Exposing the Human Soul in Lord of the Flies Essays -- Lord Flies Essa

Exposing the Human Soul in Lord of the Flies      William Golding in his novel Lord of the Flies symbolically describes the degeneration of a civilized society in three stages. Embedded within this story of a group of young boys struggling to survive alone on a deserted island are insights to the capacity of evil within the human soul and how it can completely destroy society. After a plane crash that results in their inhabitation of the island, the boys establish a democratic society that thrives on order, necessity, and unity. Slowly, however, the peaceful society that they create shatters through a path of hatred, disrespect, murder, and the release of the true human soul.    Upon a desolate tropical island, the lost boys begin to organize themselves to gain a sense of stability, order, and brotherhood. They elect Ralph, the oldest boy at twelve years of age, as leader and use a conch found in the lagoon as a symbol of democracy and respect. Two other children, Jack, the head of a choir group, and Simon, a small but intellectual boy, accompany Ralph on an expedition to determine whether the land is truly an island. They find that it is indeed true, and compose a plan to light a fire on the beach to create smoke; their only hope of rescue. After they obtain the glasses of an intelligent and rather fat child called "Piggy," they make a fire using the sunlight and glass lenses. However, the fire spreads to the forest quickly and destroys the group's supply of firewood. The boys shrug this off as an accident and Ralph and Simon commence work on shelters.    They begin to build a society that contains rules and government. "'I agree with Ralph,' states Jack. 'We've got to have rules and obey them. After a... ...tegrate in the evil within themselves.    They start in peace and end in hatred and murder. With the exception of Ralph and Piggy, the boys completely abandon reason, civilization, and the thought of rescue. They fight the harmless "beast" that terrifies them, not knowing that something so much more fearful, deadly, and destructive lie within themselves. Being human, they have a capacity for evil inside of their soul that is immeasurable and can destroy the life of everyone around them, including their own. They never realize this and continue to break their "morals," which were simply superficial rules of society that were fed to them unwillingly. They act upon these morals despite their own thoughts and emotions. The latter is the definition of civilization. As it wears away layer after layer in this book, the true human soul is bared, naked and fearless.  Ã‚  

The Witching Hour :: essays research papers

The Witching Hour Title: The Witching Hour Author: Anne Rice Copyright Date: 1990 Number of Page Read: 1043 Three main elements classify the genre: Gothic, Mystery, and Romance. I classify Gothic novels as stories pertaining to a dismal atmosphere, such as Edgar Allan Poe's literature. . Lovers who unlock thirteen generation's of Mayfair family secrets and incest; discovering that their intervention becomes a more complex-intertwining destiny. Our Antagonist Michael Curry, a 48-year old Irish man who had lost himself in a world in which he had accomplished his dreams, experienced his emotional pain, and yet he felt empty. Michael approached the rocks of the bay, thought of his life and emptiness, then he slipped and fell to his fatal doom in the sea. Found by a woman known as Rowan Mayfair , he discovered that he was dead for over an hour as he rested in the hospital. Michael also discovered that he had received the gift of seeing images by using his hands to touch objects, and that he chose to come back. He was burdened by the images and the vision after his death, that he had a purpose, that he was sent for a reason. Something that had to do with a doorway, and the number thirteen. After isolation from the press of the burden of his powers, he found himself wanting to go back on the deck of the boat where he was rescued. He wanted to talk to the woman who rescued him, for he thought that she would let him touch the boat to recover images that night. He discovered that this neurosurgeon, Dr. Rowan Mayfair, was the veritable love of his life. After he discovered how much he deeply loved Rowan, he began to reminisce the images of his purpose; that certain elements and images of his childhood hinted him to return to the house he had been fascinated with in New Orleans as a child. Another major character of the story, Englishmen Aaron Lightner, was a part of an archaic organization known as the "Talamasca". Aaron studied a family called the Mayfairs in New Orleans, because his organization had believed the Mayfairs to be witches. He devoted his life to the history of the Mayfair witches, and his organization had compiled a history of the Mayfairs since the days of the 17th century inquisition in Europe. As he watched Michael and Rowan from the corners of darkness, he intervened their lives to enlighten their knowledge of Rowan's family history—and its dangerous potential. Rowan did not know a single thing of her family history, as she was left in the dark her whole life by her aunt

