it did cause disfavor among the English citizens, especially as she grew older without announcing an heir. Anxiety over the succession led to contempt for Elizabeth I, with many people gossiping that she did not marry because she was an unnatural woman. Levin writes, â€Å"there were rumors that Elizabeth had an impediment that would prohibit regular sexual relations† (86). Levin provides an example for these rumors in an excerpt of a letter from her cousin Mary Stuart: â€Å"indubitably you are not like other women, and it is folly to advance the notion of your marriage with the Duke of Alencon, seeing that such a conjugal union would never be consummated† (86). Others claimed that Elizabeth I had illegitimate children who were kept secret (Levin 85). These accusations indicate that English citizens, as well as family relations, perceived Elizabeth Fs prolonged maidenhood as unnatural and even monstrous. Although Elizabeth I was willing to admit to Parliament that she had spent much of her strength, she was careful to cultivate the image of herself as a young woman to the public. One important example of this method is the famous Rainbow Portrait, which Elizabeth I commissioned in approximately 1600, the same period Hamlet was written. Even though Elizabeth I was sixty-seven years old when the painting was commissioned, she appears in the painting to be a young woman (Levin). Elizabeth I created an intricate and diverse image of herself. As an unmarried monarch, she became England’s Virgin Queen. Possessing two bodies, Elizabeth I established masculine authority as Prince and as mother to her subjects. As Elizabeth I grew older, she relied on iconography to deceive the English populace into viewing her as young and vital. These diverse representations of Elizabeth I are complexly reflected in Hamlet. The similarities between Elizabeth I and Gertrude are obvious: both women are perceived as indulgent, sensuous monarchs and are criticized for attempting to act like women younger than their true ages. To Gertrude, Hamlet even states, â€Å"O shame, where is thy blush? † (3. 4. 91). Despite these correspondences, a more interesting analogy exists between Elizabeth I and the character of Hamlet. The paper will compare Elizabeth I, who claimed to have â€Å"the heart and stomach of a king† (Levin 1) with Hamlet, a prince often castigated for acting in a stereotypically feminine manner. Reflections of Elizabeth I’s Constructed Identities in Hamlet One attempt by Elizabeth I to maintain her image as the Virgin Queen was a use of heavy cosmetics in an effort to make herself look younger and therefore stronger. Mullaney quotes Jesuit priest Anthony Rivers as describing Elizabeth I’s makeup at some celebrations in 1600, when Hamlet was written, to be â€Å"in some places near half an inch thick† (147). Unfortunately for Elizabeth I, this attempt to hide the weakness of her age seems only to have exacerbated her subjects’ contempt for the assumed weakness of her sex. M. P. Tilley observes that during the late Elizabethan period, there was a strong feeling against a woman using cosmetics (312). Women who used cosmetics, according to popular feeling, altered their bodies, the creations of God, and were therefore not only immodest but blasphemous. According to Mullaney, women who used cosmetics considered to be false women because they created a deceptive face to replace the one given to them by God; altering their natural female appearance made them not truly women. Not only were cosmetics blasphemous and dishonest, they were physically destructive. A woman who painted her face in the Renaissance thus arguably destroyed her person in every way possible: spiritually and bodily. Hamlet displays notable disgust toward painted women, yet critics have overlooked that many of the contemporary Renaissance objections to women’s use of cosmetics apply to Hamlet’s actions. Similar to the way that painted women used cosmetics to disguise the faces that God had given them, Hamlet puts on his â€Å"antic disposition† to disguise the faculties of reason which God has given him (1. 5. 192), faculties which in the Renaissance were an essential aspect of the virtuous man. Whether or not Hamlet is truly mad, he constructs a persona to dissimulate his purpose of revenge. Painted women were disparaged for poisoning their body with dangerous chemicals; Hamlet engages in a dangerous quest to avenge his father, and because of his quest for revenge, he is fatally poisoned. By assuming an â€Å"antic disposition,† a false face, Hamlet is physically poisoned by the bated sword of Laertes. Laertes’ poison destroys Hamlet’s body natural and symbolically disrupts the body politic, since Hamlet will be unable to rule Denmark. In addition to putting on an antic disposition, a type of face painting, Hamlet possesses other womanly attributes that would arguably have caused some anxiety. Mullaney asserts that popular opinion in the Renaissance, especially in the final years of Elizabeth I’s reign, was against the rule of