Epic of Beowulf Essay - The Conflicts in Beowulf -- Epic of Beowulf Ess

The Conflicts in Beowulf  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚   Brian Wilkie and James Hurt in Literature of the Western World discuss what is perhaps the overriding or central conflict in the poem Beowulf, namely the struggle between good and evil, and how the monsters are representative of the evil side: Ker was answered in 1936 by the critic and novelist J.R.R. Tolkien, author of Lord of the Rings, who argued that â€Å"the monsters are not an inexplicable blunder of taste; they are essential, fundamentally allied to the underlying ideas of the poem, which give it its lofty tone and high seriousness.† For Tolkien, the monsters were symbolic of eternal forces of evil while remaining real monsters (1273). The numerous conflicts within Beowulf are both external and internal. Conflict is how one describes the relationship between the protagonist and antagonist in a literary work (Abrams 225). There is also another type of conflict which Clark describes below and which takes place within the mind and soul of a given character. George Clark in â€Å"The Hero and the Theme† make reference to an interior conflict within the Beowulf hero himself, and how the hero appears to lose this conflict: Although a strong critical movement followed Klaeber in taking Beowulf as a Christian hero or even Christ figure, the most numerous and influential body of postwar critics, including Margaret Goldsmith (1960, 1962, 1970), read the poem as faulting the hero for moral filures according to one or another Christian standard of judgment (see also Bolton 1978). The poem became a neo-Aritotelian tragedy in which the hero’s flaw could be identified as a sin, greed, or pride (279). H. L. Rogers in â€Å"Beowulf’s Three Great Fights† expresses his opinion as a literary critic regard... ...is B. Gummere. http://wiretap.area.com/ftp.items/Library/Classic/beowulf.txt George Clark in â€Å"The Hero and the Theme† In A Beowulf Handbook, edited by Robert Bjork and John D. Niles. Lincoln, Nebraska: Uiversity of Nebraska Press, 1997. Clover, Carol F. â€Å"The Unferth Episode.† In The Beowulf Reader, edited by Peter S. Baker. New York: Garland Publishing, 2000. Ogilvy, J.D.A. and Donald C. Baker. â€Å"Beowulf’s Heroic Death.† In Readings on Beowulf, edited by Stephen P. Thompson. San Diego: Greenhaven Press,1998. Clark, George. Beowulf. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1990. Rogers, H. L. â€Å"Beowulf’s Three Great Fights.† In An Anthology of Beowulf Criticism, edited by Lewis E. Nicholson. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1963. Wilkie, Brian and James Hurt, editors. â€Å"Beowulf.† In Literature of the Western World. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1984. Epic of Beowulf Essay - The Conflicts in Beowulf -- Epic of Beowulf Ess The Conflicts in Beowulf  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚   Brian Wilkie and James Hurt in Literature of the Western World discuss what is perhaps the overriding or central conflict in the poem Beowulf, namely the struggle between good and evil, and how the monsters are representative of the evil side: Ker was answered in 1936 by the critic and novelist J.R.R. Tolkien, author of Lord of the Rings, who argued that â€Å"the monsters are not an inexplicable blunder of taste; they are essential, fundamentally allied to the underlying ideas of the poem, which give it its lofty tone and high seriousness.† For Tolkien, the monsters were symbolic of eternal forces of evil while remaining real monsters (1273). The numerous conflicts within Beowulf are both external and internal. Conflict is how one describes the relationship between the protagonist and antagonist in a literary work (Abrams 225). There is also another type of conflict which Clark describes below and which takes place within the mind and soul of a given character. George Clark in â€Å"The Hero and the Theme† make reference to an interior conflict within the Beowulf hero himself, and how the hero appears to lose this conflict: Although a strong critical movement followed Klaeber in taking Beowulf as a Christian hero or even Christ figure, the most numerous and influential body of postwar critics, including Margaret Goldsmith (1960, 1962, 1970), read the poem as faulting the hero for moral filures according to one or another Christian standard of judgment (see also Bolton 1978). The poem became a neo-Aritotelian tragedy in which the hero’s flaw could be identified as a sin, greed, or pride (279). H. L. Rogers in â€Å"Beowulf’s Three Great Fights† expresses his opinion as a literary critic regard... ...is B. Gummere. http://wiretap.area.com/ftp.items/Library/Classic/beowulf.txt George Clark in â€Å"The Hero and the Theme† In A Beowulf Handbook, edited by Robert Bjork and John D. Niles. Lincoln, Nebraska: Uiversity of Nebraska Press, 1997. Clover, Carol F. â€Å"The Unferth Episode.† In The Beowulf Reader, edited by Peter S. Baker. New York: Garland Publishing, 2000. Ogilvy, J.D.A. and Donald C. Baker. â€Å"Beowulf’s Heroic Death.† In Readings on Beowulf, edited by Stephen P. Thompson. San Diego: Greenhaven Press,1998. Clark, George. Beowulf. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1990. Rogers, H. L. â€Å"Beowulf’s Three Great Fights.† In An Anthology of Beowulf Criticism, edited by Lewis E. Nicholson. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1963. Wilkie, Brian and James Hurt, editors. â€Å"Beowulf.† In Literature of the Western World. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1984.

