To kill a eraser Essay Example for Free

To kill a eraser Essay The architecture of the ancient Roman Empire is one of the most fascinating and amazing of all time. In ancient times, the city of Rome had more than one million residents. The ancient Romans made great use of architectural shapes like arcs and columns. One famous structure that comes to mind when people think of Rome is the Colosseum, which was originally called the Amphitheatrum Flavium. The Colosseum is one of the most memorable architectural monuments in the world. For hundreds of years, the Colosseum presented gladiatorial fights, wild animal fights, and other games that entertained the Roman citizens. The cruelty of the games displayed the power of Rome to the people. The history of the Colosseum symbolizes the power and the greatness of Rome. The construction of the Colosseum started in the aftermath of Emperor Nero’s extravagance and the rebellion of the Jews in Palestine. Emperor Nero built a golden house in the center of Rome for his pleasure after the great fire in 64 CE. Emperor Nero committed suicide as he faced a military uprising in 68 CE and the Roman Empire devolved into civil war. The victory in the civil war went to Emperor Vespasian. He then decided to build an amphitheater or pleasure palace to give pleasure to the people of Rome to help people forget the war. The Colosseum was to be built on the site of a lake in the gardens of Emperor Nero’s palace. It was the largest amphitheater in the Roman Empire and was capable of holding more than 50,000 spectators.1 There were over 250 amphitheaters in the Roman Empire at that time, but the Colosseum was the largest. The large number of amphitheaters in the Roman Empire indicates that they represented essential symbols of the Roman culture. Vespasian began construction of the Colosseum in 72 CE and it was finished in eight years later by Vespasian’s son, Emperor Titus.2 The Colosseum was officially known as the Amphitheatrum Flavium at first. After the Colosseum was finished, Titus sponsored the inaugural games in the arena, which lasted more than 100 days.3 Cassius Dio, a Roman historian, wrote that during the inaugural games in the Colosseum, more than 9,000 wild animals were killed.4 The Colosseum was used for many games, including gladiatorial combats and wild animal fights to pleasure the people of Rome. The gladiators of Rome were usually slaves, prisoners of war or criminals. However, some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by fighting in the arena. Gladiators were despised as slaves and they were treated very badly. They were even segregated when they died. Most of the gladiators were men, but there were a few female gladiators. One contest after another was staged in the course of a single day. When the ground of the Colosseum became too soaked with blood, it was covered with a fresh layer of sand and the battles continued. Cameron Hawkins, an assistant professor of history at the University of Chicago, estimates 5,000 gladiators could have been killed each year during the Roman Empire.5 The gladiatorial games in the Colosseum continued until Christianity progressively put an end to the entertainment that included the death of human beings. After four centuries of active use, the magnificent Colosseum faced severe problems, and until the 18th century it was used largely as a source of building materials. Over time the Colosseum was used for many things besides gladiatorial combat and wild animal fights. The Colosseum was occasionally filled with water to re-enact naval battles using gladiators. Experts do not agree on how this was achieved. However, Cassio Dio wrote: â€Å"Titus suddenly filled this same theatre with water and brought horses and bulls and some other domesticated animals that had been taught to behave in liquid element just as on land. He also brought in people in ships, who engaged in a sea-fight there, impersonating the Corcyreans and Corinthians.†6 By the late 6th century, the arena was used as a cemetery. Also some areas in the Colosseum became housing and workshops. Areas were rented out to people until the 12th century. Around 1200, the Frangipani family took over the Colosseum, fixed it, and used it as their castle. In the mid-13th century, the Colosseum was severely damaged by a great earthquake that caused parts of it to collapse. Much of the tumbled stone from the Colosseum were not used to rebuild the Colosseum. Instead, it was used to build palaces, churches, hospitals, and other buildings in Rome. A religious order moved in to the ruined Colosseum in the mid-14th century and used it as their headquarters until the early 19th century. The Colosseum was frequently damaged. In 217 CE, the Colosseum was badly  damaged by a great fire that was caused by lightning. This fire destroyed the wooden upper levels inside the Colosseum. The building was reopened after restoration in 222 CE. The Visigoths, a nomadic tribe of Germanic people, took control of Rome in 408 CE, and they damaged the Colosseum during their invasion and their occupation of the city. The Colosseum was damaged again when a major earthquake hit Rome in 443 CE. Other earthquakes damaged the Colosseum in 484 CE and 504 CE. Eventually, the Colosseum was restored again and games continued in the arena. The Colosseum was not significantly damaged again until 1349, when another earthquake hit Rome and caused the south side of the Colosseum to collapse. This time, much of the tumbled stones were used to build other things and the Colosseum was not fully repaired. Later, various popes initiated stabilization and restoration projects in the 19th century to avoid further destruction of the Colosseum. For example, the faà §ade was reinforced with triangular bricks to enhance stabilization. Restoration of the interior was started in the early 19th century and was finished by Benito Mussolini in the 1930s. Over time, two-thirds of the Colosseum has been destroyed. The interior has been reconstructed but the faà §ade is still in ruins as half of it is missing. The Colosseum was home to such events as gladiatorial fights, wild animal fights, and other entertainment that was extremely violent. This violence symbolized the idea that no one could beat the Romans. As Lord Byron once wrote, â€Å"While stands the Colosseum, Rome shall stand; When falls the Colosseum, Rome shall fall; And when Rome falls—the world.†7 The Colos seum has become a famous tourist destination and the number one historical site that tourists will never forget when they visit Rome. The Colosseum is the symbol of Rome, as well as one of the most important ancient monuments in the world. ENDNOTES 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colosseum Accessed May 3,2013 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colosseum Accessed May 3,2013 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inaugural_games_of_the_Flavian_Amphitheatre Accessed May 4,2013 4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colosseum Accessed May 3,2013 5. http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20100804/news/308049980 Accessed May 5, 2013 6. http://www.roman-colosseum.info/colosseum/water-battles-at-the-colosseum.htm Accessed May 5, 2013 7. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kauphyluvr/6845560363/ Accessed May 8, 2013 BIBLIOGRAPHY Spodek, Howard. The World’s History. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colosseum Accessed May 3, 2013 http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Roman_Colosseum.html Accessed May 3, 2013 http://www.the-colosseum.net/idx-en.htm Accessed May 3, 2013 http://italy.worldwide-accom.com/rome/colosseum/guides/the-full-history-of-romes-famous-colosseum#.UX2r5LUvmC Accessed May 4, 2013 http://www.history.com/topics/colosseum Accessed May 4, 2013 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inaugural_games_of_the_Flavian_Amphitheatre Accessed May 4, 2013 http://www.roman-colosseum.info/colosseum/water-battles-at-the-colosseum.htm Accessed May 5, 2013 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiator Accessed May 8, 2013 http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20100804/news/308049980 Accessed May 8, 2013