Lord of the Flies, Quote Analysis

Chapter four of Lord of the Flies is an important chapter of the book. It contains some key turning points of the plot and shows various major developments of the characters. It this essay, three quotes concerning theme, symbolism and irony in chapter four will be analysed. In chapter four Golding visualises the theme of savagery in pages 79 and 80 by describing Jack’s ‘new face’. â€Å"He made one cheek and one eye-socket white, then he rubbed red over the other half of his face and slashed a black bar of charcoal across from right ear to left jaw.†Golding deliberately describes Jack’s face again, even though he had already described the changes concerning his face. By re-describing Jack’s savage like face, the author wants to emphasise the continuously more important getting theme of savagery at this point in the book. As the memory of an adult controlled civilisation fades away, the savage like behaviour increases. Jack’s unnaturally coloured face also resembles his will to hunt, to kill, to destruct.Jack’s character and his look are unifying as his face and character slowly transform into an uncontrollable, savage like monster. Moreover, his new face’s authority is immediately shown in the lines following the description of his face, in which the other are obeying his order to get him a coco-nut. Society as an illusion is nicely demonstrated on page 75 which states â€Å"They had built castles at the bar of the little river. These castles were about one foot high and were decorated with shells, withered flowers, and interesting stones.†This quote is explicitly clarifying the reader that society on the island is dead or an ancient memory at least. The withered flowers on the castle symbolise drained life, when one would see the castle as society, which was originally flourishing as it was beautifully decorated with flowers. However, at this point, the flowers more seem to resemble an overgr own layer of dead weeds, which indicate the lack of care and respect that has been shown to the maintenance of the castle and in this comparison, society.Not only does the castle look abandoned and not-taken-care-of, it is just a few lines away from total destruction as it is destroyed by Roger and Maurice on the next page. From that point onwards, society based on structure and rational thinking has completely crumbled down, burying the principals of their former world. The quote of Ralph on page 85 â€Å"They let the bloody fire out. † can be taken in by the reader in a very ironical way. This is due to various reasons. Firstly, one must ask himself the question: ‘Who is they?’After all, Ralph had quite a leading character in the book. If anyone should be held responsible for the dozing of the fire, one of the most likely would have been Ralph himself. Secondly, he was the first one to reach the top, indicating that if anyone could have been held responsible fo r letting the fire out it is, again, Ralph. The irony continues as Ralph went intensely red after the event had happened. The actual fire might have been let out but the fire like anger awoke inside Ralph because of the dozing of the fire.Ironically, even though at the start of the book the children cherished their fire, as if it was their only way of surviving, yet it is the fire that is neglected causing them to miss out on a potential rescue. Conclusionally, the quotes â€Å"He made one cheek and one eye-socket white, then he rubbed red over the other half of his face and slashed a black bar of charcoal across from right ear to left jaw. † (pages 79 and 80), â€Å"They had built castles at the bar of the little river.These castles were about one foot high and were decorated with shells, withered flowers, and interesting stones. † (page 75) and â€Å"They let the bloody fire out. † (page 85) depict the author’s intentions to express the omnipresence of the theme savagery and the way, which is regularly clarified by the use of symbolism and irony. The author has chosen to clarify this through symbolism and irony, to slowly make the reader more aware of the deeper thought of the book, war.

Postmodernism

First of all, it is important to be aware of the differences between postmodernism and modernism. While modernism always tries to find a new way to express something, postmodernism has no such concern. Modernism itself is representational, normative, original and Universalism. It has a linear progress. Postmodernism has no concern about being original. Moreover postmodernism claims that there is not possible way to create something brand new anymore. So, contrary to modernism's originality, postmodernism is quotation based. It is simulation and relativistic.While it is common to encounter alienated self in postmodernism, there is a decanter self in postmodernism. It will be useful to adopt the major characteristics of postmodernism into the postmodern movies. In postmodern films, we usually do see barcaroles. Those barcaroles are inspired mostly from the past. It is possible to say that the postmodern films have a mission of recycling the past. Moreover, since the high and low cultur e got stuck in the modern times, it is not possible to come across a separated culture in postmodern films. Postmodern films bring them together and melt them in a pot.They do not have one specific genre. Genre-cross over is commonly recognized in postmodern movies. A postmodern movie can be attached to several genres at the same time. One of the major characteristics of postmodernism, quotation shows itself as intellectuality. It can also be engaged to non-linearity in some examples. Postmodern movies mostly contain references to other movies. That's a major element of intellectuality. While it is common to recognize reference to other movies it is also possible for a postmodern movie to reflect upon its own process.Parodies and pastiches have also a major part in postmodern movies. We usually do see the parodies of horror movies. A postmodern film also bends the time and creates confusions over the time and space. By the time it also blurs the lines between dream and reality. Espe cially the hyper reality blurs the lines by creating a simulation of reality. Also the element, metrification is used in postmodern films. For instance if a character speaks directly to the audience, it can be said that one of the elements of metrification is used. Metrification breaks the spell of the movie.

