Abstract This paper reviews "The Great Elector" by Derek McKay. The book, which is about Frederick William of Brandenburg, whose position as an elector gave him the power to vote for or against the Holy Roman Emperor, is reviewed in terms of how McKay treats the question of ethical leadership, the issues raised in the book, and in terms of McKay's underlying assumption about what it takes to be a successful leader. The paper also looks at the implications the book has concerning the rise of Nazism.
From the Paper "It is difficult to evaluate history or historical figures without bias and in terms of historical setting. However, this is exactly what Derek McKay attempts in his book, The Great Elector about Frederick William of Brandenburg. McKay's purpose is to provide a biography based on the circumstances of the time as well as what is known about the man without judgment concerning his effect on history. This is a difficult task, especially for a person whose epithet, "the Great Elector" contains an inherent judgment and presumptive bias, albeit the epithet was given to him by contemporaries."
Tags: hohenzollern, holdings, thirty, years, war, absolutism, calvinism, protestantism, realpolitik, nationalism
Abstract This paper discusses 2002 Nobel Prize for Literature winner, Derek Walcott's flagship verse, "Omeros". It looks at how "Omeros" takes on the format and traditional goals of the epic genre as discussed in its definitions throughout history. It also shows how Walcott's redefinition of the bardic tradition, as found in Homer, redefines the epic as a form of literature. It looks at how he pays homage to this long past tradition of verse in setting his characters from the "Iliad," formatting borrowed from Dante, all contrasted against the modern struggle for a non-colonial Caribbean identity. It also shows how his innovative poetic style leads to the re-framing of his native St. Lucian history and consequent reclaiming of his people and their historical heritage through "Omeros".
From the Paper "Derek Walcott's serves as a cultural shaman of the West Indies through his epic narrative Omeros, shedding light to dispel the shackling cobwebs of both the historical and literary past to grant St. Lucia the ability to cast her own shadow. Walcott truly expands the scope of literature as he redefines not only the cultural nation-space of the post-colonial Caribbean, but also hybridizes the epic genre as one yet able to encapsulate a people. His authorial ambition in providing voice to the atrocities of the past is only surmounted by his own ambition to serve as a comprehensive cultural bard in both taking back and redefining St. Lucian history, and revamping the epic form of literature."
This paper reviews Derek Gregory's book "The Colonial Present: Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq", which examines the war on terror based on the history of U.S. and British involvement in the region going back decades.
Abstract This paper explains that Derek Gregory, in "The Colonial Present", spends much of the book describing the actions of Britain and the U.S. in trying to impose control over the peoples of the region. The author points out that former colonial regions of the world are virtually all encumbered today by tensions and state failures because of the condition these regions were left in when the colonial powers withdrew. The paper states that the Middle East, which has been of strategic importance to both countries for some time, often served as a staging ground for conflicts with the Soviet Union; however, the way the West has related to the Middle East has changed since 9-11. The author criticizes that Gregory, a geographer, does not delve deeply into the internal divisions now causing the factional war in Iraq.
From the Paper "Many of the states in the Middle East are marked by repressive policies, violations of human rights, and non-democratic cultures. The irony is that most of these regimes were set up or propped up by Britain, France, and the United States in decades past, a fact which Gregory says means that the U.S. and the other nations area not innocent, which also helps explain the anger now directed at the West by the Arab world. Gregory notes how many people are asking questions about the guilt of the West and the response of the Middle East, and he says he does not intend to decide which view is correct but only to note the dichotomy they produce."
Abstract This paper summarizes the ideas of Derek Parfit in the field of personal identity and then expresses the criticisms of Derek Parfit by Marta Schechtam that she includes in her well-known book, "The Constitution of Selves".
From the Paper "Parfit describes the reductionist view of the personal identity theory as, ?"the truth about people must consist in the truth of facts about bodies, and about various interrelated mental and physical events such as thoughts, memory, experiences"? (Chalmers, 658) Thus, according to a reductionist, persons are nothing over and above the existence of certain mental and/or physical states and their various relations. Parfit illustrates his reductionist view of persons with the famous "club" example: Just as we are not apt to think that a social club has any ontological status over and above the existence of its members and their relation to one another, so too Parfit claims that we should not take persons to exist apart from the various physical and psychological events that characterize them. (Schechtman, 37) Given this, Parfit believes that facts about personal identity just consist in more particular facts concerning psychological continuity and/or connectedness, and thus personal identity can be reduced to this continuity and/or connectedness. As noted earlier, for Parfit, what it means to be a reductionist about persons is to hold that persons are constructs of appropriately related person time-stages. All that is required for a person at time t2 to be the same person as a person at t1 on a reductionist psychological continuity theory, then, is for person at t2 to be psychologically continuous with the person at time t1. This is what Parfit terms the Psychological Criterion for personal identity."
