The Hobbit By J. R. R. Tolkien :: essays research papers

The Hobbit By J. R. R. Tolkien The story begins with a small fellow by the name of Bilbo Baggins â€Å"The Hobbit† he lives is in his house and doing what hobbits do during the day. The first few chapters tell you what a hobbit is and what a hobbit looks like and also what his home looks like. Hobbits are smaller then dwarves and eat much more then dwarves do, hobbits eat six meals a day. Bilbo is cleaning his house and preparing for a meal when an old friend of his comes past his doorway and starts to chat with Bilbo about all his adventures he has been on. After a while of talking in Bilbo’s hobbit home he tricks poor Mr. Baggins into join a journey with Thirteen dwarves to revive their lost city that was over ran by â€Å"Smuag†, a mysterious dragon that was used for delivering messages from dwarves and elves. To continue with the story after the talk with his friend, who is a wizard. Gandalf invites himself over again and ask to bring some friends, and Bilbo, a polite and well-mannered hobbit could not say no. The next morning the doorbell rings and Bilbo happily opens the door, but in his shock it is not Gandalf but it is a group of dwarves twelve dwarves in hoods. As he invites them in they all introduce themselves and at the end of their introduction the last words are â€Å"at your service†, their names are Balin, Dwalin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur, and last but not least Thorin Okensheild these were the last of their kind. They were the cities last hope of bringing back the city. That night the dwarves stayed at Bilbo’s house with extra bedrooms. And the next morning they would start the real journey to their destiny. That morning Bilbo got up late and was left with dishes from his company and was the only one to clean them up. After washing the dishes he sat down to have a smoke with his pipe and was disturbed again, but it was Gandalf telling him that they are staying at the town inn. As he rushed to meet them he made it they’re just in time and they started discussing the plan (for Bilbo was their burglar and his job was to find the entrance to the secret door on the mountain where Smuag lay asleep) after the plan was discussed they set out on their journey to revive the lost city.

