Friday, March 20, 2020

The New Age After The 1500s Essays - Early Modern Scotland

The New Age After The 1500s Essays - Early Modern Scotland The New Age After the 1500s After 1500 there were many signs that a new age of world history was beginning, for example the discovery of America and the first European enterprises in Asia. This "new age" was dominated by the astonishing success of one civilization among many, that of Europe. There was more and more continuous interconnection between events in all countries, but it is to be explained by European efforts. Europeans eventually became "masters of the globe" and they used their mastery to make the world one. That resulted in a unity of world history that can be detected until today. Politics, empire-building, and military expansion were only a tiny part of what was going on. Besides the economic integration of the globe there was a much more important process going on: The spreading of assumptions and ideas. The result was to be "One World." The age of independent civilizations has come to a close. The history of the centuries since 1500 can be described as a series of wars and violent struggles. Obviously men in different countries did not like another much more than their predecessors did. However, they were much more alike than their ancestors were, which was an outcome of what we now call modernization. One could also say that the world was Europeanized, for modernization was a matter of ideas and techniques which have an European origin. It was with the modernization of Europe that the unification of world history began. A great change in Europe was the starting-point of modern history. There was a continuing economic predominance of agriculture. Agricultural progress increasingly took two main forms: Orientation towards the market, and technical innovation. They were interconnected. A large population in the neighborhood meant a market and therefore an incentive. Even in the fifteenth century the inhabitants of so called ?low countries? were already leaders in the techniques of intensive cultivation. Better drainage opened the way to better pasture and to a larger animal population. Agricultural improvement favored the reorganization of land in bigger farms, the reduction of the number of small holders, the employment of wage labor, and high capital investment in buildings, drainage and machinery. In the late sixteenth century one response to the pressure of expanding population upon slowly growing resources had been the promoting of emigration. By 1800, Europeans had made a large contribution to the peopling of new lands overseas. It was already discernible in the sixteenth century when there began the long expansion of world commerce which was to last until 1930. It started by carrying further the shift of economic gravity from southern to north-western Europe, from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, which has already been remarked. One contribution to this was made by political troubles and wars such as ruined Italy in the early sixteenth century. The great commercial success story of the sixteenth century was Antwerp's, though it collapsed after a few decades in political and economic disaster. In the seventeenth century Amsterdam and London surpassed it. In each case an important trade based on a well-populated hinterland provided profits for diversification into manufacturing industry, services, and banking. The Bank of Amsterdam and The Bank of England were already international economic forces in the in the seventeenth century. About them clustered other banks and merchant houses undertaking operations of credit and finance. Interest rates came down and the bill of exchange, a medieval invention, underwent an enormous extension of use and became the primary financial instrument of international trade. This was the beginning of the increasing use of paper, instead of bullion. In the eighteenth century came the first European paper currencies and the invention of the check. Joint stock companies generated another form of negotiable security, their own shares. Quotation of these in London coffee-houses in the seventeenth century was overtaken by the foundation of the London Stock Exchange. By 1800 similar institutions existed in many other countries. It was also the time of some spectacular disastrous investment projects, one of which was the great English South Sea Bubble. But all the time the world was growing more commercial, more used to the idea of employing money to make money, and was supplying itself with

