Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being Essay Example for Free
Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being Essay In Milan Kundera’s novel, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, the author uses plenty of literary elements to tie together his points in an effort to help readers understand the basic premise behind the work. Though there are plenty of literary themes that can be found throughout the work, the most important ones are the themes that Kundera uses, as well as the characters in the novel. By creatively using these things in his work, Kundera helps explain what might have otherwise been a fairly complex ideal. In addition, the author is able to tie these things together to create a measure of clarity for readers as they progress through the work.            Theme is used in the novel to get across the basic ideas that the author is set on impressing into the reader. Since the novel relies mostly on ambiguous ideas to get across hard to find points, the utilization of different themes are critically important to the development of the story. As one might expect from the title of the work, Kundera uses lightness and the idea of weight as one of the primary themes throughout the book. Even in the title, one can see the dichotomy that exists. Lightness in itself is not something that should be too heavy to bear. Yet, the author is able to masterfully intertwine these two ideas to convey the point of his story. Through the entire work, the characters of the book are searching hard within themselves to find a solution to the primary question presented in the title. Their search for the important things in life is done in order to both find meaning and relieve themselves of some of the heaviness that their being light creates.            Another important theme that the author uses is politics. Though the characters carry on with their lives throughout the work, they are constantly linked to both each other and to their collective pasts by their underlying political beliefs. A good example of this can be found on page 123 of the novel, when Sabina receives word that the political situation in Prague has cost Tomas and Tereza their lives. The book reads, â€Å"She could not get over the news. The link to her past had been broken†(123). English expert Jay Braiman describes a literary theme as, â€Å"The main idea or message conveyed by the piece†(Braiman). It is clear in the story that the author uses both politics and the idea of weight as the main idea in the work. The desire to escape from the weight of life was something that drove each of the characters, while politics served as a main idea in trying all of the characters together.            Characters were the second literary element used by the author to create the work. Not only do the characters power the action, but they shed a little bit of light into the what the other characters were thinking. Simply having characters is not enough to establish something as an important literary element. As the author clearly understood, the characters must be used in the most efficient, useless way possible in order to help push the idea of the story forward. The characters in this novel are not just there for an arbitrary reason. Instead, they play an active role in the story in establishing the primary aspects of plot development. A Eugene Knight book review of the work talks to the importance of the characters by saying, â€Å"The very fact that they stay together and seem to find some degree of happiness illustrates that an acceptance of a relationship that falls well short of satisfying and fulfilling hopes, is possible†(Knight). One can easily see that the author used the literary element of characters to tie in the many themes that he utilized and help the reader understand the underlying conflict in Czechoslovakia at the time.            Overall, the book is a commentary on the reasons why people need people so much. This is a complex idea to establish, especially when one considers the fact that it is set against such a tough background. Kundera established his excellent work on the basis that his characters would do the talking for him. Instead of having to explain things to readers to get them to buy in to the main point of the book, he had characters live out their real life experiences to get across the points. Even more importantly than that, he was able to bring the characters closer to the themes that were so important to the author in this book. No one literary theme overtook the book or overpowered it. They all worked together in a sanctimonious harmony that not only told a story, but helped the reader interpret the story. The idea that a person who is too light could not bear that weight is a ridiculous one at first, but as the reader further understands the things that the characters are going through, they can begin to see how such a dichotomy can become quite a conundrum. Works Cited Braiman, Jay. Literary Devices. 2007. http://mrbraiman.home.att.net/lit.htm Knight, Eugene. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Review. http://bookreviews.nabou.com/reviews/unbearable_lightness_kundera.html Kundera, Milan. The Unbearable Lightness of Being. 4 May 2004. HarperCollins Publishing. Raudino, Guiseppe. Socialism and Arts. August 2007. http://www.arttimesjournal.com/art/Art%20Essays/Ju.Aug%20%2707%20Milan%20Kundera/j.a%2707MilanKundera.htm
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Bruce Almighty Essay -- essays research papers
Kimberly Mena                                        2/15/05 Mr. Shea                                        Bruce Almighty Bruce Almighty      Watching Bruce Almighty, starring Jim Carrey, we were shown several scenes. In these scenes examples of hopelessness, individualism, enlightened self- interest, compassion, hope, love, free will, relationships, sin, and images of God were seen throughout them.      In scene 2: This is my Luck; an example of compassion is when Grace is getting ready to give blood to those who are in dire need. Bruce responds that he isn’t giving blood because he hates needles and because they stock up on the blood, an example of self-interest. When Grace says good bye to him, the only thing Bruce can say is that he is going to need a miracle to get to work at time. Once again, Grace is displaying compassion and love towards Bruce but Bruce is too worried about himself and work to even acknowledge Grace’s actions, showing abandonment in a relationship with Grace. On Bruce’s way to work, there is a severe accident and an ambulance is seen carrying someone but Bruce’s remark is â€Å"Come on, not during Sweeps Week†, showing severe individualism. After the meeting, Bruce approaches his boss and asks about the anchor position, the boss denies knowing any information but Bruce insists. He believes Evan is going t o get the position so he says that he should be more like Evan because Evan is an ‘ass-hole’. Bruce proves that he can be just like Evan by flipping over the boss’s bologna sandwich but Bruce instantly picks it up because he wants the boss to think highly of him, this action of helping someone in order to benefit you, is enlightened self-interest. After picking up the sandwich, the boss gives Bruce a live show and instead of saying thank you, Bruce’s reply is â€Å"I won’t forget you†¦ when I go national!†     More examples can be seen when Grace is at her job, caring an... ...es to call Grace again, not knowing that she is on her way, and Susan comes into the room. She engages in some small talk and then kisses Bruce, Bruce looks over Susan’s shoulder and sees Grace, she storms away and Bruce chases after her. Grace sarcastically says that everyone else wants to have children with the man that they have loved for 6 years but not her, she just wants a lot of stuff and maybe that would make her happy, and then drives away, this is a display of Grace removing herself from a relationship with Bruce. Bruce dejectedly walks inside and sets off the sprinklers so everyone leaves. When it is just him and God, Bruce asks how He makes so many people love Him without fooling around with free will, instead of answering the question, God indirectly asks him the same question and says that hope fixes relationships.      These are just some of the numerous examples of hopelessness, individualism, enlightened self- interest, compassion, hope, love, free will, relationships, sin, and images of God that are seen consistently throughout the movie. Although a comedy, Bruce Almighty is a movie with a plot of God’s omnipotence painted in bold colors.
