The Issue of Rational Suicide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Issue of Rational Suicide - Essay Example Rational suicide, aka ‘euthanasia,’ is taken from Greek origin meaning ‘good death.’ Writers of 1700’s Britain referred to euthanasia as a being a preferential method by which to ‘die well’ (â€Å"Definition†, 2007). In the medical arena, rational suicide describes a situation in which a terminally ill patient is administered a lethal dose of medication, is removed from a life-support system or is simply allowed to die without active participation such as by resuscitation. A doctor’s involvement in the procedure could be to either prescribe a lethal dose of drugs with the express intent of ending a life or by intravenously inserting a needle into the terminal patient who then activates a switch that administers the fatal dose (Naji et al, 2005). Physicians, lawmakers, and philosophers have debated the notion of rational suicide since the beginning of recorded history but the wide public debate regarding its legalization has only surfaced over the past three decades. In the 1970’s it became lawful to draft ‘living wills’ which allows a patient to refuse ‘heroic’ life saving medical assistance in the event they were incapacitated and could only survive by artificial means (Rich, 2001). In other words, it gave the next of kin the right to direct doctors to ‘pull the plug’ if the patient’s condition was considered hopeless, a practice which is now broadly accepted.   However, these wills did not eliminate the potential problem of individuals being kept alive for incredibly long periods of time in permanent unconscious states as there were often no provisions for withdrawing nutrition and hydration when no other life support interventions were necessary.   This oversight has been largely addressed through power of attorney.   â€Å"The durable power of attorney allows an individual to designate in writing a proxy or surrogate decision maker (the at torney-in-fact) who has the same degree of authority to consent to or decline life-sustaining treatment as the patient would if he or she were competent†

New media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

New media - Essay Example New Media The beginning of new media technologies has certainly resulted in the creation of way for scientific revolution around the globe and it continues to revolutionize the universal, communal, and financial settings of nations applying these technologies. It is interesting to consider that urbanized nations have turn into ‘knowledge societies’ as a result of this technological revolution and the majority of developing nations are making effort to bridge the digital divide by promoting the utilization of new media technologies. Digital divide exits in developing and under-developed nations because the majority of individuals still have no access to new media technologies. This is perhaps because of the fact that new media technologies are not available in the region where they live or because they cannot meet the expense of using such facilities (Gane & Beer, 2008). The emergence of new media technologies has affected hypothetical as well as practical suppositions re garding the part of technology in socio-economic growth.

Critical thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Critical thinking - Essay Example This is the best motivational technique that a parent can use, because it is natural for children to behave in a certain way when their behavior is appreciated with a reward. The term coined by B.F. Skinner, negative reinforcement is a kind of motivational technique that aims at repetition of a certain behavior, by the removal of aversive stimuli. An aversive stimulus is some sort of physical or mental discomfort. A response or behavior is strengthened when an individual knows that he will escape a negative outcome. My mother has always told me to clean up the mess in my room before I leave for school. She has, at times, yelled at me when I left my room untidy. So, I knew that I have to clean up my room in order to escape the anger of my mother. In this example, my mom’s anger was the negative reinforce or the negative outcome, which I avoided by correcting my behavior. Consider a student whose mobile phone rings up when he is attending his favorite math class. His teacher reprimands him in front of his classmates, and gives a lecture on bad effects of using mobile phones during lectures. Since the student feels ashamed in front of his peers, he powers off his phone, and makes up his mind to always switch it off during lectures. This way, his negative behavior is weakened by positive punishment. Negative punishment involves taking away of some expected and desired outcome after a negative behavior is shown. Negative punishment is also intended for weakening the negative behavior, so that it does not happen again in future. I remember myself fighting with my little brother over a video game. He wanted to play it first, while I was saying that since it was my idea, so I should play it first. We started yelling at each other, while each of us snatching the DVD from the other. My mom came in, and with an angry look, took the DVD away with her in the kitchen, and hid it somewhere. This is an example of taking away a desired object with the

Hiroshima Diary Essay Example for Free

Hiroshima Diary Essay First of all, I would like to say that you have an overall good paper in my opinion. The first thing that I can suggest is a better hook. My attention wasn’t drawn into the paper. I suggest a quote by a scientist or other survivor, and/or a statistic – something that will make a reader think about the paper more. Another thing that I can recommend is to add a little bit more background on the two narratives, but just very brief (a couple sentences). Also I’d like to point out some things that you could use to improve your thesis. The essay is about â€Å"cause and effect† so it has to be mentioned in your thesis. Also mention the 2 things you will compare between the two stories so the reader has an idea where the paper will be going. Other things I noticed that sounded awkward are the way you used quotes. Introducing quotes is a better strategy than just using the quote as a sentence (paragraph 2) as it gives a better flow and gives a better explanation for your argument. Also in my opinion you could expand more on your analysis of both paragraphs and connect your argument to the thesis and to each other so you have a better evaluation of the discussed topic. There are several other small issues that I found. In paragraph 3 you used a long quote, which is 4+ lines, and it should be in a block format and indented. Also you used very short sentences such as, â€Å"Here are the quotes for the effect.† Using more complex sentences gives a better flow and a more professional look to your essay. You also had some good things in your essay. You provided very concise summary to inform a reader about the story and point out the most important information. You point. Also you have very good topic sentences introducing the argument of that paragraph. From your topic sentences I was able to know what they paragraph would be about, and you were consistent with it. After reading your essay and compared it to my own, I figured that I need to include a better summary. I do not give sufficient background information to be enough for my analysis. Junjie, you did a great job at providing accurate citations, great summary and good analysis. However, you could work on expanding your synthesis and evaluation of the argument in your body paragraph. Otherwise, good job.

