Egyptian History Essay Example for Free

Egyptian History Essay The period in Egypt from 2660 to 1100 BC can be considered as a very important time in Egyptian history as it witnessed many changes in how the land was ruled. This period in time experienced wars and changes in leadership, slowly molding the Egyptian nation into what it is today. These people and events not only played an important role in Egypt’s history but also for the rest of the world. One specific period during this time was the Old Kingdom, back to the time when Egypt was ruled by the Third Dynasty all throughout the Sixth Dynasty. During this time, the capital of Egypt was located at Memphis, and the ruling pharaoh was Djoser. This period in time was known for the construction of large pyramids, which were built to serve as the burial places for pharaohs and other important persons during that time. This was considered as the Age of Pyramids. During this time only the pharaoh ruled the former independent ancient states of Egypt which was known as nomes. The former ruler of these states were forced to take the role of governor, else, they’ll have to work in the tax collection area. During this time, the pharaoh is not only recognized as a ruler but as a god, and was worshipped by all his subordinates. This is because of the belief that worshipping these gods would mean assurance of the annual flooding of the Nile River. This is because agriculture during this time centered on the â€Å"fertile crescent† or the area which has been flooded by the Nile. All their crops are dependent on this annual flooding, as Egypt is filled with barren lands and desserts which they cannot use for farming and agriculture and the river is their only hope for scarce food supplies. This period of time also witnessed feuds between different rulers which resulted from the fall of the Old Kingdom. The previous kingdom collapsed as a result of civil conflict which was insinuated by regional governors waging wars on each other. The unity of the kingdom weakened, causing it to finally fall. The case worsened as the lands were plagued with severe drought, resulting to a drop in rainfall, affecting the normal flooding of the Nile River. Decades of famine and strife followed eventually. Intermediate periods have risen afterwards, wherein there were several acting rulers and leaders, further complicating the matters. This has lead to many wars between the different peoples of Egypt, since no one held power over the whole nation. To make matters worse, neighboring lands were starting to invade Egypt, hoping to besiege the already war-torn nation. Because of this, consolidations were made by local leaders and a new line of pharaohs have been formed. After several changes in the ruling heads, Egypt was able to prosper further and continued to exist many years after. Some pharaohs were able to expand their influence, thus making the nation wealthier and more powerful. This period however, ended in another intermediate period wherein the power has been divided between the recognized king which was Smendes and the High Priests of Amun at Thebes. The king ruled the northern half of the nation while the High Priests took control of the southern part of the country. This division proved to be less significant since both the ruling king and high priests came from the same family line.

Analysis of the Closet Scene in Hamlet the Movie Essay -- essays rese

Hamlet is often seen as one of the most well known examples of an Oedipus Complex presented in literature. The reasons for this is probably because of the plot that resolves around the revenge that Hamlet has against his step-father Claudius and because of the relationship that Hamlet has with his mother that is loaded with sexual energy. Hamlet's love for his mother is especially exemplified by the Mel Gibson's interpretation of the infamous closet scene. Traditionally a Queen's closet was not worth emphasizing a bedroom, but it is likely that most of the readers would presume that the closet scene takes place in Gertrude?s bedroom because of the obsession that Hamlet has about Gertrude?s bed. When Hamlet responds to his mother?s summons and comes to her closet, he invades a very private place where customarily a woman would only entertain her husband or a lover. For an adult son to do this, intimations of erotic possibilities are almost inevitable because the son crosses the line into the enclosure of his mother?s privacy to encounter her as a sexualized subject. The room that Olivier created for Gertrude contained a lot of scenery to convey a subliminal message. The tall doors look phallic-shaped and the bed is the center of attention most of the time. The bed is also much more lit than the rest of the room that emphasizes the importance of it. The way Gertrude kisses Hamlet in the Olivier, can be signifiers of the sexuality that is going in between her and Hamlet. The kisses are not what the everyday person interprets as platonic and it is almost as if Hamlet and Gertrude are drawn closer and closer because of the passion between them, in order that their faces are only inches apart. The last kiss between Gertrude and ... ...e other movies. She takes every opportunity to kiss Hamlet fully on the mouth, sometimes even lingering on the lips. It is almost as if Hamlet?s Oedipal cravings is a given in this movie. At one time Hamlet is even thrusting his lions against Gertrude that suggest a signifier of sexual intercourse. When the ghost appears it is as if it is just in time to stop Hamlet and Gertrude from having full-fledged intercourse. Gertrude does not seem to mind this at all in the way she caresses Hamlet unquestionably more representative of the display of affection one associates with a lover than a mother. The conclusion is that the Oedipus Complex definitely plays an integral role in the most of the movies made about Hamlet. Two of the three films I discussed are clearly paradigmatic, as each has in some way further contributed to the idea of Hamlet?s aberrant sexual feelings.

