Free Essays on Gotic Cathedrals

Gothic Cathedrals â€Å"Throughout the earlier half of this millennium, one of the grandest stories in European history was written†¦ primarily in stone,† (Gothic Dreams 1). The Gothic age was a time of overwhelming change in the area of architecture. The origin of intellectual and religious life consumed definitively from monasteries to cities, making gothic art much more democratic. Art had to also serve a dictatic purpose during a time where few people could read or write (Norwich 114). Italian Renaissance writers originally used the word gothic as a derogatory term for all architects and artists in the middle ages, which were compared to the works of the barbarian Goths. Although now the Gothic Age is considered Europe’s internationally acclaimed, it began as a regional phenomenon (Kleiner 488). The gothic style was first recognized in northern France around 1140 A.D., during the last major medieval period, immediately following the Romanesque period. Gothic art would dominate European architectural development for nearly four hundred years (Gothic Dreams 1). These advances that were made in the cathedrals were regarded not as distortions of the classical style, but as images of the City of God, the Heavenly Jerusalem, which they had built on earth. While bishops erected great new cathedrals reaching to the skies. The structural miracle was achieved as the result of man’s ceaseless striving to build vertically (Norwich 115). â€Å"The high vault, functionally so unnecessary, was mainly responsible for the cathedral taking the particular form that they do,† (Norwich 115). A new spirit had been leashed: less cloistered and introspective, more confident and optimistic. These churches Were symbols of civic pride, and for the first time since the very beginning of Christian art, an appreciation of nature. The growth of towns particularly in France, as they became more prosperous, wanted their own churches, c... Free Essays on Gotic Cathedrals Free Essays on Gotic Cathedrals Gothic Cathedrals â€Å"Throughout the earlier half of this millennium, one of the grandest stories in European history was written†¦ primarily in stone,† (Gothic Dreams 1). The Gothic age was a time of overwhelming change in the area of architecture. The origin of intellectual and religious life consumed definitively from monasteries to cities, making gothic art much more democratic. Art had to also serve a dictatic purpose during a time where few people could read or write (Norwich 114). Italian Renaissance writers originally used the word gothic as a derogatory term for all architects and artists in the middle ages, which were compared to the works of the barbarian Goths. Although now the Gothic Age is considered Europe’s internationally acclaimed, it began as a regional phenomenon (Kleiner 488). The gothic style was first recognized in northern France around 1140 A.D., during the last major medieval period, immediately following the Romanesque period. Gothic art would dominate European architectural development for nearly four hundred years (Gothic Dreams 1). These advances that were made in the cathedrals were regarded not as distortions of the classical style, but as images of the City of God, the Heavenly Jerusalem, which they had built on earth. While bishops erected great new cathedrals reaching to the skies. The structural miracle was achieved as the result of man’s ceaseless striving to build vertically (Norwich 115). â€Å"The high vault, functionally so unnecessary, was mainly responsible for the cathedral taking the particular form that they do,† (Norwich 115). A new spirit had been leashed: less cloistered and introspective, more confident and optimistic. These churches Were symbols of civic pride, and for the first time since the very beginning of Christian art, an appreciation of nature. The growth of towns particularly in France, as they became more prosperous, wanted their own churches, c...

Everything Changes Too Fast to Worry About It All Right Now

Everything Changes Too Fast to Worry About It All Right Now I received yet another email telling me how online promotion has changed. A message telling me how I need yet another podcast, book, or blog series about how to sell my book differently in order to do well. I deleted it. And Ill continue to delete them. . . for now. Because right now Im writing. Im into Chapter 8 for one book, and Chapter 6 in another. (Yes, for some strange reason Ive tackled two books at once.) I lay my head on the pillow at night purposefully with a scene in my mind so that my subconscious  will work out the kinks. I often pop awake with ideas. Or maybe I dont, but when I sit to write, more ideas still happen to flow. But study now about how to market a book that isnt close to being published? Nope. Delete. Delete. Delete. But were supposed to be marketing around the clock, if you read the gurus online. I swear there are more gurus than there are novelists. But Im deep into plot, sculpting dialogue, infusing the senses and depth into character. . . honing the twists. Im making magic. I have no time for lessons on becoming a salesman. No, Im not procrastinating. Really, Im not. Im making a conscious decision to conserve and preserve my talent and energies for the story. We learn a new language best from immersion into the culture. Where everyone and everything around us is about that language, and we are forced to adopt it, embrace it, and become fluent in it. Which doesnt happen when we are half one language and half another. Besides, per the emails I received just today, in reading just the subject headers before I deleted them, apparently Amazon Marketing has changed, BookBub marketing came up with new methods, and Facebook Advertising takes a new sort of deft hand to not lose your shirt. So why worry about marketing now when it will become a different animal Sometimes you just write.

