Los Vendidos by Luis Valdez Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Los Vendidos by Luis Valdez - Research Paper Example Though the mood of the play is light hearted or comic, it discusses grave issues that crave great social attention. The play brings to our notice the issues like social injustice, racism and the class segregation where the Americans always expected the Mexicans to rise up to their expectation. This attitude of the Americans is quite evident in the words of the secretary in the play where she demands the kind of robot that walks and behaves in the American fashion. A critical estimate of the play makes one join with the Canadian writer, Ryan McFadden when he rightly observed thus, â€Å"Los Vendidos is a play centred on drawing great attention to the misconstrued stereotypes of Chicanos while covertly ridiculing Americans which in turn successfully brings about conversation and critical thinking of these stereotypes and inspires viewers the opportunity to change their preconceived notions of Chicanos† (McFadden para.1). Therefore, the proposed critical study aims to establish a foresaid statement, that is, the play is a criticism, presented in a satirical way, against the existing social injustice touching the Mexican Americans from the Native Americans. The setting of this one-act play is located at Honest Sancho's Used Mexican Lot and Mexican Curio Shop, a shop located in California that sells various kinds of ‘robots’, stereotypes of Mexicans and Mexican Americans.... The very presentation of the salesman-cum owner, Honest Sancho and the customer, Miss Jimenez, who introduces herself as secretary for Governor Reagan, itself provides enough materials for the audience about the Mexican and Mexican American clash. Jimenez’s reprimand to Sancho’s mispronunciation of her name in ‘bad English’, when he actually used Spanish accent, provides ample evidence for this disagreement. The attitude of the Mexican American to the Mexican is crystal clear at her ignorance to the cultural stereotypes exhibited in that showroom, though belongs to the Chicana or the Mexican American and was actually looking for a ‘Mexican’ type. The satirical note in the play is very notable that the dramatist does not spare even a single chance to criticise dominating mentality of the Americans. Elements of the comedy of manners in Los Vendidos can be especially identified when considering Valdez’s satirizing of his Chicano stock chara cters (Stereotyped, flat characters or caricatures) that fail to conform the conventions of the U.S. society (Vogelmann p.7). The reluctance of the Mexican Americans to mingle with the Mexicans has been shaded in the words of the Secretary when she disagrees with the prospect buying the first two robots. She rejects the first robot which is in the form of the farm worker, just because of the reason that he does not know English, which has an elite part of American culture which the Mexicans lacked. In order to proposes these issues, the dramatist resorts to realistic comedy which really enhances the quality of the presentation, especially the conversation between Sancho and the secretary. According to Vogelmann, â€Å"The most important elements of realistic comedy in Luis Valdez’s acto Los Vendidos are,

Designer Babies Essay Example for Free

Designer Babies Essay How would you like your baby to be? Tall, blonde, smart or sporty? There is now technology which enables us to do this. â€Å"Designer babies† is now an up and coming technology as more and more people are looking into using it to create their â€Å"perfect† child. In this day and age the topic of designer babies is very controversial between people. Some people see it as wrong, that a baby should choose how it lives its life. Not their parent before the baby is even born. Of the U.K’s population doesn’t agree with designer babies, as it’s not the parent’s choice to play with their child’s genetics. However in some cases this is families only option to do this because if they already had a child who need a bone marrow transplant. Scientists can make the siblings match so this designer baby can give some of their own bone marrow to the brother or sister. Most people opinion of creating a designer baby for the purpose of saving another child life is that it’s okay. But only if it’s for these purposes not for cosmetic reasons. It seems if this technology takes off, that we will have a perfect world. Which will make it even harder to get jobs as if everyone is smart then how will people know who is better for the job or if everyone is sporty, who will do all the jobs that require people who are very intelligent. The thing is they don’t know what will happen n the future. There is enough unemployment as it is, never mind adding thousands of smart and sporty people into the mix. On the other hand it is to be said that it can make people live longer. And society thinks if it can make us live longer why it can’t mean that hopefully diseases such as lots of cancers, heart diseases and bowel inconveniences could be wiped out if the genes that give us the diseases are taken out of our future generation before birth. At this point in time they don’t know how the child will turn out later in life. If there is any effects. This is something they don’t know. This is a worrying though, that so many people are having babies this way and there is no real proof that the baby will have no lasting effects or that it will like a perfect normal life. Although people are happy that they can choose the way their child will look like, be like and think like. For some people it’s the only way they can have children. As some parents are infertile so are unable to have children without the help of scientists. Society’s view of this is that if it’s the only way and it’s what you really want. Why not? To conclude I feel that designer babies are the way forward for our society. As it will hopefully in the future be able to cure certain diseases. Also it enables parents with ill children to modify their next child’s genes to save the child they have at the moment

