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A narrative about dreams
A narrative about dreams
The interpretation of dreams is most closely associated with
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Dreams have been around since time began. The reason why they occur, even today, is a mystery. Debates have surrounded about whether dreams are meaningless or important. Since early history, people have recounted their dreams believing they were secret codes or messages. (Young) In Truman Capote’s novel In Cold Blood Perry, one of the killers, dreamed that he was saved by a bird that took him to a new place described as “paradise.” (Capote 93) Though the dreams made Perry feel superior, the meaning of his dream is fascinating but still a mystery. Dream interpretation has brought insight and knowledge to what a person’s subconscious can uphold. Experts have sought to explain what dreams actually contain. Although dream interpretation is criticized as ridiculous, numerous people believe interpreting dreams is important to figuring out their life and inner psyche. When someone says they have had a dream another may find it fascinating or completely dull. Dreams are a fascination because they reoccur often and sometimes change. No one can really explain why this happens but some are determined to find out how. Because of this curiosity and fascination, there are some researchers who find dreams enthralling enough to study them. As if dreams weren’t compelling enough, they found that a person goes through five stages of sleep: two steps of light sleep, two steps of deep sleep, and one stage of REM which translates into rapid eye movement. Researchers found when people wake up at different sleep stages give different recounts of their sleep, no matter what type of dream they just had. Since these stages happen, there are two types of dreams: REM dreaming and non-REM dreaming. REM dreams tend to have length, complexity, and hallucinatory... ... middle of paper ... ...fice, The US Library Of Congress, 2010-2013. Web. 27 Feb 2013. . Lewis, James R. The Dream Encyclopedia. New York: Gale Research, 1995. Print. Matalon, Nadav. “The Riddle of Dreams.” Philosophical Psychology 24. 4 (Aug 2011): p 517-536. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 27 Feb 2013. “Rescue.” Dreambible.com. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office, The UK Intellectual Property Office, The US Library Of Congress, 2010-2013. Web. 27 Feb 2013. < http://www.dreambible.com/search.php?q=rescue>. “Snakes.” Dreambible.com. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office, The UK Intellectual Property Office, The US Library Of Congress, 2010-2013. Web. 27 Feb 2013. . Young, Emma. “The I in Dreaming.” New Scientist 12 March. 2011: 209. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 27 Feb 2013.
Stephen King’s perception in “The Symbolic Language of Dreams” gave me a new, profound insight on dreams. On the other hand, his interpretations also made me realize how little is known about them and their significance to our lives.
A common definition of dreams according to “Patterns for College Writing” is “the symbolic representation of mental states”, but this sparse definition does not begin to encompass the complex mechanisms behind dreams and its effects on human culture around the globe. Dreams have long been the topics of folklore and urban legends. Since human beginnings, people have sought to uncover the origin of dreams. The ancient Greeks believed dreams came from the God Oneiroi. The Chinese believes that dreams happened when the hun or spirit leaves the body for the land of the dead. The Ishi Indians believed that dreams were sacred messages from the Gods. Yet even now, with the current technological and intellectual advancements, scientists and psychoanalysts have still to find the true reasons and meanings of these dreams. Some argue that dreams are the products of overactive subconscious minds while others argue that dreams are solely randomized emotions from the limbic system during sleep. Despite these contrasting theories, the truth of the matter is that the topic of dreams and the reasons behind them remain a mystery.
be examined as a whole process, the decay and ultimate elimination of a dream. Self
Dreams are incredible events that occur to each of us every single night. From lucid dreaming to nightmares, they’ve had a huge impact on life as we know it today, yet we’ve barely scratched the surface on knowing how they work and what they mean. Maybe it’s our brain trying to solve our life’s problems, or maybe it’s just a mess of thoughts and experiences from the past few days. No one really knows, and that’s why they’re so compelling.
Oprah Winfrey once said, “The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don't know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened.” But, what actually is a dream and what do dreams really have to do with one’s everyday life? In essence, a dream is a series of mental images and emotions occurring during slumber. Dreams can also deal with one’s personal aspirations, goals, ambitions, and even one’s emotions, such as love and hardship. However, dreams can also give rise to uneasy and terrible emotions; these dreams are essentially known as nightmares. In today’s society, the concept of dreaming and dreams, in general, has been featured in a variety of different mediums, such as literature, film and even music. While the mediums of film and music are both prime examples of this concept, the medium of literature, on the other hand, contains a much more diverse set of examples pertaining to dreams and dreaming. One key example is William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While the portrayal of dreams, in general, plays a prominent role in Shakespeare’s play, the exploration of many aspects of nature, allows readers to believe that dreams are merely connected to somewhat unconventional occurrences.