Violence in American Pop Culture :: Essays Papers

Violence in American Pop Culture Societies are founded upon traditions, morals, and a set of commonly accepted ethnical values. Such customs are important because they set the tone for centuries and decades that follow. In the United States, violence is widely accepted as a central component of American lifestyle and culture. From contemporary gay bashing to explosives and weaponry in video games and movies, violence figures prominently in many aspects of American entertainment and pleasure seeking. History provides ample evidence and examples that American institutionalized violence discriminates against no man, woman or child. For example, Native Americans were relentlessly and violently stripped of all their resources. Enslaved African persons were brought thousands of miles from their homelands to cultivate and enrich European interest in America. Among the hardships of simply adjusting to this New World, slaves were also sentenced to death through lynching if they refused to be subjected to new rules. Over the past two centuries we have witnessed a Civil War, two World Wars, the Oklahoma bombings, the Columbine massacre, and the tragic events of September 11th, to name only a few of the past and recent tragedies. All of the tragedies have claimed the lives of thousands of our fellow men. History repeats itself and what began as a means of instituting territory has today permeated the entire culture and has seeped into all types of media. Entertainment is supposed to entertain, but movies, video games and music most often depict a life of bloodshed and carnage. Al Pacino is praised for his roles in Scarface and The Godfather series, exploiting the life of an Italian mafia family that is well known and respected in the world of organized crime. Admiration is given to rap artists like Notorious B.I.G., who rapped about money, power and sexual impropriety. Another street legend is Tupac Shakur, whose life is a prime example of the â€Å"thug life.† After surviving several gang related shootings, he ultimately fell prey to a glamorized thug life, murdered in a drive-by shooting on the glitzy streets of Las Vegas, Nevada. In everyday scenarios young children are allowed to entertain and enlighten themselves with video games like Grand Theft Auto, where the thi ef runs through the city killing citizens, having sex with prostitutes, and robbing people at gunpoint.