a female monarch. The English people had always been hesitant to accept a female queen; as Elizabeth I grew older and more infirm, their tolerance for being ruled by a woman diminished. Mullaney further argues that this intolerance was a part of the English subjects’ realization that Elizabeth I was feeble and politically weakening: â€Å"for the Renaissance †¦ misogyny may in fact be an integral part of the mourning process when the lost object or ideal being processed is a woman, especially but not exclusively when that woman is a queen of England, too† (140). As the English public’s grief for the decline of their queen’s strength increased, so too did their contempt for her bodily weakness and inability to govern effectively. Reflecting anxiety about Elizabeth’s I old age and infirmity, Hamlet displays a stereotypically feminine quality that makes him problematic as heir to the Danish throne. Early in the play, Claudius chides Hamlet for his â€Å"unmanly grief concerning the passing of his father (1. 2. 98). Elaine Showalter claims that â€Å"Hamlet’s emotional vulnerability can †¦ readily be conceptualized as feminine† (223). Discussing Hamlet’s creation of a mad persona, Carol Thomas Neely also lists â€Å"passivity and loss of control† among Hamlet’s feminine attributes during his period of madness (326). Hamlet’s emotional vulnerability and passivity, when considered in the politically-charged atmosphere of the late Elizabethan period, can even be seen as his downfall. Mullaney, quoting Tennenhouse, argues that â€Å"Hamlet is a play keenly aware of its late Elizabethan status, in which the impending transfer of power ‘from one monarch to another had to be rethought in view of the aging body of the queen'† (149). He goes on to view Hamlet as inhabiting a male-constructed world. Mullaney asserts that â€Å"like other Shakespearean males, Hamlet achieves a partial if suicidal resolution of the contradictions of patriarchy by constructing a world that is not so much gendered as free from gender differentiation—a world that is all male† (158). It is believable that Hamlet’s true problem is actually the opposite—his world is too female, or rather feminine. Despite the small number of females in the play, Hamlet presents a feminine character in a male body, a twisted reflection of Elizabeth I, who claimed to have â€Å"the body of a weak and feeble woman, but †¦ the heart and stomach of a king† (Levin 1). Hamlet possesses the body of a prince, but the heart and stomach of a woman: a fusion which was particularly problematic in the misogynistic environment that prevailed during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. As a feminine character in the body of a male, particularly one who, as Claudius observes, is â€Å"most immediate to the throne† (1. 2. 113), Hamlet cannot be allowed to survive and assume the throne. His death, as well as the passage of the Danish monarchy to the quintessential warrior figure, Fortinbras, reflects the transition of the throne from Elizabeth I to James I. James I’s ascension to the English throne alleviated some anxiety of female sovereignty, although his reign showed his peevish, cowardly, and self-indulgent disposition. When Hamlet puts on an â€Å"antic disposition,† crafting himself as mad, he evinces natural traits that are usually associated with feminine weakness. Hamlet is beset with passivity and indecision, two qualities often ascribed to women in the Renaissance (Woodbridge 275-99). Passivity and indecision impede and nearly thwart his quest to obey his father’s demand for revenge. Davis D. McElroy claims that Hamlet, in addition to considering the ghost’s exhortation to avenge him, contemplates taking no action at all. McElroy examines the opening five lines of the â€Å"to be or not to be† soliloquy: To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether is nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing, end them. (3. 1. 64-8) McElroy alleges that these lines, which are generally believed to be Hamlet’s argument regarding suicide, constitute a different deliberation on revenge: killing Claudius, as the alleged ghost of his father demands, or taking no action at all—a more cowardly decision, certainly, but definitely safer. McElroy compares the two options by examining the rhetoric of chiasmus—claiming that â€Å"to be† refers to â€Å"taking arms† against Claudius and â€Å"not to be† refers to â€Å"suffering †¦ outrageous fortune. † He argues that the speech pertains more reasonably to revenge than suicide because killing oneself is more like â€Å"avoiding† one’s troubles than â€Å"opposing† them (544). It can be posited that Hamlet’s indecision concerning his vow to avenge his father parallels Elizabeth Fs refusal to name an heir. As Tennenhouse observes, Where Claudius would be second to Hamlet and Hamlet’s line in a patrilineal system, the queen’s husband and uncle of the king’s son occupies the privileged male position in a matrilineal system.. . It is to be expected that Claudius could not legally possess