Power Struggle in the Victorian Era as Reflected in My Last Duchess Essay

Power Struggle in the Victorian Era as Reflected in My Last Duchess - Essay Example Browning was born in England in 1812, to an average Christian family. His father owned a rare book collection from which Robert acquired the love of books and inspiration to write. As a little boy, he was said to have learned to read at the age of five. He received education in the arts mainly at home and learned greatly from his father. His mother endowed him with belief in God which he carried on for life. Moreover, Browning is known to be the loving husband of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who is also a well-known poet. These considerations guide readers to the thought that Browning’s theme in My Last Duchess is mainly inspired by the poet’s observation of his society. My Last Duchess illustrates the battle of the sexes in the Victorian Period. It presents the monologue of a duke who can be considered psychologically ill as he recalls the memory of his dead wife, who he kills himself. As Friedrich (656) claims, the duke in the poem is the Duke of Ferrara of Italy whose wife was rumored to be poisoned. In the poem, although the death itself of the duchess draws much interest from the audience, the seeming calmness of the Duke presents a deeper controversy. The speaker discusses his wife’s qualities as he shows his visitors a painting of the Duchess. Although he speaks calmly, his speech is marked with hesitations and contradictions (Mannle (3). He asks his guests to sit down yet seems to be ordering them, saying, â€Å"Will 't please you sit and look at her?† He asks the guests to sit down not to relax while looking at the portrait of the Duchess but instead to allow him to justify his thoughts and actions, to convince his guests to affirm him of his decision to kill his wife. The Duke attempts to convince his audience by telling them the negative qualities of his wife. He claims, †¦She had A heart . . . how shall I say?.. too soon made glad, Too easily impressed; she liked whatever She looked on, and her looks went everywhere. (21-24) The duke claims that his wife was too friendly and easily impressed, â€Å"too soon made glad, too easily impressed†(22-23). From these lines, readers can sense the jealousy of the duke. He implies that his wife was never satisfied with him, with the things he gave, and still looked at other men. Thus, he says, â€Å"Sir, 'was not/Her husband's presence only, called that spot/Of joy into the Duchess' cheek†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (14-15). In saying these, the duke reveals his struggle to please the Duchess, which is a sign of a power struggle. The power struggle is further reflected as the Duke recalls his wife’s unethical behavior. He narrates, †¦--and if she let Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse, E'en then would be some stooping; and I choose Never to stoop. Oh, sir, she smiled, no doubt, Whenever I passed her; but who passed without Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped togethe r. (39-46)  Ã‚  

The Divergence of U.S. and UK Takeover Regulation Essay - 1

The Divergence of U.S. and UK Takeover Regulation - Essay Example who decides the rules of takeover in both countries. Rules of takeover in the UK are the outcome of the self regulation where interests of institutional investors play an important role while on the other hand the US judicial setup holds the responsibility of takeover rules and thus, limiting the influence of shareholders over making of rules. In the UK, shareholders’ perspectives play an important role in deciding about takeover bids and thus, takeover regime is â€Å"privatized†. Easterbook and Fischel proposed limited capability of managers to defend takeovers which did not become part of practice in the US after its dismissal by the Delaware Court and takeover decisions are still based on decisions made by those who manage businesses and they are allow to undertake several types of defense actions such as the â€Å"poison pill† or shareholder rights plan to undermine bidder’s stake. These tactics are prohibited in the UK and without the consent of shar eholders managers cannot maneuver any tactic in defense. However, in the UK managers are allowed to make use of â€Å"embedded defenses† which may involve issuance of dual-class voting stock or several other ways to take action before any bidder takes an offensive position (Armour and Skeel). Takeovers do not always result in higher returns for shareholders therefore it seems more appropriate to leave the decision in case of takeover to shareholders as in the UK. However, it is noted that the number of takeovers in the US has been greater than the UK. There could be several reasons including the veto power of directors who may feel that they are not entitled to sufficient incentives from the shareholders. In the UK, bidder can lodge a protest against managers’ actions to the Takeover Panel comprising of representatives from LSE, BOE, major banks and institutional investors. There is a greater flexibility in dealing of this Panel and limited

