A Midsummer Nights Dream

Introduction William Shakespeare’s  Ã¢â‚¬Å"A Midsummer Night’s Dream† is a comedy of Athenian origin. The entire set up consisting of a captivating atmosphere makes the tale to be a remarkable one. This set up is suitable for romantic adventures as it provides the right atmosphere as well as favorable scenes for love escapades. Nonetheless, Shakespeare’s works are never to be judged from their face value. For instance, in the case of this romantic tale, he hypothesizes a very contemptuous understanding about love.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on A Midsummer Night’s Dream specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The book, â€Å"A Midsummer Night’s Dream† ends up being an interpretation of the secrets of adoration. It further reveals how the lovers are ashamed because of their actions, particularly in the incidences that involve the youthful characters. In this tale, a love r is brought out as an indecisive individual who constantly alters his or her decisions (Shakespeare 34). It also highlights love as a sensation that never lasts forever. Consequently, the tale proposes that love is not a deep and compassionate feeling but rather a harsh sentiment that brings pain to those who get into it. This notion is highlighted throughout the tale and in the long run, the conception of real affection is stained with uncertainty. It is seen as something that can change from its intended course. Generally, love is brought out as a terrifying and harsh sentiment. Oppressive Laws According to the laws set in Athens, a woman is not entitled to posses anything, including her body. However, she was expected to listen, and adhere to whatever their male counterparts directed them to do. With regard to Athenian laws, a father was given the mandate to choose a husband for his daughter. Consequently, a girl was expected to marry the selected man without questioning. In cas e she declined his father’s choice, the consequences were very severe as death was part of it. In this society, a woman could not contribute to anything that affected the society. Furthermore, they could not even decide anything for themselves. Men dominated the society while women were used as objects of love and procreation. Even though the women married the men their father’s chose for them, their situation never improved in any way. The women were hopeless as they could not even make choices that would improve their lives. The lack of voice among the women made their men to be fully in charge of everything, including their lives. Athenian regulations empowered a father to sentence his child to death in case she refused to adhere to whatever he directed her to do. The daughter of Theseus, Herima, declines to marry Demterius, his father’s choice as her groom. As a reaction to her decision, Herima’s father threatens to exterminate her if she did not acce pt his choice. This whole idea is ridiculous since it is out of this world that a father would kill his daughter for refusing to marry a man he had chosen for her (Shakespeare 67). This episode substantiates how these Athenian laws oppressed women in this society.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Women’s Position The women in this tale play ‘second-fiddle’ roles. For instance, Oberon and Titania, King and Queen respectively, were thought to be wielding similar powers. Nonetheless, Oberon manages to accomplish his desires and emerges as the ultimate ruler of the Kingdom. There existed no equal treatment of the sexes in this tale. In addition, women were never given leadership roles. In fact, women were manipulated into marriages. For instance, Puck puts a love concoction in Demetreuis’ as well as Lysander’s eyes in order to compel them to fall in l ove with each other. He does this with full knowledge about Helena’s intentions. Helena loved Demetrious but he did not care about her. Helena puts a lot of effort to make him think about her love for him. She utilizes convincing words and constantly praises him. However, Demetrius is not bothered by this and he persistently drives her away. This is shown in the manner in which he addresses her. He advices her, â€Å"Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit; for I am sick when I do look on thee† (Shakespeare 82). This statement emphasizes on the women’s inability to choose their own husbands. Conclusion From the tale, it is evident that Hermia and Lysander, as a couple, are much better and smarter as compared to the union of Demetrius and Helena as a couple. I believe that Hermia is more conservative and has a conformist character as compared to Helena. This is because Helena is not presented in a similar way as Hermia. At various instances, Helena was totally out of control. This brings out her masculinity character that makes her to stand out from the rest of the women in this tale, particularly Hermia. The author has evidently managed to express the themes of oppression and inequality in this tale. As much as the tale is thought to a comic one, the events that place in this tale are not funny. The manner in which women are treated is not amusing at all. The existing laws were intended to oppress the women and the less fortunate in this tale. Generally, the tale addresses the injustices that existed in this society. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. New York, NY: Norton Company, 2002. Print This essay on A Midsummer Night’s Dream was written and submitted by user Eli Reyes to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Definition and Examples of Surface Structure in Grammar