Posthumous Rating of Hawthorne and “Young Goodman Brown” :: Young Goodman Brown YGB

Posthumous Rating of Hawthorne and â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†      Ã‚  Ã‚   This essay intends to trace the main literary criticism of the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†since the author’s death in 1864.    Nathaniel Hawthorne’s acclamation as a great writer by both critics and the general public was not an overnight occurrence. The Norton Anthology: American Literature states that â€Å"he was agonizingly slow in winning acclaim† (547).    Initially, of course, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s literary works went unranked among those of other American and British writers. But his reputation grew gradually even among contemporary critics, until he was recognized as a â€Å"man of genius.† The question in this essay is this: How does he and â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† fare since 1864 when Hawthorne died.    The poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, wrote a poem commemorating Hawthorne for the funeral in 1864:      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   . . . . There in seclusion and remote from men   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The wizard hand lies cold,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Which at its topmost speed let fall the pen,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And left the tale half told.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ah! who shall lift that wand of magic power,   Ã‚     Ã‚  And the lost clew regain?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The unfinished windows in Aladdin's tower   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Unfinished must remain!    In 1871 James T. Fields published Yesterdays With Authors, in which Chapter 3 deals with his evaluation of Nathaniel Hawthorne:    I AM sitting to-day opposite the likeness of the rarest genius America has given to literature,--a man who lately sojourned in this busy world of ours, but during many years of his life    "Wandered lonely as a cloud,"--    a man who had, so to speak, a physical affinity with solitude. The writings of this author have never soiled the public mind with one unlovely image. His men and women have a magic of their own, and we shall wait a long time before another arises among us to take his place. Indeed, it seems probable no one will ever walk precisely the same round of fiction which he traversed with so free and firm a step.    What lovely thoughts! What a tribute to Hawthorne’s genius! The very next year Henry James wrote a review of Hawthorne for the Nation:    Our remarks are not provoked by any visible detriment conferred on Mr. Hawthorne's fame by these recent publications. . .His journals throw but little light on his personal feelings, and even less on his genius per se.