the crown, the matrilinear succession having the weaker claim on British political thinking. (89) Hamlet’s duty is not merely to uphold his promise of vengeance. He also has an obligation to his country to see Claudius removed from the throne and Hamlet, the rightful ruler in patrilineal succession, put in his place. When Hamlet contemplates neglecting this obligation, he endangers the succession to the Danish throne in much the same way that Elizabeth I’s secrecy concerning her own succession endangers England. Arguably, Hamlet fails in his responsibility to protect the Danish succession: after Hamlet’s death, Fortinbras, a Norwegian, assumes the throne. Although Fortinbras is a better candidate than the corrupt Claudius, he is a member of Norway’s royal line, not Denmark’s. Elizabeth I’s refusal to marry consigns England to a similar fate regarding kingship and royal lines. James I is a member of the British royal family, but he is a Stuart, not a Tudor. As the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth I secures her own power by refusing to name a successor during her lifetime, but she allows her familial line to die with her. Elizabeth I also protected her political authority by crafting several personas. As seen in the Rainbow Portrait, she took liberally from mythological figures, such as Astraea, Flora, and Diana. Just as Elizabeth I appropriated the appearance and femininity of goddesses, Hamlet appropriates the masculine authority he observes in Fortinbras. Hamlet attempts to construct a persona that goes beyond an antic disposition, wanting to fashion himself as a strong son and leader of Denmark. After hearing of Fortinbras’s plan to attack a desolate stretch of Poland, Hamlet resolves to emulate the militant Fortinbras by fashioning himself as a â€Å"bloody† avenger: How stand I, then, That have a father killed, a mother stained, Excitements of my reason and my blood, And let all sleep †¦ †¦ O, from this time forth My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth! (4. 4. 59-62, 68-9) Although Hamlet desires to construct himself as an aggressive and violent fighter, he is never able to attain Fortinbras’s forcefulness. Hamlet’s passivity here shows weakness and debility, not qualities appropriate in a military leader or a monarch. Although Hamlet attempts to assume the masculinity of Fortinbras, shaping himself as a potent agent of revenge, Hamlet’s attempted emulation of Fortinbras’s masculinity is merely another false front. Hamlet recognizes his own passivity, but however much he tries to counter and suppress it, his femininity is too firmly a part of his personality for him to overcome it completely. Even though Hamlet seeks to avenge his father’s murder, he is unable to kill Claudius in Act three, scene three. Hamlet decides not to kill Claudius at his attempted prayer, and he thus does not do what he has resolved to do. At this point in the play, the audience sees a fluid character, one who first fashions himself as mad, then earnestly attempts to mold himself like the soldier Fortinbras. However much Hamlet views himself as mutable, he cannot override his passive nature. Hamlet attempts to put on Fortinbras’s masculine disposition after killing Polonius and assuring the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, yet even after returning from his voyage to England, Hamlet is caught in his feminine passivity. Despite his earlier resolve that â€Å"his thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth† (4. 4. 69), Hamlet makes no move against Claudius. He walks with Horatio in the graveyard, where he learns of Ophelia’s death (5. 1. 253), and he attacks Laertes at her gravesite (5. 1. 273), but he still clings to his false antic disposition. Gertrude calls his behavior â€Å"mere madness† and compares Hamlet to a â€Å"female dove† (5. 1. 302, 304). Hamlet’s shock and grief at learning about Ophelia’s death could excuse his distraction from attacking Claudius, but Hamlet delays his task too long. By waiting for Laertes’ challenge instead of choosing his own time to confront Claudius, Hamlet is forced to fight on the treacherous king’s terms and dies at the tip of Laertes’ poisoned sword. Hamlet’s struggle mirrors the rule of Elizabeth I, who controlled her public image through elaborately constructed personas. Similar to Hamlet, Elizabeth I attempted to disguise or suppress her feminine weakness. She proclaimed that she possessed a masculine body politic despite her female body natural. Elizabeth I maintained supremacy throughout her reign—no easy task for a woman in the Renaissance—yet her refusal to marry and produce heirs ended the Tudor line of succession. Hamlet’s plight reflects the anxiety experienced by many English subjects as Elizabeth I grew older with no children to succeed her: as Elizabeth I aged, the question of the sovereign’s role or representation to provide for the common welfare became increasingly critical. The Queen was still a mere woman, even though she had the â€Å"heart and stomach of a