Hip Hops Effect On Youth In Lagos

Hip Hops Effect On Youth In Lagos Music is the art of organizing tones in a coherent sequenceso as to produce a unified and continuous composition. Vocal or instrumental sounds possessing rhythm, melody, and harmony.The American Heritage dictionary. Music is a kind of counting performed by the mind without knowing that it is counting, The Monadology (1714) A method of employing the mind without the labour of thinking at all.Samuel Johnson, quoted by Boswell, Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides(1785). Music is work.John Cage, Empty Words (1980)A piece of music is simply a chunk of time you are paying attention to withyour ears.Barney Childs, quote in Ewen, American Composers (1982) According to Tafui ,Hip Hop is a cultural movement expressed through the traditional elements of deejaying , emceeing, various forms of dance (breaking, popping, locking) and writing (graffiti art). As a culture, hip hop represents other aspects of culture as well such as language, style of dress, politics. Marcus.P Hip hop is life.marcus parker. Hip hop music is a culture which break dancing ,graffiti writing , DJing, rapping singing and fashion is used as a means to express freedom from oppressive social conditions. Hip hop music was formed from human transcendence as a result of the creative instinct by African Americans as a result of social oppression on the African American, Latin American and afro Caribbean 1970s communities in New York city. A famous DJ at the time DJAfrika Bambaataa defined that defined the five pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking, graffiti writing, and knowledge. Other elements include beat boxing, hip hop fashion, and slang. Since first Since first emerging in the Bronx, the lifestyle of hip hop culture has spread around the world. Robert M, Sr. When hip hop music began to emerge, it was based around disc jockeys who created rhythmic beats by looping breaks (small portions of songs emphasizing a percussive pattern) on two turntables, which is now more commonly referred to as sampling. This was later accompanied by rapping and beat boxing. Garofalo.R. An original style of dancing and particular styles of dress arose among followers of this new music. These elements experienced considerable refinement and development over the course of the history of the cultureRobert M, Sr. One of these refinements was the birth of Gangsta rap.According to Marcus.P Gangsta rap is a type of hip hop which focuses mainly on the negative aspects of inner city life. The lyrics often glorify criminal activity and degrade women. This genre of hip-hop has been a source of tremendous controversy and is often cited as the cause of the increase in violence. This is particularly true amongst black youth. According to federal statistics cited by the Charlottesville Daily Progress, homicide is the leading cause of death for black men between the ages of 15 and 34.Many gangsta hip-hop artists justify their music by claiming they are only retelling the experiences of their lives on the streets. However, close analysis of the song lyrics often reveals a plethora of curse words and no substance. According to commentators such as those found on Urban Dictionary.com, many artists have been forced to create artificial gangsta images for the sake of a lucrative career. Many young people idolize these artists and imitate their behavior. Joanna White-Oldham. This ongoing fever for hip hop music amongst the youth began to spread over the globe to other countries like China, Canada, and the United kindom and other parts of Africa. Hip hop music arrived in Cuba via radio and TV broadcasts from Miami. During the 1980s hip hop culture in Cuba was mainly centred around breakdancing Fairley J .Initially hip hop was criticized not just by the government, but by many in the community as well. With raperos emulating US rappers aggressive posturing and lyrical content, hip hop was seen as just another cultural invasion from the US, bringing with it the violence and problems of the ghettos. Fairley J. Cuban rappers attacked social and political issues concerning Cuba such as racism, class struggles and police harassment etc. But as pressure for commercial success increases, many of the grass roots artists do not understand the recent change of rapping about