The Humanization of Gods and Kings in Renaissance Art

The Renaissance period of history was one that provided profound changes in the way in which people viewed traditional modes and models of thought, self-awareness, science, religion and art. What is interesting is the in the art of the Renaissance period is that the pulse of the time period is clearly reflected because much that was not explicitly stated in other modes is clear in the subtext of the artwork as subtext often appears below the radar of, for lack of a better term, censors of the period.When Galileo announced that the earth revolved around the sun and that the commonly held belief that the sun revolved around the earth was a fallacy, he was promptly thrown in jail. Therein lies one of the most forgotten aspects of the revolution of the Renaissance: much of what has become accepted in today’s day and age that derived from the brilliance of the Renaissance thinkers was not exactly welcomed by the traditionalists of the day. However, if there was a common flaw presen t within the realm of traditionalists it would be the fact that traditionalists are not known for possessing the common faculty of creativity.As such, much of the anti-traditionalist viewpoints of the Renaissance are present within the artwork of the Renaissance period and this anti-traditionalist, anti-classical approach found in the artwork are revealed upon closer examination of said artwork. Caravaggio’s The Calling of St. Matthew looks somewhat benign on the surface, but its underlying subtext betrays a profound departure from what is commonly considered the imagery of artistic representation of gods and kings.In order to understand this radical departure one must examine what was the common classical imagery of religious figures in the traditional era. That is to say, the traditional and classic imagery of religious figures was primarily one of idealization. The figures presented in Greek sculpture, for example, were generally depicted as flawless entities. The imagery was devoid of imperfections and it was clear that those represented and displayed in the artwork were presented as being ‘otherworldly’ and definitely not representative of the average person.(This lack of imperfection in the imagery of the gods is where the colloquialism â€Å"a body like a Greek God† derives) Now, this imagery of perfection was not designed in such a matter to be deceptive. Rather, it was done in such a way because there needed to be a distinct representative difference between Gods and Kings vs. plebian populace members. To a great extent, this was done in order to facilitate a belief in the gods. While there are many myths and legends found in the tales of the Greek gods, much of what is found in these tales was completely absent from the average daily life of the Greeks.The entirety of their religion was based on the premise of the existence of constant interference in the lives of ‘regular’ by mythic creatures, deities and enti ties, despite the decided lack of presence of any of these fantasy images in the daily life of those who believed in the legends. Hence, the legend of the myth must b preserved and in order to preserve the belief clearly no representation of the gods could invoke any criticism. Because of this, the visual imagery of the gods often wallowed in images of absolute perfection as a way of separating the gods from the common people.In Caravaggio’s world, the artist takes the opposite approach and in doing so the artist is consistent with the Renaissance approach to art which generally promoted a radical departure from classical art. To put it bluntly, classical art had long since become passe and was fairly boring and repetitive by the time the Renaissance occurred. The art world required a compelling new format and in The Calling of St. Matthew there is clearly evident a major departure from the classical art because religious figures are clearly de-mythicized and made far more hu man.Hence, religion becomes more real because it is in the hands of the people and not in myths. When one looks at the image of St. Matthew in the painting, there is an interesting psychology present within the frame: it is clear that St. Matthew is an everyman. That is, he is not a mythic god or a hero born of the gods. He is a normal person who lives in the real world surrounded by real people. Hence, St. Matthew is far more believable and more credible a figure than a mythic legend. Furthermore, to be like St. Matthew is attainable.For the average human to be like Hercules is impossible. However, to be like St. Matthew is attainable for all one needs to do is to turn one’s back on vice and live a life of faith. In the painting, there is a clear representation of Matthew turning his back on the world of money lending which is a life of vice. As such, to be like Matthew is attainable and this is an ideology that is thoroughly removed from the classical representation This ty pe of imagery is further seen in the neoclassical work of Jacques Louis David’s The Death of Marat.Jean Paul Marat was a hero of the frnch Rvolution who gave up a very successful life as a scientist to join the â€Å"good fight. † This would prove to be his undoing as he would later be assassinated. As such, Marat has bcome a symbol of selflessness and revolution in world imagery. What makes this painting interesting is the fact that there is a mix of humanizing and deifying the subject matter that while seemingly paradoxical on the surface is crafted into logical sense in the actual presentation within the painting.In other words, Marat is pictured at the moment of his death and his death appears remarkably unremarkable. In other words, he does not die in a cinematic or melodramatic manner. He collapses and dies like any other human. While a hero and an individual who achieved in his life more than what any other person in the world may achieve, he returns to â€Å"n ormalcy† in death. In a way, the subtext here is that any person can be a hero if they so seek to achieve such heights and one does not need the mythic powers of the classical heroes in order to make a difference,Additionally, Marat’s death imagery is very derivative of the common images of Jesus Christ’s death. Again, there is much subtext at work here as the similarity in the imagery would infer that Marat’s sacrifice was Christ like and selfless. Furthermore, it would also infer that the ability to be like Christ is found within everyone and can be achieved if one dedicates his or her life to such Christ like values. This is a RADICAL departure from the unattainable heights the classical gods and heroes embody in the ancient myths of antiquity.If there ever was a painting of the period that thoroughly lambasted the classical notion of gods and kings it would be Goya’s Saturn Devouring One of His Own Sons. In the legend of Roman (Greek) myth, Satu rn believed that his own sons would supplant his rule so he ate them. Now, this may seem morbid when reading the words, but there never was an image that depicting such a description much less one that depicted Saturn in such an unflattering manner. There is good reason for this: in Ancient Rome one would have been tortured and put to death for such an unflattering image.With Goya, the image is presented and it is presented in about as unflattering a manner that it could possible be presented: Saturn is depicted as a homicidal, maniacal lunatic. The expression in his face is that of insanity and mania. He is depicted about as far from a god as possible and the ugliness of his actions is clear for the world to see. In a way, this painting provides the proverbial final nail in the coffin of the traditional image of gods and kings by essentially stripping away any veneer of anything positive.The actions of the god are despicable and there is no attempt to put a positive spin on it. In a way, it would seem that those classic thinkers who repeated the tale of Saturn were nothing more than apologist for bad behavior and with his painting Goya essentially kills off the classical notion of what it was to be a god not by creating a false image, but by creating a realistic image. Bibliography Schneider, L. (2001) Italian Renaissance Art. New York: Westview Press. Snyder, J. (2004) Northern Renaissance Art. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Benjamin Franklin by Edmund Morgan Essay