Abstract Literature has provided opportunities for readers to have a glimpse of different social realities experienced by people of different cultures and societies all over the world. This opportunity has been extended once again through Derek Walcott's play, "Pantomime." The paper explains that in this satirical play, readers are introduced to the characters of Harry Trewe and Jackson Phillip, master-and-slave tandem of the Castaways Guest House in Tobago, West Indies. It shows how the play is set in a different place and how Walcott confronts the continuous discussion and depiction of the oppression of the black man (Jackson) and the seemingly superior position of the white man (Harry).
From the Paper "Unlike other depictions of the black man-white man antagonistic relationship, "Pantomime" brought into fore two scenarios within the play: the first act delved into the oppression of Jackson, while the second act focused on the reversal of roles between Jackson and Harry, where Jackson was able to empower and assert himself over Harry. This change became apparent through Walcott's use of language: the change in tone, manner, and message of Jackson's lines marked the transition or change within his personality. Where once he had been a faithful and patient servant to Harry, he had eventually 'metamorphosed' into a powerful individual, and his commanding use of his own vernacular speech signified the control that he has throughout the play. Thus, this paper discusses two phases in which vernacular language was used through Jackson's character as a medium of oppression and power and control."
An examination of colliding cultures in "Master Harold... and the Boys" by Athol Fugard, "Dream on Monkey Mountain" by Derek Walcott, and "No Sugar" by Jack Davis.
Abstract This paper explores the concept of colliding cultures and competing ideologies as well as the related theme of identity in the three plays; "Master Harold... and the Boys" by Athol Fugard, "Dream on Monkey Mountain" by Derek Walcott, and "No Sugar" by Jack Davis. The paper also analyzes the strategies used in the plays such as symbolism, irony, and contrast in their elucidation of colliding cultures. The paper explains that contrast in use of language serves a significant purpose in relation to evolving identity for the oppressed. The paper also notes that colliding cultures can be reduced to the values of white dominant culture in opposition to the other - whether they happen to be black, aboriginal people, or some minority ethnic group. In conclusion, the paper shows that because all the other variables such as identity never are static, the concept of collision is also fluid and appears where it would be least expected.
From the Paper "Davis' No Sugar is similar to Fugard's play in how it demonstrates the immediacy and perennial nature of colonialism. Mitchell (18-20) expresses this reality by stating that "the rhetoric of postcolonialism assumes that anti-colonialism has either overthrown imperialism or exhausted itself in the attempt". The fact is such a goal has not nearly been achieved; we continue to live in a colonial world. Walcott demonstrates class struggle and collision in his play through the ability of his Odysseus who is able to undermine the totalitarian power of the Cyclops (Giannopoulou 13)."
Tags: symbolism, irony, mimeticism, reactionary, nativism, drama
Abstract This paper is a commentary on the Derek Jarman's film, "Caravaggio", emphasizing the model-artist relationship in the movie and the artistic expression with which Jarman displays Michele Caravaggio himself.
From the paper:
"Jarman's Caravaggio is a rare commentary on the life of Michele Caravaggio, one ravished by misfortune and sorrow but nonetheless embraced and exalted today as a crucial moment in the defining of art. This film not only promotes the efforts and exploits of Caravaggio, but also delves into the realm of the artist as a human, not merely the means through which art is accomplished. Jarman takes special effort to integrate the relation of Caravaggio to his peers and friends while smoothly throwing artistic practice into the mix with a natural fluidity that almost necessitates the replacement of the word "practice" with ?being'."
Tags: caravaggio, jarman, artist, art, artistic, model
Abstract This paper discusses the problems of ethnocentricity and cultural baggage in anthropology using the huge difference in Mead and Freeman's research on adolescence in Samoa as an example.
From the Paper "One of the cornerstones of anthropological thinking is the idea that in studying a society it is important not to judge it by our own standards but to try to understand it from its members? cultural viewpoint. By avoiding ethnocentricity we see the irrelevance of comparing or, even worse, ranking societies by how "westernised" they are (for example GNP, cars per capita, literacy rates etc). However, even if we can get past the "we are right, they are wrong" view of other societies, it is impossible to completely put aside our own cultural upbringing and preconceptions. Geertz (1988) states that, however much one tries, it is impossible for an anthropologist's writing to escape the influence of his/her social and educational background. This "cultural baggage" may not be obvious to an audience with a similar background but as the author's own society changes it becomes more obvious. Evans-Pritchard, in his work with the Azande, was one of the first anthropologists to make a deliberate effort to understand the validity of his subjects? beliefs and practices from their cultural viewpoint but to a modern reader his colonial era attitudes and prejudices are clear. Even something as fundamental as language forms part of our cultural baggage."
Abstract This paper uses Derek Walcott's "Dream on Monkey Mountain" and Athol Fugard's "Blood Knot" to discuss how the mulatto figures in post colonial discourse. It examines the tragic figure of the post colonial mulatto who is caught between black and white, without knowing which race he belongs to. The paper shows how both playwrights reflect their opinions and perspectives of mulattos in their plays.