partying, cars, and women . Pacini.H, Deborah and Garofalo.R . Hip-hop in the United States started out as a voice of protest, an alternative voice for urban, inner-city youth to voice their grievances, to talk about their living conditions, their hopes and aspiratio ns, said Abiodun, a member of the Black Liberation Party before fleeing to Cuba 14 years ago as a U.S. fugitive facing racketeering charges. Nancy D. But now what we see in terms of rap in the United States, for the most part, its really not talking about anything. Also according to Baker, Geoffrey 2005,many criticize the objectification of females in the dancing and in videos. Some see it as dominant if the women dance in front of the men in a doggy style position, but critics see it as a way of letting the male take initial control over the female. Also many argue that the females in those music videos are objectifying themselves to seem lower than men. Wunderlich, Annelise 2006 . According to B.Geoffrey Music videos are becoming more explicit. To gain a following of their music, Cuban hip hop artists are continuously using provocatively dressed females. This sexual image in their videos is taking away from the audiences ability to actually listen to the lyrics and understand them. The lyrics being addressed recently by Cuban hip hop artists stand as a rebellion against the many downfalls, such as poverty and racism, that their nation is currently fighting Baker, Geoffrey.Sexually-charged dancing (like grinding and doggy style) often associated with hip-hop, are not the only things criticized. In recent years, Hip-hop has merged with Cuban culture to the point it can be heard in parades, school dances, and clubs. This has given rise to the problem of children, 16 or younger, hearing and singing the lyrics found in Cuban hip-hopwhich often make reference to sexual activities. ^ Baker, Geoffrey. 2006. According to Chris Kehinde Nwandu , Hip hop in Nigeria dates back to the late eighties and early nineties. Groups and solo artists during that period include the likes of Junior Pretty, Daniel ,Danny Wilson , Plantashun Boyz , Remedies with members Eedris Abdulkareem , Eddy Remedy Tony Tetuila. It is estimated that 80-percent of urban youth can be reached through Hip-Hop, which encompasses rap, graffiti, dancing and fashionThe late 90s and the 2000s saw a remarkable increase of artists and groups like Eldee da Don of Freestyle , Ikechuku, JJC and the 419 squad , Dbanj and P-Square became a part of mainstream Nigerian music after the collapse of pop trends like Yo-pop . The availability of computers and cheap music editing software in the late 1990s and the 2000s enabled Nigerian musicians to achieve higher quality recordings, which quickly won over the Nigerian audience. As Nigerias Nollywood movies have done to Western movies, Nigerian hip hop has begun to displace Western popular music. Nwandu k. As the Great Music Debate (launched by The GuardianLIFE in the aftermath of the wide and wild debate generated by the article, A Nations Identity Crisis of renowned columnist and public commentator, Dr Reuben Abati in his column, CrossRoads in The Guardian on Sunday, June 21), en ters its third week, some Nigerian artistes have expressed their opinion on the lyrical contents of Nigerian hip-hop songs. Though with different responses, yet, a good number of them contend that despite the fame and wealth that some of the artistes have been amassing through their works, many of the songs ruling the airwaves or the public entertainment circuit, are deficient in quality lyrics; and have have little or no lesson for the listeners. Chris Kehinde Nwandu. The GuardianLIFE sent email and sms messages to a collection of the artistes including Djinee, Ruggedman, Dare Art Alade, TY Bello, NoMoreLoss, J.Martins, IlBliss, Ashioye Ugbo, PSquare, Timi Dakolo, Keffee among others. Out of the list of about 20, however, only a few responded and their views were recorded as follows:Popularly known for his song, No Vernacular, Lagos Jump, Omo Wale among others, the dreadlocks-wearing half-German quizzes, how can you have fuel shortage, bad roads, Niger Delta crisis, children being accused of sorcery in the South-South, Haliburton scandals and you are busy talking Moet, girls and blingz? BY CHUKS NWANNE. According the new talk of the town, Bracket , The lyrics of Nigerian