Definition and Examples of Surface Structure in Grammar In transformational and generative grammar, surface structure is the outward form of a sentence. In contrast to deep structure (an abstract representation of a sentence), surface structure corresponds to the version of a sentence that can be spoken and heard. A modified version of the concept of surface  structure is called  S-structure. In transformational grammar, deep structures are generated by phrase-structure rules, and surface structures are derived from deep structures by a series of transformations. In  The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar  (2014), Aarts et al. point out that, in a looser sense, deep and surface structure are often used as terms in a simple binary opposition, with the deep structure representing  meaning, and the surface structure being the actual sentence we see. The terms  deep structure  and  surface structure  were popularized in the 1960s and 70s by American  linguist  Noam Chomsky. In recent years, notes Geoffrey Finch, the terminology has changed:  Deep and surface structure have become D and S structure, principally because the original terms seemed to imply some sort of qualitative evaluation; deep suggested profound, whilst surface was too close to superficial. Nevertheless, the principles of transformational grammar still remain very much alive in contemporary linguistics (Linguistic Terms and Concepts, 2000). Examples and Observations The surface structure of a sentence is the final stage in the syntactic representation of a sentence, which provides the input to the phonological component of the grammar, and which thus most closely corresponds to the structure of the sentence we articulate and hear. This two-level conception of grammatical structure is still widely held, though it has been much criticized in recent generative studies. An alternative conception is to relate surface structure directly to a semantic level of representation, bypassing deep structure altogether.  The term surface grammar is sometimes used as an informal term for the superficial properties of the sentence.(David Crystal, A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, 6th ed. Wiley, 2011)A deep structure is . . . the underlying form of a sentence, before rules like auxiliary inversion and wh-fronting apply. After all raisings apply, plus relevant morphological and phonological rules (as for forms of do), the result . . . is the linear, con crete, surface structure of sentences, ready to be given phonetic form.(Grover Hudson, Essential Introductory Linguistics. Blackwell, 2000) Surface Structure Cues and StrategiesThe surface structure of the sentence often provides  a number of obvious cues to the underlying syntactic representation. One obvious approach is to use these cues and a number of simple strategies that enable us to compute the syntactic structure. The earliest detailed expositions of this idea were by Bever (1970) and Fodor and Garrett (1967). These researchers detailed a number of parsing strategies that used only syntactic cues. Perhaps the simplest example is that when we see or hear a determiner such as the or a, we know a noun phrase has just started. A second example is based on the observation that although word order is variable in English, and transformations such as passivization can change it, the common structure noun-verb-noun often maps on to what is called the  canonical sentence structure SVO (subject-verb-object). That is, in most sentences we hear or read, the first noun is the subject, and the second one the object.  In fact, if we made use of this strategy we could get a long way in comprehension. We try the simpler strategies first, and if they do not work, we try other ones.(Trevor A. Harley,  The Psychology of Language: From Data to Theory,  4th ed. Psychology Press,  2014) Chomsky on Deep and Surface Structures[T]he generative grammar of a language specifies an infinite set of structural descriptions, each of which contains a deep structure, a surface structure, a phonetic representation, a semantic representation, and other formal structures. The rules relating deep and surface structuresthe so-called grammatical transformationshave been investigated in some detail, and are fairly well understood. The rules that relate surface structures and phonetic representations are also reasonably well understood (though I do not want to imply that the matter is beyond dispute: far from it). It seems that both deep and surface structures enter into the determination of meaning. Deep structure provides the grammatical relations of predication, modification, and so on, that enter into the determination of meaning. On the other hand, it appears that matters of focus and presupposition, topic and comment, the scope of logical elements, and pronominal reference are de termined, in part at least, by surface structure. The rules that relate syntactic structures to representations of meaning are not at all well understood. In fact, the notion of representation of meaning or semantic representation is itself highly controversial. It is not clear at all that it is possible to distinguish sharply between the contribution of grammar to the determination of meaning, and the contribution of so-called pragmatic considerations, questions of fact and belief and context of utterance.(Noam Chomsky, lecture given in January 1969 at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota. Rpt. in Language and Mind, 3rd ed. Cambridge University  Press, 2006)