Catch Me if You Can Essay

Theory q 325 Karla Pope Catch Me if You Can Catch Me if You Can is a movie based off the true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr, who mpersonated a Pan Am Air pilot, a pediatric doctor, and a lawyer, and accumulated over 2. 8 million dollars through these impersonations as well as check fraud all betore his nineteenth birthday. The movie starts ott as a game snow where the contestants question three men all dressed as airline pilots, one of them being the real Frank Abagnale Jr. Through a series of cut sceens, we see young Frank as a teenager living happily in a big house with his mother, a French woman named Paula Abagnale, and his American military veteran father, Frank Abagnale, Sr. This appiness was soon cracked, however, as the family runs into trouble with the IRS, forcing them to move out of their home and into a smaller apartment. Paula, dissatisfied with her new life, ends up cheating on her husband with his best friend and eventually filing for divorce. When she tries to get her son to choose between the two of them, he freaks out and runs away. While struggling to live on his own, Frank runs out of money, starting him down his path as one of the youngest con artists during his time. After getting turned down from the bank after trying to cash his very irst fake check, he decides to impersonate a Pan Am Air pilot, conning the company into giving him a uniform while forging his credentials and passport. After gaining too much publicity doing this, he ends up pretending to be a pediatric doctor in Georgia, where he falls in love with a girl named Brenda, who thinks he’s a doctor as well as a lawyer from Harvard. He ends up resigning as a lawyer to protect his identity after a real Harvard graduate at the firm started poking around into his background. He eventually is forced to run again as he realizes that FBI Agent Carl Hanratty, who has been chasing after him this whole time, is onto him again, escaping to Europe where he is eventually found by Carl in France, printing his own checks. After spending about a year in Perpignan Prison, Carl got him deported back to America. After trying to escape upon learning that his father died, he was caught in front of his mother’s new house and went to prison. Eventually, after helping Carl with a check fraud case, Frank is transferred from prison into FBI custody to work under Carl’s supervision. When he becomes bored, he tried to run again, but nevitably returns after a confrontation with Carl at the airport, continuing to help catch con men and check fraud with his experience. There are many theories in this movie, but the primary, main one that was obvious to me was Rational Choice theory. With Rational Choice theory is defined â€Å"the view that crime is a function of a decision- making process in which the potential offender weighs the potential costs and benefits of an illegal act. . What this means is that the criminal (or would be criminal) is faced with a choice due to the set of circumstances that he is in and weighs the ros and cons of an act that he/she knows is wrong. In this movie, Frank is faced with many choices due to different circumstances that all lead back to his first act of desperation. When his parents try and force him to choose between them, he instead runs away, staying in a hotel as he tries to get himself together. When he runs out of money, he is kicked out, leaving him with a dilemma. How to get more money so he can live? There are many options open to him, but he chooses check fraud because not only does he see it as the easiest way to survive, but also the best way that he knows to get money. However, after his check is rejected, he turns instead to impersonating a Pan Am pilot after seeing one sign autographs to a small child outside the bank. After acquiring a uniform from the company by saying that he â€Å"lost† his, he forges his credentials and passports after he creates a fake, Pan Am Air salary check and successfully cashing it in. His need for money to survive on his own drives these decisions to act on these illegal activities, outweighing the cost ne will end up paying for committing them. Part of the Rational Choice Theory is whatever techniques the criminal learns and perfects to avoid detection from authorities. Franks first run in with authority is when FBI Agent Carl Hanratty tracks him through his forged Pan Am bills toa hotel he was staying at. In Frank and Carl’s first meeting, Frank impersonates a Secret Service agent named Barry Allen (after The Flash) when confronted by Carl’s gun, convincing the agent long enough in order for him to escape. After his close call, he retires to Georgia, where he impulsively convinces the hospital and town that he is a Harvard medical doctor after meeting a new, young nurse named Brenda, whom he ends up falling in love with. The branch that Frank as assigned to was chief doctor of the pediatric ward, where they don’t do much work. The motivation behind this was to get closer to Brenda, whom he had an attraction to when he first met her. His growing love for Brenda outweighs the consequences that come with impersonating a doctor, as well as the potential lives he’ll endanger under his care. He also passes the bar exam to become a lawyer after Brenda introduces him to her parents as such. He eventually has to run again, however because both the firm and Carl are putting pressure on him. He assumes his pilot identity again. In the beginning of the film, with the game show, fake Frank 1 says that the reason he chose to pretend to be each of these professions was because he was young and needed money, and that, instead of actually trying to legally go through the training to BE a pilot, doctor, or lawyer was because it seemed easier than to go through all that trouble. Another