Our Italian Tradition It was Christmas Eve. I sat, huddled in a ball, behind the armchair in my living room. I was trying to be as still and patient as I could be. I remember moments where I held my breath thinking if she heard me breathe, she would leave and I would never get a chance to see her. I could feel myself drifting off to sleep, but I tried to resist. All I wanted was to see her just once. Usually, I would be scared at the thought of a witch, but she was different. She was a magical
Italian Mafia The Mafia was first developed in Sicily in feudal times to protect the estates of landlords who were out of town. The word Mafia, derived from the Sicilian word, Mafioso, means family. Today, Mafia is a name which describes a loose association of criminal groups. These groups can be bound together by blood, oath or sworn secrecy. Many people had considered the Sicilian Mafia as the most ruthless mobsters of the twentieth century. By the nineteenth century, the Mafia had become
Italian City The Renaissance was the period from 1350-1600. The Renaissance began first in the city-states of Italy for many reasons. Although most of Europe had become a big economic crisis during the late Middle Ages, Italy managed to avoid everything and their towns remained important centers of Mediterranean trade and boost their production of textiles and luxury goods. Town life was bigger in Italy than in other parts of Europe. Therefore, most Italians could easily discard feudalism and
The Italian Wars Italy was the background for outside powers between the French invasion of 1494 and the accession of Francis 1 in 1515 for different reasons. Between these years, the States of Italy were invaded on a number occasions by armies from France, Spain and other countries. At this time, the Italian States were very vulnerable; there were conflicts in Italy itself, they had out of date military equipment and Italy had insecure frontiers and unreliable allies – “That Italy failed to
The Renaissance 15th Century Italian Painters: Art Appreciation The Renaissance: 15th Century Italian Painters. So the first of three painters were going to explore today will start with a painter from the early Renaissance is Martin Schongauer. The piece we are going to talk about is the Temptation of Saint Anthony, 1480-1490. When you look at Schongauer’s work, who a son of a Goldsmith learned most of is skills from his father’s workshop. He became one of Italy’s
The Italian Renaissance "What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals!" Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2 Modern art critics regard renaissance art as graphic narratives of political and social events that occurred in the 14th through 16th century Europe. Scholars believe that the renaissance expressed a cultural revival
The Italian Wars The Italian Wars 1494-1559: - Introduction: The key issues over which the Italian Wars were fought were primarily financial incentives for Charles VIII of France. He declared that he intended to use Naples as a base to drive the Ottomans out of Europe and liberate Constantinople. In actual truth his main motivation was self-glory and the mouth-watering prospect of acquiring some exquisite prizes of war. On the way he would acquire rich cities and portable pieces of art. It
Italian unification 1) There were a number of reasons as to the fact that Italian unification seemed so far away in the early 1850s, and reasons why nobody felt that Italy as one state would ever be possible. There had been a number of attempted uprisings between 1948 and 49, however all of these had been unsuccessful. The area that is now Italy was still separate parts, each part with their own culture and traditions. Around ninety percent of the population were uneducated and many did not even
Morality and Egos in The Italian The gothic tradition loves to play with the morality of a character and this explains one's egotistical tendencies. In Radcliffe's Italian, no matter which side of the morality tree a character stands on, Satan has slipped a little pride in everyone's apple. The role of doubles begins before Poe popularizes it. Radcliffe works hard to create evil twins and/or corresponding halves to some of the characters in order to demonstrate the power of pride. The gender
to being Italian than the typical stereotypes that we have come to know from movies, television and books. From the Catholic mobsters who kill during the week but always make it to mass on Sunday, to the “how you doin” views of Joey from the television show “Friends”, people often forget the more important parts of being Italian. It is a culture like no other, full of history, art, and most importantly, their passion for food. Italian food, in my opinion, is the best in the world. Italians put so much
Italian Immigrants in America Ever since the United States was founded, immigrants have been arriving on its soil. The first white inhabitants of the U.S. were immigrants from Europe. They came for many reasons, such as religion and opportunity. As the country grew and became more prosperous, it became more enticing to foreigners looking for opportunity. This continued into the 20th century and finally during the 1920’s, the United States began to restrict immigrants from coming to their
Italian Unification The Internet definition of Risorgimento is the “Italian unification or Risorgimento is a political and social process that brought to the unification of the Italian peninsula into a single nation, between 19th and the beginning of 20th century” During the early years, secret societies, such as the Carbonari, appeared and carried on revolutionary activities. The Italians shared a common and language and history due to the Roman Empire and many Italians still had memories
The Deception and Destruction of Purity in The Italian Purity in the Gothic genre can be perceived from so many points of view. It involves sex, beauty, perception, and people's position in society. "The Italian" has many characters that behold either one or more of these traits. In this paper, we will explore how Ann Radcliffe uses purity and the deception and destruction of it to enhance her character's role in the Gothic genre. "The sweetness and fine expression of her voice attracted
of Foreshadowing in The Italian Anne Radcliffe incorporates many aspects of the Gothic into her novel, The Italian. In this book, one can find an exciting exploration of an exotic culture, a history of family secrets, subtle hints at supernatural forces at work, and Gothic architecture in both ruins and in the Inquisition prison. However, perhaps the most prominent feature of the Gothic used in this novel is the element of suspense. Radcliffe creates suspense in The Italian through a chain of foreshadowed
Italian neorealism also called the Golden Age of Italian Cinema, is a national film movement portrayed by stories set amongst poor people and the regular workers, filmed on location, frequently using non-professional actors. Italian neorealism movies for the most part fight with the troublesome financial and good states of post-World War II Italy, representing changes in the Italian psyche and conditions of everyday life, including poverty, oppression, injustice and desperation. It mirrored the changing
constitution which was not only key to unification but gave long term stability to Italy. Giuseppe Mazzini, often called “the beating heart of Italy” was the son of a doctor from Genoa in northern Italy. Early on he joined the occasionally violent Italian secret society, the Carbonari, where he developed his political aptitude. The Carbonari was instrumental in creating tensione in certain areas to spark a revolution. However soon it was exposed that Mazzini was affiliated with them, and so he was
The aim of this report is to discuss Italian Neorealism (Neorealismo); looking at how the movement played a significant element in European cinema during and after the times of Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime. The report not only looks at how but why Neorealism became a growing phenomenon for filmmakers during its debatable 10 year period, and what implication of messages these Neorealist directors were trying to send out through their films. Backed up by several reliable book sources, the evidence
My mother’s Italian dinner is a full display of her excellence in the kitchen. This meal is different from the others; it is immeasurably close to her heart. The preparation is old fashioned, bringing back memories of our ancestral history. The table is set beautifully- silverware and glasses sparkling on the tablecloth- and crystal carafes of wine filled to the brim (water for the kids of course). The whole family arrives. Adults conversing, kids running around, all waiting to hear the same message
Italian Immigrants During the late 1800's Italy became one of the most overcrowded countries in Europe. Many Italians began to consider the possibility of leaving Italy to escape the new low wages and high taxes. For centuries the entire Italian peninsula was divided into quarreling states, with foreign powers often controlling several states. In this chaotic situation, the feudal system ruled above the economic system, leaving money only in the hands of a select few (Wikepedia.com, 2007). The
Italian Immigration and the United States of America Today we live in a world of which some have come to understand where it all came from. So many different little contributions have accumulated over the years to create “today” in the United States of America. Not one factor is more important than the next, however, some have had a larger, lasting impact today. Immigration and racial discrimination have played the most important role as to why American society has altered. In 1917 America entered