Film Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Film Analysis - Essay Example The film portrays him as a counterculture individual defining the field of rock and roll of his time. The film’s depiction of Jim Morison goes beyond the iconic traits. He is portrayed as an alcoholic star with interests in the spiritual plane. He indulges in hallucinogenic drugs and has a growing obsession with death. Mise-en-scene The plot of the movie begins with an instance Jim Morison was recording his album, the American Prayer. The scenes quickly shift to years back when Jim Morison was a child. The memory of his family driving along a desert highway crops up. The younger Jim Morison seems like an elderly Native American about to die by the roadside. The movie picks up when Jim Morison arrives in California and he assimilates into Venice Beach culture and joins UCLA to study. He then meets Pamela Couson, his girlfriend. The origin of the Doors begins when Morison meets Ray Manzarek. Later in the film, the audience is introduced to Robby, John Densmore and Krieger. As th e movie progresses, Jim Morison convinces his band mates to take a trip to Death Valley. In the Death Valley, the band experiences the effects of psychedelic drugs. On their return to Los Angeles, the band plays several shows in famous clubs of the time. In particular, their performance at a nightclub Whisky a Go Go earns them a rapid growth of fan base (Stone, 1991). Jim Morison’s occasional improvised lyrics and on-stage antics raise the ire of night club owners. The popularity of the band continues to escalate, nonetheless. The movie does not give viewers the true picture of what made Morrison tick in his age and time. Even though the movie did a lot of staff the right way, the director left out a lot of positive moments in Jim Morrison’s life. Stone concentrated on the ugly moments Jim portrayed miscalculated actions marred with drugs and alcohol. An instant in the plot of the film that does not correspond to the true life of Morrison include the joining of the ban d by Robby Krieger. In the film, the director portrays Morrison as having the full band from the onset. The members included Robby Krieger. In real life, Robby Krieger joined the Door many months after the band began. In addition, Jim asks the bartender for Dos Equis. This was ages before the brand was imported into the United States. The drink was imported into the states for the first time in 1973. While taking a shower with Jim in New Haven, Connecticut, Patricia mentions that Jim attended University of Florida. In real sense, the artist attended Florida State University. Misconception in Characterization Screenplay of the Door is based on real people and events. Even though a number of the episodes explored in the movie are based on the lives of the people, some instances portray the visions of the director and dramatized events. An example of the dramatized events in the movie is the moment Jim is asked to change the lyrics of his famous song, Light my Fire. This special reques t for appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show depicts the artist as a blatant, non yielding individual. The movie depicts the artist as a defiant man, shouting the word â€Å"higher† on TV. In reality, Morrison had shouted the word â€Å"fire† during his lifetime. During his lifetime, Morrison had clarified that the incident was meant to change the lyrics of his song during a live TV performance, but was too nervous to make the change

Death March Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Death March Project - Essay Example However, most commonly seen results of high level risk evaluation are a blend of the risks and constraints (Pearson Higher Education). Some of the common causes of Death March projects are politics, politics, and politics. Though, the majority of software developers and programmers guarantee that they would not intervene in politics, fairly for the reason that they have learned that they are not extremely good at playing political games, however as well for the reason that they believe that all about politics is revolting. Unfortunately, avoiding politics is also not easy for software developers. In fact, the moment two or more people contribute in various joint corporate activities, politics is involved. However, when politics turns out to be the leading â€Å"driving force† in a huge and complicated project, the project is probable to worsen into a death march (Pearson Higher Education; Yourdon, 1997). Basically, the Death March project is one for which the budget, schedule, staff, or property is 50 to 100 % less than what they should be. Here comes a question in our mind, why are these limitations being placed on the same operational and working project? Though, there are numerous potential clarifications for this question; however in many cases, the response is just â€Å"politics.† It can be a controlled struggle between two determined vice presidents or directors in our business, or the project can have been established to fail as a form of payback upon a number of managers who paced on the wrong goes at the incorrect time. Simply, the causes can be infinite (Pearson Higher Education; Yourdon, 1997). In addition, there is only a small possibility that we will get the politicians to confess what is going on; though, if someone is a technical staff associate, it is not difficult to ask our project manager whether the whole Death March project is a political pretense. Despite the fact that if project team members are not involved in politics, a s well as even if they think they are a political novice, they should listen cautiously to the answer of their manager provides to them. Though, they are not stupid, as well as the project is not that inexperienced. If they have a 6th sense that there is a number of ugly politics dominating the whole project, probabilities are that they are right; and if they direct supervisor gives an immature, vague, or carefully unconvincing answer to their queries, they should draw their own endings. It can be considered in another scenario, for instance if our project sounds similar to something straight out of a â€Å"Dilbert† cartoon, probabilities are that it will be the type of Death March project in which no rational person would desire to be concerned (Pearson Higher Education; Yourdon, 2004; RATZBURG, 2010). I have outlined below some of the useful steps that can be taken to make sure that we stay healthy and happy while completing our project: If the development project is very m uch significant, then it is value taking the time to complete it fine. Without doubt project teams want to finish things as rapidly as probable, however implementing an impractical deadline does not make sure that their project gets the notice it justify (Yourdon, 1997; Wright, 2010; Egeland, 2012). In addition, we need to

