Motifs in Oscar Wildes The Picture of Dorian Gray Essay Example for Free

Motifs in Oscar Wildes The Picture of Dorian Gray Essay â€Å"If this girl can give soul to those who have lived without one, if she can create the sense of beauty in people whose lives have been sordid and ugly, if she can strip them of their selfishness and lend them tears for sorrows that are not their own, she is worthy of all your adoration, worthy of the adoration of the world† (59). Sibyl has inner beauty and Basil realizes that, but Lord Henry and Dorian only see the physical or symbolic beauty of her form. This is contrary to the reoccurring idea that beauty is only skin deep like Dorian for example he is beautiful on the outside but horrible on the inside. For the wonderful beauty that had so fascinated Basil Hallward, and many other besides him, seemed never to leave him. Even those who had heard the most evil thing against him, and from time to time strange rumours about his mode of life crept through London and became the chatter of the clubs, could not believe anything to his dishonour when they saw him† (93). Shows how society judges people by their looks. They project the desirable traits that they believe they should have, but in reality theyre the same as other people. Even though his reputation is being questioned when people see him all they see is his beauty. â€Å"He grew more and more enamored of his own beauty, more and more interested in the corruption of his own soul† (93). Morbid fascination with the portrait. Its so horrifying but he can not look away. â€Å"I have got through all that,† said Dorian, shaking his head, and smiling. â€Å"I am perfectly happy now. I know what conscience is, to begin with. It is not what you told me it was. It is the divinest thing in us. Don’t sneer at it, Harry, any more — at least, not before me. I want to be good. I can’t bear the idea of my soul being hideous. † (142). Dorian is still completely obsessed with his looks so in an attempt to purge himself he â€Å"spared an innocent thing† but because he did it because he did not want to look old and horrible it was still a selfish act. He was trying to convince himself that the death of Alan Campbell was not his fault. Conscience/Soul: â€Å"Conscience makes egotists of us all† (75). Dorians conscience was his portrait it showed him all the sins he committed throughout is life. It made him obsessed about his looks. The more you think of all the things you do the more you forget about the people around you. His unreal and selfish love would yield to some higher influence, would be transformed into some nobler passion, and the portrait that Basil Hallward had painted of him would be a guide to him through life, would be to him what holiness is to some, and conscience to others, and the fear of God to us all. There were opiates for remorse, drugs that could lull the moral sense to sleep. But here was a visible symbol of the degradation of sin. Here was an ever-present sign of the ruin men brought upon their souls. Portrait was like a mirror of his soul, his true self. The portrait would always be the one thing that would constantly remind him of all his sins in life, while opium could help him forget the things that were haunting his mind the portrait was a constant reminder of everything he did wrong. â€Å"Choice is taken from them, and conscience is either killed, or, if it lives at all lives but to give rebellion its fascination, and disobedience its charm† (139). The pursuit for pleasure is encoded in our DNA its a natural thing that we must cope with, but most times people cant control their impulses and give in, and instead of their conscience helping them to fight the urge it is the one that pushes you to succumb to it. â€Å"The soul is a terrible reality. It can be bought, and sold, and bartered away. It can be poisoned, or made perfect. There is a soul in each one of us. I know it† (158). Dorians soul was corrupted after the influence of Lord Henry, and he sold it to stay young forever. A soul means nothing to Dorian he does not even believe in it anymore. â€Å"He looked round, and saw the knife that had stabbed Basil Hallward. As it killed the painter, so it would kill the painters work, and all that that meant† (164). When Dorian stabbed the painting it was similar to when he stabbed Basil. In the beginning Basil said he put his soul into the painting, then after that it became Dorians soul. They were linked, he could not destroy the painting without destroying himself. Influence: He was conscious and the thought brought a gleam of pleasure into his brown agate eyes that it was through certain words of his, musical words said with musical utterance, that Dorian Grays soul had turned to this white girl and bowed in worship before her. To a large extent the lad was his own creation† (42). This is where Dorian starts his descent into a sinful life. Lord Henry influenced him into falling in love with â€Å"poetry† or art. The only reason he fell â€Å"in love† with Sibyl was because he saw her as living art, her passion for acting fueled his passion for her. â€Å"If one doesnt talk about a thing, it has never happened† (79). A saying by Lord Henry, denying that something happened helps you get over it faster so you have no sorrowful feelings, you just push it out of your mind or seek pleasure to distract yourself. â€Å"A strange sense of loss came over him. He felt that Dorian Gray would never again be to him all that he had