One of the most famous biographies ever written is said to be made by Edmund Morgan, when he accounted that of Benjamin Franklin’s life. He did so by presenting a very special style in analyzing Franklin’s existence. He made it possible by not narrating an everyday account with the use of dates, but instead accounted for the overall legacy of Franklin’s life. After reading the book, it can be said that the book establishes a broad view of Franklin’s existence. Franklin has been discussed as universally well-known for three things: his discovery of electricity, his writings, and his participation in the American Revolution. In this way, Morgan was able to present how Franklin has influenced the American, the government and the society as a whole. Born on January 17, 1706, young Franklin was presented by the author as a vigorous and curios one. It was also mentioned that his favorite past time was playing chess and singing songs. A further reading of the article shows that he also has his own belief in religion, which is â€Å"Sin is not harmful because it is forbidden, but it is forbidden because it is harmful. Nor is a duty beneficial because it is commanded, but it is commanded because it is beneficial. † As an individual, though he believes that God is the creator, he does attend mass and does not read bible. Nevertheless, it was at this stage of his life where he started writing about the virtues he believed in. A decade later, Franklin’s curiosity was instigated, when his English friend sent him Leyden jars for static electricity storage. Immediately, he started his own experiments with electricity. Subsequently, he discovered that a metal rod with a sharp end can ignite a spark from a greater distance than that of a rounded one. Based on the said findings, he proceeded on and proposed to conduct an experiment with a kite and a key to confirm that lightning is indeed electricity. His efforts proved him right, and his successful experiment discovering electricity made him famous. Among the study Franklin has made, includes that of the effect which ocean current has on travel and the pre germ theory. Morgan also touched the life of Franklin being a writer. According to Morgan, Franklin, though he left the field of printing earlier, he never left it totally. This was possible because he continuously carried out his work secretly as a printer in the field of philosophy, alongside with the renowned Poor Richard’s Almanack. He also succeeded in circulating numerous satirical hoax discourses. One of the popular speeches he made talks about a woman who had five illegitimate children and ironically claims to be following God’s word to increase and multiply. Franklin’s prominent pieces of writing talks about the qualities which he said would lead one to moral perfection, which includes Temperance, Chastity, Cleanliness, and Humility. It bears stressing that Franklin wrote these articles based from his own insights of good deeds against faith and not from religious dogma and sermons. The core of Franklin’s writings on religion imparts that a human being can be moral and god-fearing even without dogmatic presence of the church. As for Franklin’s participation in American Revolution, it can be gleaned from Morgan’s statement that the transition of America into an independent nation may not have been as easy were it not for Franklin’s efforts. His international relations with the British government and the French before, during, and after the hostilities proved very useful to America in instituting and re-instituting alliances. In the book, Franklin was presented to be one who is so influential in defending a pre-Revolution Philadelphia from French privateers, evenly allowing the British to preserve their influence in America and the colonies to resist division. This was due to Franklin’s belief that the British government was unyielding, but necessitates several modifications. All the complexities which were faced by Franklin in his life were discussed in the later part of the book. This occurred after he was sent to England in 1764 as a colonial agent, where he realized how complicated for someone from America to tackle these corrections, principally that of the colonists’ aspiration to elect their officials and to enjoy rights. On an ending note, Morgan went further when he made statement that depicted Adams as the most contentious colleague of Franklin during that time, and the reason for making living miserable for Franklin. BOOK REVIEW A reading of the book reveals that it was written in a narrative form, which trails more chronological events in Franklin’s life. Morgan made this possible by utilizing several quotations and pictures from Franklin’s