king† (Levin 1). Equally, Hamlet strives to create a public persona that corresponds with the masculine strength of Fortinbras, but he ultimately succumbs to feminine passivity, even though he is a prince. Conclusion Hamlet reflects the anxiety of many of Elizabeth I’s subjects concerning the strength of their Queen and the succession of the monarchy. With no husband and no heir to the throne, the political security of the country was at stake. Furthermore, many citizens were concerned with Elizabeth I’s aging body and her undignified attempts to appear younger. This concern developed in many cases into contempt for Elizabeth I’s deceptive manipulations of her image. Hamlet has many feminine characteristics that, especially in the climate of Elizabeth I’s decline, make him unsuitable as a ruler or potential king. Although he is not naturally suited to the masculine requirements of kingship, Hamlet strives to overcome his feminine nature in order to reinstate the honor and dignity of his family and kingdom. Although he accomplishes this end, his femininity delays him until he is betrayed by Claudius’ treachery. Hamlet removes Claudius from the throne, but at the cost of many lives, and the Danish monarchy passes to a Norwegian ruler. Like Elizabeth I, Hamlet tries to recreate his identity to gain needed respect and authority, but ultimately fails to protect his father’s line of succession. In Hamlet, readers can surmise some of the feelings Shakespeare may have experienced in the growing misogyny that permeated the final years of Elizabeth I’s reign. Like Hamlet, Elizabeth I was not without flaws, and her subjects came to resent her for these weaknesses, anticipating the advent of a more powerful—and masculine—monarch. As Shakespeare demonstrates with Hamlet’s poignant death and with Fortinbras’s triumph, a stronger, more manful monarch is not necessarily a more admirable or worthy one. Works Cited Greenblatt, Stephen. Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1980. Levin, Carole. â€Å"The Heart and Stomach of a King†: Elizabeth I and the Politics of Sex and Power. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 1994. McElroy, Davis D. â€Å"To Be, or Not to Be’—Is That the Question? † College English 25. 7 (1964): 543-545. Mullaney, Steven. â€Å"Mourning and Misogyny: Hamlet, The Revenger’s Tragedy, and the Final Progress of Elizabeth I, 1600-1607. † Shakespeare Quarterly 45. 2 (1994): 139-62. Neely, Carol Thomas. ‘†Documents in Madness’: Reading Madness and Gender in Shakespeare’s Tragedies and Early Modern Culture. † Shakespeare Quarterly 42. 3 (1991): 315-38. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Eds. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington Square P, 1992. Showaiter, Elaine. â€Å"Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism. † Hamlet: Complete, Authoritative Text with Biographical and Historical Contexts, Critical History, and Essays from Five Contemporary Critical Perspectives. Ed. Susanne L. Wofford. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin’s Press, 1994. Tennenhouse, Leonard. Power on Display: The Politics of Shakespeare’s Genres. New York: Methuen, 1986. Tilley, M. P, ‘†I Have Heard of Your Paintings Too’. (Hamlet III, i, 148). † The Review of English Studies 5. 19 (1929): 312-17

Marriage – Argumentative Essay

Marriage is a social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitment, religious ceremony, etc. This is the kind of marriage that we are all used to. Nowadays, in reality, there are some people who found love not to someone that are the opposite sex, but to those who are the same sex. A lot of people have been debating about the legality of gay marriage. From relating it to religion and its affect on the traditional family values, there are a lot factors that can make this into a controversy. Even though gay marriage is still an illegal action in the majority countries there are some factors that should be considered to make it become legal. Opponents of gay marriage claim that homosexuality is a sin in most religion. However, this statement violates the First Amendment of Constitution about the free exercise of religion on a person’s religious views must be protected. Which means that the government cannot make a law that is based on a certain religion rule. Additionally, the civil marriage and the religion marriage are a total different institution; therefore a law in the government that is based on a religion rule should not be made. Moreover, legalizing gay marriage also consistent with the Equal Right Amendment on the first text about the Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Therefore the legalization of gay marriage will make an equal marriage for all in the eye of the government based on those two Amendments. The other arguments that the opponents mentioned is that the Institution of Marriage will get less respect and the definition will become unclear. They said that the purpose of marriage which is to pro-create, hence the marriage between a man and