Monday, January 13, 2020
Jainism vs. Sikhism Essay
Read the assigned chapters for the week and complete the following table. Be as specific as possible when identifying practices, beliefs, rituals, and historical elements. Cite sources in APA formatting. Core Beliefs Jainism Sikhism 1. Ahimsa – principle of noninjury 1. Naam Japna – remembering god through meditation 2. Sathya – truth 2. Kirat Karo – earning a honest living 3. Asteya – non stealing 3. Vand chakko – sharing income & resources. Selflessly serving others. 4. Brahmacharya – celibacy 5. Apigraha – non acquisition Part 2 Respond to the following questions in 150 to 200 words: 1 What do you think is the most important similarity and which is the most important difference? Use specifics to support your answer. Both faiths originated from the same part of the world. They are expected to be tolerant of all faiths and don’t believe that one path has the monopoly on the truth. Janism Sikhism – vegetarian because they belive believe it brings them closer to spirituality. – they have and order of monks and nuns – they practice the Caste system – polythetic religion – are not vegetarians they believe that eating meat doesn’t block your spirituality. – is bound to truth at all times and practices god conscience. – rejects the caste system and believes in gender equality. – monotheistic religion. Consider the following statement: Sallekhana (â€Å"holy death†) violates the Jain principle of ahimsa because it is an act of violence against oneself. Using examples from Ch. 5 of your text, what points might a follower of Jainism make to argue against this statement? Jains will prepare themselves after they have reached their virtue. They will walk into rivers, lakes, and oceans as well as starve themselves when they become elderly with the help of their families.
Sunday, January 5, 2020
Television Greatly Affects Our Lives Essay - 1592 Words
Television - one of the most popular entertainments. But it is also a factor that greatly affects our lives. In fact, television seriously affects us, our actions and even the ideology. If such media as radio or the printed word sidelined, the TV continues to firmly hold the leading position as the main source of media. Really hard to imagine a person or family, without costing a blue screen. Rating TV channels, up shows the number of fans online TV. Television carries all children and young people and older people having fun conquering computer. With the advent of Wi-Fi, began to gain momentum websites specializing in online views, not only movies, but also popular programs. A huge number of housewives daily empathize favorite heroes†¦show more content†¦Pay particular attention must be given to what kind of movies and TV shows children are watching. In some families, as soon as the child learns to sit, sit down in front of his screen. Screen becomes the main educator of the child. According to UNESCO, 93% of todays children 3-5 years looking at the screen for 28 hours a week, about 4 hours per day, which is much longer than the time to communicate with adults. In fact, the child does not stick, does not ask, do not hooligans, not at risk and at the same time gets the impression learns something new, attached to the modern civilization. However, this harmless and safe occupation fraught with serious dangers and can cause very grave consequences not only for the health of the child (about visual impairment, deficit movements, posture spoiled already said quite a lot), but also for his mental development. Television is increasingly replacing the family communication, reading books, playing music home, my mothers lullaby, old wives tales, interviews and conversations with his father. Before the invasion of television in our lives the most defenseless and dependent categories are very young children. TV shows that are watching our children - its not just a way to break away, but the means of education. In relation to young children the principles of freedom of choice as freedom of speech, cannot be the main landmarks. All that looks and perceive that small children lays the foundation of theirShow MoreRelatedMedia s Effect On Society1286 Words  | 6 Pagesas the means of communication, as radio and television, newspapers, and magazine that reach or influence people widely. It is a huge part of our everyday lives; we see media everywhere, and we know the latest news and trends right away because of this. 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A research conducted by the Michigan State University states that on average children between the ages 2-5 spend 32 hours a week in front of a television while kids between 6-11 spend about 28 hours and in 53% of
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