been in the past. Life had come between them.. † (58). Lord Henrys influence ruined the pureness of Dorian. He now embraced hedonism which corrupted him and made him vain and hateful. â€Å"A man who is master of himself can end a sorrow as easily as he can invent a pleasure. I dont want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them† (79). Lord Henry said something similar when Sibyl died. Its goes against the ideology of Hedonism to be sad or regretful because you are supposed to be in pursuit of happiness. â€Å"The mere fact of having publish a book of second-rate sonnets makes a man quite irresistible. He lives the poetry that he cannot write. The others write the poetry that they dare not realize† (41). This shows the relationship between Lord Henry and Dorian. Lord Henry influenced someone with the idea of Hedonism, while he himself did not completely indulge himself in that lifestyle. While Dorian is pursuing every pleasure that he can find. In a way Lord Henry is living through Dorian. Hedonism: â€Å"There was an exquisite poison in the air. I had the passion for sensations Well, one evening about seven oclock, I determined to go out in search of some adventure. I felt that this grey, monstrous London of ours, with its myriads of people, it sordid sinners, and its splendid sins, as you once phrased it, must have something in store for me† (35). Dorian now feels the need to satisfy his hedonistic craving. He realizes the world is not pure or innocent anymore and that there is many ways to sin and indulge himself. Pleasure is the only thing worth having a theory about But I am afraid I cannot claim my theory as my own. It belongs to Nature, not me. Pleasure is Natures test, her sign of approval. When we are happy we are always good, but when we are good we are not always happy† (56-57). Lord Henry believes that morality does not promote happiness, and we must experience pleasure because that is a huge part of life. If everyone pursued pleasure the world would be happier and more ideal. â€Å"Believe me, no civilized man ever regrets pleasure, and no uncivilized man ever knows what pleasure is† (57). Same idea, the world is better off with pleasure, it will make the world happier, although upper class receive the most pleasure because they can afford all the luxuries of life. While lower class people can only imagine what true pleasure is because they are to busy worrying about other things they dont the time nor fund to indulge in the finer things. â€Å"Beautiful sins, like beautiful things, are the privilege of the rich† (57). Dorian lives this saying. He lavishes himself with the most luxurious items because he has the money to do so. Having fancy objects in life is purely for the aesthetic pleasure that we receive from them, and repeating the word beautiful emphasizes and glorifies the idea of pleasure. Difference of object does not alter singleness of passion. It merely intensifies it. We can have in life but one great experience at best, and the secret of life is to reproduce that experience as often as possible† (145). Pleasure and passion are universal emotions that can be felt anywhere. Repeating that emotion can help you feel younger, it will take you back to all the other times you felt that way, its another way of reminiscing.

History Of Haiku :: essays research papers fc

In Japan, short poems have a long history. The earliest Japanese poetry such as that of the Manyoshu, written in 759 A.D., includes stirring narrative, dramatic and short lyrical poems which scholars believe were originally written as part of the pre-Buddhist or early Shinto ceremonial rituals (Haiku). This anthology includes anonymous songs and prayers designed to celebrate and pacify the gods, prayers for safe voyages, formal eulogies on the death of an Emperor or Empress and courting, marriage, planting and harvesting rituals. The 5 syllable, 7 syllable, 5 syllable haiku has evolved and been reinvented many times over the centuries. One such form is the 31 syllable waka composed of five 5-7-5-7-7 syllable phrases. Developed as the early imperial court of the late eighth century consolidated cultural, social and political forms, the waka took its place as one of the important regularized poetic forms of the period. Within imperial circles, minor officials and scribes gained recognition as poem-providers and word specialists due to their ability to compose waka (Haiku). Nevertheless, early Japanese poetry went beyond official usage. In the 14th century, an intellectual game developed where one person would write the first half of a waka-like poem, and another would complete it, adding the two 7-syllable stanzas.As many as four people took part in composing such poetry in what developed as a serious poetic form, with many complicated rules to ensure that the elegant court-poetry diction and aesthetic ideals were maintained. However, in large social gatherings where Japanese rice wine, or sake, was often served, participants became inebriated and started writing haikai, comic linked verse, which ignored many of the rules and allowed any subject matter at all, from the truly crude and erotic to pure slapstick, daffy comedy. According to Dr. Kerkham, it was this lower-level poetic form which Matsuna ga Teitoku, haikai master, tried to clean up and popularize and teach to his student Matsuo Basho (1644-1694). Basho's haiku, written while travelling around Japan, made him one of Japan's most celebrated poets.