women is the possible one. However, when we see the divorce rate in America for the past decade, the number is stable at 50% for the first marriage. This gives the impression that even the straight marriages give less respect to the institution it self. Moreover, if we look into the simple, deeper of marriage it self, marriage is a constitution between two people that are brought together by love. So, love is the basic aspect in this Institution of Marriage. Therefore gay marriage won’t give less respect or make the definition become unclear because basically they already fulfill the ground aspect of marriage, which is love. The final argument from the opponents of gay marriage is that family contains a mother and father. However, this meaning of family has become biased since in reality there are a lot of other families that doesn’t have a mother and father but we can still call them a family. So basically the meaning of family has changed due to the different things that occur in the reality. For instance, single mother and single father families are a common thing nowadays, with this one parent cover the two different role of two parents. Therefore there is no exception for the gay couple if they want to extend their family. As long as they will provide their kids with love, support, shelter, and things that the kids will need. Additionally there are a lot of kids that have been waiting to have their own family, so adoption in gay marriage will help both the kids and the gay couple in creating their own family. In conclusion, gay marriage is just like any other marriage with a twist of the same sex between the couple. Therefore the legalization of gay marriage will make an equal marriage for all in the eye of the government based on those two Amendments. Additionally, gay marriage won’t give less respect or make the definition become unclear because basically they already fulfill the ground aspect of marriage, which is love. Moreover there is no exception for the gay couple if they want to extend their family. As long as they will provide their kids with love, support, shelter, and things that the kids will need because there are a lot of kids that have been waiting to have their own family, so adoption in gay marriage will help both the kids and the gay couple in creating their own family. Furthermore, in my opinion everyone deserve an equal right to marry someone they love because everyone deserves to be happy. SEKAR RINDANG FASHION MANAGEMENT 1401125124 REFERENCES Dictionary. com 5 December 2011 Messerli, Joe. â€Å"Should Same-Sex Marriages be Legalize? † balancedpolitics. org 19 November 2011. 5 December 2011 Tsivkin, Roman. â€Å"Marriage Laws In The USA. † livestrong. com 8 April 2010. 5 December 2011 Wikipedia. com 5 December 2011 Wikipedia. com 5 December 2011 divorceguide. com 5 December 2011

Summary Explaning English Grammar – Tense and Aspect

J. A SUMMARY TENSE AND ASPECT Overview Some basic meaning distinctions between different tense forms are offered in terms of the REMOTE (or not) and FACTUAL (or not) status of perceived situations including notes on the future, time expressions, and the HISTORICAL PRESENT. A distinction is made between LEXICAL ASPECT, concerned with inherent properties of verb meaning such as STATIVE, DYNAMIC, PUNCTUAL, and DURATIVE, and GRAMMATICAL ASPECT, concerned with an internal versus an external perspective on situations. Basic forms The basic element in a English sentence is the ver.We need to talk about TENSE, to describe different forms of the verb. English has two distinct tense forms, PRESENT and PAST TENSE, and to two distinct forms for the aspect, PERFECT and PROGRESSIVE ASPECT. The MODAL VERB will is included typically as an indication of future reference. Basic English Verbs Forms Verb forms Examples Simple present I love your Mercedes Present progressive you are standing too close to it. Simple past I wanted a car just like it.Past progressive you were aiming too high. Simple future I will work for it Future progressive you will be working forever Present perfect I have worked hard before Present perfect progressive you have been working for nothing. Past perfect(pluperfect) I had saved my money Past perfect progressive you had been saving pennies Future perfect I will have saved enough Future perfect progressive you will have been saving in vainWe always need a basic verb (e. g. eat,, love,sleep) and a basic tense, either past or present. With a tense (e. g. past) and verb (e. g. eat, we can create the simple verb structure in I ate. Changes the tense to present and we get I eat. These basic elements, tense and verb are always required. We can add a modal element (e. g will) to get I will eat. We can also include elements that indicate aspect, either prefect of progressive. If we include perfect aspect (i. e have †¦+ -en), we get the structure in I have e aten. It is simply conventional to analyze the verb ending in the perfect + -en.Other verbs actually have different forms as endings,, as in the perfect