Media and Masculinity Essay Example for Free

Media and Masculinity Essay Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memahami dan mendeskripsikan: (1) Konstruksi maskulinitas pada majalah laki-laki gaya hidup FHM. Tujuan tersebut dilengkapi dengan penjelasan realitas sosial yang melatarbelakangi hadirnya majalah laki-laki FHM (global dan lokal/Indonesia); (2) Konstruksi maskulinitas pembaca terkait dengan maskulinitas FHM. Penelitian ini menggunakan paradigma konstruktivis dengan kajian teoretis pada teori konstruksi sosial atas realitas (termasuk juga teori interaksionisme simbolik, dramaturgi dan semiotika), teori media massa dan konstruksi sosial, audiens dan pengkonstruksian makna, majalah laki-laki, dan teori-teori maskulinitas (jender). Penelitian dilakukan dengan menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan menggunakan sasaran studi majalah FHM, pembaca FHM di kota Solo dan Yogya, reviu media (akses internet) serta buku-buku literatur. Reviu media serta buku-buku literatur tersebut dikaitkan dengan realitas sosial yang melatarbelakangi hadirnya majalah laki-laki gaya hidup secara umum di mana FHM merupakan salah satu diantaranya. Teknik sampling yang digunakan untuk studi majalah dan pembaca adalah purposive sampling. Untuk majalah, dilakukan dengan menggunakan teknik maximum variation terhadap rubrik-rubrik tetap yang menghadirkan maskulinitas yang kontradiktif dengan maskulinitas tradisional. Terbitan yang diperiksa adalah FHM edisi perdana (September 2003) s/d April 06. Hal ini dilakukan agar memperoleh gambaran variasi konstruksi maskulinitas yang secara konsisten disampaikan majalah melalui seluruh terbitannya. Setelah menemukan variasi maskulinitas tersebut peneliti membagi rubrik-rubrik tetap yang dimaksudkan ke dalam area-area maskulinitas yang mewakili mereka. Dalam masing-masing rubrik tetap, tidak  semua artikel yang ada sepanjang terbitan yang diteliti akan diambil. Tapi akan diambil artikel tertentu yang dianggap peneliti memiliki variasi ‘teks’ paling lengkap yang ditujukan untuk dapat membahas maskulinitas tertentu secara lebih komprehensif. Untuk pembaca dilakukan purposive sampling dengan kriteria pembaca yang membeli rutin majalah minimal telah membaca selama setahun serta masih berlangsung sampai dengan saat penelitian berlangsung. Pencarian pembaca ini dilakukan melalui milis fhmindonesia, agen-agen majalah dan informasi yang diperoleh dari teman. Pengumpulan data untuk studi majalah dilakukan dengan menggunakan teknik analisis media yaitu menggunakan analisis wacana yang difokuskan pada jender. Sementara itu pengumpulan data untuk studi pembaca dilakukan dengan menggunakan teknik wawancara mendalam dan pengamatan berperan pasif (observasi). Hasil-hasil penelitian dapat dikemukan sebagai berikut: (1) Studi terhadap majalah dan pembaca menunjukkan bahwa majalah laki-laki FHM menampilkan  progressive masculinity (androgyn). That is the masculinity which developes femininity. Yet this magazine still emphasizes the traditional masculinity. The finding which shows the masculinity proggressivity (androgyn) is: (a) Manly character â€Å"Metrosexual† (body image area); (b) â€Å"The equality pattern in the interpersonal relationship between man and women (interpersonal area); (c) The character â€Å"Emotional Man† (emotional area); (d) The character â€Å"FashionedTechno Masculinity† (intellectual area); (e) The character â€Å"Caring Man† in the sexual relationship affairs (sexual area); (f) The lost of man’s role as a breadwinner/a maker a living (functional area). The magazine presents the man’s image as â€Å"Single Blessedness Forever† owns a chance to wish of pleasure for himself and leads the exciting consumption activities; (g) The masculinity with the character â€Å"Social Butterfly† (pleasure area). (2) The progressive masculinity in the fixed rubric on sexual areas as mentioned above are also considered still emphasizing to the the traditional masculinity values: (a) Constructing manly/masculinity as a gender which is ‘having’ (‘to have’) relationship; (b) Constructing manly as a voyeur (a man obtains the sexual satisfaction from gazing woman’s sexual activities) and the texts of woman as a gazed object by man/male gazing. (3) FHM magazine is born in the middle of the rising of a new gender which is called â€Å"Metrosexual† (women-oriented man) as the influence of the success of global feminist movement. (4) Studies on the readers shows that they objectivate  the magazine’s masculinity. It means that readers accept the magazine progressive masculinity as an objective reality. The objectivation of magazine’s masculinity can not be separated from the individual masculinity experiences which are obtained through the socalization of family’s values, peer group, work surroundings, society dan the other media. This matter explains two issues: the first, the magazine’s masculinity objectivation by the readers are always negosiated by individual experiences. The second, magazine’s masculinities is not a new issues at all for the readers, but it is already observed in the daily life (peer group, work surroundings, general society) and the socialization of the other media, so, refer to that explanations the magazine functions is empahasizing the masculinity. Eventhough the magazine offers the new masculinity or the progressive masculinity at the same time, which looks contradictive against the traditional masculinity (which has been normalized), the interaction between the readers and the magazine is dynamic, a competition between push and pull. The interaction result is there is a push toward and a pulling the readers on masculinity which is offered by the magazine. (5) Studies on the readers also shows that readers objectivy traditional masculinity on sexual areas, which means that: (a) Manly/masculinity as a gender which is ‘having’ (‘to have’) relationship; (b) Manly as a voyeur (a man obtains the sexual satisfaction from gazing woman’s sexual activities) and the texts of woman as a gazed object by man/male gazing. (6) Masculinity is â€Å"a classed masculinity,† the objectivication toward the magazine’s masculinity can not happened absolutely because of the existence of some factors which are obstacles such as: economy, interest, necessity, job and marital status.