Text Linguistics

TEXT LINGUISTICS Structure As a science of text, text linguistics describes or explains among different types of text the: * Shared features * Distinct features Text linguistics is the study of how texts function in human interaction. Beaugrande and Dressler define a text as a â€Å"communicative occurrence which meets seven standards of textuality† – Cohesion, Coherence, Intentionality, Acceptability, Informativity, Situationality and Intertextuality, without any of which the text will not be communicative.Non-communicative texts are treated as non-texts. [4] [edit] Cohesion Surface texts are the exact words that people see or hear. Cohesion concerns the ways in which the components of the surface text are connected within a sequence. Grammatical forms and conventions are adhered to by surface components and therefore cohesion rests upon grammatical dependencies. The grammatical dependencies in surface texts are major signals for sorting out meanings and uses.Cohesion encompasses all of the functions that can be used to signal relations among surface elements. â€Å"| SLOWCARS HELD UP| †| Such a text can be divided up into various dependencies. Someone might construe it as a notice about ‘slow cars’ that are ‘held up’, so that conclusions could be drawn about the need to drive fast to avoid being held up. However, it is more likely for one to divide the text into ‘slow’ and ‘cars held up’, so that drivers will drive slowly to avoid accidents or take alternative routes to avoid being caught in the slow traffic.A science of text should explain how ambiguities such as this are possible, as well as how they are precluded or resolved without much difficulty. For efficient communication to take place there must be interaction between cohesion and other standards of textuality because the surface alone is not decisive. [edit] Coherence Coherence concerns the ways in which concepts and relations, which underlie the surface text, are linked, relevant and used, to achieve efficient communication. A concept is a cognitive content which can be retrieved or triggered with a high degree of consistency in the mind * Relations are the links between concepts within a text, with each link identified with the concept that it connects to Surface texts may not always express relations explicitly therefore people supply as many relations as are needed to make sense out of any particular text. In the example of the road sign ‘SLOW CARS HELD UP’, ‘cars’ is an object concept and ‘held up’ an action concept, and the ‘cars’ are the link to ‘held up’.Therefore, ‘slow’ is more likely to be interpreted as a motion than as the speed at which cars are travelling. Types of relations include: I. Causality â€Å"| Itsy Bitsy spider climbing up the spout. Down came the rain and washed the spider out| †| The event of à ¢â‚¬Ëœraining’ causes the event of ‘washing the spider out’ because it creates the necessary conditions for the latter; without the rain, the spider will not be washed out. II. Enablement â€Å"| Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall| †| The action of sitting on the wall created the sufficient but not necessary conditions for the action of falling down.Sitting on a wall makes it possible but not obligatory for falling down to occur. III. Reason â€Å"| Jack shall have but a penny a day because he can’t work any faster| †| In contrast to the rain which causes Itsy Bitsy spider to be washed out, the slow working does not actually cause or enable the low wage. Instead, the low wage is a reasonable outcome; ‘reason’ is used to term actions that occur as a rational response to a previous event. IV.Purpose â€Å"| Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard to get her poor dog a bone| †| In contrast to Humpty Dumpty’s action of sitting on the wall which enables the action of falling down, there is a plan involved here; Humpty Dumpty did not sit on the wall so that it could fall down but Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard so that she could get a bone. ‘Purpose’ is used to term events that are planned to be made possible via a previous event. V. Time ‘Cause’, ‘Enablement’ and ‘Reason’ have forward directionality with the earlier event causing, enabling or providing reason for the later event. Purpose’, however, has a backward directionality as the later event provides the purpose for the earlier event. More than just a feature of texts, coherence is also the outcome of cognitive processes among text users. The nearness and proximity of events in a text will trigger operations which recover or create coherence relations. â€Å"| The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts;The Knave of Hearts, he stole the tarts; The King of Hearts, called for the tarts| †| In the explicit text, there is a set of actions (making, stealing and calling); the only relations presented are the agent and the affected entity of each action.However, a text receiver is likely to assume that the locations of all three events are close to one another as well as occur in a continuous and relatively short time frame. One might also assume that the actions are meant to signal the attributes of the agents; the Queen is skilled in cooking, the Knave is dishonest and the King is authoritative. As such, coherence encompasses inferencing