Abstract
The Renaissance is often said to have begun in 1401, when a competition was held for the commission of a set of bronze panels for the doors of the baptistery of the cathedral of Florence. Lorenzo Ghiberti's winning entry, and his realization of two projects over the course of fifty years at the cathedral are emblematic of the shift in style that marks the early Renaissance. The essay examines this transition from late Gothic to early Renaissance style, including new attention to anatomy and the turn to Classical Antiquity for subject matter. It offers detailed analysis of the content and form of Ghiberti's bronzes on the North Doors as well as his second project on the Paradise Doors.

From the Paper
"In 1398, the Florentine conflict with the Visconti ended in a truce, and the bourgeoisie oligarchy, led by the Calimala guild, was eager to give expression to its democratic ideology. The now-famous competition for the Baptistery doors was announced in 1401, eventually short-listing seven candidates including Jacopo della Quercia, Francesco di Valdambrino, Nicolo Lamberti, Brunelleschi, and Ghiberti, though only the entries of the last two survive. These reliefs vary little stylistically, but Ghiberti's entry displays more fluid and effective organization of the stipulated figures compared to Brunelleschi's cluttered composition. Perhaps more importantly, Ghiberti stands out as having a greater gift for narrative and psychological penetration. He has his extremely foreshortened angel flying into the scene from the background, just in time to stop the sacrifice. Abraham's raised arm and stern gaze manage to suggest both his determination and sorrow, while Isaac recoils from the knife and suddenly looks up to see the angel."

Tags:Donatello Renaissance sculpture, bronze doors, Florence Cathedral

Abstract
Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455) was a many-sided Renaissance figure; he was a bronze-caster, sculptor, goldsmith, draughtsman, architect, writer, and historian. Among his most celebrated surviving works are the bronze doors he created for the Baptistery of the Cathedral in Florence. This discusses the circumstances in which Ghiberti secured and completed the commission to design the north doors of the Baptistery (1400-24) and analyzes their composition and character. Ghiberti's work in Florence is then compared to that of Gianlorenzo Bernini at the Baroque church of Santa Andrea al Quirinale, Rome (1658-70).

From the Paper
"In late 1400 the officials of the Cloth-Dealers and Refiners' Guild of Florence (the Arte di Calimara) announced a competition to design a set of doors for the Baptistery of the Cathedral. The Baptistery is a very old structure, the primary elements of which probably date to the seventh and eight centuries AD. The exterior covering of marble was constructed in the twelfth century and stood as an exemplar of architectural elegance and harmony. The Baptistery, which is a free-standing octagonal building located in the Piazza San Giovanni at the western end of the Cathedral, has three doors opening to the north, south and east. In the 1330s Andrea Pisano had completed a set of bronze doors for the southern entrance, and the Guild sought to complete the project by fitting similar doors, in bronze and decorated with reliefs, to the other two entrances."

Tags:lorenzo, ghiberti, gianlorenzo, bernini

Abstract
Determinism is an integral theme in director Peter Howitt's movie, "Sliding Doors". This paper explains how, in the movie, a small, seemingly insignificant act makes profound changes in the life of the lead character, Helen. Nonetheless, as the movie progresses, it becomes clear that some fundamental aspects of Helen's life, which are told in parallel stories, remain the same, suggesting some role for determinism.

From the Paper
"The movie, Sliding Doors, tackles the problem of determinism vs. free will head on. Sliding Doors examines two potential parallel life courses for a young British woman, Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow). Helen is fired from her PR job, and goes home in the middle of the day on an underground train. In one timeline, Helen catches the train, and finds her lover, Gerry (played by John Lynch) in bed with Lydia (Jeanne Tripplehorn). She leaves the apartment, goes to a pub, where she runs into James (John Hannah), a young man she had spoken to on the train on the way home. Helen makes some major changes in her life and career, and begins to fall in love with James."

Tags:free, will, fate

Abstract
This eleven-page undergraduate paper compares and contrasts the Gerard Manley Hopkins poem "The Lantern out of Doors" with the Thomas Hardy poem, "After the Journey." The author analyzes the poems in detail and discusses the style and theme of them both.

Tags:hardy, and, hopkins

Abstract
This essay will argue, through a comparison of the above two recordings, that definitions of essential racial identity with respect to music often serve to perpetuate the same stereotypes that the proponents of this theoretical perspective struggle against. In this analysis, it will be argued that The Doors are "more Black" - according to some models of the "essence of Black music" - than Howlin' Wolf in their treatment of this song. A particular focus of comparison will be on how the lyrics of The Doors cover of the song emphasizes the sexual aspects of the song as a "performance" of masculinity, while ignoring the socio-political elements of the original Howlin' Wolf version.