musicians are in reality is more real than fiction because they reflect the day to day experience of the artistes.I, Lara George, an ex member of the famous KUSH states, Our lyrics as Nigerian musicians need to be improved upon and not destroyed. Instead of looking for monetary sa tisfaction that could be destructive and then building NGOs to fix the damage done; we need to use our music to leave a legacy that will help improve the way we are viewed by the rest of the world. Lara, who is no doubt one of the best female vocalists in the country for now, adds, We need to perpetuate solid values in our own environment and grow the psyche of the man on the street in a positive way. She won the Best Female Vocalist at the Nigerian Music Award in Owerri, Imo State. Her songs such as Ijoba Orun, Rest Of My Life and others made noticeable impact in the music scene. CHUKS NWANNE. In an atempt to defend todays music Etcetera Ejikeme said: At moment, you can broadly classify Nigerian artistes into two; what Ill call the mainstream and the alternative. For most of the mainstream artistes, lyrics are the last thing on their minds; basically they just want to make anything that the youth can dance to. The only challenge is that we all dont dance 24/7. So, its within those quiet moments, when you reflect on the lyrics of a song youve been dancing to for months that you suddenly realise how totally hollow and sometimes senseless it is. Ectcetera also added on the Babaekos Xtreme Music that: For the alternative youth, these are serious musicians, who understand that a lot of craftsmanship must go into making a piece of music. They generally have more profound lyrics that grab the imagination of the listeners. The good news however is that the Nigerian music listeners are very sophisticated they are beginning to ask probing questions, demanding for quality music. This is the point where real musicians will be separated from charlatans. All the way from the US, Emma Agu, one of the founding members of Performing Musicians Employers Association of Nigeria, PMAN, acknowledged the rapid growth of the countrys music industry, but faulted the lyrics of some of the artistes. Chris Kehinde Nwandu. There is a remarkable improvement in the audio and video presentation, but the industry still has a long way to go, when it comes to the lyrical contents of the vibes; majority of these boys are churning out. Did you hear Tu-Faces Its time to have sex? I think that was disgusting! Time and time again, I try to make out what some of these hip-pop guys are saying; I barely could catch a word out of their vibes. Most of their lyrics do not make sense.BY CHUKS NWANNE Days are gone when you go to a nite clubs and dance to American beats from dusk till dawn without complaining. Those days of Shaba Ranks, Patra, Buster Rhymes, Chakademus Pliers, 2Pac, Shagyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ these artist ruled the countrys music industry for long, and we had no option than to love them. No option! Those days, it was like a taboo to play a Nigerian song or video on air. A radio station was even so audacious as to decree that no Nigerian music except Fela will grace its air.CHUKS NWANNE . Nowadays things have changed as the Nigerian music is being heard more than even the foreign ones. The Nigerian acts have grown so big that even the foreign musician coolaborate with them to to make new music. Hip-hop has also become an effective tool to communicate with youth under siege, using the language they understand. Social consciousness hip-hop workers have used the microphone and their message to speak to the youth about crime, drugs and have conducted workshops in town halls addressing the youth about the dangers of dangerous living.Marcus P. But critically studied, much of the music coming from the artistes these days, especially the male folks, is shallow and meaningless in lyrical content, beats and composition. If the singers are not rasping about sex or some other lewd subjects; it will be about how many women they have bedded or dated or jilted; or about 419 and related issues; or what they call beefing (abusing perceived enemies). Once an artiste sings about money, everybody follows. Then another sings about sex, and the rest will file in. The beefing has in fact become an industry, much in the light of the eighies rash of