aspect versions of I have loved and I have slept. We can also choose progressive aspect (i. e. be †¦ + -ing), so that different forms of the verb be are included before the basic verb, ending with + -ing as in I am eating be is sleeping. The basic structure There is a very regular pattern in the organization of all these elements used to create English verb forms. Basic structure of English verb forms Tense| Modal| Perfect| Progressive| Verb| PAST or PRESENT| WILL| HAVE+ – EN| Be + -ING| VERB|The left to right order of components is fixedEach component influences the form of the component to its right| PRESENT TENSE, HAVE †¦ + EN,BE†¦ + ING, sleep I have been sleeping. The first element is created from the influence of PRESENT TENSE on HAVE(=have). The next element is created from the influence of + -EN (=been) . The next element is formed by attaching + -ING to the verb sleep, once again at the end, to create SLEEP + -ING (=sleeping). When we choose different elements, we get different verb forms. Ex a. past tense, have †¦ + EN, love b. I had loved.In a the effect of PAST TENSE on the HAVE element creates had. The influence of the + -EN element on the verb love results in loved, as in b. Notice once again that the + -EN element actually becomes –ed at the end of most English verbs. a. PAST TENSE, BE ING,sleep b. I was sleeping. In, the PAST TENSE element combines with BE to create was and the +ING element attaches to the verb sleep to yield sleeping, as in b. Its important for teachers to understand that a grammatical element that consists of two separate parts will always be very difficult to learn. Basic meaningsTense in English is not based on simple distinctions in time. Tense The basic tense distinction in English is marked by only two forms of the verb, the PAST TENSE (I lived there ten) and the PRESENT TENSE (I live here now). Conceptually, the present tense form ties the situation described closely to the remote from the situation of utterance. The past tense form makes the situation described more remote from the situation of utterance. There is a very regular distinction in English which is marked by that versus now, there versus here, that versus thin, and past tense versus present tense.Situations in the future are treated differently. They are inherently non factual, but can be considered as either relatively certain (i. e. perceived as remote from happening) or relatively unlikely or even impossible (I. e. perceived as remote from happening). The verb form that is tradionally called ‘the future tense is actually expressed via a modal verb which indicates the relative possibility of an event. This modal also has two forms which convey the closeness (I will live here) or the remoteness (I would live there) of some situation being the ca se viewed from the situation of utterance.Meanings of the basic verb forms Concepts| Verb-forms| Remote + factualNon remote + non factualNon-remote + non-factualRemote + non factual| Past – livedPresent – liveFuture –will liveHypothetical – would live| Events described by the simple paste tense form are presented as being facts and remote from the time of utterance. The simple present tense indicates that events (also treated as facts of ‘being the case’). Are non remote. The future Future events are not treated as facts, hence are only possibilities. They are distinguished in terms of being non-remote possibilities versus remote possibilities.The forms of the verb used in statements about hypothetical (i. e. remote and non factual) such as [10], are usually described as past tense forms, but their reference is clearly not to past time. [10] If I was rich, I would change the world. Reference to time The widely recognized difference in time be tween situations referred to via the past and the present tense forms can be interpreted in terms of remoteness (or non-remoteness) in time from the time of utterance. Generally, adverbial expressions of time are used to establish time frames within which situations can be described.They do not determine how the speaker may choose to mark the relative remoteness of the event via tense. Thus, an expression like today can establish a time frame for talking about events that the speaker can describe as remote, via the past tense(e. g I slept late), or non remote, via the present tense(e. g. I’m tired). The speakers now These observations on tense in English would suggest that the widely used image of a time-line running from the past (yesterday) through the present (today) to the future (tomorrow) is not, in fact, the basis of the grammatical category of tense.The speaker’s perspective The time –line perspective Past time- present time – future time The spea ker’s perspective Remote non remote remote (non-factual) The common use of the past tense in English to represent reported speech, as 16 b, would seem to fit a more remote interpretation better than a’ past time’ interpretation. The difference between the direct speech of 16a and indirect speech of 16b is not a matter of time, but of distance from the reporting situation. 