Baroque Style :: essays research papers

The Baroque style was a style in which the art and artists of the time focused upon details, and intricate designs. During this time the portraits began to portray modern life, and artists turned their backs on classical tradition. Buildings were more elaborate and ornately decorated. These works of art created history and altered the progress of Western Civilization. The progress has been an uneven one. Regression and progress often alternated, and shifts in direction often occurred. Art, architecture, literature, and historical events shaped the ideas of the era we know today. Architecture such as the palace of Versailles, and artists like Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and Goya symbolize these ideas. The palace of Versailles is a grand building outside of Paris, which exhibits the characteristics of the Baroque style. It was elaborately decorated and the final product took 20 years to create. The fence is covered with a sheet of gold; every room is filled with intricate carvings and elegant figurines. Each room reflects a certain time or king by the change in furniture and style. These rooms demonstrate this with items such as back-less chairs, which were created to accommodate the clothes of the period. The materials used to create each piece also distinguish the time period. First generation furniture was made of sterling silver, and the upholstery was changed with the seasons. Second generation furniture was very elaborate and made of wood. Versailles is a perfect example of progression in Western art. The entire house displays the transition from Medieval to Renaissance to the Baroque stylings. The palace is like a museum, which shows the progress of society using art and architecture. Caravaggio was an artist of this period who was also a pioneer in art. The artists of this period began to portray modern life, instead of religious figures. Caravaggio was a violent man who came to Italy to paint. Rebelling against conventional ideas- divine intervention, Virgin Mary, and death- he came to create his own style, forcing civilization ahead, and forcing others to follow his path. His paintings show pleading through man's direct knowledge of God. By revolting against the classical traditions, he created his own style, which other artists wished to portray also. Thus, he created a forward movement in the fashion of art and architecture. Rembrandt was also an artist who wished to depict art in a new manner. "Rembrandt, although in fact he was a profound student of the classical tradition, wanted to look at every episode as if it had never been depicted before, and to try to find an equivalent for it in his own experience." (Clark, 203). "...Rembrandt's paintings

The American Presidency: Evolution in Time Essay -- American History P

The American Presidency: Evolution in Time The American Presidency is undoubtedly one of the most widely recognized popular icons throughout the world. Although to most foreigners or those who have never resided in the United States or know little of its history, the executive branch of government may seem to be as dull and unyielding as the rest of the American politics, for those few rare individuals who have taken the time to examine and closely scrutinize this office of the American political system and its recent history, quite the opposite will be said. Unlike Congressional or local elections where typically a number of individuals of the same ideological background must be elected in order for a particular issue to be addressed by the government, when it comes to the presidency, one person, although checked by various other divisions of the same government, has the power and responsibility to literally, as history has proven, change the world. The American people, "like all people everywhere, want to have our (pol itical) cake and eat it too. We want a lot of leadership, but we are notoriously lousy followers" (Genovese). In other words the expectations the public has of the executive office are ever-changing since we demand that our leaders keep up with the evolving world around us and them. Throughout the past seventy eventful years alone, the American people's views, perceptions and demands of the Executive Office of American government have evolved simultaneously with the political and social events of that same time period. The 1930s was a time of not only political turmoil abroad, but of economic chaos on the home-front as well. After President Herbert C. Hoover's Presidency took the blame for launching the ... ...atter? The Role of Charisma in Public Leadership." Congress & the Presidency 29 (2002): 25-47. Genovese A., Michael. "'What Have You Done For Me Lately?: The Demands Placed On The American Presidency.' National Forum 80 (2000): 30-40. Iyengar, Shanto. "Public Opinion." 10 Nov. 2004 <http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=023 82400&templatename=/article/article.ht ml > Rosen A., Elliot. "Roosevelt, Franklin Delano." 10 Nov. 2004 <http: //ap. grolier. com/article?assetid=02501700&templatename=/article/article.ht ml > Saltzman, Joe. "All the News that Fits Our Views." USA Today Sept. 25, 2004: 55. Shea, Christopher. "Americans More United in Social Views." The Chronicle of Higher Education 43 (1997): A18. Weinstein, Michael A., Weinstein, Deena. "Hail to the Shrub: Mediating the Presidency." The American Behavioral Scientist 46 (2002): 566-581.