The Quiet Revolution

The Quiet Revolution The purpose of this paper is to analyze the aspects of The Quiet Revolution on Quebec, and how the changes implemented by Lesage made Quebec the province it is today. The Quiet Revolution was only quiet at name; it triggered many conflicts that appeared in Quebec. The province began to move away from Catholic Church with the help of nationalists, leaving Quebec reformed and quite different from how it was before the 1960’s. Before the Quiet Revolution, Quebec was majorly formed of rural population.They believed that rural was much better than urban, but due to large families and the lack of good land, it pushed most Quebeckers to move to the cities. By 1921, half of Quebec’s population was urbanized. Manufacture industries of textile and shoes located in Quebec, were attracting many Quebeckers to work. The schools of Quebec were owned by the Catholic Church, and were mostly run by priests, nuns and brothers. The Quiet Revolution was a period between 1960 and 1966; it was mainly a period of political, social and economic change (Winston Knoll Collegiate).The Union Nationale party was in power since 1944, it held conservative outdated values. The election of June 1960 was the beginning of revolutionary changes that were about to happened in Quebec. The election of June 22nd 1960, when the Liberal Party of Quebec ran by Jean Lesage finally won 51. 5% against Union Nationale. â€Å"The main issue of the election was indicated by the Liberal slogan, â€Å"It's time for a change†(The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2012)†. The government under Lesage began new era with open debates, changing the political electoral map so each urban area would be well represented.The government changed the voting age from 21 to 18. Lesage by increasing loans, made the budget grow from $745 million to $2. 1 billion in less than six years. The Baby Boom generation that had reached adolescence put a lot of pressure on Quebec’s poor educatio nal system; the role of Catholic Church was quite criticized and abolished pushing the government into creating a department of education, the Parent Report created a school system available to the entire population.One of the major accomplishments by the government in the economic sector was the nationalization of private electricity companies, an idea that was introduced by Rene Levesque, a minister of natural resources. The government of Jean Lesage encouraged industrialization, promoting investments and guaranteeing economic benefits through the buy-Quebec policy, all these objectives were met when Hydro-Quebec became the symbol of success and economic resources. The creation of â€Å"caisse de depot et placement du Quebec† triggered the creation of the Quebec pension plan, which immediately grew to billion dollars.Quebec’s favorite slogan that had huge improvements was the â€Å"maitres chez nous† (masters in our own house) which promoted and influenced fed eral-provincial relations. The demands that were imposed by Lesage were largely met. â€Å"Lesage forced the federal government to accept Quebec's withdrawal from several cost-sharing programs and to compensate Quebec fiscally (The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2012)†. Therefore Quebec was the only province that had the right to withdraw. Thus, the conflicts then rose between the English Canadians and the French Canadian. The federal Pearson Liberal government established the Royal Commission on bilingualism and biculturalism, which warned that Canada was passing through the greatest crisis in its history (The Quiet Revolution Changed Quebec Forver). Pearson liberal party to gain more strength and credibility hired three wise men; Jean Marchand, Gerard Pelletier and Pierre Eliott Trudeau. Quebec was gaining power and these changes made many different French Canadian nationalists for example; FLQ (Front de liberation du Quebec) believed that Quebec is a distinct society and worship s eparatism, which resulted in terrorism.In 1966, when Quebec faced elections they were confident of triumph, but the Union National had add changes to its image attracted more conservative voters and since the Quiet Revolution never really influenced the rural areas. On June 5th of 1966 the Union National won the elections against the Liberals. Although, the liberal party was elected in 1960 and defeated in 1966, Jean Lesage in 6 years of power had accomplished forceful changes; the French language took more place and importance in Canada, the welfare state; including the pension plan, Medicare and Hydro Quebec.The Quiet Revolution was an important point of reference in Quebec’s history; all governments elected in Quebec never omit to mention the importance and the positive consequences that it brought to Quebec. Words: 770 References 1. The Quiet Revolution changed Quebec Forever, http://www. llss. sd73. bc. ca/socials11/materials/chapter8/quiet_revn_changed_que_forever. pdf 2. October Crisis, The Quiet Revolution, http://www. historyofrights. com/flq1. html 3. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2012 http://www. thecanadianencyclopedia. com/articles/quiet-revolution