Electric Vehicles: :: Essays Papers

Electric Vehicles: Current Uses: Currently electric vehicles are slowing becoming popular with some already on show room floors. Furthermore, there are many enthusiasts and groups that have really been pushing their use. Tough these cars do not share the same performance qualities of some gas-powered cars; the current technology has been rapidly catching up. Hybrid vehicles have offered in some ways the best of both worlds. The cars are environmentally friendly yet offer the power and distance capabilities of other cars on the market. Furthermore, there have been many ways of supplying electricity to the cars including home-rechargeable batteries and hydrogen power. Electric vehicles are a definite possibility for the future because they have the lowest emissions while driving. Groups like E-Vermont are independent interest groups that have gotten together to try to use this technology and increase other’s understanding of it. These interest groups are becoming very popular and many of them have found ways to transform normal automobiles into electric vehicles. Furthermore, groups like this get together and have a race to showcase the alternate fuel technologies that exist in the world today. The most well-known of these races is the Tour-De-Sol. This competition and festival highlights every form of transportation that promises less gas or oil use. This event helps to show the progress that has been made in electric vehicle technology. Many of the people who are part of this use electric vehicles in one form or the other. Some of them use a hybrid form while others stay strictly to a battery-charged electric vehicle. Most people do not know but electric vehicles are out there for people to use. They have not yet replaced the internal-combustion engine as the vehicle of choice for most but electric power does have its place in the world. Electric Vehicles are focused into two basic categories: niche markets and environmentally conscious households. These are both small parts of the economy but it is still important to note that they have been successful in some areas. There is a good chance that growth can occur from these two arenas, but only time will tell. The niche market includes vehicles such as golf carts, city municipal vehicles and warehouse vehicles. A niche market is formed when the dominating technology, though possibly superior, cannot meet special requirement. In these cases it is the pollution caused by gas-powered vehicles that is such as problem.