Discuss the Minority Presence in Contemporary British Art Essay

Minority Presence in Contemporary British Art "Highly visible yet evasively mute." Art critic Kobena Mercer, comments on the current position of African and Asian artists in Contemporary British Art, when he suggests that minority artists are seen and not heard. This oxymoronic position derives from a long historical legacy of European colonization and the emphasis on 'racial inferiority' and 'otherness.' On the one hand, British art is progressive, allowing some minority art in the general art world. Yet on the other hand minority art is still marginalized by the preferential treatment given to white artists. There is a strong degree of accuracy in Mercer's statement because while minority art can now be 'seen,' the 'voice' is suppressed when the 'ethnic element' is too strong. Subordination comes in many forms. Not only do minority artists have a limited gallery presence in major galleries, but finding information on them can be utterly impossible when the current focus of British art revolves around what it means to be British. The only minority artists that are visible are artists who either play up white stereotypes or allude to a Western artistic tradition. An examination of these artists and the current art climate, indicate that the visible presence of minority artists is controlled by preconceived traditions and perceptions. The difficulties facing minority artists in Britain today relate to the current climate of the art world. A quiet tug-o-war exists between the effort to globalize the British art and return to white dominance. Multiculturalism is everywhere; however, it often plays an artificial role in that its purpose is to fulfill a quota. The predominately white yBa movement defines the current art worl... ...the boat' too much. African/Asian artists must allude to either white stereotypes or traditions, to survive in an art world that continues to be dominated by the majority. Works Cited Chambers, Eddie interview with Petrine Archer Straw. From Annotations 5: Run through the jungle selected writings by Eddie Chambers. Edited by GilaneTawdrows and Victoria Clarke. London: inIva, 1999, pp 21-31 King, Catherine. Views of Difference: Different Views of Art. Yale University Press: London, 1999. Mercer, Kobena, 'Ethnicity and Internationality: New British Art and Diaspora-Based Blackness', Third Text, Winter 1999-2000, p 55 Robinson, Hilary. Visibly Female. 1986 from an interview with Yasmin Kureshi. Reworking Myths: Sutapa Biswas Stallabrass, Julian. High Art Light. Verso: London, 1999. from Ofili, interview with Marco Spinelli, 'Brilliant' pg. 7

Writing a Thesis Statement about Discrimination

Thesis statement is a statement that conveys the ultimate message, intention or the main argument of your essay. In other words, thesis statement can summarize your whole essay within a single sentence. Your thesis statement will be enough for the examiners about which side or position you are taking in the discussion or debate. For example, in the question of â€Å"do you agree? † type, this statement will tell the reader whether you agree and to what extent. There are chaos surrounding how the thesis statement should be like.It is natural for you to think that this sentence should be long and complex, since it should summarize the whole essay. But as you get more confident with the use of language, you will know that a very short sentence can sometimes state a thesis more effectively than longer ones. Moreover, since the thesis statement is understood or interpreted in the light of the contextual information provided earlier, you might express only the core message in the th esis statement. Therefore, thesis statements can equally be written concisely or laconically.But for that, you should have a superior vocabulary and experience (practice). The thesis statement is usually written at the end of the introduction paragraph. How to write a thesis statement? Thesis statement by itself isn’t any different from ordinary statements. It is unique just because this single sentence can convey the message of the whole essay. Except this special characteristic there’s no any other difference. You do not need to learn any new rules to be able to write thesis statement. More likely, you might be already using such statements in your essays without your conscious knowledge.Now, I’ll present a few obvious examples about how thesis statement can be written! Example 1 James Tan Chuan Xun, Educator in Chief at Future Perfect Education, wrote a thesis statement for the following essay title as: Q. ?†There is little in the 20th century of which we can be proud of† Discuss. There is much to be proud of, much to be ashamed about, and much to hope for in the 20th century. This sentence clearly reflects his overall view on the question. He is aware of the positive developments of which we should be proud of; the negative aspects of those developments of which we should be ashamed about;and despite what happened there still is a need for us to be hopeful and optimistic. From this single sentence we can frame out how his whole essay will look like. We can more or less predict what he is likely to discuss in his body paragraphs. In a nutshell, we can know his overall view on this topic. Example 2 Similarly, here are other examples demonstrating how to write thesis statement: Q. To what extent are racism and other forms of discrimination a problem in yoursociety? While racism is absent, caste and gender discriminations are still huge problems in my society.Here we can easily infer that racism is nonexistent but caste discrim ination and gender discrimination are the burning issues in the author’s society. We can also expect that the author will outline the reasons behind such discriminations as well as justify why the problems concerned are highly intense in his society. This question is seeking answer to two particular questions: ?What kinds of discrimination problems are present in your society? (Identification and justification of the problem. ) ?To what extent are they problematic in your society?(Assessment of the intensity of the problem. Is the problem serious or mild? ) The thesis statement above has concisely answered these both questions. Example 3 Q. Can democracy be imposed or must it grow naturally? Democracy will still be the ‘rule of people’ even if established by imposition, however, for full acceptance of the people it should be allowed to grow naturally. From this thesis statement, we are clear that the author is very positive about democracy. Democracy is the rule of people no matter how we introduce it to a country.People are powered with various rights in a democratic nation and their decision, expressed through voting and/or referendum, on the major issues of national interest is the final one. The author seems to understand these facts about democracy. However, we can infer from his thesis statement that he is also aware of the possible consequences of imposing democracy. In the question, the word â€Å"imposing† contradicts directly with the principle of democracy. â€Å"Can we impose people to be free, even if they don’t want to? † can be an ethical question, a question for debate.Perhaps, the people do not want to take their decision themselves. Perhaps they find it easier, and totally comfortable to follow a dictator. For many reasons including religious, cultural and socio-economic, people might be accepting the rule of a non-democratic leader. In such conditions, they may even retaliate or revolt against any oth er forms of government, especially if imposed by some other people. The author also understands this possibility. Hence, he thinks that if the democracy has to gain full support from people, it should be allowed to grow naturally. ConclusionA thesis statement need not be difficult and complex. In fact, simpler and clearer thesis statements are better as they can communicate your argument more effectively than the difficult ones. Moreover, thesis statements are not that difficult to write if you practice writing them whenever you write a new GP essay. Just be clear in your mind what you are writing and remember that the length or structure of the sentence doesn’t matter. Only what matters is that it should be able to give a big picture of the whole essay. Your thesis statement is your answer to the question in a single sentence.