From the Paper "In colonial discourse race is a mask for class, and class is a mask for being. Since the mulatto doesn?t know which race he belongs to, he cannot know his true being. For Walcott, in his Overture, the struggle of the mulatto is the "wrestling contradiction of being white in mind and black in body, as if the flesh were a coal from which the spirit like tormented smoke writhed to escape"(Walcott, 12). Walcott explores the problems of this opposing binary through his character of Corporal Lestrade, in Dream on Monkey Mountain. Athol Fugard takes this examination of the mulatto psyche even further through his character of Morris in Blood Knot."
An analysis of the movie "Blow", focusing on a look at the main character of the movie and his actions, through Merton's strain theory and Gotredson's and Hirschi's self-control theory.
2,625 words (approx. 10.5 pages), 5 sources, 2001, $ 79.95
Abstract This paper reviews the movie "Blow" and applies the storyline of the movie to Robert Merton's strain theory, incorporates it with Gotredson's and Hirschi's self-control theory, and evaluates the strain theory using Aker's criteria. The paper outlines the true story that the movie is based on and discusses the "American dream" and the failure of some to attain it in legal ways.
From the Paper "Blow is based on a true story about a man who gets involved with drug trafficking (Reynolds & Demme, 2001). When George Jung was a young boy he sees his parents fighting over money troubles. His dad had to file for bankruptcy and he decides that he will never struggle; he is going to be rich. After he graduates him and his friend Tuna move to California. In California he realized a whole different world, a world of beaches and drugs. To make money his girlfriend Barbara introduces him to Derek to purchase marihuana to sell. After a month of selling marihuana him and Tuna have made a lot of money. Dooley, an old friend from high school meets up with him and offers to help expand his business."
From the Paper "The purpose of this research is to examine Derek Walcott's Omeros as an example of minor literature as described by Deleuze and Guattari. The plan of the research will be to set forth the general line of argument regarding minor-literature critique advanced by Deleuze and Guattari and then to discuss ways in which the pattern of ideas in Omeros as well as the means by which these ideas are communicated illustrates the minor-literature thesis and advances its meaning and standing as a method of literary criticism.
Although their argument is dense and complex, the main thrust of explanation of a minor literature by Deleuze and Guattari is that its creators are members of marginalized populations in a culture whose mainstream social and literary attributes are interpreted as a locus of power that becomes the ..."
From the Paper "In the summer of 1991, a controversial book entitled Final Exit appeared in bookstores across the country. According to its cover, this book, written by Derek Humphry, deals with "the practicalities of self-deliverance and assisted suicide" for the terminally ill. A review in Time magazine more bluntly called it "a manual for committing suicide or helping someone else to do so" (Henry, 1991, p. 55). The text of Final Exit includes advice for killing one's self as painlessly and effectively as possible. Because of the book's content, many people were shocked by its publication. Some people argued that the information contained in the book could be abused if it fell into the wrong hands. For example, Burke Balch of the National Right to Life Committee urged booksellers to boycott the book by claiming: "We would call upon those in a position to foster dissemination of this loaded ..."
Abstract This paper analyzes the problem of racism in the American social environment, by discussing the movie, "American History X". The paper provides a focus on the issues of the Skinhead movement, whiteness and white supremacy and hatred against other races, thereby explaining what the movie is trying to convey and how and why racism still exists in modern societies. The history of racism and white supremacy is outlined in the paper.
Introduction
History of Racism
Skinhead Movement
Whiteness
Analysis and Conclusion
References
From the Paper "Racism is one of the most pervasive and pressing social problems encountered by the American society. The fact that we have failed to resolve the problem completely, says volumes about our distorted perceptions and our lack of understanding and tolerance. The director of 1998 movie "American History X", Tony Kaye, has effectively projected these issues. The movie is not only about two young men avenging the death of their father and becoming skinheads in the process, it is actually about the American society in general. The movie skillfully captures the forces of hatred and intolerance, which still reign supreme in our country. And the way these negative elements have managed to distort our views about other races has also been presented in the film."
Abstract The research paper analyzes the contents, theme and identifies the purpose and the history behind a good few plays by the African-American playwright Derek Walcott and six more plays by other playwrights including Luis F., Gonzalez Cruz, Ann Waggoner Aken, Teresa Cajiao Salas and Margarita Vargas. The paper also brings out the similarities between the plays selected for discussion and the modern world drama.
Abstract This paper compares Margaret Mead's findings about life on Samoa with her critics. The author points out that later critics found discrepancies in her work. The paper discusses the critique by Derek Freeman.
From the Paper "Margaret Mead was a cultural anthropologist who lived on Samoa among the Polynesian people for nine months and studied their behavior particularly that of adolescent girls. Mead reported that, at dawn on Samoa, the people arise, fires are lit, fishermen plan to set traps and young men head off to work on the plantations. Women take their laundry to the sea and older girls go fishing off the reef .Carpenters work on new houses and the families who will cook that day prepare the ..."