works in telling his account. These help the person who reads in appreciating the events and thoughts from Franklin’s viewpoint. In some way, it can be said that the book is the best speech ever written, which comprises of an all-encompassing prologue, followed by a comprehensive series of events that is supplemented with optimistic tales and motivating truth imparted by Franklin. At this point of view, readers can say that Morgan’s writing technique is interwoven efficiently and wittily. Furthermore, he vividly sketches the outlines of Franklin’s growing outlook while unremarkably helping his readers grapple the details of his life in politics and the surfacing international condition during the American Revolution. From time to time, he even personally directed statements to the reader and alludes to what he himself is trying to understand about Franklin. On a different note, it could also be said that the story is of an adventure type that take hold of readers with the anecdotes of Franklin’s participation in the political events of 18th-century America. Nevertheless, the author did not lose sight of the significance of the other facet of the man’s qualities and the opinion and actions of others toward him. This was the reason for the biography’s success since it engages readers’ attention in the grand live stage show of this intriguing man’s life. One of the topics which were concentrated by Morgan in Franklin’s life, is his being diplomat. It was presented by the detailed account of Franklin’s vital role in the lengthy progression of calculations and miscalculations that pressed the loyal and dutiful British colonies into revolution and forged them into the United States of America. As written, Franklin, can be seen in every event, frequently behind the picture, but always exceptionally influential, a compelling catalyst for change, which has left an impact in the life of Americans and British government and society. Importantly, in this book we can learn that Franklin is the sole man whose signature maybe found on all four of the important founding documents of the American republic which are the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Treaty of Paris, and the Constitution. As for the impact Franklin’s life and this book may have in the society and public policy, it is important to mention that even if he did not believe in bible writings and the of the existence of God, he seems to have lived in an otherwise moral existence and have not lost sight of the need for people to be living with such religious morality. The most essential aspect of Franklin’s personality was his unselfish way of sharing to others and his belief that what is right is that which is beneficial. Thus, it can be inferred that one of the lessons in Franklin’s life which is being taught is that, being useful means providing the needs of other inhabitants, not only for one’s self, and that a man with an intelligence concerning him comes only to those individual who possesses a great heart. As for the economy, this book made us learn that Franklin, after experiencing his first achievement, had launched several successful commercial partnerships which lead to the development of the law of partnerships in America. This is said to be one of the many contributions Franklin has made in the history. Aside from the foregoing influences of Franklin has given to the society, it is of everyone’s knowledge that his greatest contribution was his discovery of electricity. This discovery was the product of his scientific curiosity which has originally established his fame in the world. In sum, it can be said that Morgan’s biography of Franklin imparts a representation of the renowned man with the kite that one might not anticipate in an intellectual biography. It is manifest from the opening that Morgan wishes the person who reads to see beyond the characterization of Franklin that we often read in books and articles. In this work, we came to learn, as stated at the outset, that Benjamin Franklin is famously known for three things: his experiments with electricity, his writings, and his involvement in the American Revolution. However, it is important to note that the behavior that Morgan actually wishes for the reader to be aware of is that to successful in this world, one should posse’s inquisitiveness and enthrallment with the world around him, coupled with a serene obsession for the intellectual strength of persons, and a benevolent social servitude. Reference: www. class. uidaho. edu/Engl440/NYRB/NRYB_Edmund_Morgan. htm, Retrieved April 09, 2007. http://www. brothersjudd. com/index. cfm/fuseaction/reviews. detail/book_id/1183/Benjamin%20Fra. htm Retrieved April 09, 2007