The Science of Shopping

Caution! An anxietytriggers in your brain signaling the entry of new arrivals in the mall, an outcry for shoppers all around to come to the mall and buy the latest stuff designer/manufacturers have to offer claiming it is only a limited stock variety. The customer scout out the shop which is the most crowded considering it has the best to offer, he/she move in start sweeping by the items, trying to find what reflects your style and communicates your attitude towards the observers. The customers perceive what your fellow shoppers are purchasing or showing interest in and compare their selection with your choice and taste. Thesis statement: The purchasing behavior in the united states in America and the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The different ways of how they purchase and make their decisions while buying things. What modes they use? Body: The most common trend in the United States is that most of the people go out and window shop. They waste their time doing nothing, just hang out with friends and family and go through most of the shops and end up buying in small quantities. Most of the American society believes in online shopping. Then why do the women in Saudi Arabia have to stay in some constraints while going out for shopping? Thus in the Saudi Arabia the buying behavior of the female gender is totally different when it comes to clothes. They have to stay within the constraints they are living in. According to Norton â€Å"the mall is a favorite subject for the laments of cultural conservatives and others critical of the culture of consumption. † (Norton, 105) However in America there are no such limits. People can buy whatever they want. They have no constraints. Therefore this is the main difference in the buying behavior of both the countries. One can see people of different buying behavior, different race, and different cultures in the shopping malls. Do the people in Saudi Arabia believe in window shopping? Or do they prefer window shopping? For the people of Saudi Arabia window shopping is wastage of time. KSA shopping style is more related to direct item shopping, the customer shops what the customer want and leave, spend time skipping shops, but as soon as the customer get what he wants he leave. Thus in America the uying behavior is rational. The main focus of the American buyer is the features and benefits of the product. Therefore the retailer has to keep in mind different things. As the mall is a public place and people from different parts of the world come there, so it becomes offensive for the public, if the retailer or any customer brings up or says anything which offends any race or culture. According to Norton â€Å"Controversial displays, by stores or customers or the plethora of organizations and agencies that present themselves in the open spaces of the mall, are not permitted. (Norton, 105) Thus they should be careful while putting anything on display keeping in mind that the mall is a public place and there are some limits and boundaries they should keep in mind. Conclusion: The purchasing of behavior totally depends on our culture and belief system. The sellers and retailers display things according to the want and culture of different people. They study their behavior and make alternations accordingly. It is the consumer who tells the seller or retailer how to attract them. The make and provide products for every gender and age of the society. KSA shopping has displays of the most expensive and fancy stuff hanging as a customer grabber. They even put up gold plated items in display to grab the customer by need or greed. USA shopping has displays with new arrivals as well as old running stock, their display of attention gathering is purely based on shoppers intention, whether they want to buy it or not,. The retailer can’t force a customer to shop at your place. This shopping trend shows well known respectable brands have the most sales because of trust.