Apollo 13 Essay Example for Free

Apollo 13 Essay For those not old enough to have lived through it, a story of shooting for a landing on the moon, suffering an explosion on the spacecraft on the way to the moon, not landing on the moon, and then narrowly making it home to Earth is the story of Apollo 13. When facing issues, conflicts, and the attainment of goals, having the resources of a fully functional manager and team are irreplaceable. A manager that has clear goals and strategies in place is more likely to succeed even when faced with the greatest types of adversity. Every employee of NASA should know about the tragic event of Apollo 13. The background of the team began with the completion between the U. S. and Russia and their space exploration programs. What started out as a routine trip to the moon and back soon became one of the biggest crises NASA had ever experienced. From understanding the plight of the spacecraft, to knowing what needed to be done, to creating a CO2 converter out of materials only available on the spacecraft, the flight is a clear lesson on how to manage a team in a crisis. In many projects, it always comes back to a stressful situation, where quick decisions must be made which have a major impact on the achievement of the task at hand. Many managers often ask for advice on how to handle such situations in order to be a good leader and achieve maximum results. In order to be an effective manager and to be able to influence other and exercise high degrees of control, some rules should be followed. I will give a few examples of how Gene Kranz managed to promote teamwork and to achieve the best possible solutions despite unprecedented problems, lack or resources and time pressure. One must remain optimistic and believe in themselves and the team to achieve a set goal. Without personal convictions managers will not be able to motivate the team to developed new solutions, continue to working and foster collaboration. Gene demonstrated principled management and a leadership in demanding the best from his team while respecting their efforts no matter the outcome. One great thing about Gene’s management was that is set a standard of excellence. With statements like â€Å"I don’t care about what anything was meant to do, I care about what it can do. This set in motion self-management by various supporting teams. This shows us important lessons that we can apply to other environments. Make sure to clearly identify roles and responsibilities of each and every team member. Communication is also a key in managing a team effectively. In the movie one of the team members unplugs his TV and takes his phone off the hook which cost everyone value time and inpu t in solving this crisis. Managers should make sure they can get in touch with employees. Create a policy if you must. An over authoritarian style of management with a top down principal is sometimes inappropriate. Managers often give instructions, tasks and fiat without asking the employee for their opinion. In contrast managers with a cooperative democratic style of management involve employees in decision making. Decisions are taken after detailed discussion in working groups. Information should be forwarded to a great extent through all communication channels. Gene Kranz was drawing at the board and listened to his team and their suggestions. And they all discussed the suggestions together. Without this democratic management style of Gene Kranz, the team would not have been as successful. Another issue is to work the problem correctly. Defining the problem is the hardest part of problem solving. As a manager it is important to define and communicate the problems which must be solved. Otherwise, no team will be able to find suitable solutions. Gene Kranz identified all the problems and formed special teams to address them. He made it clear to the teams which objects could be used. Only the objects that were available to the astronauts could be used. He wasted no time in complaining about what objects were not available or missing to solve the problem. He was action oriented and emphasized problem solving. It is also important to be a visible manager or leader. A good manager shoulders responsibility and conveys to all team members that they will work through the problem. Another trait of an effective manager is respect for others. Too often in today’s corporate environment, we don’t respect the judgment of those actually doing the work. Moreover, a crisis is not a time for accusations. The primary objective should be to handle the situation together and make the best of it. Gene Kranz did not ask at any time after the explosion, how such an explosion could have happened. Neither the astronauts nor Mission Control would have benefitted from the discussion of guilt, creative problem solving was much more important. In spite of all the negative talk, Gene told them failure was not an option, and they did not fail. Building trust must be combined with effective communication. Its benefit was evident in the film through the obstacles the team overcame. As a team grows together through strong management, their level of trust to achieve a collective goal, individuality becomes less important and the team’s objective is placed in the forefront. Action orientation becomes second nature, and feedback is open and honest. Combined, these improve the overall success and functionality of the manager, employee relationship. Finally, nobody wants to experience crisis such as the one in Apollo 13, however there will always be unpredictable problems and managers will have to challenge the situations. An effective manager should place themselves in Gene Kranz’s place for internalizing his way of leading a team. In addition, difficult situations that happen in the past should be analyzed for developing suggestions for managers to learn how to act in prospective situations. Every crisis is unique and demands an individual solution but for learning how to find the best solution, act right as a manager and motivate your team. Being successful and solving problems in a creative way is just but one aspect of being an effective manager and leader for your team.