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

ACT Test Dates Study Plan for Sophomores and Juniors

SAT/ACT Test Dates Study Plan for Sophomores and Juniors SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you’re a sophomore or junior in high school, it's about time to start exercising your standardized testing muscles. This is especially true if you're hoping to get into very selective colleges or improve significantly from your PSAT scores. Read on for advice on how to create an effective study plan for the SAT or ACT starting in sophomore and junior year. Sophomore Year: SAT Prep Sophomore year is when you can start gearing up for the SAT or ACT by taking experimental practice tests and planning out your studying and testing schedules. I'll go through how to prepare yourself for standardized testing so you have the best chance of success when you take the test junior year. Getting Started By sophomore year, you've most likely taken all the classes that teach relevant information for standardized tests (algebra, trigonometry, and geometry). Now you can start figuring out your baseline score for the SAT or ACT so you know how much studying you’ll have to put in before you take the test. If you’re planning on taking the SAT, take the PSAT to get an idea of what your scores might be.Add a zero to the end of each PSAT section score to see an estimate of its SAT equivalent.You can also take a real SAT practice test if you would rather have a more direct representation of your current score level.If you’re planning on taking the ACT, take an ACT practice test. You should also take time during sophomore year to research colleges and get a sense of how much you need to improve your scores.This is a good time to estimate a target score for the SAT or ACT.Even though you might not know your top choice schools for sure yet, you probably have some idea of which colleges appeal to you and seem like realistic options. Google the names of schools that interest you and â€Å"SAT scores† or â€Å"ACT scores†.The 75th percentile score listed by the school (meaning a better score than 75 percent of admitted students) is what you should be aiming for as a target score. Studying for Your Goals We recommend that you take the SAT or ACT for the first time during the fall of your junior year(the SAT is in early October, the ACT is in mid-September). This way, you'll still have a lot more opportunities to take either test again if you don’t do as well as you hoped. Based on your knowledge about your current score level and target scores, you can start making a study plan during the second half of your sophomore year. Here are some guidelines for score improvement goals versus study hours: 0-30 SAT or 0-1 ACT Composite Point Improvement: 10 hours30-70 SAT or 1-2 ACT Point Improvement: 20 hours70-130 SAT or 2-4 ACT Point Improvement: 40 hours130-200 SAT or 4-6 ACT Point Improvement: 80 hours200-330 SAT or 6-9 ACT Point Improvement: 150 hours+ It’s up to you whether you want to spread out hours and start studying sooner or go with a more intense studying schedule for a shorter period of time. Here are some different examples of how you might plan out your study schedule before you take the test for the first time junior year: Case #1: I'm Planning on Taking the SAT, and I Want to Improve By 200 Points For this level of improvement, you're looking at about 80-100 total study hours.If you start during sophomore spring, two hours a week of studying while you’re still in school in April and May will accumulate about 20 hours. You can plan to study for five hours a week for the three summer months, which adds up to about 70 hours (you have to account for that one week when you will inevitably go to the beach instead).The SAT is in early October, so September can be a review month where you study for an hour a week until your SAT test date. Case #2: I'm Planning on Taking the ACT, and I Want to Improve By 3 Points We could estimate around 40 total study hours for a three-point improvement on the ACT.In this case, since you’re not looking for a huge improvement, you have more of a choice as to how much you spread out your hours.Maybe you decide you want a fast-paced two-month study plan where you study for 5 hours a week in July and August. Alternatively,you could take a more long-term approach and study for two hours a week starting in April. Case #3: I'm Planning on Taking Either the SAT or the ACT, and I Want to Improve By...A LOT It's true that you might not have time to study for the 150+ hours recommended above before you take the test junior year for the first time.The good news is, if you're new to the SAT or ACT, it’s easy to pick up dramatic score improvements as you gain familiarity with the questions. View it as an ongoing process - remember that you’ll still have another year before your last chance to take the SAT or ACT during senior fall. Five hours a week of studying is a realistic goal in the 4-6 months before the test your junior fall.Though this might not be enough to get your scores up where you want them to be the first time, you’ll be at least halfway there.You can look at your first official test as a benchmark for you to see how effective your studying has been rather than a scary deadline. It's time to prep the metaphorical ingredients of success on the SAT or ACT with the sharp blade of your brain knife. Junior Year: The Real Deal This is when things get real. It's important to manage your testing schedule wisely and make sure you're seeing consistent improvement. I'll discuss this more in the next couple of sections and include some advice on transitioning to senior year and the college application process. Taking Your First Test At the start of your junior fall, you should take the SAT or ACT for real so you can get an idea of how much your scores still need to improve (or if they need to improve at all). By this point, you probably have a better sense of where you want to apply, so you can be more sure of your target score.Remember that you still have a lot of chances to take the SAT or ACT again if you're not satisfied with your scores yet, so don't sweat it! Evaluating Your Study Strategy and Hours If you are just starting to study junior year, see the Studying for Your Goals section above to get an idea of how much you might need to study.The aftermath of your first test junior year is a good time to take stock of your studying strategies and whether they are working for you. Here are a couple of reasons you might change your study strategy or consider studying for more time: Scenario #1: You Ran Out of Time, but You Felt Pretty Good about the Test Otherwise You may need to force yourself to do more timed practice tests. You should also research some strategies for reducing your time.Here’s advice to help you with this problem on SAT Math, SAT Reading, the SAT in general, and ACT Reading. Scenario #2: Your Scores and Content Knowledge Didn't Seem to Improve Despite Lots of Studying Something is wonky with your studying habits, or you might just need more prep in general.There are a couple of reasons why this might happen: You’re getting distracted too much - You might need to change your study location, turn your phone off, or stop studying with other people (let’s face it, group studying is not real studying). You’ve been taking practice tests but not picking apart your mistakes - You won’t learn much this way because your level of understanding is not changing. See this article on how to review mistakes on practice tests. It takes you a while to learn from mistakes - Studying for more time is probably the way to go. Remember that you still have until your senior fall before your test results are final!Once you have a stronger understanding of your studying needs, you should be able to plan better for the upcoming SAT test dates during your junior spring and senior fall. Looking Ahead to Senior Year Now that you’ve taken your first test, evaluated your studying habits, and know how much you want to improve before you send in college apps, you're ready to craft a new study plan based on this information. You might choose to take the SAT or ACT again during your junior spring, especially if you're only looking for a slight improvement over your original scores (1-2 ACT points or 30-70 SAT points). This will also help you plan your studying for the summer between junior and senior year depending on how well you do. Make sure you keep up a light study schedule between the fall and spring tests, unless you are only looking for a very small point improvement that could happen without more studying (0-1 ACT or 0-30 SAT).Even one to two hours a week can make a significant difference in your scores. Though you still have more chances to take the tests during senior fall, you shouldtry as hard as you can to improve each time you take the test so you aren’t wasting money.Be careful not to depend too much on senior year testing opportunities. Ideally, you will have already reached your goals before then so you can avoid stressing out over simultaneous deadlines for college applications and standardized testing. Especially if you're applying Early Decision or Early Action, you should do your best to get all your tests out of the way before senior year rolls around. If you're planning on taking one of these tests as a senior, the summer before junior year is critical study time. By now, you should know approximately how many hours you need to devote to studying and have made adjustments that account for your personal study habits and time constraints.Spread out your time in the 4-6 months before senior year begins so you can make the most of your last few testing opportunities! Hear that? It's the sound of your rocket to success leaving the launchpad. To Sum It All Up... Sophomore Year Take the PSAT and/or SAT and ACT practice tests Get an idea of how much you need to improve based on target scores Make a study plan for your goals starting in sophomore spring and going through the summer before junior year Junior Year Take the real SAT or ACT in the fall Reevaluate your studying strategies based on your performance and see if you need to make changes Continue a light study schedule throughout junior year Take the test again in the spring Keeping in mind everything you’ve learned, make a final study plan for the summer before senior year What's Next? Plan out your schedule with the help of our full review of the 2016-2017SAT Test Dates. Still not sure whether you should take the SAT or the ACT? Learn about the pros and cons of each test. Or, are you wondering whether or not to retake one of the tests? This guide will help you decide if it's a good idea. Also see our complete study plans for the SAT and ACT for more tips on how to be prepared! Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Sunday, February 16, 2020