16 a. She said. ‘I am waiting here. B. She said that she was waiting here.Aspect In order to talk about ASPECT, we have to look inside the situation, In terms of its internal dimensions, a situation may be represented as fixed or changing, it may be treated as lasting for only a moment or having duration, and it can be viewed as complete or as ongoing. These are aspectual distinctions. Because aspect has to do with the kind of situation perceived or experienced, it can be expressed both lexically and grammatically. The grammatical expression of aspect is accomplished via the perfect and p rogressive forms of the verb. Stative dynamicVerbs commonly used with STATIVE meanings apply to situations that are relatively constant over time and describe cognitive (i. e mental) states such as knowledge (know, understand), and emotion (hate, like) or relations (be,have). Most verbs are not used with stative meanings, but have the concept of change as an essential characteristic and apply to DYNAMIC situations. Dynamic situations can be divided into those viewed as having almost no duration (non durative) versus those having duration (durative). Punctual or durative Verbs used with non-durative meanings typically describe isolated acts (kick, hit, smash).Another term for non-durative is punctual aspect, related to the point in time interpretation of expressions (fire a gun, smash a window) which do not extend through time. DURATIVE aspect is an essential feature of verbs that denote activities(run, eat). Types of lexical aspect Stative Dynamic Punctual Durative Cognition Relatio nsActs Activities ProcessesBelieve be hit eat becomeHate belong jump run changeKnow contain kick swim flowLike have stab walk growUnderstand own strike work hardenWant resemble throw write learn| Those verbs that denote stative concepts in English tend not to be used with progressive forms.Those verbs that are typically used with punctual aspect, describing momentary acts (kick, cough), take on a slightly different meaning when used in the progressive form. Grammatical aspect The basic GRAMMATICAL distinction in English ASPECT is marked by two forms of the verb. These are traditionally described as versions of the verb be with the present participle (Verb+ ing) for the progressive, as in [20a], and versions of have with the past participle (Verb + -en/ed) for the perfect, as in [20b]. 20. a. I am/was eating b. I have/had eaten Grammatical aspect Concept of situation Progressive viewed from the inside, in progress.Perfect viewed from the outside, in retrospect. Combining lexical and grammatical aspect Grammatical aspect Lexical aspect Implicated meaning Perfect + dynamic Completed activity retrospectively viewed Perfect + stative Pre-existing state retrospectively viewed. Progressive + dynamic ongoing activity internally viewed Progressive + stative Temporary state internally viewed The tense of the verb will that implicated meaning to the situation of utterance. Meaning components of verb formsI PRESENT HAVE+-EN/ED BE + -ING work very hard Time of utterance external view I PRESENT HAVE+-EN/ED BE + -ING work very hard Time of utterance external view internal view dynamic activity in retrospect in progress(= at this time I look back at myself in an activity viewed internally as in progress| You PAST HAVE+-EN/ED BE + -ING learn a l ot Remote from external view internal view dynamic processTime of in retrospect in progress utterance (= at that I looked back at you in a process viewed internally as in progress). | Meanings in contextThe distinction in tense between remote (past) and non remote (present) has a typical application in organization information in discourse. Information that is treated as part of the BACKGROUND will tend to be expressed in the past tense. Information that is of current concern, in the FOREGROUND, will be expressed in the present tense. Background scene setting, particularly in stories, is often expressed in the past progressive. In narratives In less technical writing, a similar distinction can be maintained between, present tense for presenting general statements and past tense for specific events. In narrative text, there can also be a general background versus foreground effect associated with different tenses.There is no obvious reason, in terms of narrating the events, why the fate of two people should be described in the past tense and that of another in the present. Within narratives that only use past tense, there is often a background role given to the past progressive and a foreground role for the simple past. In spoken discourse The speaker uses the past progressive for the initial background, or scene-setting, then shifts into the present tense to highlight the salient event in the story and her own internal reaction. Background and foreground information Background information past tense (Specific acts, events, old focus, settings) Foreground information present tense (General statements, facts, new focus, changes).