Battles at Ypres essays

Battles at Ypres essays During the first battle of Ypres, both sides tried to use the best tactical features possible. Ammunition in this battle was so low that most guns were withdrawn from the line and some of the guns with ammo left were limited to one shot every half of an hour. The City of Ypres was virtually at sea level resulting in a complex drainage system. The Belgians warned the British that their position on the Germans would destroy their complex drainage system of dykes and canals from all of the heavy artillery fire. Some very harsh lessons were being learned in this battle as well. One of these lessons were that it was unsafe to have an important headquarters in a vulnerable position. The British made this mistake once and they were sure not to do it again. The Germans were doing unusually better than they had thought. They did not realize they had roughly 50,000 British casualties and 20,000 French casualties resulting in mass OVERKILL. They also didn't realize that they were kill ing some of the best and most experienced regiments of the British army. As winter set in , and that meant snow, rain, sleet, hail, and floods, both sides dug into the trenches as best they could. The Germans had the higher and dryer ground so they could build stone establishments near the front. Looking at the British side, they were all wet, sticky, smelly, had had some of the worst cases of trench foot in the war. The second battle of Ypres was not meant to be a major one. This battle also introduced poison gas to the Western Front. Later on, the whole Ypres area would be saturated with gas of every kind, mainly mustard gas, but phosgene and others would soon appear. Troops were trained on how to smell the different gasses. The CO's said phosgene smelt of musty hay. Some of the troops reported that it smelt of sweet hay but by the time they smelt it was usually too late. The G ...

Case Brief

Case Brief Brendan FulcherCase Brief 2Tor Wynn8 May 2013Case Brief 2This crime occurred on October 5, 1983. A man and his significant other (who occupy the same house) ate dinner together, and then met at a pool hall at separate times. The woman arrived first, when the man (also the defendant) arrived he saw his significant other talking to another man, he was angry because he thought that she was cheating on him. He states that the anger quickly subsided. He left the bar alone and walked home, 10 minutes later she arrived at their shared residence and told him that he had one week to find another place to live. He consented and went upstairs to change. She followed him and proceeded to attempt to choke him. He punched her in the face in order to force her to release him. She then told him that he needed to leave that night.Deutsch: Messerbnkechen (versilbert) mit Messer ...He said he was tired of her antics, but proceeded to get re dressed and follow her out of the room and in to the kitchen. When he entered the kitchen she swung a 9in long knife at him. He wrestled the knife out of her hands, he has stated that he could have left then, but she grabbed for the knife again, in the struggle the man states that she pulled the knife towards herself, when he pulled the knife away there was blood on the blade. She had stabbed herself in the struggle for the knife.The man was convicted of manslaughter; he argues that it was self-defense and that the jury was not properly instructed on the stand your ground ruling in self-defense. The jury says that since he had an opportunity to get away, that deadly force was not needed,