Americal Labor Issues (as it relates to unionized labor) Essay

Americal Labor Issues (as it relates to unionized labor) - Essay Example It will also emphasize on the fact that this influence is often felt in a radical sense in many working environments. The paper will give the function of unions and how unions are lawfully the employee's only representatives, which represent both union and non-union members. The only method an employee has for manipulating important decisions such as strike votes, contract approval, or strategies of negotiation is to join the union. As a result employees have to join so that they can be represented in the negotiations of union regarding wages and working conditions (Tait 2005). It will portray how for a lot of American employees, union membership may be their only choice as union members have authority over non union members when it comes to working conditions as well as wages. In the analysis section of the paper in order to portray the authority union members have over non union members a few cases, of union's mishandlings of workplace affairs that have hurt non-union workers will be given .

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Distance Learning - Possibility and Challenge Essay

Distance Learning - Possibility and Challenge - Essay Example In distance learning, dissemination of learning materials occurs through audio and video streaming. Experts have established that distance depicts the impact of technology in the education system. Just as there are virtual societies formedan online technology has enabled the formation of virtual institutions where students in different parts of the globe can receive real time instruction through compressed video. This mode learning has become very common in different institutions including Simon Fraser University. This paper will address the possibilities and challenges of distance learning. Possibilities Distance learning has emerged as one of the latest mode of learning that presents multiple possibilities. One of the possibilities is that technology can form the link between the students and the instructor, without the students having to attend classes within the institution. Students can have an opportunity to study within the comfort of their homes. The logistics of having to mo ve to school can prove to be a real struggle for the students (Rogers, 2009). However, distance learning saves the students the struggle of attending a specified venue at a specific time. Technology enables the students to access reading material in a virtual classroom environment. Without the necessity of attending classes, distance presents students with a high level of flexibility. Convenience is one of the outstanding aspects of this mode of learning. Learners who rely on this mode of learning have the assurance that they can engage in all the learning activities defined for a certain course in an institution in a different part of the globe. Institutionsenrol students from all the regions of the globe, granting the opportunity to access higher education, but saving the funds required for relocation go a foreign country. Foreign students face multiple challenges as they strive to adopt new learning environments (Rogers, 2009). Students usually need to adapt to a diverse learning environment, but distance learners save themselves from such a hassle. It is possible for students to obtain certifications from the institutions of their choice regardless of the location. Moreover, adopting distance learning helps a learner undergo a transformation to an autonomous learner. Contrary to the class setting, where the instructor offers motivation and reproaches to students depending on their progress, the distance learner is all by himself and knows the instructor in a virtual sense (Rogers, 2009). Whereas other learners engage in active interaction with fellow students and the instructor, getting re-energized and motivated to maximize the learning process, the distance learner needs to have a personal learning initiative and drive. The learner should exhibit a high level of autonomy and individuality, striving to remain focused on maximizing the virtual learning experience (Lau, 2003). Self –discipline and effective time management skills are of critical impo rtance in developing autonomy. However, this attribute transforms the learner to people exhibiting interest in the learning process. Autonomous students are likely to learn more. The individual realization that an individual has course activities to complete enhances autonomy. In comparison to the full time courses offered by institutions, online courses are much cheaper, because most of the learning expenses catered for in the cumulative school fees do not apply in distance learning. Since

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Heterogeneous Space In Architecture