based on one’s knowledge. For a text to make sense, there has to be interaction between one’s accumulated knowledge and the text-presented knowledge.Therefore, a science of texts is probabilistic instead of deterministic, that is, inferences by users of any particular text will be similar most of the time instead of all of the time. Most text users have a common core of cognitive co mposition, engagement and process such that their interpretations of texts through ‘sensing’ are similar to what text senders intend them to be. Without cohesion and coherence, communication would be slowed down and could break down altogether. Cohesion and coherence are text-centred notions, designating operations directed at the text materials. [edit] IntentionalityIntentionality concerns the text producer’s attitude and intentions as the text producer uses cohesion and coherence to attain a goal specified in a plan. Without cohesion and coherence, intended goals may not be achieved due to a breakdown of communication. However, depending on the conditions and situations in which the text is used, the goal may still be attained even when cohesion and coherence are not upheld. â€Å"| Want I carry you on my back? | †| Even though cohesion is not maintained in this example, the text producer still succeeds in achieving the goal of finding out if the text re ceiver wanted a piggyback. edit] Acceptability Acceptability concerns the text receiver’s attitude that the text should constitute useful or relevant details or information such that it is worth accepting. Text type, the desirability of goals and the political and sociocultural setting, as well as cohesion and coherence are important in influencing the acceptability of a text. Text producers often speculate on the receiver’s attitude of acceptability and present texts that maximizes the probability that the receivers will respond as desired by the producers.For example, texts that are open to a wide range of interpretations, such as ‘Call us before you dig. You may not be able to afterwards’, require more inferences about the related consequences. This is more effective than an explicit version of the message that informs receivers the full consequences of digging without calling because receivers are left with a large amount of uncertainty as to the conse quences that could result; this plays to the risk averseness of people. [edit] Informativity Informativity concerns the extent to which the contents of a text are already known or expected as compared to unknown or unexpected.No matter how expected or predictable content may be, a text will always be informative at least to a certain degree due to unforeseen variability. The processing of highly informative text demands greater cognitive ability but at the same time is more interesting. The level of informativity should not exceed a point such that the text becomes too complicated and communication is endangered. Conversely, the level of informativity should also not be so low that it results in boredom and the rejection of the text. [edit] Situationality Situationality concerns the factors which make a text relevant to a situation of occurrence.The situation in which a text is exchanged influences the comprehension of the text. There may be different interpretations with the road s ign â€Å"| SLOWCARS HELD UP| †| However, the most likely interpretation of the text is obvious because the situation in which the text is presented provides the context which influences how text receivers interpret the text. The group of receivers (motorists) who are required to provide a particular action will find it more reasonable to assume that ‘slow’ requires them to slow down rather than referring to the speed of the cars that are ahead.Pedestrians can tell easily that the text is not directed towards them because varying their speeds is inconsequential and irrelevant to the situation. In this way, the situation decides the sense and use of the text. Situationality can affect the means of cohesion; less cohesive text may be more appropriate than more cohesive text depending on the situation. If the road sign was ‘Motorists should reduce their speed and proceed slowly because the vehicles ahead are held up by road works, therefore proceeding at too h igh a speed may result in an accident’, every possible doubt of intended receivers and intention would be removed.However, motorists only have a very short amount of time and attention to focus on and react to road signs. Therefore, in such a case, economical use of text is much more effective and appropriate than a fully cohesive text. [edit] Intertextuality Intertextuality concerns the factors which make the utilization of one text dependent upon knowledge of one or more previously encountered text.If a text receiver does not have prior knowledge of a relevant text, communication may break down because the understanding of the current text is obscured. Texts such as parodies, rebuttals, forums and classes in school, the text producer has to refer to prior texts while the text receivers have to have knowledge of the prior texts for communication to be efficient or even occur. In other text types such as puns, for example ‘Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a ba nana’, there is no need to refer to any other text.