Compare Essay Between Inception & Interstellar Essay

Darkness, why are we so afraid of the unknown. Many including myself are paralised by the thought of an unwelcomed presence, I dare not turn my back in fear that my thoughts may be real. Although that same compelling fear has never stopped us from venturing into the unkown. Whether it’s being out there amongst the vast emptiness of space or delving deeper into our subconcious mind, two vastly different concepts yet they may be more similar than you could imagine and Christopher Nolan has a great depiction of both in the movies Inception and Interstellar two sci-fi cinematic siblings that may seem worlds apart but might be more similar than you suspect. In inception, Cobb explains how our brains are most utilized when we are asleep. In this newly discovered dream realm he is able to fill it with his subconscious memory of things, places and people making it seem like they’re awake and it’s all actually happening, the however dreams have many layers and are complex in including the deepest layer of dream – limbo (Boston Magazine, Yiqing Shao, 2014), an infinite subconscious reality where you could be stuck in your own mind forever while your body degrades in the real world. Whilst in interstellar, Cooper travels through wormholes altering space and time to arrive at far and distant planets via 5th dimensional  beings that â€Å"helped† them out. The similarities here are that in both movies we are introduced two interesting and new mediums of sub-realities, and what I found out is that there is 3 planets to be uncovered in interstellar as there are three layers of dream in inception, in which both main leads must figure a way to circumvent disaster in hopes of seeing their children o nce more. Love is a tremendously powerful and inspiring force and has been proven to be as such time and time again, it is love that drives humanity through their hardest struggles and what brings out that last fight from our beloved characters. And this is something that has been cultivating throughout both the films Inception and interstellar, only emerging in death bed scenes. For Inception, it is Fisher a boy that has big shoes to fill and no one to guide him, yearning the approval of his sickly father that never batted an eye towards him. For Interstellar it is Cooper his urge of reuiniting with Murph once more which drives his compassion further as a father his instinct to survive kicks in, here we see the similarities between Fisher’s will abd determination to patch things up with his father and Cooper’s struggle to find a solution for mankind and get back to his beloved children. Heroes are an essential elements of any film. They do the things where the ordinary can’t and in these two films we’ll be taking a look at the similar hero complexes of both films. In Interstellar, Cooper looks for a new substitute planet to save the human species. In Inception, Cobb tries to plant an idea inside of Fisher’s mind to prevent a global energy monopoly. Although those are the main plots of the movie, we can see their personal goals are actually similar to each other which is getting back home and reuniting with their children once more. Cooper has to fight time in order to fulfill his promise to his daughter of coming home before she passes. Whereas in Inception, Cobb’s similar promise to return home to his children after being banned from ever returning to the country (America). Time misrepresentation as a recurring unexpected result of venturing through these different realities. In Inception, the characters have the great pleasure (although surely not the safety) of taking their time as they delve  deeper and deeper into the recesses of the psyche (Screen Rant, Kofi Outlaw, 2012), since time slows down which means to say 5 minutes in the real world would give you roughly about 5 hours in the dream and times slows even more as you delve deeper. But for interstellar time is the exact opposite, as Cooper and the Nasa team travvel farther and farther away from Earth to uncover habitable planets. Since hours on a new planet are equivalent to decades back on Earth time moves significantly faster. Cooper finds himself spending 27 Earth years after merely spending 3 hours on another planet, when he arrives back to the ship the emotional toll was too drastic and Cooper broke down along with most of the audience as I imagine. The similarities here are of that time is an essential key point in both their missions. The emotional obstacle in interstellar is time, as the perculiar effects of gravity manipulates the flow of time on different areas of the universe (Time moves slower for Cooper). Christopher Nolan ( goodreads.com , 2011) stated that and I quote, â€Å" I studied English Literature. I wasn’t a very good student, but one thing I did get from it, while I was making films at the same time with the college film society, was that I started thinking about the narrative freedoms that authors had enjoyed for centuries and it seemed to me that filmmakers should enjoy those freedoms as well.† And narrate freely he did. Entirely original films that are becoming increasingly rare among the output of the other studios. Christopher Nolan is now one of the biggest names in the movie industry boasting blockbuster movies to his name, such as Interstellar and Inception (Den of Geek, Ryan Lambie, 2014). Two mind warping movies that blasted its way through the movie screens and imprinting itself into our minds and hearts, challenging the very way we perceive the world around us. Reference List: 1. Interstellar. ( 2014, 5th November ). Retrieved April 6, 2015, from http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/christopher-nolan/32803/how-interstellar-completes-nolans-personal-film-trilogy 2. Incpetion. ( 2012, 2nd June ). Retrieved April 6, 2015, from http://screenrant.com/inception-spoilers-discussion-kofi-68330/