abusive songs by the Fuji musicians, who now in their late 60s and burnished with the wisdom that comes with old age (?) must be regretting those dirty words they were trading with their opponents on the scene then. Kuti.S . The President of Professional Musicians Association of Nigeria, Agu admits however, I hear good music from Nigeria; well produced music, beautiful vocals with good melody, fantastic bass line, distinct snare drum, hi-hat and trebling kicks, good harmony, nicely mixed and mastered, but lyrically empty.Hip-hop has gone beyond being just about music, but has actually become a brand, a lifestyle and an urban culture that almost everybody aspires to be associated with even big corporate. It is on this note that inevitably the rapper is now more than a musician but has become an entrepreneur that utilizes his or her craft to sell global brands of big corporations. Rappers are trendsetters; where they lead others follow. They can revitalize a luxury brand by making it seem youthful and individualistic. It is estimated that 80-percent of urban youth in lagos can be reached through Hip-Hop, which encompasses rap, graffiti, dancing and fashion The Guardian Life magazine. According to Murray Forman, professor of media studies at Northeastern University in Boston. To say there is no influence and no effect by hip hop music is naÃÆ' ¯ve. . REFRENCE Basu.D , Sidney J, Wunderlich, (2006) Cuban Hip-hop: Making Space for New Voices of Dissent. In The Vinyl Aint Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture London; Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto Press, Pacini.H, Deborah and Garofalo.R, 2004.The emergence of Rap Cubano: An historical perspective. .BurlingtonVt. Ashgate press. Wunderlich, Annelise: Cuban Hip-hop: Making Space for New Voices of Dissent, The Vinyl Aint Final: Hip Hop a2006 Pluto Press Basu, D and Lemelle.S 2006 ,the Globalization of Black Popular Culture London: Pluto Pres page 168. Pacini.H, Deborah and Garofalo.R. 2004. The emergence of rap Cubano: An historicalperspective. In Music, Space, and Place, Ashgate, .press WEBSITES http://books.google.com/books?id=KrVuuaB4jAQCHYPERLINK http://books.google.com/books?id=KrVuuaB4jAQCpg=PA276lpg=PA276dq=club+la+mona+hip+hop+cubasource=webots=y44TtRgw_4sig=8qLyLDLPRCkK40e1ujf_-zseA2w#PPA277,M1HYPERLINK http://books.google.com/books?id=KrVuuaB4jAQCpg=PA276lpg=PA276dq=club+la+mona+hip+hop+cubasource=webots=y44TtRgw_4sig=8qLyLDLPRCkK40e1ujf_-zseA2w#PPA277,M1pg=PA276HYPERLINK http://books.google.com/books?id=KrVuuaB4jAQCpg=PA276lpg=PA276dq=club+la+mona+hip+hop+cubasource=webots=y44TtRgw_4sig=8qLyLDLPRCkK40e1ujf_-zseA2w#PPA277,M1HYPERLINK http://books.google.com/books?id=KrVuuaB4jAQCpg=PA276lpg=PA276dq=club+la+mona+hip+hop+cubasource=webots=y44TtRgw_4sig=8qLyLDLPRCkK40e1ujf_-zseA2w#PPA277,M1lpg=PA276HYPERLINK http://books.google.com/books?id=KrVuuaB4jAQCpg=PA276lpg=PA276dq=club+la+mona+hip+hop+cubasource=webots=y44TtRgw_4sig=8qLyLDLPRCkK40e1ujf_-zseA2w#PPA277,M1HYPERLINK http://books.google.com/books?id=KrVuuaB4jAQCpg=PA276lpg=PA276dq=club+la+mona+hip+hop+cubasource=webo ts=y44TtRgw_4sig=8qLyLDLPRCkK40e1ujf_-zseA2w#PPA277,M1dq=club+la+mona+hip+hop+cubaHYPERLINK http://books.google.com/books?id=KrVuuaB4jAQCpg=PA276lpg=PA276dq=club+la+mona+hip+hop+cubasource=webots=y44TtRgw_4sig=8qLyLDLPRCkK40e1ujf_-zseA2w#PPA277,M1HYPERLINK http://books.google.com/books?id=KrVuuaB4jAQCpg=PA276lpg=PA276dq=club+la+mona+hip+hop+cubasource=webots=y44TtRgw_4sig=8qLyLDLPRCkK40e1ujf_-zseA2w#PPA277,M1source=webHYPERLINK http://books.google.com/books?id=KrVuuaB4jAQCpg=PA276lpg=PA276dq=club+la+mona+hip+hop+cubasource=webots=y44TtRgw_4sig=8qLyLDLPRCkK40e1ujf_-zseA2w#PPA277,M1HYPERLINK http://books.google.com/books?id=KrVuuaB4jAQCpg=PA276lpg=PA276dq=club+la+mona+hip+hop+cubasource=webots=y44TtRgw_4sig=8qLyLDLPRCkK40e1ujf_-zseA2w#PPA277,M1ots=y44TtRgw_4HYPERLINK http://books.google.com/books?id=KrVuuaB4jAQCpg=PA276lpg=PA276dq=club+la+mona+hip+hop+cubasource=webots=y44TtRgw_4sig=8qLyLDLPRCkK40e1ujf_-zseA2w#PPA277,M1HYPERLINK http://books.google.com/books?id=KrVuuaB4jAQCpg=PA276lpg =PA276dq=club+la+mona+hip+hop+cubasource=webots=y44TtRgw_4sig=8qLyLDLPRCkK40e1ujf_-zseA2w#PPA277,M1sig=8qLyLDLPRCkK40e1ujf_-zseA2w#PPA277,M1 22nd November 2009 http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Music/11/22/hln.hot.hit.cuban.hip.hop.htm 23rd