Friday, January 24, 2020

Exploration of the Brain in Emily Dickinsons Poem 670 :: Emily Dickinson Poem 670 Essays

Exploration of the Brain in Emily Dickinson's Poem 670 The brain is one of the most complex organs of the entire human body. How many people over the course of time have explored and tried to explain the brain? Even with millions of peoples' opinions of how the brain works, we still do not understand the most intrinsic parts of it. The tricky part is the subconscious. We are able to hide things, even from ourselves, for years. How is it that we can bury so much information that becomes so hard to find? Emily Dickinson understood this concept. She did not understand the way the brain works, perhaps, but without a doubt she did understand that it is able to conceal things from ourselves. "The brain has Corridors-surpassing Material place" (3-4). Surpassing all material things, the brain is past those things. Within the corridors are heaps of information that we sometimes even become unaware of. Something has to be a trigger, to set off a specific corridor in order to bring that information back to mind. Many times this is proven when a person whom has endured abuse as a child is counseled. Psychiatrists have to probe deep into those corridors to retrieve information that the child has willingly or subconsciously buried. So, why was Dickinson so interested in these corridors? Perhaps she was dealing with something of her past and during that time realized how hard it is to retrieve things sometimes. Perhaps she was counseling a close friend or family member and wrote this as a result of that. Perhaps she was studying the brain and became interested in doing research. Perhaps none of these things were the case with Dickinson. Whatever her reason, the poem shows much thought. We go on to read that any ghost meeting at midnight is safer than probing into that abyss called the mind. Why is it so unsafe? Well, what kind of things do we bury deep into our minds? Normally, they are things that we want to forget, painful memories, and embarrassing experiences. Those things can definitely be considered dangerous. If they were not dangerous, why would we bury them in the first place? To illustrate this point, I am going to tell you a story. I am the child of an alcoholic father. I have always lived under dangerous circumstances, and because of this, I have chosen to forget much of my childhood.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Australian visions Essay