The Relationship Between Punk and Dada

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DADA AND PUNK It is difficult to estimate when people began to create different theories, movements and ideologies with regards to what is positive and negative in the world that we live in. A part and parcel of human nature has always been an individual desire to be a part of the perfect world which unfortunately is mainly stimulated by individuals in power. Therefore this bore a disagreement and critique among minorities and has been exploding over the centuries in different forms of cultural movements. One of the greatest cultural trends began in Zurich and it is known as Dadaism.During World War I a group of individuals created Dada in reaction to what they perceived to be negative and opposite of the values that they believed in. They showed their protest against nationalist, colonialist interest and bourgeois in various forms of controversial art. The new style definitely found its followers in suffocated by war society and even etched in history. Never theless, 1970s showed us that Dadaism was not forgotten as it inspired a new generation of people to express their feelings with regards to what is against their vision of perfection.This created a new cultural movement known as ‘Punk’ which is characterised by a critique to a political system and society that was framed in a specific pattern. This essay is an effort to present relations between ‘Dada’ and ‘Punk’ by analysing and comparing various art forms of ideology they believed in. Therefore the part of this work is focused on the backgrounds and origins of both movements it order to explain motives and ideas of their existence.Moreover, it will show very important relationship which strongly connects both trends in a form of spiritual protest by using and comparing artworks from both epochs; Hannah Hoch’s ‘’Cut with the Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany’’1919 compa red to ‘’The Beatles-Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’’1968, by Peter Blake and Jann Haworth. Also, the controversial CD cover created by Jamie Reid’s ‘’God Save the Queen’’ 1977 compared to ‘’The Art Critic’’ 1919 by Raoul Hausemann. The analysis of both comparisons will be a detailed explanation of those matters.First of all, Dada was not just a series of art-historical related events which took place between 1916 and 1923. Dada definitely was an emotional, social and political reaction created against the horror of World War I. With the collapse of pre 1914 social values the Dadaists acted in response with a strong ‘weapon’ as it involved a disagreement, defiance with ironic, anarchistic and frequently nihilistic gestures. However, they also evolved attitudes and techniques that have become a priority to our artistic sensibility.The discovery of automatism in the arts, the use of random elements, and the new definition of art which is not limited by any specific content or material is a great concept introduced by the Dadaists. Moreover, the art is situational as there is a result of confrontation between spectator and object which is frequently associated with controversy and chaos. Therefore it can be said that Dada as a novelty bore a historical responsibility for correcting the world problems for all time and a movement to an honourable place in the history of unrealised humanistic visions.From the aesthetic point of view Punk has its origins in Dadaism. However, this was a cultural mutiny which was mainly associated with a verbal protest through the music. This involved strong offensive expression of disagreement with the whole system and alienation. Nevertheless apart from a very controversial song lyrics Punk rock created different trends than others and innovated a new style in art known as ‘Punk visual art’. This new movemen t did not involve ordinary and predictable paintings.It is known as intentional infringement, such as the application of letters cut out from magazines and newspapers and the use of black and white in early Punk rock art work. The reason for that was the cost of productions punk zins in colour, however, in more expensive production there was a use of yellow and fluorescent pink contrasted with black. The message that Dada and Punk tried to achieve through their work in the context of desired reality is very similar as both of them bore from a social outburst.Punk was a form of artistic anarchy against system control and specific pattern of society, whereas Dada was an ‘Anti-War movement’. However, very interesting is the fact that they were relatively unrelated and occurred around 50 years apart. Although the vocalist of a very controversial punk rock band â€Å"Sex Pistols†, Johnny Rotten said he had never heard about ‘Dada’ there can