The Significance of Spring and Summer in Thomas Hardy’s Poems

Weathers By Thomas Hardy This is the weather the cuckoo likes, And so do I; When showers betumble the chestnut spikes, And nestlings fly; And the little brown nightingale bills his best, And they sit outside at ‘The Traveller's Rest,' And maids come forth sprig-muslin drest, And citizens dream of the south and west, And so do I. This is the weather the shepherd shuns, And so do I; When beeches drip in browns and duns, And thresh and ply; And hill-hid tides throb, throe on throe, And meadow rivulets overflow, And drops on gate bars hang in a row, And rooks in families homeward go, And so do I. The Significance Of Spring And Summer In Thomas Hardy’s Poems – Document Transcript 1. The Significance of Spring and Summer in Thomas Hardy's Poems, If It's Ever Spring Again, and It Never Looks Like Summer Mehdi Hassanian esfahani (GS22456) The Victorian Age (BBL5101) Lecturer: Dr. Wan Roselezam February 2009 2. Introduction: Reading about Thomas Hardy, and as the master students of English Literature, we all know that Hardy had a pessimist view on life and love, was watchful about relationships and interested in psychology of behaviors. His meticulous description of events and characters is not limited to humans, and even nature and animals play a role in the setting of what he narrates and are related to the theme. The following study examines the description of ‘summer’ and ‘spring’ in two selected poems by Thomas Hardy, to observe the significance of climate and seasons in the theme of the poems. The reason of this particular selection is the similarity between the two, in their mood, atmosphere, theme and even the ending. As a result, the analysis will claim the same thing, although it may seem inappropriate to generalize it to Hardy’s poetry. Interpreting imagery, particularly visual imagery in these two poems helps to understand their usage and the role they play to create the theme and setting of time and place. In this way, figurative language and the relationship between words would be examined to lead us to the theme and bring about the importance of summer and spring regarding the poems. It is expected that Hardy uses seasons to refer to nature and its beauty, in order to create a romantic setting, like other Victorian poets, and also uses ‘summer’ and ‘spring’ in the sense attributed to optimistic qualities, hope, [2] 3. warmth and love. But the careful observation of this may reveal a contrast which is made to intensify the underlying theme, and lead us to a pessimist view of Hardy in these poems. Accordingly, it will show that the mood of these poems â€Å"differs from Victorian sorrow; it is sterner, [and] more skeptical as though braced by a long look at the worst† (Stallworthy & Ramazani, 1852). If It's Ever Spring Again (Song) If it's ever spring again, Spring again, I shall go where went I when Down the moor-cock splashed, and hen, Seeing me not, amid their flounder, Standing with my arm around her; If it's ever spring again, Spring again, I shall go where went I then. If it's ever summer-time, summer-time, With the hay crop at the prime, [3] 4. And the cuckoos – two – in rhyme, As they used to be, or seemed to, We shall do as long we've dreamed to, If it's ever summer-time, Summer-time, With the hay, and bees achime (594). The poem, or as Hardy called it the ‘song' If It's Ever Spring Again deals with spring and summer; two bright and shiny seasons which normally warm the nature and people by the energy and hope they spread around. Kinesthetic imagery of ‘going out’ in line three, stanza one and the plashing moor-cock supports the excitement which is in the air. Hardy depicts spring with many positive qualities, when happiness is all around. He doesn’t talk of common characters, but moor-cock and moor-hen, which according to Morgon, the editor and publisher of the annual Hardy Review, are â€Å"shy, undemonstrative creatures rarely drawn from their coverture under the river-bank to gladden the heart of spring† to emphasize this supreme enthusiasm. As a result of this depiction, the prominent imagery in this poem is the visual imagery; which suddenly puts us in the middle of the nature; but there are also auditory and, as we saw, some hints of kinesthetic imagery. 4] 5. At first, Hardy reminds himself a day in spring, when he (the persona) was able to stand next to the beloved ‘with arms around her’ and enjoy the beauty of spring. He feels prospered and thinks of spring as a complete season, as well as himself. Then in stanza two, he leaps to another memory in a summer day, with again the perfection of setting and t he inner sense of fulfillment, when the ‘day crop’ is ‘at the prime’, ‘bees achime’ and cuckoos are singing in rhyme. The visual imagery which is connected to the golden color of the sun and the repetition of ‘summer’ in addition to the auditory imagery of birds singing free and cheerful, are effective devices to insure us of the blissful man, he feels inside. But it is not all. Richards explains that Hardy was interested in nature, and for him, like other Victorian writers, nature was equal to