Compare and Contrast Plato and Decsartes Essay

Descartes and Plato are two of the most influential thinkers within philosophy. The allegory of the cave and systematic doubt are also two of the most famous concepts within philosophy. Plato at the time of writing the cave allegory was trying to resist the growing influence of the Sophist philosophers who prioritised semantics and rhetoric over truth.1 Descartes by introducing radical scepticism to philosophy was challenging traditional scholastic philosophy which had dominated the philosophy for many centuries. While both pieces of writing are separated by different ages of time and space, they share many similarities as well as fundamental differences. This essay will attempt to compare and contrast these two bodies of work by firstly explaining what is Descartes’ systematic doubt and Plato’s Allegory of the cave before finally examining the similarities and differences between them in the final paragraph of analysis. Descartes in his first meditation introduces the concept of Radical doubt which similarly places suspicion on the senses and the appearance of things. This involves stripping away all one’s beliefs and preconceived notions in order to find the foundational bedrock of knowledge in which all sciences could then grow. Descartes begins his first meditation by casting doubt on all his beliefs, if a belief can be even slightly doubted it must be discarded. He wants to ‘reject as absolutely false anything in which I could imagine the least amount of doubt3’ this is called radical scepticism where all beliefs must be challenged. Through this experiment Descartes conceded that the physical senses are not to be trusted as they have deceived him before, this is known as sensory deception and this revelation forces him to doubt any beliefs about the external world and knowledge that is gathered by the five senses. His examination also reveals that dreams states can be difficult to  distinguish between waking life, this has happened before where he thought he was in bed but wasn’t. Henceforth one cannot truly know if they are awake observing reality or asleep enjoying a dream, this is known as the dream hypothesis. Descartes also uncovers the evil demon hypothesis whereby all external reality observed may be just an illusion that is perpetrated by an evil demon seeking to deceive him, also there is the problem that all previous memories about oneself could simply just be imagination and not grounded in any reality. The system of radical doubt leads Descartes into murky territory where he cannot believe in the existence of anything at all. This thankfully is changed when he discovers the cogito’ I think therefore I am’, his starting point which saves him from uncertainty, allowing him to prove that he exists. In Plato’s allegory of the cave, there are prisoners who are locked up within the depths of a cave. All day long, they are situated in front of a wall and behind them is a fire which reflects shadows on the wall. Unbeknownst to the prisoners, there are puppeteers who use the firelight to reflect shadows of their puppets upon the wall while making noises ‘the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows’. The prisoners are unaware of this illusion and mistakenly believe these shadows are real images. One day, a prisoner is released from his chains and allowed to walk freely about the cave. Although it is confusing for him to see the puppets and fire, he is forced to accept this clearer version of reality and eventually ascents through the cave, spending a day and night under the sun and the stars. As he becomes familiar with the world above, he realises the sun is the giver of light, how it casts shadows and how his prior life in the cave was an entire illusion. This newfound enlightenment Plato remarks will prevent him from ever returning to the life in cave, nor will his old inmates believe him if he tried to free him, instead ‘they would put him to death5’ This intellectual awakening will cause the inmate to grasp the idea of good, the eternal form which will urge him to act ‘rationally in public or private life6’. Ultimately Plato suggests the inmate should return to his old friends and seek to help them. The cave analogy is concerned with the human condition and its’ lack of enlightenment, for Plato the prisoners represent ordinary citizens who hold false beliefs (shadows), reality is dictated to them by their senses (appearance of things) allowing them to be easily manipulated. Ignorance is then symbolised by darkness and the  intellect and reason is symbolised by the light. The journey of the inmate from darkness to light is a metaphor for education which allows one to progress from the ignorance in the depths of the cave to the intellectual plains of the enlightened one in the outside world. The outer world symbolises true knowledge, the realisation of eternal forms while the cave again illustrates the world of appearance and false beliefs, Woozley writes ‘most men without knowing it live in this shadow world’9 The cave analogy and Descartes systematic doubt have much in common. Both are concerned with the illusory nature of the senses and external reality, for Plato people place too much emphasis on the senses, on the appearance of things as illustrated in by the shadows on the wall, this leads them to hold false beliefs and to be easily misled, only by entering the realm of thought can people free themselves by gaining knowledge and becoming enlightened. Descartes through the systematic doubt also maintains that external reality cannot be truly known; the sensory deception and evil demon hypothesis cast doubt on the authenticity of the outside world. Indeed the evil demon hypothesis is an almost identical scenario to that of the prisoners whose sensory per ception is distorted by the shadow wielding puppeteers. Only through the mind or intellect can an individual overcome the illusory nature of the senses, it allows the prisoner to access the outside world to gain enlightenment and help his fellow inmates while for Descartes the mind by way of the cogito is the one thing that cannot be doubted which through it allows him prove the existence of the outside world in his later meditations. The cave is an analogy which illustrates how people can possess false consciousness and how through reason and knowledge one can overcome this while systematic doubt is an instruction on how to discard false beliefs, the ascent through the cave into the intellectual world is the finishing point for Plato while the cogito for Descartes is a starting point for further investigation. The two authors also differ on the type of philosophy employed in their argument. Plato insists that after the ascent , the prisoner will experience the idea of the good ‘ the lord of light in the visible world, and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual’10 the good then is the highest point of knowledge and represents Plato’s philosophy of perfect types or forms known as idealism, Descartes through highlighting the sensory, dream and demon hypothesis  illustrates how the external world cannot be relied upon as a basis for true knowledge, but the cogito is a start ing point, the attempt to find secure beliefs that allow a foundation for further knowledge to be rested upon is known as Foundationalism which is credited to Descartes. In conclusion, both Descartes and Plato in their attempts to challenge the prevailing doctrine of their respective times introduced two of the most influential concepts in the world of Philosophy. Descartes through his examination of systematic doubt uncovers the limitations of the physical senses in acquiring knowledge and introduces further challenges to understanding external reality with the dream, memory and evil demon hypothesis. Only through the mind alone can one grasp the nature of reality starting with the cogito. Likewise Plato is concerned with the appearance of things, how the senses can deceive us and humanity like the inmates in the cave can live in a state of ignorance or darkness if they don’t use the power of the mind to acquire knowledge and reason. Only through using the intellect can humanity gather true knowledge and escape the darkness in the cave. For both the intellect is the only means for gathering true knowledge, the senses are illusory. Descartes s ystematic doubt and cogito provide the foundational starting point for the sciences while the cave allegory offers advocates a way of life for humanity to feign the world of ignorance and seek true knowledge so that those who acquire it will return to the cave and help their fellow man. Works Cited: Annas, Julias. An Introduction to Plato’s’ Republic. New York: Oxford University Press Cottingham, John. Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013 Cottingham, John. Ed. Ray Monk. Descartes’ Philosophy of Mind. London: Phoenix Publishers, 1997 Plato. The Allegory of the cave. Week 5 Handout Woozley, Anthony. Plato’s Republic: A philosophical commentary. London: MacMillan Publishers, 1989