be found the s ame themes of inspirations as in Dadaism. Therefore assuming that the group ‘Sex Pistols’ did not model on Dadaism and any other movements or trends, this might be associated with a human nature. The nature, that does not like o be manipulated, controlled or skipped as a microscopic minority. Fig. 1: ‘The Fountain’ 1917, Marcel Duchamp According to Griel Marcus, the author of ‘Lipstick Traces’ book, both movements are completely nihilistic and propagating belief in nothing and the wish to become nothing. Punk was against everything and at the same time finding its equilibrium in nihilism. This was clearly exposed by ‘Sex Pistols’ in song ‘Pretty Vacant’ which involves the Dada cry of â€Å"nothing is true; everything is permitted†. Moreover, freedom and fighting against the stereotypical art were the keys in Dada and Punk.Dadaists often asked ‘What is art’ and in response to their rules breaking use d anything they could think of for inspiration. Marcel Duchamp is a great example in this point, because his ironic piece ‘The Fountain’ 1917(Fig. 1) which he signed ‘R. Mutt’, was a controversial and provocative way of using a urinal in response to that question. Duchamp’s work not only showed groundbreaking, but it opened people’s eyes that art is not only classic and traditional. It is an awareness of what art is and could be. Dadaism influenced Punk in reflection to their absurdity.Punk artists designed cd covers that reflected the idea of breaking the traditional rules by being experimental with images and text to express political and social views. Photomontage was highly used by both, Dada and Punk. However, it was first used by a German group called ‘Dada’, and later became an inspiration for Punk artists. This involved the practice of cutting and pasting technique for their designs, using materials taken from cardboard, n ewspapers, magazines, rubbish and anything else that could be inspirational to create a collage. Fig. 3: ’The Beatles-Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’’1968, Peter Blake and Jann Haworth Fig. : ‘’Cut with the Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany’’1919, Hannah Hoch The most famous work done by Hannah Hoch is ‘’Cut with the Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany’’1919 (Fig. 2). It shows a mixture of modernism by including a lot of machinery and high-tech items of the Weimar period which engage with a modern world. These items were the pasted photographic images called from the press and taken from printed and product catalogues, magazines, newspapers and journals which she clipped together preading across the page to form this artwork. In this chaotic artwork, Hoch also shows the figures of women, as she was strongly towards f ighting for their rights. A new role of women was a message in this design thus metaphorical kitchen knife in her title referred to stereotypical pattern of both; women in the society and to her own artistic process. Because of uniqueness of this artwork the later artists continued controversial reforms in design and we witnessed a creation of ‘’The Beatles-Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’’ by Peter Blake and Jann Haworth made in 1968 (Fig3. . Originally it was for the cd cover purposes however it was frequently associated with Dada design as it involved a group of people that the members of the band would like to see as their imaginary audience. This shows that there is a reference to the amount of components that Hoch’s used in her design and controversy which also characterised the Beatle’s cover, as Jesus and Hitler were intended to appear in John Lennon’s vision. Another great example of Dadaism in Punk was created by Jamie Reid’s ‘’God Save the Queen’’ 1977 (Fig. 4), the cd cover for Sex Pistols shocked the nation.In the result, this controversial, shocking design together with the lyrics led the BBC and the Independent Broadcasting Authority to not play the song. Reid has offended the image of the Queen Elizabeth II by playing with her portrait and national anthem during Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. This censorship did not stop Great Britain from listening to it and made the song to be number one of playlist. In addition, ‘’God Save the Queen’’ played a massive role in a punk rock movement. Reid’s work can be compared to ‘’The Art Critic’’ 1919 by Raoul Hausemann (Fig. ) because of the similarities that can be seen in their designs. They both depict defaced images in the highness of the Queen and the oversized figure with oversized head which is often said to be Housemannâ€⠄¢s friend George Grosz. There is a use of reachable resources which are sliding strong, wild and free personal messages. The irony behind this collage shows the character holding outsized Venus pencil, a shoe glued to his forehead and a German banknote situated near his neck. On the right hand site Fig. 4: ‘’God Save the Queen’’ 1977, Jamie Reid we can see his business card –showing his silhouette filled with a newspaper print.In addition, the background contains Raul’s poem which was randomly chosen informing public performances. Those components show self references as many Dada artists included in their photomontages and the use of materials surrounding them. ‘’The Art Critic’’ is also a provocative and controversial design as the eyes and