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Why are the Irish so lucky? What is a leprechaun? Is there really gold at the end of a rainbow? And why does everyone drink green beer on St.
Patrick's Day? These questions all have one thing in common, they are myths from the Emerald Isle we all call Ireland. In this paper I will try to explain these myths through Ireland's people, their Celtic tradition, and their religion.
To understand the people of Ireland, you first need to understand where
Ireland is and what it's like there. Ireland is an island, to the West of
England. The climate in Ireland is rainy, year round. Ireland has a little bit of everything from the mountains and castles, to the coasts and pastures.
People first came to Ireland about 10,000 years ago. Ireland was one of the last parts of Europe to become inhabited. The people who came to
Ireland probably went across the land bridges that linked England to
Scotland, and Scotland to Ireland. These first people lived mostly along the coasts of Ireland eating berries, small animals, and shell fish. Then about
6,000 years ago, these tribes of people started to become more advanced and civilized. They raised cattle and sheep and farmed the land for crops. They also moved further inland and had very extravagant burial grounds. Next around 2000 BC, the Bronze age came upon Ireland. The Irish people quickly became infamous for their weapons made of metal, especially their swords.
This encouraged trade amongst other European countries, mainly England,
Spain, and Portugal. By 500 BC the Celtic people had started to invade
Ireland. The Celts as they were known were a very aggressive tribal group that originated as a Germanic tribe. They had defeated the Romans for a slight time period, but eventually they were run out of Europe. Their only safe haven was Ireland. For some reason, the Romans stopped their Empire at
England.
In Ireland, the Celtic people easily over threw the simple Irish tribes.
This happened for two main reasons, 1) The Celts were much better fighters, and 2) There was about five times as many Celts as there were Irish tribes men. The Celts were not just great fighters though, Roman writers described them as being 'lively, imaginative people fond of fighting and hunting as well as poetry and storytelling. They had a complex tribal community made up of chieftains, warriors, poets, and Druids, (the priests of their mystical
To begin with, some people would say they enjoy a horror movie that gets them scared out of their wits. They go see these movies once a month on average, for fun, each time choosing a newer sequel like “Final Destination” or “The evil Dead”. King says “When we pay our four or five bucks and seat ourselves at tenth-row center in a theater showing a horror movie we are daring the nightmare” (405). As a writer of best-sel...
In order to legitimise a regime or cause, traditions may be constructed around historical or mythological events, people or symbols that reinforce the image required to focus people’s conception of the past. People can be encouraged to invent a cohesive view of their shared ‘traditions’ by what could be called cherry picking bits of history.
The media in American society has a major influential impact on the minds and beliefs of millions of people. Whether through the news, television shows, or film, the media acts as a huge database for knowledge and instruction. It is both an auditory and visual database that can press images and ideas into people's minds. Even if the individual has no prior exposure or knowledge to something, the media can project into people's minds and leave a lasting impression. Though obviously people are aware of what they are listening to or watching, thoughts and assumptions can drift into their minds without even realizing it. These thoughts that drift in are extremely influential. The massive impact it can leave on America's perception leads to generalizations, assumptions, and stigmas. The media influence is not always negative, however. In most cases it has beneficial and positive aspects. Without the media, people would be drastically less informed and conscientious about major issues in the world around us. In some cases, however, the way the media portrays an issue can twist one's perception, leaving an assumption instead of a factual concept. Mental illness is one of the biggest concepts that the media has distorted due to the majority of portrayals the media presents. Mental health is extremely important and plays a key role in every individual's life. Yet it is also has millions of misconceptions. Mental illness is more common that one would like to believe. In reality, one in five Americans will suffer from a mental disorder in any given year. Though that ratio is about equivalent to more than fifty-four million people, mental illness still remains a shameful and stigmatized topic (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d.). The taboo of mental illness has an extensive and exhausting history, dating back to the beginning of American colonization. It has not been an easy road to say the least. Due to the endless efforts and research of certain foundations and individuals, the ideas and functions of mental health have improved significantly. The advancements made in the field are impressive and without them humankind would not be the same. Yet then why do only fewer than eight million people who are in need of help seek treatment? (National Mental Health Association, 2001). The history, stigmatization, and perce...