Can We Define Art

Can we define art? Of course we can define art. According to dictionary, art Is the quality, production, expression, or realm of what is beautiful appealing or of more than ordinary significance. But in the eye of some artist included Morris Welts, they believe art Is undefined for many reason. According to Morris Weitz, he point out a few theories of art and argues in his article The Role of Theory in Aesthetics, that they are lacking to the extent that they cannot satisfactorily cover all of the range of things we would like to consider artworks. In addition, they dont accurately capture the concept of art. Weitz argues that where previous theories go wrong Is in their attempts to establish a set of necessary and sufficient condition of art, when in fact what we should do Is ask about art the concept. Once this concept Is understood, he argues that it will make clear the logical impossibility of defining art in terms of necessary and sufficient conditions. Furthermore, Weitzs main argument for why theories of art fail comes from his application of Wittgensteins thoughts about language. pecifically the word game. o art. In fact, according to Wittgenstein, he highlighted the difficulty of defining the word games, he said let us consider what we call games: I mean board-games, card-games, ball-games, Olympic Games, and so on. What is common to them all? Dont say: there must be something common to all. For if you look at them you will not see something that common to all, but similarities. relationships. and a whole series of them at that . He was showing there is no one common feature to all games. And the word games cannot be simply defined; he argues that games have amily resemblances to each other. Some games resemble other games in some respects; there is no more to it, no necessary and sufficient condition. In addition, Weitz argues, this same resemblance principle may apply to art. The problem of the nature of art is like that of the nature of games, at least in these respects: If we actually look and see what it Is that we call art, we will also find no common properties only strands of similarities. He also said, The basic resemblance between these concepts is their open texture. In elucidation them certain cases can e given, about which there can be no question as to their being correctly described as art or game but no exhaustive set of cases can be given. Art is an open concept. Its nature Is such that new cases will constantly arise which will require a decision on the part of those interested on whether to extend the concept to include the new cases. He said that the expansive, changing and creauve nature of art would make defining properties or closure of the concept logically impossible. It is for this reason that he claims previous attempts at defining art have been in vain. Weitzs houghts we may actually find ourselves closer to arts definition. And Weitz says: What I am arguing, then, is that the very expansive, adventurous character of art, its ever-present changes and novel creations, make It logically Impossible to ensure any set of defining properties. It means is that If you were to take a wide range of instances of artworks, there would be no one feature common to them all. However, they are all the common concept products, namely one that is expansive and adventurous. Its necessary, so for a work of art to embody this creativity at least to Of2 human mind product that possesses this concept. In addition, objects in nature arent made by someone with art concept as unbound, adventurous creativity; they also arent creation from a concept in a human mind, furthermore, their existence is independent of human intellect or observation. For example, mountain, trees, flowers and something like that arent works of art. For more information, whoever is producing the object; they wont be doing as an exercise of creativity and unbound expression and so is not necessarily producing the object with an artistic conception in mind. For example, it is not necessary to have a concept of art in mind when creating a map or a floor plan or a scale model. As Weitz claimed, artworks can be differentiated from non-artworks is a hint that perhaps attempting to define art is not quite such a vain pursuit. Furthermore, I do not think defining and elucidation of the concept are different tasks as Weitz would have us believe. If a given artwork has art the concept behind it then this appears to suffice as a necessary condition for its being a work of art. Which leads me to believe the word art may be defined by the oncept behind its instances. A relevant comment on this approach is the response that, in allowing art to be defined by the concept behind it, anyone may place or point to some object or mark and proclaim; that is art. For example a piece of paper scrunched up and thrown on the floor, or an everyday object bizarrely placed may be declared art. My response to this is that in proclaiming such objects as art the proclaimed is correctly commenting on and employing the concept of art previously established. An attempt at challenging previous artistic convention does not onstitute creation outside of art the concept. Furthermore, I would like to extend the set of non-artworks to contain all things that exist, in their current state, independently of intervention by a person with artistic intent. In short, to declare an object an artwork is not enough for the declaration to be true. Since it would have existed and continues to exist in its current state regardless. This I feel is analogous to why objects in nature are not artworks. In conclusion, I feel Weitzs comment on the nature of art are important, but as opposed to leading to the conclusion that art s undefined. In fact, it gets us well on the way to a definition free from the problems faced by previous theories. Weitz is happy to be very specific in his description of the concept of art, which I have argued allows us to rule out many things as non- artworks. By considering the differences in artworks and non-artworks, we can see that where something is a work of art, the artistic concept has been present in a human intellect, which has conceived and created the piece. Non-artworks exist in their current state independently of any such concept.

United States Vs. Afghanistan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

United States Vs. Afghanistan - Research Paper Example During prison period, American prisoners are not allowed to vote, they are not registered as members who can participate in the voting section of elections and neither there are any voting facilities within the prisons. This means that more than 1 million US citizens who have the right are not allowed to vote during US elections even though their age complies with age required to vote. Voting is a right that is awarded to all citizens of US except the citizens who are serving time in prisons. In 12 states of US certain rules and regulations have been created due to which US prisoners are not even recognized as complete citizens of US (Cnaan, 2004, p.9). Prisoners who have completed their time in prisons have no right to vote within the states of Florida, Virginia and Kentucky. Nine more states participate in such measures but for a limited period of time. Ex-prisoners within various states of US are not even allowed to work in public offices and certain states allow them to gain empl oyment in public sector after they have spend certain amount of time in the society since the time of their release. Â  In US when a criminal is arrested he is detained in local jails before the final jail is selected for him. Once sentence period is announced, certain numbers of prisoners are shifted to their assigned jails and certain prisoners spend more time in local jails before being finally shifted to their assigned jails. Local jails where prisoners are first detained are located within the areas of arrest.