November 2009 https://moodle.brandeis.edu/file.php/3404/pdfs/baker-hip-hop-revolucion.pdf 22 nd November 2009 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/04/entertainment/main647330.shtml 22 nd November 2009 CNN.com Cuban hip-hop: The rebellion within the revolution Nov. 25, 2002 20th November 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_hip_hop 23 rd November 2009 http://www.africanhiphop.com/africanhiphopradio/naija-nigerian-80s-rap-on-vinyl/ 23 rd November 2009 http://theguardianlifemagazine.blogspot.com/2009/08/great-music-debate-3-hip-hop-in-eyes-of.html 23 rd November 2009 http://daniellamaison.blogspot.com/ 23rd November 2009 http://www.naijajams.com/thoughts-on-the-nigerian-hip-hop-scene-part-1 23rd November 2009 http://allafrica.com/stories/200911270165.html 25th November 2009 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_26_98/ai_68018839/ 25th November 2009 http://fulbright.mtvu.com/melissaadams/2009/11/13/why-hip-hop/ 24th November 2009 http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_3_how_hip_hop.html 24th November 2009 https://www.youthmesh.org/wiki/index.php/Nigeria 24th November 2009 http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=110966339114 23rd November 2009

David Fincher’s Fight Club Essay -- David Fincher’s Fight Club

David Fincher’s â€Å"Fight Club† In David Fincher’s â€Å"Fight Club† a man battles within himself to live a life he has always dared to live, but in the end when everything is taken to the extreme, he realizes it’s too late to change what he has done. He struggles with the social structure due to his realization that he is in fact powerless in today’s society. He is constantly fighting his alter personality Tyler Durden for control of not only himself but also the world around them. He sees Marla as the lie that exists within himself and despises her for it. Fincher implies that sometimes people have to completely free themselves of their materialistic ideals in order to truly be free. Fincher also suggests that in some cases the absence of a male father figure have lead to instability and the creation of Mr. Hyde. The setting is one marked with desire for an awakening to the world around us. The fact that the protagonist does not have a name is because he represents anyone and everyone in today’s society he could even be named Jack. The opening views inside Jack’s brain are dark with flashes of fear for his very existence. The city view at night is the dark materialistic civilization in which we live. Bob (the man with breasts) is his missing family that isn’t there to hold him. The wet face on Bob’s shirt resembling a face is Jack, giving himself and opening up to Bob. In the beginning, there are several subliminal images of Tyler; this is in fact a manifestation of his subc... David Fincher’s Fight Club Essay -- David Fincher’s Fight Club David Fincher’s â€Å"Fight Club† In David Fincher’s â€Å"Fight Club† a man battles within himself to live a life he has always dared to live, but in the end when everything is taken to the extreme, he realizes it’s too late to change what he has done. He struggles with the social structure due to his realization that he is in fact powerless in today’s society. He is constantly fighting his alter personality Tyler Durden for control of not only himself but also the world around them. He sees Marla as the lie that exists within himself and despises her for it. Fincher implies that sometimes people have to completely free themselves of their materialistic ideals in order to truly be free. Fincher also suggests that in some cases the absence of a male father figure have lead to instability and the creation of Mr. Hyde. The setting is one marked with desire for an awakening to the world around us. The fact that the protagonist does not have a name is because he represents anyone and everyone in today’s society he could even be named Jack. The opening views inside Jack’s brain are dark with flashes of fear for his very existence. The city view at night is the dark materialistic civilization in which we live. Bob (the man with breasts) is his missing family that isn’t there to hold him. The wet face on Bob’s shirt resembling a face is Jack, giving himself and opening up to Bob. In the beginning, there are several subliminal images of Tyler; this is in fact a manifestation of his subc...