"Why We Crave Horror Movies” is an essay in which the auther, Stephen King, whos one of the most succesful horror witers, assumes that we as humans are mentally ill. ”I think that we’re all mentally ill; those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little better – and maybe not all that much better, after all.” King gives his reasoning as to why we make the independent decision to buy a ticket and watch other human beings get killed. In other words, why we go cinema to watch horror movies. Futhermore he explains that that people enjoy watching horror movies because they to keep our insane
What do you think of when you hear the name Ireland? Ireland is a relatively small island off the coast of Great Britain with a land area of 32,424 square miles (Delaney 2). There are several things that you may associate with this country such as St. Patrick’s Day, shamrocks, beer, and strife. The source of the bitterness behind this conflict began centuries ago, when Britain came over and forced Protestantism on the Irish Catholic inhabitants. For this reason there has always been an animosity between the Protestants and the Irish Catholics. The island is broken up into two distinct regions. The Republic of Ireland consists of twenty-six counties, which make up the southern region. This area is predominantly Roman Catholic. Northern Ireland is made up of the six northern counties, which are under British rule and predominately Protestant. Both sides use propaganda to spread their ideas and gain support. They each have organizations, such as the I.R.A., in the south, and the U.V.F., in the north, which use peaceful methods such as newspapers and murals along with violence to fight for their cause. In Northern Ireland the Protestants used their position in the government to spread anti-Catholic propaganda and persecute the Catholic citizens.
In his essay, “Why We Crave Horror Movies” King attempts to bring understanding to the phenomenon of the horror film genre. He states “sanity becomes a matter of degree” eluding to the theory that sanity is relative and that all humans are relatively insane. Jack the Ripper and the Cleveland Torso Murderer were the examples of humans on one extreme of the spectrum of sanity; saints represent the other safe end of the sanity spectrum. He illustrates the thought that in order for human kind to stay functionally sane there needs to be some sort of outlet for our violent “mad” thoughts. In King’s view horror movies provide a stable outlet and mental relief for innate madness. King argues that his insanity/ant civilization emotions are ingrained
“Why We Crave Horror Movies,” an essay by the legendary Stephen King, explains two challenging concepts to understand: why people like gory horror movies and how people are able to control their darkest desires. “I think that we’re all mentally ill; those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little better – and maybe not all that much better, after all.” King opens the essay by addressing the hard truth- we are all insane. People have dull lives, and often it’s the little bit of crazy within in us tha...
Ireland, from Being a Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick. N.d. TS. Swift, "" Web. 30 Nov. 2013. .
The idea of a zombie is made up and it comes from nzambi, the Kongo word for the spirit of a dead person. In states such as Louisiana, or the Creole culture they believe zombies represent a person who has dies and brought back to life with no speech. Kings psychological argument on how we have an urge to watch horror movies because it helps to re-establish our feelings and feel natural again. Klusterman’s sociological essay helped us see the comparison of zombies and humans in real life. In conclusion zombies are not real, they are make believe but help bring a sense of normality to
Diplomacy does not happen overnight, and the true tale of hardship and bickering over Northern Ireland is proof of that. Ireland and England failed to agree on who held the power of Northern Ireland for over 30 years until the Good Friday Agreement, a form of diplomacy between the countries, took place. Before that time, many soldiers and innocent citizens of Northern Ireland lost their lives. Religious fights broke out between Catholic and Protestant residents. Political figures from countries like Wales and the United States came together to help put an end to the bitter relations of the European countries (Delaney). After many years of hard feelings and failed attempts at bringing peace to Ireland and England, the countries came together to try to work things out. Slowly, Northern Ireland created its own identity, and the troubles started to fade away.