Heterogeneous Space In Architecture In Space Reader: Heterogeneous Space in Architecture, Michael Hensel, Christopher Hight and Achim Menges discusses the possible approach of heterogeneous space in contemporary architecture through examining the role of space in Modern and Post-Modern architecture, To understand what constitutes heterogeneous space, let us examine each term. Most simply, heterogeneous means something (an object or system) that consists of a diverse range of items or qualities, which can include differences in kind as well as differences in degree. These could be multiplicities of things, abrupt changes or smooth gradients. However, the dominant approach to such diversities draws from a Platonic lineage that sees all the variations in reference to a model or perhaps a norm; all apparent differences are here really only deviations from the model, their identity given by degrees of resemblance to a single uniformity. All diversity is seen as phenomena measured against this unity, which is seen as more real, even if it only exists as an ideal or statistical mean. This is true for dualism as well. Examples might be the traditional opposition of masculine and feminine, in which the latter is treated as a version of the first, or any number of racisms. Luce Irigaray h as shown that the logic of dualisms involves not two terms but only the semblance of two terms. Phallocentrism is the use of a netural or universal term to define both sexes: within this structure, there is not one term, man, ant another independent term that is denigrated, woman. Rather, there is only one term, the other being defined as what it is not, its other or opposite. Irigarays claim is that woman is erased as such within this logic: there is no space for women because taking their place is the specter or simulacrum of woman, mans fanciful counterpart, that which he has expelled and other from himself. Gilles Deleuze has called this the Logic of the Same, and while it may appear either benign or despotic, it nevertheless always forecloses the possibility of real difference. Implicit in the pervasiveness of structures of binarization is the refusal to acknowledge the invisibility or negligibility of the subordinated term, its fundamental erasure as an autonomous or contained term. The binary structure not only defines the privileged term as the only term of the pair, but it infinitizes the negative term, rendering it definitionally amorphous, the receptacle of all that is excessive or expelled from the circuit of the privileged term. Yet while attempting to definitively and definitionally anchor terms, while struggling for settled, stabilized power relation, while presenting themselves s immutable and givem dualisms are always in the process of subtle renegotiation and redefinition. They are considerablt more flexible in their scope and history than their logic would indicate, for each term shifts and their values realign, while the binarized structure remains intact. It would be a mistake to assume that these oppositional categories are somehow fixed or immune to reordering and subtle shifts. Therefore, something significant is at stake once one thinks of differences as a positivity rather than simply a variance from uniformity. Here we should distinguish between difference and diversity in the way Deleuze described for philosophical traditions of ontology and epistemology in Difference and Repetition (1968). Difference is not diversity. Diversity is given, but the difference is that by which the given is given. Difference is not a phenomenon but the noumenon closest to phenomenon. .. Every diversity and every change refers to a difference which is its sufficient reason. Everything which happens and everything which appears is correlate with orders of difference: difference of level, temperature, pressure, tension, potential, difference of intensity. Deleuze argues that rather than naturalise the Logic of the Sames presumption of an underlying uniformity, we should accept the diversity of the universe as such and not attempt to reduce it. Once one accepts that diversity is irreducible rather than simply variations on or resemblances to an ideal model of Sameness, the problem becomes not how to account for divergences but how to think through multiplicities and how they happen and are correlated through other differences. Deleuze argues that such differences are Real, not effects of our perception or cultural constructions. Indeed, these differences produce the events, objects, and qualities that produce affective phenomena (such as temperature changes). Everything is produced via events of differentiation, even coherences and order. That is, while heterogeneity was once understood as a divergence from an underlying uniformity of Being that needed explanation, now we need to explain any apparent uniformity and ordering via process es of differentiation. Difference is active production of apparently coherent Beings-as-events. Thus, heterogeneity is a condition where phenomena of coherences across diversities are produced by processes of differentiation and can be understood and apprehended as such. This runs immediately into common ideas of space as homogeneous and passive, ordered only by the imposition of form, movement, activities or boundaries understood as distinct from space itself. In other words, space is seen as the product of formal operations or as a neutral and uniform space for such relations. Such commonplace are incompatible with the immanent heterogeneity of things since space becomes an underlying or overlaying uniformity against which to read diversity. Obviously, the differentials sketched above occur in time but also in space. This field of relations transforms through time and space, indeed is spatially configures through temporal transformations (for example, heated air produced a different spacing of molecules). Heterogeneous space therefore neither pre-exists diversity, nor is it simply the effect of processes of differentiation; rather, it is the immanent field of relations between differentials. It is not static but always flux, and therefore might be more precisely understood as the spacing through which difference manifests and is constituted via other differentials. The nature of heterogeneous space and homogeneous space can be studied by looking at Deleuze and Guattaris discussion of smooth and striated space using chess and game of Go for comparison in A Thousand Plateaus. In chess, the pieces are hierarchically differentiated while the board consists of a simple grid that is almost neutral but polarized between two sides (analogous to battle fronts). The pieces move across the grid, but always with a bias to the two fronts. In occupying the spaces, the pieces change the strategic conditions of the game. However, the strategic space of the game is constructed by moving distinct objects in relation to one another across what remains an essentially homogeneous and static field. In the game of Go, on the other han, the pieces are minimally differentiated (they are only black or white discs). While chess pieces occupy the spaces of the grid as if they were enclosed territories, in Go the discs are located at cross-points of a much larger grid field. Instead of moving, pieces are placed and remain, only being altered when surrounded by pieced of the opposite color. Players do not advance in fronts, but can place discs anywhere to control the board from all sides, attempting to create conditions where the addition of one single piece might create a closed territory around many opposite colors and potentially instantly switch control of the board. Here, the pieces are not so much objects occupying territories within an otherwise homogeneous space as charges within a fluctuating field-space out of which territorial boundaries emerge or are held open across distances. What one manipulates in Go is thus the space of th game itself. While the typological pieces are dominant in chess, using translational dynamics to produce strategic effects, in Go space dominates the notational pieces, whose importance is determined purely by their relation to the space around them and is dynamic, holding the potential for a multiplicity of outcomes at any stage. Chess poses active objects moving through a static space that is basically homogenous. In Go, space itself is in flux and cannot be reduced to a static frame of reference or ordering measure. For Deleuze and Guattari these two games suggest different ways of understanding the relationship between identity, agency and space: chess pieces entertain biunivocal relations with one another, and with the adversarys pieces: their functioning is structural. On the other hand, a Go piece has only a milieu of exteriority, or extrinsic relations with nebulas or constellations as bordering, encircling, shattering. All by itself, a Go piece can destroy an entire constellation synchronically; a chess piece cannot (or can do so diachronically only) Chess pieces are actors whose roles are defined a priori of the temporal spatial relationships, while those of Go are produced through the playing of a game. To extend this analogy, in the heterogeneous space like that of Go, identity and agency is produced via contingent spatial relationship with many similarly informed but also thereby differentiated actors. In chess, on the other hand, identity is given and occupies a given role and space as a sovereign subject in relation to others. The queen is always the most powerful piece; a pebble in Go is critical or not only in relation to the space of the board it participates in constructing. The body politics of chess requires a static space through which to organize itself; the multitude of Go is at once constructed through space and a spatial construct. One plays Go by managing spatial differentials; one plays chess by deploying already defined differences in space. Heterogeneous space can thus be contrasted to an isotonic space through which one moves. Rather than defining difference against a constant measure, or metric, of space as a ground, differentiation is produced via the immanent unfolding of spatial processes. These differentiations could be sudden or gradual, or both at different locations. Moreover, there can exist within the same dimensions a manifold set of such relationships; these sets, or systems, might be intricately entwined or barely connected though they must be calibrated to each other in some way and not simply overlapped. In terms of design, this understanding of heterogeneous space would hold that differentiation of use and complexity of form arise from spatial qualities, and that these qualities are inseparable from its material conditions. This space could produce controlled but varied atmospheric effects as well as different performative capacities that are not determined by programmatic function. Such a space would necessarily be affective in relation to the actors and agencies that traverse it, enfolding subjective perception with its material conditions. Moreover, these spatial affects would not be distince or th result of formal organizations of matter but would be means through which material and programmatic organizations would be configured and manifested. Heterogeneous space in architecture is therefore neither difference produced by form within an overall uniformity (modern space) not a collage of distinct formal elements (Post-Modern space). Instead, the proposition of a heteroheneous sp ac would produce and permit differentiation and discontinuity of both quality and organization across multiple conditions within an overall