Hamlet (Shakespeare): “Mad,” “Sane,” or “None of the Above”? Essay

A form of theatrical representation, metadrama (Danner), revealed Hamlet’s convictions about the behaviors and character of his mother, father, step-father, and, most importantly, himself (Shakespeare).   Metadramatic techniques reveal to the audience that characters in a play themselves are aware they are in a play and are providing additional information that the audience can accept as truthful (Danner). While these characters have no motivation to be deceitful, they may demonstrate to the audience their ability to deceive themselves.   Most notably, in Hamlet, the audience can accept information in particular soliloquies, the play-within-a-play, and from the ghost of Hamlet’s father as accurate representations of Hamlet’s and even the ghost’s own perceptions.   Why would any self-respecting ghost return to earth other than to reveal the truth?   And why would Hamlet choose to lie to us through a soliloquy? However, most importantly, we have an opportunity to witness Hamlet’s own unintentional self-deceptions.   In using examples of these techniques to evaluate Hamlet’s mental condition, â€Å"sanity† was not conceptualized as a categorical variable with two levels, â€Å"sane† or â€Å"mad.† Creating â€Å"madness† in a fictional character in a literary masterpiece (e.g., Ophelia in Hamlet) does not impose the difficulties encountered when trying to differentiate between those who are legally â€Å"mad† vs. â€Å"bad† (Emery & Oltmanns 429-433) or when trying to form two discrete diagnostic categories (Emery & Oltmanns 3-14). Regarding the question of whether Hamlet was â€Å"mad† or â€Å"sane,† in the analysis presented below, he has been conceptualized as unfortunate in having characteristics that did not match the particular demands needed for the unusual circumstances of his life and also in having the facility for self-deception that prevented him from recognizing the futility of nonetheless persevering. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet was a young man grieving following the death of the father he apparently still had worshipped as young boys not infrequently do, until they learn what is and isn’t â€Å"cool†.   Hamlet, of course, seemingly for worse rather than for better, actually had that all-powerful father, strong, courageous, respected and also loved by all.   Not prepared for his father’s death, Hamlet was even less prepared for his mother’s fast re-marriage to her brother-in-law. Magnificent poetry is no less magnificent if it comes from the mouth of someone too inexperienced to have learned the difference between the kinds of painful events that characterize human existence and those that will always get our own or most anyone’s attention, for example, the difference between our recently widowed mother having sex with the village idiot and her being sent to Hitler’s gas chambers.   The intensity and obsessive nature of his suicidal depression alone would have permitted a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD; American Psychiatric Association manual, as cited in Emery & Oltmanns):   â€Å"O, that this too too solid flesh would Melt{,} and resolve itself into a dew!   Or that he Everlasting had not fix’d His cannon ‘gainst self-slaughter!   O God! God! How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world!† (Hamlet 10). Interestingly, more than two centuries before Freud’s birth, Shakespeare had dramatized the kind of observation on which the latter based psychoanalytic theory (as cited in Shaffer).   First, in the soliloquy cited above, Hamlet did not yet even know that the cause of his father’s death was homicide and would not himself have recognized that his suicidal depression was caused not by his father’s death but by his mother’s sexual betrayal (in Hamlet’s view) of his father, when she went with â€Å"most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!† (10). Without apology for violating one of the many dictates of the politically correct (PC), the dictate never to mention the name â€Å"Freud† without including the phrase â€Å"sexist† (Bowers & Farvolden), it does not even seem possible to avoid imagining Dr. Freud, while rubbing his whiskers thoughtfully, concluding that while Hamlet had resolved his fear of paternal retribution for his Oedipal desires by closely identifying with his father, his resolution of the Oedipal stage was incomplete because, regarding his mother, in wording compatible with Hamlet’s revered Bible, he still was â€Å"lusting in his heart† and, rather than blame his mother as an individual, he instead (innocently and blissfully untroubled today’s PC) blamed women’s nature, â€Å"Frailty, thy name is woman!† (10). His ambiguous view of his mother was perhaps not unlike children who blame their mothers for all that is wrong with their lives and the world, yet for whom the phrase â€Å"your mother,† in themselves, are fighting words.   To reinforce the doubts he already had about Gertrude (noted above), Shakespeare gave him the ghost of his father who simultaneously condemned and forgave her, in effect setting her up as a target for both justifiable rage and self-restraint: Claudius â€Å"won to his shameful lust The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen† (20) and Hamlet should â€Å"Let not the royal bed of Denmark be A couch for luxury and damned incest.   But, however, thou pursuest this act, Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive Against thy mother†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (21).   The ghost of Hamlet’s father encouraged what already was his simmering attribution of blame, not overly concerned about the fairness of Gertrude sharing Claudius’ guilt.   