Pre-Industrial Visual Cultures
I remember my father's futile attempts at trying to get me interested in Eastern philosophy. He got me cartoon versions of Zen philosophy and the teachings of Chinese philosophers, and would try to draw parallels between their ideas and what was going on in our lives. Unfortunately, I was more preoccupied with my telephone-marathons and other such pressing issues. The effect of his words on me was like water rolling off a duck's back.
As I got older and less oblivious to the world, old ways and ideas were no longer applicable and I found myself left with nothing to hold onto. My Christian background could not accommodate my intellectual and spiritual evolution - to question something even as fundamental as how our beings came into existence is blasphemy. I dislike how it encourages intellectual complacency and have problems with its inherently patriarchal and highly theatrical nature. The whole colorful and tragic production seems egotistical because the purpose of our existence is to worship God - and dire consequences await us should we do otherwise. And it doesn't matter if we were born in a non-western culture, where we will never hear the word 'Jesus'. It is still fire and brimstone for us for all of eternity through no fault of our own. It is not only very discriminating in the way the religion condemns the rest of the world but the whole production of creation and damnation seems really unnecessary if you think about it. Since God is supposedly all-knowing, he (assuming God is male - and no doubt white) must have known from the start that a part of his creation would acknowledge and worship him and the rest would be condemned to hell for eternity. Did he do it so he could say, "Oh, everything went as expected...too bad about all those in hell..." at the end of it all? The purpose of our existence in the Christian cosmos made no sense to me. Most of all, it's strange that all should be well and souls be saved as long as we obediently and unquestioningly follow some human interpretations (that Christians themselves cannot agree on) of some other human's words.
At the same time I had trouble dealing with the transience of all things and feeling like I fell out of a UFO by accident because I felt as though I did not resonate with any human profoundly.
That is, Eastern belief acknowledges the power of learning from others as the best way to reach enlightenment. It is not talking about each person responsibility to self-awareness, or self-teaching, but focusing on an idea of community. " The highest aim for their followers is to become aware of the unity and mutual interrelation of all thing. "(Atwood 12.)
...tion can be achieved from many perspectives, but the best one is achieved only through our own experiences. For Berry, it was hauling manure and enjoying the “natural consequences of working outdoors” that made him a happy worker. While for me, it was learning to fix and maintain a bike myself that left a thrilling legacy in which I am still proud of today.
receive it or truly understand it, we must learn in it our own path. “The Journey to The West"
Throughout America’s history, capital punishment, or the death penalty, has been used to punish criminals for murder and other capital crimes. In the early 20th century, numerous people would gather for public executions. The media described these events gruesome and barbaric (“Infobase Learning”). People began to wonder if the capital punishment was really constitutional.
Well-known author Jonathan Swift, in his article, “A Modest Proposal”, attempts to point out the flaws of the Irish economy through a satirical proposal to initiate the recovery of the economy. Swift’s purpose is to galvanize the public into helping itself by stabilizing the economic conditions. He adopts a satirical tone in order to convey the idea that the Irish must help themselves by reinforcing each other.
Lenin, M. Griffith classic: the making of birth of a nation, (2004). [Online] Available at http://www.leninimports.com/dw_griffith.html
During the 18th century Ireland was on a very serious crisis. Jonathan Swift decides to write “A Modest Proposal” as a satirical response to this crisis. In that essay he gives a solution for each of the problems that Ireland was having during that time. The main points that he wanted to discuss were domestic abuse, over population, poverty, thieves, and the lack of food. This crisis lead the great nation of Ireland into economical struggles. By all of this problems, the parents couldn’t maintain their children so they needed a solution. Now this incredible man comes with a solution that is going to blow your mind, Swift decides to give them a proposal. It was a really uncommon one but very helpful for them. This proposal is going to stabilize once again the country of Ireland.
Healthcare has now become one of the top social as well as economic problems facing America today. The rising cost of medical and health insurance impacts the livelihood of all Americans in one way or another. The inability to pay for medical care is no longer a problem just affecting the uninsured but now is becoming an increased problem for those who have insurance as well. Health care can now been seen as a current concern. One issue that we face today is the actual amount of healthcare that is affordable. Each year millions of people go without any source of reliable coverage.
An important communication tool was utilized during the Neolithic time. Cave drawings are essential to archeologists today because it is man’s method to illustrate the story of evolution. The symbols, colors, and locations will catch the eye of many, but the ultimate question still remains. How do the cave and rock drawings connect to the prehistoric times? Why is it important? Where is it located? The importance of Art presents archeologist with a picture into the Past. From Cave and rock art, to the preservation of the paintings, to finally the meaning behind the art, archeologists then can discover how people lived and what it was like back then.
Levit, K. R., & Cowan, C. A. (1991). Business, households and governments: Health care costs, 1990. Health Care Financing Review, 13 (2), 83. Retrieved from: Ashford University Library
A foundational belief in Christianity is the idea that God is perfectly good. God is unable to do anything evil and all his actions are motives are completely pure. This principle, however, leads to many questions concerning the apparent suffering and wrong-doing that is prevalent in the world that this perfect being created. Where did evil come from? Also, how can evil exist when the only eternal entity is the perfect, sinless, ultimately good God? This question with the principle of God's sovereignty leads to even more difficult problems, including human responsibility and free will. These problems are not limited to our setting, as church fathers and Christian philosophers are the ones who proposed some of the solutions people believe today. As Christianity begins to spread and establish itself across Europe in the centuries after Jesus' resurrection, Augustine and Boethius provide answers, although wordy and complex, to this problem of evil and exactly how humans are responsible in the midst of God's sovereignty and Providence.
In “A Modest Proposal,” Swift employs a satirical tone to mock both the callous attitudes towards the poor and the poor themselves. Swifts “modest” solution to the fiscal and social issues going on in Ireland is nothing but the opposite, as he proposes that the impoverished should sell their infants as food for money. In using the word “modest” to describe his proposal of eating Irish infants and/or offering their flesh as a source of clothing, Swift makes the sarcasm of his story evident from the beginning. By using such an inconspicu...
When going for a walk, a person takes in the beauty around them. On this particular day, the refulgent sun is extra bright, making the sky a perfect blue. White, puffy clouds fill the sky, slowing moving at their own pace. The wind is peacefully calm, making the trees stand tall and proud. There is no humidity in the air. As this person walks down the road, they see a deer with her two fawns. The moment is absolutely beautiful. Moments like this happen only once in a great while, making us wanting to stay in the particular moment forever. Unfortunately, time moves on, but only if there were some way to capture the day’s magnificence. Thanks to Joseph Niépce, we can now capture these moments and others that take our breath away. The invention of the camera and its many makeovers has changed the art of photography.
Art critic Robert Hughes once said, “People inscribe their histories, beliefs, attitudes, desires and dreams in the images they make.” When discussing the mediums of photography and cinema, this belief of Hughes is not very hard to process and understand. Images, whether they be still or moving, can transform their audiences to places they have either never been before or which they long to return to. Images have been transporting audiences for centuries thanks to both the mediums of photography and cinema and together they gone through many changes and developments. When careful consideration is given to these two mediums, it is acceptable to say that they will forever be intertwined, and that they have been interrelated forms of art, communication and entertainment ever since Thomas Edison successfully invented the first Kinetoscope in 1894. Photography itself, as well as the photographical aspects of cinema (cinematography), have influenced our society for decades and have literally shaped the pacing of our lives, changed what we think about and even what we think with.