The Supreme Court Case Tinker V. Des Moines - 1015 Words

The Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines originated in Iowa in December 1965 when seven Des Moines high school students wore black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War. Ultimately they were suspended in which the student’s fathers sued the school district. The court case battled through the District Court, Court of Appeals, and Supreme Court. The ultimate ruling was that Des Moines School District violated the students First Amendment rights. Years later, in Oregon in 1990, teachers a McMinnville High School started a lawful strike and in response, the school district hired replacement teachers. Following, two students wore and distributed buttons and stickers with slogans supporting the strike. The students were suspended which led to the student’s parents suing the school district where the District Court provides a ruling. Similar to Tinker v. Des Moines, Chandler v. McMinnville was ruled that the school violated the students First Amendment rights of the students. Due to the student’s suspensions, father’s of students sued Des Moines Independent Community School District. Initially the case was filed in District Court which dismissed the complaint and upheld the schools’ authority to enforce the policy because a fear of a school disturbance would result from the armband protest. The case was then brought to the Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit, which considered the case en banc. where the court was divided equally the case was granted certiorari. OnShow MoreRelatedTinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District Essay1583 Words   |  7 Pages In the history of the Supreme Court, there have been many First Amendment cases that outline if exercises of free speech and expression are constitutional or unconstitutional. One of the most paramount 1st amendment cases is that of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969). This significant case helped shape the extension of symbo lic speech, as well as ensure the freedom of speech and expression to students in schools. In December 1965, a group of Iowa residents, bothRead MoreTinker Vs. Des Moines1399 Words   |  6 PagesCase Name: Tinker vs. Des Moines (1969) Facts of the case: In December of 1965, a group of Des Moines students held a meeting at 16-year-old Christopher Eckhardt’s house to plan a public showing of their support for a truce in the Vietnam war. They came to the decision that they would wear black armbands during the holiday season and fast on December 16 as well as New Year’s Eve. When the principals of the Des Moines school learned about the plan, they met on December 14 to create a policy statingRead MoreThe 1st Amendment : The Rights Of The First Amendment1572 Words   |  7 Pagesdemonstrated in cases such as Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as the government in general, has well-upheld this amendment, but starting sometime in the second half of the 20th century, they are slowly embracing it less and less, as demonstrated in cases such as Texas v. Johnson. The recent hostility towards the First Amendment demonstrates that its rights are in danger. The 1969 ruling of Tinker v. Des Moines is an example of a historic case where the Supreme Court embraced theRead MoreThe Tinker V. Des Moines Independent School District Decision Of 1969952 Words   |  4 PagesOne of the most well-known Supreme Cases involving student rights was the Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District decision of 1969. The verdict quickly became a precedent for many other decisions involving school issues and is very relevant today. In December of 1965, students attending Des Moines Public Schools held a meeting at Christopher Eckhardt s house to conduct a plan to show their support for a truce in the ongoing Vietnam War. They resolved to wear black armbands during the holidayRead MoreCase Study: Tinker vs. Des Moines795 Words   |  3 PagesCase Study: Tinker v. Des Moines The Vietnam War was, and still is, a highly controversial subject within American history and politics. Thousands of Americans took to the streets to show their discontent for the nations actions abroad. It was during this time that Tinker v. Des Moines took place, forever changing the way the nation viewed free speech. The case of Tinker v. Des Moines revolved around Americans discontent for the actions the country was taking overseas in Vietnam. In 1965Read MoreTinker Vs. Des Moines Essay1516 Words   |  7 PagesWar History).† A case that is known in history forever â€Å"Tinker v. Des Moines† case was a very good example of anti-war protest and was proven to be an example of freedom of speech. Tinker v. Des Moines case involves two main students. Others students were also involved. The two main student’s names were â€Å"John and Mary Beth Tinker (Landmark Cases).† They were from Des Moines, Iowa and this case took place between the years 1965-1969 (Landmark Cases).† The problem with this case was there form ofRead MoreThe Issues Of Students Rights1252 Words   |  6 Pagesthe first case in 1969, students’ rights have become even more limited in the classroom. Although court cases like Tinker v Des Moines have protected the rights of students, other cases such as New Jersey v TLO and The Hazelwood School District v Kuhlmeier have drastically limited students’ freedoms. The 1969 Tinker v Des Moines Public Schools case was the first case to discuss the rights and freedoms of students. First of all, in December of 1965, a group of students including John Tinker, his sisterRead MoreTinker V. Des Moines Independent Community School3253 Words   |  14 Pagesschool district wrote a policy that prohibited them from wearing black armbands in a silent protest of the Vietnam War. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) ruled that students are entitled to their First Amendment rights as long as they are not causing a disruption to the school environment. This paper outlines the procedure and rulings in the case as well as other legal rulings that have expanded on when censorship of students is protected in public school settingsRead MoreHow the Earl Warren Court Liberalized America Essay842 Words   |  4 PagesThe Warren Court refers to the Supreme Court of the United States between 1953 and 1969, when Earl Warren served as Chief Justice. Warren led a liberal majority that used judicial power in dramatic fashion, to the consternation of conservative opponents. The Warren Court expanded civil rights, civil liberties, judicial power, and the federal power in dramatic ways. One way the Warren Court liberalized America, is through the court cases of Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), Escobedo v. Illinois (1964)Read More Landmark Supreme Court Decisions Essay1000 Words   |  4 Pages Landmark Supreme Court Decisions nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;About 32 years ago, in December of 1965, a group of adults and students from Des Moines, Iowa gathered to show their dislike towards American involvement in the Vietnam War. They decided to wear black armbands and fast on December 16 and 31 to express there point. When the principals of the Des Moines School System found out their plans, they decided to suspend anyone who took part in this type of protest. On December 16