Have you ever wondered why you dream and how you can sometimes direct it? Maybe you have wondered if your dream has any true meaning to it. You are not the only person who has these questions. These questions come up a lot when psychologists discuss the topic of dreaming. The topic of dreams and lucid dreaming has been around for hundreds of years. There have been many books and journals solely devoted to dreams and how they affect people today. The goal for this paper is to answer and explain the questions (Why do you dream? Can you direct your dreams? And do dreams have meanings?) using journals, books, and other resources written by widely known psychologists such as Sigmund Freud.
The inner self of humans is a confusing and intriguing place, the unconscious mind reigns supreme here controlling the flow of information and selectively filtering it (Kluners 2014) as it becomes a conscious thought, a deeper understanding of the unconscious mind, its defenses, and a mechanisms such as a dream by which we can peer into the unconscious mind will help one to grow personally, (Newirth 2014) and to unlock the immense creativity (Perera 2013) and potential waiting to be unleashed.
It is universally known that dreams are full of meanings and emotions. In Freud’s theory, all dreams are wish fulfillments or at least attempts at wish fulfillment. The dreams are usually presented in an unrecognizable form because the wishes are repressed. Freud proposes there are two levels in the structure of dreams, the manifest contents and the latent dream-thoughts. The manifest dream, a dream with understandable contents, is a substitute-formation that hides latent dream-thoughts, which are the abstract ideas in dreams. This translation of latent dream-thoughts to the manifest dream-content is defined by Freud as “dream-work”. Dream-work consists of certain types of transformation.
During prescientific days, dreams were interpreted as ‘manifestations’ of a ‘higher power’. Since the introduction of psychology, dreams have had 4 distinct interpretations. The first interprets dreams as a “liberation of the spirit from the pressure of external nature”. The second interprets dreams as “accidental disturbances from ‘internal organs’. The third interprets dreams as a foretelling of the future. The last interpretation is Freud’s. He interprets dream as an expression of subconscious desires.
In this paper I hope to open a window to the vast and mysterious world of dreaming. To most people, information about dreams isn’t common knowledge. In researching this subject though, I found that everybody has and reacts to dreams, which are vital to your mental health. You will also find how you can affect your dreams and how they affect you.
Wilson, K. (2005). Introduction to Sigmund Freud’s Theory on Dreams. Retrieved November 4, 2013, from http://dreams.insomnium.co.uk/dream-theory/introduction-freud-theory-on-dreams
Dreams have been thought to contain significant messages throughout many cultures. A dream is an unfolding sequence of perceptions, thoughts, and emotions that is experienced as a series of real-life events during sleep. The definitions of dreams are different among studies, which can also lead to quite different results. Perhaps, the dream interpretation has becoming increasingly popular. In this paper, I will talk about what I have learned about three different views of dream interpretations. One theory made by Sigmund Freud who believed that dreams are triggered by unacceptable repressed wishes, often of a sexual nature. He argued that because dreams we experience are merely disguised versions of people real dreams. The other theory called activation–synthesis theory, made by Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley, based on the observation that during REM sleep, many brain-stem circuits become active and bombard the cerebral cortex with neural signals. The last theory, proposed by William Domhoff, is called the neurocognitive theory of dreaming, which demonstrates that dream content in general is continuous with waking conceptions and emotional preoccupations. Thus, dreaming is best understood as a developmental cognitive achievement that depends upon the maintenance of a specific network of forebrain structures. While each theory has different belief system and approach method, it is a great opportunity to know how former psychologists contributed to the field of dream interpretation.
Porter, Laurence M. The Interpretation of Dreams: Freud's Theories Revisited. Boston, Mass.: Twayne, 1987. Print.
IV. (Preview Main Points) Although we have experienced countless dreams in our lifetime, do we ever stop to think: how dreams occur? How dreams affect our lives? Do dreams even mean anything? Today in my informative speech about dreams, I hope to enlighten you about dreams forming in our minds, the importance of dreams, and lastly the interpretations of dreams.
In 2004–2005, the Penn Humanities Forum will focus on the topic of “Sleep and Dreams.” Proposals are invited from researchers in all humanistic fields concerned with representations of sleep, metaphors used to describe sleep, and sleep as a metaphor in itself. In addition, we solicit applications from those who study dreams, visions, and nightmares in art or in life, and the approaches taken to their interpretation. We also welcome proposals about the effects of dreaming on the dreamer, and the resulting emotions, behaviors, and actions taken or foregone in response to dreams. In this Forum on Sleep and Dreams, we will see how the diversity of academic disciplines can help answer important questions about sleep and dreaming—questions that may touch the basis of human intellect.