Concepts of Classical Humanism

Concepts of Classical Humanism The citizens of ancient civilizations lived in a world where the influence of nature and the influence of its rulers minimized the common mans efforts. Confronted with this, ancient Greeks professed they had the greatest intelligence of all, saying they had the natural abilities to understand and control the world Classical Humanism. Classical Humanism resonated in every part of Greek life. From Poets like Sophocles whos play Antigone speaks to their influence on humanity at the time. Classical Humanism was also conveyed by the Greeks incredible self belief within their own civilization, none more so than the wealth and power shown in Fifth Century Athens. Although this confidence eventually diminished, the belief of Humanism remained a cognate legacy. Renaissance philosophers and artists challenged the Church by perusing the ideas and culture of Greek Humanism. An illustration of Greek Humanism was the spectacular complex of temples in theAthensacropolis, soaring high over the city below. An acropolis was a fortress built on top of a hill at the center of the city. They were commonly the citys most revered district and contained temples anointing the citys patron leaders. A prime example of this was the Parthenon temple in Athena. It was one of the largest temples ever built inGreece, and all aspects of its construction were closely monitored and controlled by the citys leading artists and architects of the time. The Parthenon was built on the top of Acropolis; the original building on the site was built as an offering to honor the goddess Athena because the people of ancientAthensbelieved that she watched over their city. This time was the Golden Age of Athens, with the institution of democracy in the city, with a new form of government, citizens were afforded the opportunity to view and understand themselves as constituents of a greater whole, the latter being Athens. The Parthenon was unparalleled among Doric temples as it had a second frieze (Frieze: the part of a classical entablature between the architrave and the cornice, usually decorated with sculpture in low relief). The Parthenons frieze ran along the cella wall and across the inner columns. It was a stroke of genius as acted as a sculpted advertisement for Athenian civic prudence, which was more than 500ft long. This [particular frieze depicted a noble parade of Athenian citizens, reminding the citizens of their festival held every four years for the Goddess Athena. The frieze had a naked horsemen sitting on their horses in all glory, it had Athenian maidens leading a parade to the thrones of Zeus and Athena, who presided over the celebration. Inspired by their self belief as being the supreme citizens ofGreece, they confidently portrayed themselves among the gods. The Greeks were a civilization who had a high confidence of themselves and of there God given abilities. This was shown in many ways with their architecture at the time, none more evident than the Parthenon inAthenswhich proudly, and some may say arrogantly, displayed the Athenians as a higher class of citizen I Greece and throughout the region. This belief would continue on in years to come through the literature and buildings from this era.