Juvenile Crime Paper Essay

The amount of crime that is committed by juveniles in our country is astonishing. This crime is on the rise in many cities across our nation because we see news reports often concerning juveniles. The reasons behind this crime may be sociocultural or even biological. As a nation, we need to enforce ways to keep our youth from turning to a life filled with crime and ultimately, a life inside the correctional system. There are programs, but the final decisions lies within the juvenile himself. Our nation has several court systems. In the juvenile court system, one will find that there are some similarities with the adult court system. There are differences between the juvenile and the adult court systems also. One specific difference between these two courts is one’s constitutional rights. In a court which judges adults, these adults have the constitutional right to have his or her case heard and tried by a judge or a jury of his or her peers. In juvenile court, the judge makes all of the decisions. The judge decides whether or not the juvenile has broken the law and whether or not the juvenile is guilty. Another difference concerns sentencing. When a judge in juvenile court is sentencing a juvenile, he takes into consideration that juvenile’s history and behavior. The judge may ask the parent, teacher or employer to speak concerning the juvenile’s behavior before sentencing. The main goal of the juvenile court is not to incarcerate the juvenile, but to deter him from crime and to rehabilitate him rather than punish him. Sometimes when an adult commits his first crime or a petty crime, he is â€Å"let off the hook† or given probation or even a short jail sentence. In the juvenile system, they are usually ordered or sentences to attend a juvenile facility, counseling, house arrest with electronic devices or boot camp. Juveniles are not offered bail as adult offenders are offered. Juveniles are sometimes turned over to their parents. In the adult system, bail can be requested. Even if the bail is denied, the adult offender is allowed to ask for bail. Juveniles do not have this advantage. These teenagers or juveniles who often times get into trouble are labeled as juvenile delinquents. A juvenile delinquent is a minor that fails to do what the law of duty requires (Schmalleger, 2011). This person is under the age of eighteen and has been found guilty by law of committing a crime. This is regarded by state law that the minor is lacing responsibility and because of this, he cannot be sentenced as an adult, but only as a juvenile. Crimes such as breaking curfew, offenses at school, drinking and graffiti are crimes that juveniles are normally charged with. These crimes are sometimes more of an annoyance than they are crimes. Juveniles are prohibited from smoking, drinking and carrying firearms. A status offence is a type of crime that is not based on prohibited actions but it rests with the fact that the offender has a certain personal conditioner of a specified character. Status offences are offences which are committed by juveniles and because of their age they are not considered to be an adult and therefore cannot be tried as an adult (Schmalleger, 2011). Status offences protect juveniles from harm because they are essentially too young. They are children in the sight of the law. Delinquency can relate to status of offences because of the things that these delinquents go through and how they can be different from the things that adults go through. Juveniles and children deal with anger, peer pressure, depression, childhood trauma, dysfunctional families, need for high academics and pressure regarding academics, idolizing rappers, actors and even criminals and bullying.. All of these things can cause delinquency to relate to status of offences. Research shows that there is not just one single cause for delinquency. While the things that I mentioned above may very well lead to delinquency, one doesn’t out rank the other and not one is the specific cause for delinquency. Many children in my town idolize this local rapper. For a very long time, he was suspected of hiring people to kill other local rappers. Even though this happened, he would give away turkeys during Thanksgiving, give away school supplies or even bicycles. Maybe he was thinking he was paying a penance and that his good deeds would balance out with the bad things that he was doing. Children all over this town were passionate about this young man. He was found guilty and sentenced to prison. However, the children want to be like him. I volunteered at an inner-city school and this man is the main topic of all the kids’ conversations! They absolutely idolized him. Therefore, they even formed gangs in his honor and began fighting and killing each other. I asked a student his reasons, and he told me the lyrics to the song are how they live. There are also positive variables that bring the rate of juvenile crime down. There are programs that are based in schools as well as outside of schools that help juveniles deal with emotional distress. Some of these programs just provide a release for these youth. They are taught how to control their emotions and behavior. They are even taught how to interact with each other in some programs. One key point of many programs is to teach juveniles conflict resolution. When they are faced with conflicts, they need to be able to make smart decisions. These are skills they are needed and are provided to them. They have to be taught how to make the right decisions when they are put in bad situations and this is the aim of such programs. At this time in our country, we are experiencing a difficult time with bullying. There are many anti-bullying campaigns which are in place in cities all across our nation. Bullying can have a horrible adverse effect on a juvenile. It can cause him to retaliate at worst, or even to act out in a harmful manner. These programs could possible reduce bullying by making juveniles aware of the harm that bullying can cause not only to the person who is being bullied, but to his family and friends as well. This will hopefully reduce the negative, aggressive behavior of bullies. Saying â€Å"No† to peer pressure can be another way to deter juveniles from crime. When they feel that they do not have to please their friends or to fit in, they can make better choices. I believe that the main support that juveniles need is the support of their family. When a child is raised in a functional home with rules, he has a better chance of not entering the juvenile court system or even the adult corrections system. These children not only look to their parents, they look to their older siblings, leaders in their communities, pastors, teachers and even their politicians. When we as adults break laws and are punished, even though we are punished, it still sends the wrong message to our children.