coherency. In a certain sense, all of Deleuzes works, as Deleuze makes clear in his reading of Foucault, are about the outside, the unthought, the exterior, the surface, the simulacrum, the fold, lines of flight, what resists assimilation, what remains foreign even within a presumed identity, whether this is the intrusion of a minor language into a majoritarian one of the pack submerged within an individual. It is significant that Deleuze, like Derrida, does not attempt to abandon binarized thought or to replace it with an alternative; rather, binarized categories are played off each other, are rendered molecular, global, and are analysed in their molar particularities, so that the possibilities of their reconnections, their realignment in different system, are established. (desire) Can architecture inhabit us as much as we see ourselves inhabiting it? Does architecture have to be seen in terms of subjectivization and semiotization, in terms of use and meaning? Can architecture be thought, no longer as a whole, a complex unity, but as a set of and site for becomings of all knids? What would such an understanding entail? In short, can architecture be thought, in connection with other series, as assemblage? What would this entail? What are the implications of opening up architectural discourses to Deleuzian desire-as-production? Can is become something -many things other than what it is and how it presently functions? If its present function is an effect of the crystallization of its history within, inside, its present, can its future be something else? How can each be used by the other, not just to affirm itself and receive external approval but also to question and thus to expand itself, to become otherwise, without assuming any provolege or primacy of the one over the other and without assuming that the relation between them must be one of direct utility or translation? Architecture has tended to conceive of itself as an art, a science, or a mechanics for the manipulation of space, indeed probably the largest, most systematic and most powerful mode for spatial organization and modification. Deleuze claims that Bergson is one of the great thinkers of becoming, of duration, multiplicity, and virtuality. Bergson developed his notion of duration in opposition to his understanding of space and spatiality. This understanding of duration and the unhinging of temporality that it performs are of at least indirect relevance to the arts or sciences of space, which may, through a logic of invention, derail and transforms space and spatiality in analogous ways. Space is understood, according to Deleuze, as a multiplicity that brings together the key characteristics of externality, simultaneity, contiguity or juxtaposition, difference of degree, and quantitative differentiations. Space is mired in misconceptions and assumptions, habits and unreflective gestures that convert and transform it. Architecture, the art or science of spatial manipulation, must be as implicated in this as any other discipline or practice. According to Bergson, a certain habit of thought inverts the relations between space and objects, space and extension, to make it seem as if space precedes objects, when in fact space itself is produced through matter, extension, and movement: Concrete extensity, that is to say, the diversity of sensiblequalities, is not within space; rather it is space that we thrust into extensity. Space is not a ground on which real motion is posited; rather it is real motion that deposits space beneath itself. But our imagination, which is preoccupied above all by the convenience of expression and the exigencies of material life, prefers to invert the natural order of the termsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Therfore, it comes to see movement as only a variation of distance, space being thus supposed to precede motion. Then, in a space which is homogeneous and infinitely divisible, we draw, in imagination, a trajectory and fix positions: afterwards, applying the movement to the trajectory, we see it divisible like the line we have drawn, and equally denuded of quality. Space in itself, space outside these ruses of the imagination, is not static, fixed, infinitely expandable, infinitely divisible, concrete, extended, continuous, and homogeneous, though perhaps we must think it in these terms in order to continue our everyday lives. Space, like time, is emergence and eruption, oriented not to the ordered, the controlled, the static, but to the event, to movement or action. If we shut up motion in space, as Bergson suggests, then we shut space up in quantification, without ever being able to think space in terms of quality, of difference and discontinuity. Space, ineffect, is matter or extension, but the schema of matter, that is, the representation of the limit where the movement of expansion would come to an end as the external envelope of all possible extensions. In this sense, it is not matter, it is not extensity, that is in space, but the very opposite. And if we think that matter has a thousand ways of becoming expanded or extended, we must also say that there are all kinds of distinct extensities, all related, but still qualified, and which will finish by intermingling only in our own schema of space. It is not an existing, God-given space, the Cartesian space of numerical division, but an unfolding space, defined, as time is, by the arc of movement and thus a space open to becoming, by which I mean becoming other than itself, other than what it has been. It is to refuse to conceptualise space as a medium, as a container, a passive receptacle whose form is given by its content, and instead to see it as a moment of becoming, of opening up and proliferation, a passage from one space to another, a space of change, which changes with time.