Juliet’s Transformation in Romeo and Juliet Essay -- Free Romeo and Ju

From â€Å"the fatal loins† (Prologue.5) of Lord and Lady Capulet, protagonist Juliet is born in Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. Early on in the play Juliet is portrayed as a very dutiful daughter to her family. After her encounter with Romeo however, she begins a rapid transformation from a naive young girl into a woman. By the end of the play Juliet’s transformation evolves her from a dutiful daughter, into a faithful wife that is willing to desert her family in the name of love. The audience is first introduced to Juliet in the exposition of the play. Juliet attracts the attention the Count Paris and her father (Lord Capulet) wisely says that Juliet â€Å"is yet a stranger in the world† (Act I.2.8) and should be allowed â€Å"two more summers† (Act I.2.10) to grow until she is ready for marriage. This implies that Juliet is young and has not yet matured to level where she is eligible to be married. Lord Capulet’s love for his daughter leads him to protect her from the prospective marriage until she is â€Å"ripe to be a bride† (Act I.2.11). The audience’s first impression of Juliet however, is through her interaction with her mother (Lady Capulet) and the Nurse. From the Nurse’s remarks, the audience learns that Juliet is thirteen and â€Å"Come Lammas-eve at night shall [Juliet turn] fourteen† (Act I.3.18-9). As Juliet enters the presence of her mother and the Nurse, Shakespeare portrays Juliet as a very faithful daughter. When summoned by the Nurse, Juliet comes promptly then responds politely to her mother â€Å"Madam, I am here, what is your will?† (Act I.3.7). When Juliet refers to her mother as ‘madam† (Act I.3.7), the audience also gets the impression of Juliet being compliant to her elder’s wishes. This can be observed when her mothe... ... Juliet bringing news for Juliet to â€Å"hie you hence to Frair Laurences’ cell; there stays a husband [Romeo] to make you a wife† (Act II.5.73-74), Juliet is ecstatic. This portrays Juliet as being disobedient because while she accepted Romeo’s proposal, her family has already arranged a marriage between Juliet and Paris. Juliet’s disobedience continues until her death in scene five when Romeo’s dagger finds â€Å"thy sheath† (Act V.3.170) in Juliet’s body. The significance of Juliet’s change in character is to show her accelerated transformation from a young girl into a mature woman. In the beginning of the play Juliet is unable to make her own decisions. However after her meeting with Romeo, Juliet becomes more assertive and defends her love for Romeo. In conclusion, individuals cannot be forced to love; love is nurtured and nourished but also is always put to test.