The Cold War 1980’s-1990’s Essay -- World History

Upon hearing the mention of â€Å"The Cold War† most people begin to imagine and think of a time focused on political and military tensions between two main powers, the United States of the Western world and The Soviet Union of the Communist world. The context of the Cold War has traditionally been seen this way, as a nontraditional war without any engagement of battle, as a nuclear arms race between to profoundly different political and economic ideologies. Though being accurate this view of the Cold War is not complete. The Cold War was not just a nonviolent war between the United States and the Soviet Union but one affecting the entire planet in different fashions and on multiple plains. It is for these reasons that while events during the 1980’s-1990’s seemingly led to the conventional end of conflict, they ironically only facilitated the existence and continuance of the Cold War even until today. Probably one of the most recognized events of the 1980’s is the collapse of communism but first it is important to look at events that leading up to this collapse to provide a better context of events post collapse. One very significant period of time was the mid 1980’s when it seemed all eyes were on Africa in its entirety. The release of the song â€Å"We are the World† in 1985, the â€Å"Break the Chains† campaign of 1987, and the focus on the influential figure, Desmond Tutu, during 1986 are all examples of how the United States and other countries were focused on providing aid to africa. In her book, Enlightened Aid: U.S. Development as Foreign Policy in Ethiopia, Amanda McVety explains this aid and how United Sates foreign aid was a cold war project, â€Å"It offered a Cold War weapon that was not a weapon and promised peace through peaceful me... ... 8.4 (2006): 29-56. Print. McVety, Amanda Kay. Enlightened Aid: U.S. Development as Foreign Aid Policy in Ethiopia. New York: Oxford UP, 2012. Print. "Suppression of Communism Act, No. 44 of 1950 Approved in Parliament | South African History Online." South African History Online. Web. 03 May 2012. no-44-1950-approved-parliament>. Totten, Samuel, and Rifiki Ubaldo. We Cannot Forget. ; Interviews with Survivors of the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda. Rutgers UP, 2011. Print. "TED KENNEDY’S AFRICAN LEGACY." Africa Is a Country. Web. 03 May 2012. . Ye, Weili, and Xiaodong Ma. Growing up in the People's Republic: Conversations between Two Daughters of China's Revolution. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Print.

Good and Bad Stress

As is the case with most people, a stigma is carried with the perception that asking for help is a sign of weakness. So much so is this fact that people have taken their own lives, before doing so. This is a universal problem that, to date has no solution. The prevalence of this problem is so severe education has been enforced almost to a mandatory level. Organizations have made suicide prevention training as such a part of the Job now that it almost seems routine.As with soldiers that are expected to operate in high stress environments, so are officers and the risk of the pressure becoming too much is always there. An Organization known as SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education) has dedicated its mission to prevention and education, as we now know that one of the biggest defenses we have to this horrible problem is an educational offense. Knowledge is power. We need stress. Our bodies endure stress everyday and a certain amount of stress is healthy.It is once we endure more tha n we can perceptively handle that the risk of suicide becomes prevalent. Most individuals in high stress professions excel under certain stressful situations, yet another reason that it takes a certain type of person to be able to handle the demands of police work, but every person is different and their body reaction to stress may be more severe. It is here that we see a stigma arise, in that an individual sees a counterpart that handles certain situations differently and perceptively better than they themselves creating a feeling of inadequacy.It is because of perception that so many lives are lost due to this not so silent killer. Page 3 of 4 No singular definition can be used to pinpoint a definition for stress, but we are certain that â€Å"good† stress is known to be helpful. It's the bad stuff that we have to look out for. In the past, law enforcement suicides often were ruled accidental deaths, and they are still underreported, Dandies says. â€Å"Most of us agree th at the statistics are probably much higher than we actually know, because of the shame factor. † (http://Saturday's. Saturdays. Com)If those in need of help would look past the stigma of weakness associated with getting help would we see a decrease in these senseless losses? Of course! â€Å"†These folks are taught to suppress their emotions and soldier forward,† says Elizabeth Dandies, a psychologist who works with California police agencies in the aftermath of suicides. â€Å"It's very difficult for them to admit they need help. † And I agree. I myself served five years as an Army PM and had to sit through countless hours of Suicide Prevention Training and memorizing a mantra using an acronym ACE.Ask your buddy Care for your buddy Escort you buddy Did I encounter individuals that could've benefited from counseling and refused to go?