Friday, January 17, 2020

Children of Men Film

Children Of Men. â€Å"Children of Men† Directed by Alfonso Cuaron. Is set in the year 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, Theo Faron a former activist, agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman, Named Kee, to a sanctuary located out at sea, where her child’s birth could help scientists save mankind. In the film Children of Men, there are many crucial scenes to help convey the idea of the film, however I find one of these scenes particularly important; namely the apartment scene.In this scene Theo is being driven through the streets of London to the Ark Of Arts to visit his cousin Nigel. The director uses a number of techniques to help portray the themes and ideas, such as music, setting, lighting and mise-en-scene. During the apartment scene, the song â€Å"The Court Of the Crimson King† by King Crimson is playing in the background; The lyrics in this song help portray the idea of mankind’s demise. Crimson is the colour ascribed to someone who is furious, for example how God must feel toward mankind for its sins. But the wise never refer to God directly, for it seems nutty and conjectured.Instead they refer to God’s ordained agents, in this age personified as crimson-seated monarch. All the diabolical-sounding protests at the beginning of the sequence is bone-chilling with detail of various biblical verses predicting the end of the world. It implies that infertility is God’s punishment for man’s sins as humanity approaches the grand finale. I. e. the final coming to a head culmination of the human saga. Also during this scene the lighting plays a significant role in creating the mood which the audience feel. It directs the viewer to what the character is feeling, drawing the viewer into the film.The scene starts with Theo being driven though the busy and crowded streets of London, full of cars, people and protesters. The weather throughout the first part of the scene is quite cloudy emphasising the dim mood in the scene. It is quite dark and gloomy, this helps portray the connection to the depression throughout the country due to the infertility. The images and lighting are similar to images that record the suffering of people during the depression of the 1930s. However, inside the park the weather starts to brighten making everything look lush and vibrant.It seems absurd to see such a strong contrast after passing through the imperial gates. This brings to mind the saying â€Å"The grass is always greener on the other side† This helps to show how the members of the public see this part of London as a desired thing and that everything is better, but this saying usually ends up being false; these people still live in the same world, it is all an illusion, Further on in the scene Theo says to his cousin Nigel, â€Å"A hundred years from now, there won’t be one single sad f**k to look at any of this (meaning his apartment).What keeps y ou going? † To which Nigel replies â€Å"You know what it is, Theo? I just don’t think about it†. He is just ignoring the inevitable. Mise-en-scene creates a shocking impact as the viewer draws on their prior knowledge to make connections to the symbols revealed in this sequence. As Theo crosses the bridge to the Ark of Arts, above the Battersea power station, you can see a floating pig, reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s album cover for â€Å"Animals†.As Theo enters the court in the background, you can see a painting of two policemen kissing which is quite a famous piece by the street artist Banksy. After Theo enters the apartment he is greeted by his cousin Nigel. Behind him is the Statue Of David and two dogs in front of it. The Statue of David represents civil rights and the two dogs represent guards or loyalty, But with the dogs in front of The Statue Of David, This represents, Guarding the people, Or keeping the people from their rights.The scene the n cuts to Theo, Nigel and his handicapped son sitting at a dinner table and behind Theo on the wall is a large painting by world famous Pablo Piccaso, The painting is called â€Å"Guernica† it was created in response to the bombing of Guernica, Basque country, by German and Italian war planes. Guernica shows the tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon individuals, particularly innocent civilians. This work has gained a monumental status, becoming a perpetrated reminder of the tragedies of war, an anti-war symbol and an embodiment of peace.The presences of Banksy, Michelangelo and Picasso artwork help portray the thoughts of society, as these entire artist stands for, peace, civil rights and anti-establishmentarianism. Near the end of this scene Theo and Nigel are talking by the window and behind them you can see again the floating pig. Having this floating pig is very symbolic using another saying â€Å"pigs will fly†. This presumably will never happen, a m etaphor for being impossible like making plans to touch the sun at night, but having an actual floating pig represents how ‘Pigs Will Fly’ and hope is not lost when it comes to the infertility of mankind.Using the four techniques, Music, Setting, Lighting and Mise-en-scene, the director has successfully brought the viewers into the movie to experience it as he intended us to, which is to challenge our beliefs of how our world functions. Even just in this one scene there is so much to understand other than just watching the film, but the ideas of the story hidden in plain sight challenging the viewer to read further into the movie and the issues it highlights. Written by Matthew Puterangi.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Essay about Individual Freedom in Melvilles Bartleby,...