mouth are full of irony because we don’t know whose are the eyes he sees or whose words he speaks. Knowing that Dada worked before Punk, it can be seen that type and im age juxtapositions influenced Reid to follow this direction.Rick Poynor in his ‘‘No More Rules Graphic Design and Postmodernism’’ book describes Reid’s design by Fig. 5: ‘’The Art Critic’’1919, Raol Hausemann saying that rough, torn stripes across Queen’s face and mouth form voids by a cut-up lettering to show the title and the band name on a cover which he called ‘’archetype of a punk rock band’’. In addition, those are also examples of a Dada photomontage and a Punk photomontage which both used words and images to express verbal and visual meanings. In conclusion, the aim of this essay was to prove the relationship between Dada and Punk through various forms of artwork.They both were fighting against either the War or the rules of the system. In addition, Dada and Punk were characterised by similar ideology which was very controversial in terms of stereotypical vision of art. The violatio n of traditional rules and twisting the popular image of art had an impact on future subcultures, in this case Punk. Also, the creation of photomontage technique is shown through the comparisons of work from Dada period and then in Punk, which was born further in the 20th century. They were the evidence of controversy and provocation addressed by personal messages behind them.Although, there is 50 years of difference in between the movements, it is fair to say that both of them greatly affected our culture and inspired the future generations. References: Raoul Hausmann,The Art Critic. 2010. [online]. Last accessed 20 May 2012 at: http://iheartartblog. blogspot. co. uk/2010/05/raoul-hausmann-art-critic. html Audio Raoul Hausmann The Art Critic 1919-1920. 2011. [online]. Last accessed 20 May 2012 at: http://www. moma. org/explore/multimedia/audios/29/707 Chapter 12 Words and Images. 2009. [online]. Last accessed 20 May 2012 at: http://wiki. igital-foundations. net/index. php? title=Ch apter_12. _Words_and_Images Liam. 2009. [online]. Last accessed 19 May 2012 at: http://poptonesmusings. blogspot. co. uk/2009/02/dadaism-and-punk-meaning-less. html BERRYMAN,Ashleigh. 2010. [online]. Last accessed 19 May 2012 at: http://ashleighberryman. wordpress. com/2010/11/04/punk-is-dadaism/ KALOGERAKIS,Stelios,2011. [online]. Last accessed 19 May 2012 at: http://www. kalogerakis. org/? p=1171 Punk visual art. 2012. [online]. Last accessed 20 May 2012 at: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Punk_visual_art Dada. 2012. [online].Last accessed 20 May 2012 at: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Dada POYNTON,Rick (2003). No More Rules Graphic Design and Postomodernism. London: Laurencce King Publishing. p39-40. GALE,Matthew (1997). Dada& Surrealism. London: Phaidon Press Limited. p103. ADES,Dawn (1986). Photomontage . 2nd ed. London: Thames and Hudson. p19-21. BIGSBY,C. W. E. (1972). Dada& Surrealism. London: Methuen & Co Ltd. p10-11. HERBERT,David (ed. ) (1970). Dada. London: Studio Vista L imited. p9-11 p28-35. GREIL,Micheal(1989). Lipstick Traces: a secret of the twentieth century. London: Secker & Warburg.

Language Development in Exceptional Circumstances

â€Å"Ever since attempts have been made to describe and explain normal language development, references to exceptional circumstances have been made. † (Bishop & Mogford, 1988: v) Language development in exceptional circumstances refers to cases of child language acquisition which are considered as departing from the norm. In the following, five types of exceptional circumstances will be taken into account; that is: the case of neglected children, the case of hearing children brought-up by deaf parents, the case of bilingual children, the case of twins, and the case of children affected by Williams syndrome. This is by no means a full consideration of all existing exceptional circumstances for language development; rather it is a selection of the cases which I find most revealing to gain insight into normal language development. Indeed, in the light of the aforementioned exceptional circumstances, we will be able to draw understandings about language development in its unexceptional nature, such as its relationship to environmental factors (I) and to other cognitive devices (II). First of all, exceptional circumstances can provide important evidence relevant to the role played by the verbal environment in child language acquisition. Neglected children, hearing children brought-up by deaf parents, bilingual children, and twins, are all faced to a certain form of restricted verbal stimulation. For instance, Marie Mason (1942) reported a case that concerned a neglected child, Isabelle, who had been kept in seclusion with her deaf and mute mother because she was illegitimate. They spent their time in a dark room shut away from the family who had rejected them, and Isabelle was completely deprived of language until she gained her freedom at the age of 6. Children of deaf parents are also limited in their exposure to spoken language, although in the context of otherwise normal social, communicative and environmental stimulation. As for children who are brought-up bilingual and as twins, verbal stimulation is similarly impaired, the former because their exposure to one