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY.#3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY.#3 - Essay Example The research aims at identifying whether there is difference in the learning of complex and simple rules between teacher-directed (explicit) and grammar-discovery (implicit) approaches and if such differences exist at different levels of proficiency such as beginners, intermediate and advance language learners. The study entailed quantitative study over 2-month period at three proficiency levels with pre-post and delayed-post tests. The number of participants was 70 and their ages ranged from 13 to 19 years. Two treatment groups (N=35 in each group) with different proficiency levels were administered 15-minute sessions 4-5 times a week over the entire period of study using same mini grammar quiz and writing prompt. Explicit treatment was teacher-directed with formal rules while implicit treatment was task-based and grammar-discovery. Chi-square data analysis was used to identify the differences in grammar learning gains. The findings indicated that instructional intervention increases the learning of grammar forms. For implicit instruction, the interaction increased learning due to opportunity to improve cognitive ability to unconsciously analyse materials. For explicitly taught group, findings demonstrate that adults use deductive reasoning and benefit from structural presentations and ability o relate new information with their L1. The results indicate the methods matter since explicitly-taught groups scored highly than implicitly-taught groups for the complex rules. This indicates explicit group’s cognitive approach resonates well with adult learners’ brains while implicit groups’ attempts to discover rules and assimilate forms through practice. I agree with the author that teachers can spend more time in teaching complex grammar rules through explicit methods and allow the students to induct the simple structures and rules of grammar. I was interested in this source since I believe it lays foundation on future studies on grammar instruction

Discuss the palace of Knossos as an architectural embodiment of Minoan Essay

Discuss the palace of Knossos as an architectural embodiment of Minoan cosmology and culture, focusing particularly on the relat - Essay Example The Palaces were built on the Kephala hill where it had easy access to the sea as well as the Cretan interior. The first palace was destroyed in 1700BC but it was rebuilt again. However, the second palace was destroyed by fire in 1350 never to be rebuilt again.1 The area around the palace was transformed into a sacred region with and it was not inhabited. The Palace of Knossos was magnificent and was a symbol of the civilization of the people of Minos. Its construction was massive and no other known architectural piece rivaled it in size during those times. The palace was architectural plans were equally sophisticated and there was remarkable use of luxurious materials. Advance techniques were used in building the Palaces which made them stand out in the entire Crete. The Minoans demonstrated their technological advancements in the design of the Palaces by incorporating features such as light wells, complex drainage and water systems. The Palace of Knossos was built to serve religiou s as well as administrative functions. Hence, its design was elaborate and it comprised of several sections to suit various functionalities. This paper aims to discuss the palace of Knossos as an architectural embodiment of Minoan cosmology and culture. Specifically, the relationship of the palace to nature as topography, orientation and temporality is evaluated. Also, the use of ornament and role of ritual are discussed in detail. Role of Ritual The extensive palaces of Knossos were concerned with practical pleasures and celebrations for the people. The palaces were designed to allow for social interactions and communicated the underlying social ideologies and order. It has been argued that the Palace of Knossos was designed as an architectural expression of the social concepts of the time.2 The West Wing was dedicated to public ceremonies and performances. The elaborate walkways in the West Wing create an impression that this was the focal point of movement. They served as process ion ways leading to the inner parts of the palace. The elevation of the walkways indicates that there was a separation of the performers and the audience. One of the processional ways in the palace, known as the Royal Road, led to a large elevated area that was probably used for the theatrical performances.3 On the south side there was a square paved bastion built against it equipped with a platform. The platform was positioned in such a way that people could actually observe actual performances from there. It is evident that the theatrical area was arranged in such way that it could allow viewing in three levels. Arguably, the Knossos palace architectural environment created social hierarchy which had been translated into spatial order. If the paved bastion was indeed sectioned for the most prominent figures in Minoan society, then the two flights of steps could have functioned, as they stand, for the elite closest to the representatives of the community. However, the hierarchical positioning of people according to status could also function to realign the socio-political fabric of the Neo-palatial period during ceremonies ideological in nature. Hence, the theatrical area could be able to function in two ways depending on the occasion. The architecture of the palace was dynamic making it capable to serve various social functions. The other evidence that the palace of Knossos served as a ritual centre is its interior