Death of a Nation Essay

Clifford Dowdey’s Death of a Nation: The Story of Lee and His Men at Gettysburg is a military history examining the Confederate loss at this epic battle, particularly the decision-making process and the Southern commanders’ failure to perform up to their potential. Partly a fawning defense of Robert E. Lee and partly an insightful study of why the South even dared invade the North, it demonstrates the author’s Southern bias without trying to justify slavery, as well as Dowdey’s fusion of history and storytelling. The book looks almost exclusively at the Civil War’s largest battle, in which Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia invaded the North in hopes of scaring Lincoln into halting the war and recognizing the Confederacy. Instead, as Dowdey’s title implies, it proved the Confederacy’s apex as a military power, beginning its two-year decline and ultimate collapse. Dowdey, a native of Richmond, Virginia, who produced numerous histories and novels about the Civil War, takes a decided pro-Southern stance and offers a rather generous view both of the Confederacy, never approaching its defense of slavery, and of Lee, the inventive, chance-taking commander who proved the South’s greatest leader. The first chapter, â€Å"Rendezvous with Disaster,† conveys in its title how Dowdey sees the battle, yet he is loath to blame Lee for the loss. He opens with an account of Confederate troops invading Pennsylvania, depicting them not as a menacing enemy but as a somewhat merry band: â€Å"[The] Confederate soldiers had not committed acts of vandalism or abused the inhabitants. On the contrary, the troops had been highly good-humored in the face of taunts and insults† (3). The author then introduces the general as a striking, almost godlike figure, quoting an officer who deemed him â€Å"a kingly man whom all men who came into his presence expected to obey† (5); this description recurs throughout the book. Subsequent chapters describe the buildup and the battle itself. In chapter two, â€Å"The Opening Phase,† Dowdey portrays the decision-making process that led to Lee’s invasion of Pennsylvania as a Jefferson Davis-engineered travesty, â€Å"a necessary expedient in the policy of static, scattered defensiveness† (27). The author considers Lee almost a victim of Davis’ vanity, rigidity, and inability to admit his own lack of military expertise, and he absolves the man he believes â€Å"embodied the image of the patriarchal planter who, as military leader, assumed benevolent responsibility for his domain† (33). Throughout the battle, which dominates much of the book, Dowdey introduces Lee’s subordinates as characters in a novel or drama, describing their personalities in lively, even somewhat chatty detail. Jeb Stuart, whose cavalry failed in its reconnaissance duties before the fighting began, appears as a capable soldier who refused to believe he erred; Richard Ewell is a crusty but soft-hearted eccentric whose marriage softened his fighting skills; and John B. Hood is â€Å"a fighter, not a thinker† (174). He reserves his harshest criticisms for James Longstreet, deeming the lone general to openly question Lee’s decision to wage the unwise assault best known as Pickett’s Charge, a lying defeatist. Dowdey claims that â€Å"objective historians and Longstreet partisans have tried to re-evaluate him outside the text of controversy. This is almost impossible. . . . Many other men performed below their potential at Gettysburg, but only James Longstreet absolved himself by blaming Lee† (340). By the end of the book, one realizes that Dowdey will not concede that the figure he admires may have simply made fatal errors at Gettysburg. Dowdey’s descriptions of the battle cover the three days in a generally accurate but not original manner. He alternates between broad, sweeping pictures of dramatic combat and close-up accounts of individual Confederate units and soldiers. (He gives little mention to Union action throughout the book, making clear that his sole interest is depicting Lee’s army and not providing a holistic history of the battle. ) Though his approach provides reliable but not groundbreaking information, Dowdey makes clear that he considers Lee’s defeat not the venerable commander’s fault (despite his own tendency to take long chances against the larger and better-armed Union Army), but rather his subordinates’ inability to perform as competently as they had in previous battles. In this account, Stuart’s ego kept him from realizing he failed in his scouting duties, A. P. Hill lost his usually strong will, Richard Anderson staged a poor excuse for an assault on Cemetery Ridge with undisciplined, poorly-led Carolinian troops (rather than the Virginians that Dowdey, the Virginian, favors), and Ewell did not adequately prepare his troops for their attack. While Dowdey concedes that Lee, â€Å"alone in the center of the vacuum, could not have been less aware of the total collapse of co-ordination† (240). However, he implies, Lee’s unawareness was not his fault, but that of usually-reliable subordinates who