particular language is reduced ecause they must deal with two languages simultaneously, and the latter because one family’s linguistic resources are shared between two infants in the same developmental stage. Yet, just as Isabelle went on to develop normal language in only 18 months’ time after gaining her freedom (Skuse, 1988: 33), children of deaf parents, bilingual children, and twins, also develop normal language over time, albeit the adverse circumstances. This provides evid ence of resilience of language acquisition. Indeed, the fact that these children, despite such unfavourable circumstances, ultimately achieve linguistic proficiency (not unlike an ordinary child) tells us that children learn language despite a restricted language input, meaning that innate language abilities must have a substantial role in normal language acquisition. In this sense, exceptional circumstances indicate that the principles of language development advocated by behaviourists are quite inadequate to explain how the child develops language, and provides evidence in favour of Noam Chomsky’s theory of Universal Grammar. Conversely, however, exceptional circumstances do provide some evidence of the importance of the verbal environment for normal language development. For instance, Genie, another neglected child who was discovered at 13 years of age after having been locked in a small room and beaten by her father whenever she uttered a sound, never fully recovered from the deprivation of language in her early years. Although she is now 55 years-old, she never acquired true linguistic competence. This gives evidence for the existence of a time window during which external influences have a significant effect. Just as songbirds will learn to sing the appropriate song for their species only if they hear that song in the first few weeks of life, there is a critical period for the child to successfully develop language† (Bishop & Mogford, 1988: 252). This ‘critical period’ is set from birth to sometime between 5 and 7 years of age depending on the individual, which is why Isabelle –who was 6 when liberated– developed language readily, while Genie –who was 13– did not. Therefore, exceptional circumstances provide insight into a critical period for language development after which failed experiences in infancy cannot be compensated. Moreover, exceptional circumstances can also provide insight into the relationship between language and cognition. In this section, we shall consider the case of children affected by Williams syndrome. Williams syndrome is characterized by a sophisticated use of language with complex syntax and adult-like vocabulary in individuals who otherwise demonstrate no evidence of concrete operational behaviour on Piagetian tasks, and whose overall level of mental development is below that of a 7-year-old (Jones & Smith, 1988: 248). In other words, Williams syndrome children are mentally retarded, yet they demonstrate impressive lexical semantic abilities, complex expressive morphology and syntax, and good metalinguistic skills. For instance, three Williams syndrome adolescents were investigated: Van (age 11), Crystal (age 15), and Ben (age 16). Their full-scale IQ scores on traditional intelligence tests were: Van, 50; Crystal, 49; and Ben, 54. However, their scores on formal tests of language were higher than performance on non-language cognitive tasks (Bishop & Mogford, 1975: 182). This relative sparing of language in the face of other cognitive impairments is particularly revealing about the relationship between language and cognition in that it implies that there is dissociation between language and other cognitive functions. Similarly, it may be particularly striking that, in patients of global aphasia, which is a severe language disorder, other cognitive skills remain functioning, affirming that language faculty is indeed a separate domain (Saffran et al). Therefore, the exceptional case of Williams syndrome children, and the rather converse instance global aphasia, indicate that normal language development is not directly related to intelligence, hence why language is acquired rapidly and uniformly by all ‘normal’ children, irrespective of intelligence. In conclusion, language development in exceptional circumstances stands as a window into the analysis of normal language development. In the words of Gary Dell: â€Å"the inner workings of a highly complex system are often revealed by the way in which the system breaks down† (Baars, 1992: 5). Indeed, throughout this essay, the study of exceptional circumstances has provided us with evidence that, although language input has an important role in language development, it may be limited, given the Poverty of Stimulus argument. The study of exceptional circumstances has also evidenced the existence of a critical period for language development and made the issociation between language and other cognitive functions clearer. Nonetheless, one must bear in mind that a more in-depth study of exceptional circumstances, for instance one that would take into account infantile autism or Down syndrome children, would certainly provide us with further information about the components of normal language development. Unfortunately, given the time limitations for the realization of this essay, these aspects will be left for o thers to analyse.