Different Australian visions are often portrayed in various texts and motion pictures. Australian film Strictly Ballroom 1992 is a great example as the director uses very over-the-top and theatrical style of filmmaking to present a humorous story that reflects various ideals in Australian society with cinematography and film techniques. The movie not only showcases the persona of the underdog especially through the character of Fran, but also illustrates the concept of multiculturalism and the idea of achieving dreams on the land of Australia, which are all concepts that relates to different aspect of Australian visions. On the other hand the poem ‘My country’ written by Dorothea McKellar, expresses other ideals of Australia that are more directly related with the land. Through the use of poetic techniques such as metaphor the poet was able to depict both the natural danger and beauty of the nation that are also valued as important part of Australian visions. One of the main focuses of the movie Strictly Ballroom is the characteristic of the underdog, a term that is closely associated with Australian values. The belief of giving everyone a fair go is fully expressed through the story arc of Fran, whom like the ugly duckling was transformed into something beautiful by the end of the movie. This concept is expressed through the Baz Luhrmann’s portray of this character. The juxtaposition between her first appearance and her performance at the end fully showcases Fran’s role as the underdog. This is reinforced with her red dress and the lighting used during the ending of the movie. Differs to other contestants’ clothes that looked superficial and over-the-top, the authentic colour of red used for Fran made her stood out as a glamorous, confident and beautiful woman, which is completely different to her seemingly unattractive first appearance from the start of the film. This is further on supported by the lighting of the movie, which not only focuses on her and Scott’s dance, but also stresses the affect of the red costume, making the dress almost a dramatic symbol of her successful transformation and achievement within this film. On the other hand, the impact of her appearance also fully represents Australian’s idealisation of the underdog. Another theme of Strictly Ballroom is the idea of multiculturalism as this movie depicts the transformed modern society that accepts and embraces cultural differences.  This is expressed through the use of music in the film. For most part of the movie the music used is traditional ballroom scores or Australian classic songs such as ‘time after time’, which makes the simple instrumental Spanish music played in Fran’s house stood out. This not only illustrates the differences between Fran and Scott’s background but also puts the audience into the character’s shoes to experience another type of dancing and culture that exists on the land of Australia. This concept is again strengthened at the last scene of the movie when all the audiences joined with Scott’s parents and danced together. The long shot that presents the unified crowd combines with mid shots that focus on specific people like Fran’s father who has different background reinforce the positive connotation of multiculturalism. This also presents Strictly Ballroom as a movie that mirrored the value of contemporary Australian society, which is all about acceptance and embracement. The pursue for dream is a concept that is highly valued in Australia and the movie Strictly Ballroom relate this idea with the notion of overcoming fear and the challenge of authority. The focus on lines such as â€Å"A life lived in fear is a life half lived† shows the importance of this in relation to the character’s will of achieving their goals. However their desire is often dishearten by the dancing federation. The continuous use of low angle shots and the lack of music playing when characters such as Barry Fife talked establish their state of power, which the main characters have to conquer. This also made the scene from end of the movie highly symbolic. With the success of Scott and Fran’s performance, there was a high angle shot depicting a falling Fife who tumbled with the trophies on the table that contrasted with the previous use of low angel shots. This scene not only served as a comic relief for its audience but also represents the downfall of the authority, stressing the significance of this confrontation in terms of the Scott and Fran’s accomplish of their dream. In context of this film, these ideas reflect the possibility of reaching one’s goal in Australia. Just like the persona of the underdog this also relate to the stereotypical notion that this land typify a sense of hope and opportunity. My country written by Dorothea Mackellar is a poem that illustrates both the natural beauty and danger of Australia, depicting very different visions of the same nation in comparison to Strictly Ballroom. The poet’s repeated usage of various stones to describe the nature  scenery of this country not only stresses the authenticity of those features, but also made the stones a metaphor for the land’s flawlessness. This is seen through lines such as ‘An opal-hearted country’ and ‘Sapphire-misted mountain’, which continuously reinforce the genuine notion of beauty in Australia. On the other hand Mackellar also uses personification to describe the danger of this land. Lines such as ‘Her beauty and her terror’ and ‘her pitiless blue sky’ strengthen the image of the threating nature environment, giving the readers a real sense of fear and adoration for the poet’s country. Even though this text shared limited similari ty with Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom, it still manages to express visions and depictions of Australia that is highly valued in this nation.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Gay Rights in the Fire Department - 1610 Words

Humans have been fighting and challenging each other ever since they have been created. People tend to think that if someone else is different than another person must be weird, stupid, or even dangerous. Though things are constantly getting better and people are beginning to be more accepting of each other some people continue to hate and cast out just because they do not have the same beliefs, sexuality, or even the same looks. The fire department has been on the business side, but people in the fire department the workers can be harmful bullies. This is not the fire departments fault but the workers that are fire fighters tend to be on the conservative side when it comes to the human rights division of life. To talk about a topic you must start from the beginning, in the 1950s it was dangerous, foolish, and illegal to start any pro-gay organization. You would be chased and harassed if you were suspected of being gay or supporting their right to live life freely. In 1961 Illinois decided to agree with the conservative law of 1923 that was created by the American Law Institute that stated it is illegal for two adults to ever get married or even have sexual have intercourse if they are the same sex. Connecticut decided to agree and also put this law in place in the year 1969. Holliday 2 1969 is considered the year that the gay rights movement took off because NYPD decided to raid a gay bar and started arrested random homosexual and drag performers for no reason.Show MoreRelatedThe Stonewall Riots And Its Impact On Lgbt Society1034 Words   |  5 Pagesturn compared to all the previous raids. The LGBT community had enough and decided to take a stand against the unjust acts of the New York Police Department, which would forever change LGBT history. The Stonewall Riots were preceded by several years of mistreatment, and began when a beloved gay bar was raided; this created a major impact on LGBT rights and activism. 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