Most people gather what they know about mental illnesses from television and film. Unfortunately these media portrayals are inaccurate and create stigma. They depict people suffering from mental illnesses as different, dangerous and laughable. Characters are often addicted to drugs or alcohol, are violent, dangerous, or out of control. Horror film characters like Norman Bates in Psycho, Jack Torrance in the Shining, or Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs associate the typical 'psycho- killer' with people who suffer from a mental illness. But dramas and horror films are not the only film genres that create stigma. Comedies like What About Bob and many others not only stigmatize, they also make fun of mental illnesses and the people who suffer from them. This paper will discuss how the film Me, Myself & Irene is an inaccurate, offensive and stigmatizing portrayal of an individual suffering from schizophrenia. It also discusses what can be done to counteract the stigma created by these types of films.
Emily Shaw Snelgrove English 12 03/26/15 Eradicating Stigma Surrounding Mental Illness 1 in 4 people will experience some kind of mental illness each year (Mental Health Foundation). Though mental illness is so common there is an extreme stigma surrounding it. Unfortunately people dealing with mental illness not only have to deal with an arsenal of serious symptoms, but also with hurtful social and self-stigmas. Names like psycho, nutcase, and freak have been prevalent through society for years. These social stigmas increase the fear and shame in people who may be dealing with mental illness and soon develop into self stigmas such as: “I’m crazy” and “I can’t be helped.” Behaviors such as these reinforce the negative stereotypes that bombard society. Gaining an understanding of why there is a stigma, how inaccurate stereotypes are debilitating to the function of those with mental illnesses, and how recognizing social and self-stigma surrounding mental illness will be the first steps to eradicate this problem. People with mental disorders or illnesses are far more likely to be victims than perpetrators of crimes. However in newspapers and during media coverage violent criminals are often labeled psychos, maniacs, or schizophrenics. Media, television, and music often dramatize and portray people with mental illnesses inaccurately (Polatis.) “TV shows can also damage people 's perspective of mental illness by only showing the most extreme cases. When you do that with mental illness, you’re creating a stigma that stays with people because people don’t know what the illness is”(Polatis). At this current time when the media is so prevalent in society people’s opinions easily result from depiction displayed on T.V. or in gossip magazine...
McCann et al. Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1994, 95-109).
This notion is supported by “members of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill” who, when surveyed in a study, “consistently cited media sources as the perpetuators of mental illness stereotypes and stigma” (Diefenbach 183). The fact that the stigmas most commonly illustrated on television programs are also the ones held by society, further solidifies this cause-and-effect relationship. These stigmas include ideas that those who suffer from mental illnesses are “bizarre or dangerous...different from the rest of the population, potentially uncontrollable and threatening” and that “mental illness ends in tragedy...such as suicide” (Henson 556), all of which are presented by television programs for the sake of earning viewers. Even “the term ‘mental illness’ itself engenders fear and stereotypes of chronic disability” (Henson 555), once again proving that society 's discussion of this topic is not only inaccurate, but it is also offensive and detrimental to those suffering from various mental health issues. For instance, stigmas have the ability to prevent those with disorders from seeking treatment or even render them unable to realize that they suffer from a mental illness or require treatment in the first place. In addition, they allow for both prejudice and
During the twentieth century, Ireland was suffering through a time of economic hardship. “Economic growth was stagnant, unemployment was at a historic high and exceeded anywhere in the EU, except possibly Spain, and the state was one of the most indebted in the world” . Irish men and women who had received a formal education had immigrated to other nations due to the unavailability of jobs at home. This left Ireland in a state of further economic downfall, and the lack of skilled workers left Ireland stuck. The 1990’s were a turning point for Ireland. A rise in industry within the nation, as well as an increase in exports, led Ireland to become the “shining nation” in Europe. It became internationally linked with one of the biggest power nations, the United States, and international trade became Ireland’s new source for a booming economy. This brought the rise of what was known as the Celtic Tiger in Ireland.