curiously failed all at once. The work ends somewhat abruptly, with Lee’s broken army withdrawing from Pennsylvania after Pickett’s failed charge (in which the general whose name it bears appears as a minor figure) and returning to Virginia; the author offers no broad conclusion or explanation of the battle’s meaning within a larger context. Dowdey, primarily a fiction writer and college instructor who also produced numerous histories of the Army of Northern Virginia, approaches the work with a storyteller’s vigor and flair, writing this history with a novelist’s attention to visual details and his characters’ personalities and quirks. Frequently, he aims to stir the reader’s attention by adding what his characters may have said or thought in rich, occasionally overstated terms. For example, he deems Ewell â€Å"this quaint and lovable character† (121); Jubal Early becomes â€Å"the bitter man [who] became as passionate in his hate for the Union as he had formerly been in its defense† (123); and Union general Daniel Sickles (one of the few figures for whom he shows genuine scorn) is â€Å"an unsavory, showy, and pugnacious character from New York who went further on brassy self-confidence and politicking . . . than many a better man went on ability† (203). In trying give his characters personality, Dowdey writes often picturesque and lively prose but also offers a somewhat distorted picture that more detached academic historians may find objectionable. For example, while Lee can do no wrong, Jefferson Davis, the Confederacy’s much-reviled president, appears as nearly as much a villain as Longstreet. Of Davis, Dowdey writes: â€Å"The crisis [in the South’s military fortunes] was caused largely by the defense policies of the president. . . . Among the limitations of this self-aware gentleman was an inability to acknowledge himself in the wrong† (14). As a Lee apologist, Dowdey implicitly blames David for the South’s collapse, though he wavers on this by adding: â€Å"Lincoln had at his disposal unlimited wealth, the organized machinery of government, a navy, the war potential of heavy industry, and a four-to-one manpower superiority. Davis led a disorganized movement in self-determinism composed of proud and fiercely individualistic provincials (15-16). Dowdey comments little about the South in general and does not directly glorify the Southern cause, though he also refrains from any mention of slavery or racism. He seems to simply accept the South as it was, writing his works to illustrate a particularly regionalist sense of pride, if not in its plantation past, then certainly in Lee, its most shining example of military leadership and manhood. He reveals, perhaps unintentionally, his own sense of romance about the South when he writes: â€Å"In a land where the age of chivalry was perpetuated, the military leader embodied the gallantry, the glamour, and the privilege of the aristocrat in a feudal society† (15). Characters like Lee, he implies, gave the South respectability and nobility, while lesser individuals, like the supposedly duplicitous, disloyal Longstreet and the rigid, arrogant Davis, somehow stained it and failed to match its ideals. Despite Dowdey’s biases, he cannot be faulted for failing to do research. He includes a short bibliographic essay at the end, explaining his sources’ strengths and limitations. In addition to using many secondary sources, he relies heavily on participants’ personal documents, such as letters and memoirs, though he concedes that â€Å"the eyewitness accounts are subject to the fallibility of memory, and many of the articles suffer the distortion of advocacy or indictment† (353). This last comment is telling, because Dowdey himself neither advocates nor indicts the Old South, but rather aims to depict the military aspects. The result is a work that shows clear fondness for the South’s self-image as an embattled land of chivalry, but to his credit, Dowdey does not excoriate the North or its leaders. Lincoln scarcely appears in this volume, but the author pays some compliments to Union generals whom historians have seen less favorably, such as Joseph Hooker (whom Lee soundly defeated at Chancellorsville) or George Meade (who won at Gettysburg but failed to pursue and destroy the remains of Lee’s army as it withdrew). Death of a Nation is not a comprehensive history of the battle of Gettysburg, but neither does it claim to be. Instead, it is an often-entertaining, well-researched account of the Southern side’s participation, including its ill-starred behind-the-scenes planning and the personal dynamics among the commanders who underperformed at this key point in the war. Though Dowdey’s conclusion is so brief as to be unsatisfactory, one can draw one’s own conclusion from this volume’s title and the battle it describes: that defeat at Gettysburg meant the Confederacy’s failure to win its nationhood. Dowdey does not openly lament this fact, but instead shows the process that made this failure a reality. Dowdey, C. (1958). Death of a Nation. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.