Abstract
The paper provides research that supports the thesis that federal courthouse doors should remain closed to those on death row, to ensure finality is reached on all issues unlikely to succeed in the courthouse. The paper discusses how if criminal offenders have access to adequate counsel during their preliminary hearings, there is no reason to assume they require additional petitions at the federal or the state level.

From the Paper
"In the U.S. the issue of equality before the law has always been one of primary importance. This is evidenced by the fact that all citizens, even those accused of federal crimes warranting death penalty, have an opportunity to appeal with new information (Snyder, 1998). All criminals regardless of their crimes however, are provided equal opportunity and access to counsel and legal advisors, even if court appointed. There are those however, that argue federalism concerns arise under "equal protection rationale" (Snyder, 1998:2211). Under this theory, legal researchers note that forcing state representatives to provide counsel and additional appeals may decrease the federal governments "intrusion on state power" (Snyder, 1998:2211). This suggests death row inmates who have additional counsel at the state level will "have fewer habeas petitions" as those petitioning will have significant time and support to substantiate and pursue any claims they have about their case (Snyder, 1998:2212)."

Tags:preliminary, hearings, counsel, sentencing, finality

Abstract
This paper takes a close look at two major scenes in William Faulkner's "Absalom, Absalom!" in which white bodies are denied entrance by black bodies. The paper looks at how this affects the characters' understanding of their racial identity and examines how these images of doorways and thresholds relate to the murder of Charles Bon.

From the Paper
"In his article, ?Behind Closed Doors: The Unknowable and Unknowing in Absalom, Absalom!,? Herberden Ryan states, "the most crucial moments of the story involve the crossing of some thresholds, and the threshold between narrated events (past) and the narration of them (present) is perhaps the most basic" (295). In particular, Ryan examines two key door scenes, the young Thomas Sutpen's attempt to enter the slave-owner's front door in Tidewater, Virginia in 1820; and Rosa Coldfield's attempt to pass Clytie Sutpen at Sutpen's Hundred in 1865. In their own way, both Sutpen and Rosa make it through their doorways, but at a great price, and in many other ways what they find on the other side is not always what they thought they would find. Furthermore, as Ryan argues, the readers of Absalom, Absalom! are often faced with their own doors as some events are hidden or witheld from them by Faulkner as means of narrative technique."

Tags:clytie, coldfield, rosa, sutpen, thomas

Abstract
This paper considers the ways in which Emma of Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" is a tragic feminist figure because she vainly strives to be a man.

From the Paper
"Revolving Doors: Sex, Segregation and Women's Careers
by Jerry A. Jacobs

According to Jacobs, sex segregation in the workplace reflects not only the obstacles women face in male-dominated jobs, but also the aggregate instability in the careers of individual women. Such a view contrasts with attempts to explain gender inequalities in the labor market as resulting strictly from the cumulative effects of socialization processes, on the one hand, or from purely economic forces, on the other. Jacobs attempts to demonstrate the validity of his thesis through examining the consistency of competing job segregation models with the behavior of women in the labor market. Although the forces of social control operate at all levels to limit women's ..."

Abstract
This essay examines whether the US open door policy toward China was consistent and dependable in dealing with the factions during the Chinese civil war in China during 1940-49. The paper analyzes the background and origins of the "open door" policy which date back to the mid 19th century. The paper examines the "open door" policy in light of American isolationism and as the US became a world power following World War II. This policy of limited involvement with China directed US policy until the Chinese Civil War.

From the Paper
" An important, though undeclared, corollary to the policy, however, was that the United States was not willing to risk war to enforce its open door policy and its main foreign policy interest lay in Europe rather than Asia. This resulted in a number of serious setbacks for the policy, particularly during the Sino-Japanese war as well as the Chinese Civil War in which the Nationalists and the Communists were engaged in a bitter civil war for power in the country. Since the US was unwilling to use force, the most it could do was to use diplomacy to enforce the "open door." Such a lukewarm approach in support of a policy could, at best, be only partially successful and when the 'open door' was pointedly ignored by the Japanese during its seizure of Manchuria in 1931 and the subsequent full-fledged Sino-Japanese war in 1937, the US could do little to prevent its violation."

Tags:China, US, foreign, policy, open, door, policy, Chinese, Civil, War