Individual Freedom in Melvilles Bartleby, the Scrivener What motivates you to go to work everyday? What motivates you to dress the way you do? What motivates you to be reasonable when it comes to normal requests? Ah, the ultimate question in need of an answer: Who determines what is reasonable and normal, and should we not determine these matters for ourselves? Chaos would result, you say, if every individual were granted that freedom. Yet, we all do have that freedom, and Herman Melville (1819-1891) through the interpretation of a man who prefers to follow his own path in Bartleby, the Scrivener, subjectively conveys the mental anguish he experienced as a writer and man when the literary world attempted to steal that freedom.†¦show more content†¦To force himself to live by the standards of normalcy set forth by society would be to kill the man who lived within. Bartleby did choose physical death over conformity at the end of the story. Melville chose a different path than Bartleby, not a physical death, but a death all the same . Through Bartleby, Melville describes the deadness he feels within when having to conform his writings to the reasonable standards and common usage of literature. For Melville, the doorway that would lead to acceptance in the literary world was barred shut to his entry, the hinge held firmly in place by his own creativity, sparred by his own internal sense of reason. To walk across the threshold would require the loosening of the hinge. With the axis of his soul sliding downward, Melville stepped through the doorway. Melville quickly realized it was the doorway to hell. He had stepped into a world of mental torment; mental torment that even the good Reverend Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) whose sermons of fiery damnation could not measure up to (503). He had sold into slavery his mind and soul to the bidders of the celebrated literary world. Melvilles gains were minimal when weighed against his losses. He shared with Nathaniel Hawthorne his inner turmoil, What I feel most moved to write , that is banned, - it will not pay. Yet, altogether, write the other way I cannot.Show MoreRelatedBartleby, the Scrivener the Lady with the Dog Essay1399 Words   |  6 Pagesand social norms. Anna and Gurov in ‘The Lady with the Dog’ are restrained by the socially expected conventions in their marriages, inhibiting their ability to express their inner compulsion of desire. Chekov reveals their yearning to escape their individual lives as they cope with personal troubles by distancing themselves from marriage through a sexual relationship with each other. 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Modern life has provocations that surround us as we rely heavily on them to inform us how to place and categorize individuals in the world. The characters in Herman Melville’s short stories, through their dialogue, direct characterization, and physical appearances, forces us to use human perception to understand them and to slowly unfold the truth about them. Perception is the act of employing