Technology and learning

The modernization of the times led to a startling reality that the world will be crippled without the aid of technology. Technology is becoming more and more of a necessity these days in all aspects of daily living and as such, educational institutions have incorporated this subject in their curriculum because the authorities acknowledged the fact that technology can help attain student objectives and in order to achieve the maximum impact, it must form part of the school's education curriculum (Neir Tech, 2002).English is a subject that would be greatly enhanced by technology. English is a diversified field in itself that requires self-expression, vocabulary, reading, creativity and innovativeness of the mind. Technology can greatly enhance the students' learning process when it comes to English because the information that they need is just a few clicks away. The world wide web provides a wide array of information and lectures about all English subjects. For example, a student havi ng difficulty in pronunciation and vocabulary can access the Internet to learn this kind of skill.Students who have been assigned difficult topics for assignment can search the net for all the information that he needs. The teachers can use the technology as aid in teaching not only English but other subjects as well by using highly-powered technology driven lectures that would work best in capturing students' attention. There are some schools that use technology to breach the barriers of communication. Video conferencing is another technological development that greatly helps educational institutions teach students not only English but other subjects as well.ReferencesNeir Tech. 2002.   Strategies for Improving Academic Achievement and Teacher Effectiveness. Retrieved July 3, 2009, from http://www.neirtec.org/products/techbriefs/1.htm

A Tragic Hero Things Fall Apart English Literature Essay

A Tragic Hero Things Fall Apart English Literature Essay Things Fall Apart is an intriguing story of how an Indian tribe is cultivated and one man’s pride brings him down. Okonkwo is flawed but has a desire to do good for his clan. As the protagonist the clan’s conflict is sought out by Okonkwo and his excessive pride. Building his compound from nothing, Okonkwo demands authority and power amongst his fellow clansmen. By the end of the story Okonkwo is unwilling to compromise due to his pride and is brought down by it even though he has a good clan stature and power. Okonkwo is a tragic hero and fulfils all the qualifications to be considered one. There are four criteria of a tragic hero, which shape the character’s fate. The character must be flawed but have the potential or want to do good, and have a lot of pride. Conflict is attempted to be resolved by the hero because they are often the protagonist. A protagonist is a leading character that is used to influence the direction of the plot. The tragic hero has oppor tunity, wealth, or power. In the end the tragic hero’s quality of excessive pride will bring him down and the opposite of what the reader thinks will happen does indeed occur. Okonkwo is the son of Unoka, who was a very lazy and worthless man who held no tribe titles and did not look after his family. Many people knew Unoka as this and his name was soiled. He borrowed lots of money from friends and deceived them by not so much as attempting to repay them. Having been born at this disadvantage Okonkwo had to work extra hard to have a normal lifestyle or even to rise above that as a leader in the Umuofia clan. â€Å"Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men usually had. He did not inherit a barn from his father. There was no barn to inherit†(Achebe, 19). This quote exploits Okonkwo’s father as a failure and defines Okonkwo as a tragic hero not because of his low birth status but because of the internal hatred it creates in him. He becomes cold he arted to anything weak or lazy and can not easily be pleased with anything. Later his son Nwoye leaves him because of his harsh treatment, even though Okonkwo had good intentions. Nwoye attended the Christian church and was brutally beaten when asked where he had been. A neighboring tribe committed a crime against the Umuofia clan and Okonkwo was sent as a messenger to lay out options. â€Å"And such was the deep fear that their enemies had for Umuofia that they treated Okonkwo like a king and brought him a virgin who was given to Udo as wife, and the lad Ikemefuna† (Achebe, 59). Okonkwo is very strong and his chi agrees with him making him more powerful. He is aggressive and respected due to his pride and confidence that he carries about himself. This leads him to be uncompromising and violent, but he uses these qualities for what he thinks is good.