beauty, but also clarifies that â€Å"he was more interested in strangeness than conventional beauty† (190). It is as if the beauty of nature is not the ultimate goal of his poetry. Narrator’s effort to give an adequate visual imagery and create the setting of place and time is just a tool to carry out the profound meaning which is implied in the poem. The ‘if’s and ‘ever’s convey a sense of regret. Thinking of past days, the narrator cannot understand the lack which is now in his life. And the poem ends on a note, as if he lives in the past and doesn’t dare to face the future. In this sense, the whole poem seems not a delightful praise of spring, but an envy of the past. That’s Mellers’ view who considers this poem ‘a song of [5] 6. ostalgia’. Taking birds and bees, according to Cortus, the Vice President of The Thomas Hardy Association, as â€Å"collectively a trite euphemism for sex†, two cuckoos can be a metaphor of lovers (which includes the narrator), and his doubt in line 14, about their singing ‘As they used to †¦ or seemed to’ be together, demonstrates the pessim ist atmosphere which is settled in the mind, as well as the heart of this narrator that even cannot trust his beloved, and the past. This may explain the reason for the cock and hen ‘seeing not’ the narrator ‘amid their flounder’. In this case, the whole poem presents a continual abstract dreaming, disclosing the dimness melancholy that the narrator feels inside. It can suggest that the narration of past and this memory is not reliable, due to the obsession of narrator to his relationship, and the traumatic lost he has in his life. In the second poem, It never looks like summer, Hardy strongly uses ‘summer’ to display the peak of a relationship, the satisfaction and joyfulness which this season, apparently is connected to or is responsible to bring us. The poem lacks descriptive statements or cliche details of nature, and is much modern in the sense which looks like an internal monologue. It is written in a way, that one can conclude it wasn’t supposed to be published (although there is no evidence of such a thing), and is more like the private thoughts of its poet than a poem about ‘summer’. [6] 7. It Never Looks Like Summer â€Å"It never looks like summer here On Beeny by the sea. † But though she saw its look as drear, Summer it seemed to me. It never looks like summer now Whatever weather's there; But ah, it cannot anyhow, On Beeny or elsewhere (507)! Here, the image of summer is overwhelming, though it is very general and there are no details. Hardy uses contrasts to express his feeling. Again, the prominent imagery in the poem is visual imagery, like the drear summer that surrounds us; however an abstract imagery can be derived from connotations of ‘summer’. Narrator implicitly attributes some positive qualities to summer, though he never names them. In the first stanza, he remembers a day when weather was not ‘summery’ a lot, but he felt so; perhaps due to a companionship. And now, in the second stanza, he feels cold although it is summer outside. The nature in general and ‘summer’ in particular is interweaved to persona’s life (both emotionally and [7] 8. physically), though they do not always match together. In other words â€Å"the thinnest partition divides man’s existence (including his mental existence) from the rest of nature† (Richards, 196). This is remarkable which in both If It's Ever Spring Again and It never looks like summer, climate and seasons metaphorically are used to explore the feeling of the persona and â€Å"to register inner states of [his] feeling† (Blackburn, 15). The pessimist view of life and [the lost] love is repeated again; when narrator can say which season it ‘is’, but doubts if the beloved’s presence was real or the feeling was true, and claims that it ‘seemed’ summer to him. He prefers to sing bereavement poems, than face the reality and live in present, and the last two lines support this idea that he cannot think of future. He generalizes the unsatisfactory consequence of his attempts and his lost to all other happenings anytime in future and anywhere else around the world, and decides not to move and not to change; he dares not to look at the future because of his tragic experience. Talking about Hardy’s poetry, Blackburn asserts that the magnetism of his poems â€Å"is built around a complex of love and loss, memory and guilt, pain and self-pity, beauty and regret intermingled with something of delight† (12). In these two poems, he uses images of spring and summer and refers to nature to express the emotions and create the setting, so that he compares two conditions of past and present. To conclude, and as Berger states in the abstract of her PhD [8] 9. roposal, â€Å"Hardy's epistemology can be found at a meeting point of the senses– primarily visual, emotions, imagination, will, and the external world†. Here, the primary setting and the visual imagery play a strong role, metaphorically, to the oppositions, and intensifies the sense of regret. This technique is effective in a way to create the atmosphere and express the sadness this persona feels in his present life. [9]