War Is Unpredictable

To an extent war is unpredictable, however the meaningless punishment and demoralising conduct is something that soldiers experience constantly throughout war. In Owen’s poem â€Å"Anthem for Doomed Youth† he diminishes the patriotism and heroism that is commonly associated with war and replaces it with depictions of the harsh punishment and perfidious death of youth in war. Correspondingly in his poem â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† he extends the theme of unpatriotic behaviour and hollow death and suggests that war is also a devilish and sinful practice, where nothing but death and hatred arise. Contrastingly, in Stanley Kubrick’s war film â€Å"Full Metal Jacket† he does not look at death in war, but conversely the internal punishment that superior officers give to soldiers, harshly exploring the training and punishment soldiers receive before war. Ultimately, these three texts explore the lack of honour and worthless punishment that soldiers experience constantly in war, depicting war as a place of hatred and sin. In Owen’s poem â€Å"Anthem† he removes the common Romantic concepts of glory and triumph that were associated with war from the early 20th century and realistically explores the truly unpatriotic nature of the battlefield. His ideals contrasted the Romantic ideals of glory as well as the government and the media who exhibited war as valiant and fitting for the youth of the early 20th century. Instantly, Owen’s title of the poem contradicts the reader’s belief in the common war values where he pairs the terms â€Å"Anthem† and â€Å"Doomed Youth† juxtaposing with a gloomy and depressing description of the youth in war. Owen then compares the youth who â€Å"died as cattle† to an abattoir by using metaphor, emphasising the sheer amount of death that occurs on the battlefield, also suggesting that the youth are indiscriminately dying with no justification. Likewise, Owen uses juxtaposition to describe the sounds of war, in which he subverts the calming sound of â€Å"choirs† and depicts them as â€Å"demented†, illuminating the sound of screaming comrades in war and enhancing his anti-heroic view. Thus, Owen through his poem â€Å"Anthem† dishonours the common concepts of glory and triumph, and replaces them with â€Å"mockeries† of the dying youth in war, ultimately suggesting war unheroic and the soldiers deaths unglorified. On the contrary, Stanley Kubrick’s war film â€Å"FMJ† explores the internal and meaningless punishment that soldiers experience whilst training to become a soldier, aggressively depicting the raining as harsh and suicidal. Directed in 1979, Steven Kubrick’s position on war was neither affirmative nor negative and simply stated he was concerned with â€Å"the way things are†, thus forcefully depicting the disciplinary discrepancies of the Americans in Vietna m. The opening montage of the camera focused on the soldier’s heads being shaved depicts the blank expressionless faces of the soldiers and shows the identity loss of the soldiers in war, illustrating their inconsequential individuality. Kubrick uses harsh and explicit dialogue to stress how even though war is â€Å"fair† everyone participating is â€Å"equally worthless†, again punishing the soldiers for their racial background and individuality. Likewise, in the final scene of the introductory sequence before the war, Kubrick displays the suicidal aspect of the meaningless punishment, where Private Pile† explains that even though there is war going on in Vietnam, he is in a â€Å"world of shit† after the punishment from the senior officers. This harsh portrayal of pre-war training explains Kubrick’s view that internally war can be as detrimental as it is on the battlefield. Correspondingly, Owen aims to eradicate all romantic feelings in â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† and instead represent war as a sinful and devilish practice. The ironic titling of the poem initially subverts any sense of patriotism and glory associated with war, and condemns the romanticised portrayals of war that the government and the media have created. By deliberately subverting the heroic Latin phrase through the bleak ideas in his poem, Owen depicts the title as an â€Å"old lie† where he suggests that glorification and bravery in war is undermined by the fallacies of the government and the media. In addition, his use of metaphor in the first stanza exemplifies the mechanised and fatigued state of the soldiers in war, where the soldiers â€Å"marched asleep† from the endless punishment and futility of war. Owen indicates here exactly how â€Å"lame† the soldiers were with the pain and suffering of war, illuminating the punishment and empty nationalism he attempts to portray. Furthermore, the graphic imagery of the sinfulness and devilish nature of war used in the third stanza highlights the devilish and sinful representation, by comparing a comrade to a â€Å"devil sick of sin†. Owen here evaluates war as a whole, as a place where even the devil can no longer handle the horrid pain and meaningless suffering. This powerful imagery removes the Romantic ideals of patriotism substituting them with a morbid depiction of â€Å"choking† with sin. Thus, Owen eradicates the glory and valour that had been associated with war literature in the 20th Century and indicts war as a fallacy to children who are â€Å"desperate† for honour. Ultimately, Owen aims to challenge all feelings of glory and heroism that are commonly associated with war and shift these concepts to a historic fallacy where sinful and devilish behaviour arises. Alternately, Kubrick strives to explore both the harsh and unforgiving nature of the battlefield and the meaningless punishment experienced internally in the U. S Marine Corps, where even the pre-war training results in the suicide of a soldier. Each text explains the horror and meaningless punishment as a constant and predictable outcome, as wells as the horrifying and sinful behaviour that soldiers experience, however Owen’s poem â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† more effectively depicts the unpredictability of war by emphasising how disgusting war is, promoting it as foreign to any kind of valour and partisanship.

Medieval Music essays

Medieval Music essays Modern music of the western world has its roots in medieval music. It may seem illogical, but it is actually quite true. Some music in America even has routes from medieval times in the western world. Modes, notation, polyphony music, and other musical ideas of this sort date back to these times. Also, ideas of polyphony music from the Middle Ages are the foundation in much of western music. However, the medieval musical experience is impossible to recapture, for most of the music of daily life is lost (Cyrus 1). But still, one can see how important this time in musical growth was, because their ideas have survived for us to use. Firstly, troubadours and trouvres are a topic worth knowing about. They were typical medieval people. In the medieval world, the troubadours and trouvres traveled around singing to praise noble women and the knights who loved them. But there was a difference between a troubadour and trouvre. Troubadours were the poets who were associated with Provencal, the language of Provence France. A trouvre was a poet who spoke a variation of the French language. As said, these poets admired women. The most admired women of the times lived from 1122 to 1204. Her name was Eleanor of Aquitaine. Troubadours flocked to her court in the French duchy of Aquitaine (Krieger 240). Later after her court, Eleanor of Aquitaine became Queen of England. Also, she became the proud mother of Richard the Lionhearted who composed many romantic poems and songs, which would make him a Troubadour. Secondly, the instruments of the Middle Ages are unique parts of the music and they each have their own stories. However, many of todays instruments have their roots in medieval culture. Anyway, the first instrument is the organ. Its story starts when, the early Church Fathers were deeply opposed to the use of instruments within the liturgy (Seay 71)...