Qualitative research methodology Essay

Qualitative research looks at people with an objective to understand them, to interpret their information from the point of view of the subject being studied. It looks at themes or emerging patterns. Occasionally qualitative research uses a system known as the grounded theory which collects data first and then examines the data for the problems that it is looking for. Unlike a quantitative researcher a qualitative researcher could assume a partial position, and engage in the study himself. It studies people in what could be considered a complex situation or environment. Researchers can actually put  in their own structure, and could be involved in the research. Unlike quantitative research, qualitative research is not number intensive, it tends to focus on observation in order to understand important themes or patterns. It wants to build its own social realism with superimposed variables that are usually difficult to measure. The system is naturally inductive, and again focuses on multiplicity and complexity. ( Polit 1989). The researcher can get involved personally, and can use numerical information, but only minimally. Qualitative research assumes that many realism can be present in a  given situation, meaning that its acceptable for the researcher, the subjects being studied and maybe the audience to be part of the study. (Polit 1989). The researcher is actively involved with his study subjects, and actually tries to limit separation between him and subject of study as much as possible, because he sees the subjects as very valuable. He can actually verify his information by collecting information from various sources including informants. Qualitative research is use for such researches as descriptive research. It is used to develop hypothesis and to explain of illustrate the reports of quantitative research. It is difficult to use quantitative research to show cause and effect relationships. Because qualitative research is often comprehensive and intense, their result are more holistic and could produce more insights. However it is not easy to replicate or duplicate qualitative research results, so it is rather difficult to use qualitative research results as an objective instrument. It could also be very expensive and as well as time consuming. They other types of qualitative research include ethnography, ethnomethodology, sociometry, and unobtrusive measures. TRIANGULATION RESEARCH: Because of the inability to use qualitative research as an objective source of valid research results, some have argued that using triangulation, or the use of many research sources to arrive at an objective answer as the solution. (Polit 1989). By combining more than one source of research, the result will be more accurate. So the effort really is in double checking one research application with another research application, in order to make sure that there is validity in the result that has been reported. There are many types of triangulation research: Data triangulation uses many data sources , such interviews of  many informants for one study. So instead of simply depending on one sample, it uses several samples during the study. Investigator triangulation uses more than one researcher in its research. It employs more than one person to collect the data, analyze the data, and to interpret the data. The theory triangulation uses more than one theoretical point of view or to interpret one research view point. The methodological triangulation uses many research methods in solving a research question. By using triangulation the researcher is seeking to give his research objective look, and validation.