Breakfast Of Champions Essay - 1052 Words

American Culture: Diminishing or Transitioning From birth the world and people that surround us influence our culture. Our family and the community we grow up in can influence us for the entirety of our lives if we don’t have a desire to change. As we grow older we become more self aware of reality and the values we should keep. Within, Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut alludes to relieving himself of the negative American culture that he was taught to value from a young age. Some aspects within American culture I would like to rid myself of include the idolization, closed-mindedness, and racial intolerance- aspects that negatively impact American lives daily. Getting lost in a television program used to be done at the end of the day†¦show more content†¦It’s a shame that within our culture more self respect and kindness to others is not valued. America is currently going through a lot right now as a country. With so many opinionated people its necessary that we dive into conversations openly and respect the other person we are speaking with. Since opinions are often very different and personal, it is easy to feel attacked when someone doesn’t agree. The point of the conversation though is not to agree with one another but to share a viewpoint that is different and have thought provoking conversation. Just because we might not stand eye to eye on every little detail does not mean I cannot listen to what you have to say and value your opinion. I find it really frustrating to see people in the media, such as reporters and politicians, refusing to be professionals and set aside their differences to communicate in a calm manner to work together for the common good. Each person has a right to their own opinion and can still use their patience to respect another individual even if the opinions are polar opposites. It has be come standard practice to avoid hurting someone’s feelings or offending anyone. As a society, in this situation, we need to toughen up. We don’t have to be offended by every little thing and should learn how to make compromises. Being closed-minded is holding us back as a country. Another issue in American culture thatShow MoreRelated Breakfast of Champions Essay689 Words   |  3 PagesBreakfast of Champions When one hears the phrase â€Å"Breakfast of Champions,† he envisions a grinning picture of Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan slam dunking, or Dale Earnhardt in a racecar on a box of Wheaties, a popular breakfast cereal. A few avid Saturday Night Live fans might recall a skit performed by James Belushi. In the skit, Belushi’s â€Å"Breakfast of Champions† was beer, cigarettes, and donuts. 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