In fact, we know that people distort their own perceptions and memories in a direction consistent with their beliefs (Schacter), explaining how Hamlet managed to interpret the ghost’s condemnation of Gertrude as strong enough to warrant his own conclusion, â€Å"O most pernicious woman!† (22). Indeed, people who have suffered misfortune frequently do seek out other people to blame.   We do not like to believe we are at the mercy of random inexplicable accidents or that there is no meaning to account for the occurrence of adverse events or that we do not have immortal souls.   Thus, while Claudius most certainly was guilty of committing â€Å"murder most foul† (20), what did Gertrude actually do to warrant her son’s animosity?   When does she ever show us the loathsome side of herself we have come to expect? Regarding her husband, she, in fact, does not seem guilty of anything more than being naively trusting, when as a recent and lonely widow, she was human in being receptive to the sexual overtures of a man she believed shared her own grief.   Despite what her son and her husband’s ghost indignantly protested, for centuries, marriage between even blood relatives might be considered a national European sport (Coontz). Regarding Hamlet, her â€Å"crimes† seemed no more than being overly tolerant of his disrespectful treatment and overly supportive to the extent of being his cheerleader in what she failed to recognize was not a game but a lethal battle with Laertes: â€Å"He’s fat, and scant of breath.   Here Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows; the queen carouses to thy fortune† (Hamlet, 99).   In her exuberance, she drank poison from the cup her husband had prepared for Hamlet. It would seem that Hamlet’s fatal flaw was less his inability to exact revenge from Claudius than his facility at finding and deceiving himself into believing about any possible excuse, thus preventing him from accept himself for not being the â€Å"man of action† expected of the son of a great king.   Under other circumstances, differing from his father regarding physical accomplishments might have led to no more than the timeless struggle between, for example, the father who had been star quarterback in high school and the son who was in his father’s eyes the star high-school nerd. It was Hamlet’s incredible myopia regarding the excuses he was making for failing to act that led inexorably to a tragic bloodbath in the end.   Hamlet, it turned out, like J. Alfred Prufrock, was â€Å"not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be† (Eliot line 111).   Had Hamlet a chance to â€Å"grow old† (line 120), he might have recognized his own nature in time to avoid becoming â€Å"an attendant lord†¦deferential, glad to be of use† (lines 112, 115). However, he too had â€Å"wept and prayed† (line 81) and rather than finding â€Å"the strength and courage to force the moment to a crisis† (line 80), he found only excuses for failing to act.   Indeed, Hamlet seemed to sincerely believe he would have been able to end his torment through suicide had his religion not prohibited â€Å"self-slaughter† (Hamlet, 10). These excuses included an odd need for evidence that the ghost was truthful (53), failing to act after the play-within-a-play elicited the demonstration of guilt Hamlet sought from Claudius (surprisingly, since the sociopath of Hamlet’s description would not be likely to even feel guilt – and after a stunningly convincing description of his own conscience, why did Claudius not remember this conscience after again Hamlet failed to kill him?) because of his mistaken perception of Claudius being in the act of prayer.   Ironically, as Claudius was acknowledging that his â€Å"offense is rank it smells to heaven; It hath the primal eldest curse upon’t, A brother’s murder. Pray can I not† (64), Hamlet, echoing the ghost of his father at the beginning of the play, could not kill Claudius because if killed while in prayer, â€Å"he goes to heaven †¦Ã‚   this is †¦ not revenge† (65).   At this point, he failed even to question the justice of a religion that rewards a minute of remorse with heaven and punishes anyone unfortunate enough to die suddenly with hell.   Hamlet never did describe what his father might have done so that he was â€Å"cut off even in the blossom of my sins† (21). Was Hamlet â€Å"mad†?   He was not mad unless the label is consistently used to describe anyone demonstrating self-destructive patterns of thought.   For that matter, if we describe Hamlet as â€Å"mad,† there would be no reason for excluding the millions of people who fit, to varying degrees, even one diagnostic description in the American Psychiatric Association manual (as cited in Emery & Oltmanns). Is Hamlet â€Å"sane†?   The label again would fit only if it also were used to describe virtually all of us who demonstrate any of the subjective feelings of distress described in the same manual.   The text of Hamlet did not even provide enough information to form a reliable conclusion about his thoughts and behaviors prior to his father’s death.   He might have been feeling distressed his entire life because of experiences such as the death of his pet flea or a stubbed toe. The genuine tragedy of Hamlet was that the eloquence and stunningly brutal clarity with which he expressed the universal human condition in his most famous soliloquy did not prevent his doom and, indeed, might have been so brilliant that he would have been blinded had he not turned away: a condition where the only escape from â€Å"the whips and scorns of time† is into the potentially worse â€Å"undiscover’d country †¦ [that] makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of† (48). 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