theory that I see present in this movie is Social Control Theory. Social Control Theory is when people commit illegal acts when the bindings of the society they live in are either weakened or broken. When we see Frank when he was ounger, he was in a good school living in a big house with his American veteran father and French mother. His father was a part of the rotary club and was inducted as a lifetime member, giving him great status in the community. However, he had problems with the IRS, and was denied a business loan. This led them to give up their house and move into a much smaller apartment. While this isn’t considered illegal, Paula, Franks mother cheated on her husband, Frank Sr. , with his best friend and eventually filed for a divorce so she could marry his friend. This was largely due to the fact that she was used to living a larger life with Frank Sr. nd when they were forced to move because of money problems, she grew dissatisfied. When Frank Jr. finds out about the divorce, they try to get him to choose between two of them, he freaked out and ran away. This led to the decisions he would make in the future as his need for money to survive increased. Some other elements of this, mainly the self-control portion, is also seen in this movie. There is a scene when he is pretending to be a doctor in Georgia when a little boy with an injured leg is brought in. Since he hasn’t the first clue as to how to fix the child’s leg, he talks his interns into oing it by using the language he heard off of a medical tv show before running off and throwing up in the sink of the bathroom. It was clear that he knew his boundaries in this role and, instead of making it worse and possibly endangering the child’s life, he had the people under him that actually had training in this fix the boys leg. One thing that I could also see in the film was a form of Social Learning Theory. Social learning theory is when a criminal learns their trade by watching more experienced people’s actions. In one instance, his father was taking him to the bank and stopped by a tuxedo store. Even though the store was closed, his father managed to con the lady into opening the shop for them so that he could buy his son a suit to make him look presentable by presenting the woman with a necklace he had â€Å"found† outside in the parking lot. Frank tried to use this same technique later, the first attempt, trying to cash his first forged check, was unsuccessful, but his second, tricking a flight while pretending to be a Pan Am pilot, was successful. Another element of this theory is when he decided to impersonate a Pan Am pilot. He studied as much as he could about the paychecks a pilot received, how much they make, even anaging to get a hold of an expired FFA license from a former pilot he was â€Å"interviewing for a school article† and the check template for their pay checks . Elements of Neutralization Theory techniques are also in this movie. Neutralization Theory states that a criminal â€Å"must learn and master techniques that enable them to neutralize conventional values and attitudes, which enables them to drift back and forth between illegitimate and conventional behavior. † Some of the elements of this theory include respect and admiration for honest, civilian people such as baseball layers, priests, teachers, or in this case, fathers. Frank was always trying to make his father proud throughout the movie, sending him letters of his glamorized â€Å"accomplishments†, meeting his father for lunch in his pilot uniform, even giving his father an expensive car with the money he had â€Å"earned. † Another person he looked up to was Carl Hanratty himself. He called Carl every Christmas, seeming to look up to him as a father fgure, even though Carl was trying to apprehend him. He even placed his complete trust in Carl when the agent finally caught up to him and placed im under arrest. Another element of Neutralization Theory is when criminals of this nature conform to the same social obligations as the rest of society. Frank can be seen hosting a party at the house he lived in with many, many young, privileged people over, socializing with most all of them. There are also some small incidents of Social Reaction (Labeling) Theory in this movie. Social Reaction Theory â€Å"explains criminal careers in terms of stigma-producing encounters. † One such encounter is after Frank quits being both a doctor and a lawyer and goes back to impersonating a Pan Am pilot. He does a â€Å"follow up† interview with the former air pilot, and in this he learn that the press has found out about him and wrote about him in the paper. When he finds out they call him the Airway Man, the â€Å"James Bond of the Sky’, he goes out and watches one of the Bond movies in the theater. After this, he is inspired to go out and get an exact replica of the suit, even doing and almost exact impersonation of Bond in the film. This seems to boost his ego extremely high. In the end, however, he is caught by Carl in his mother’s hometown in France and is convinced to turn himself in. He spends a few years in Perpignan Prison before Carl comes to get him. He is sick due to the living conditions, and fakes a faint in order to get out of the Jail cell and tries to escape. He is caught, however, and taken back to the USA, where, after two more attempted escapes, one where he is caught and the other when Carl confronts him but refuses to catch him, comes and works at the FBI in the check fraud unit under Carl’s supervision.

Pride And Dignity By Michael Jackson - 1226 Words

Although pride is an abstract word, its concept is quite concrete and one can obtain pride through both a mental and physical process. It is the practice of using internal values over particular topics confidently to influence choices made in life. Michael Jackson, the late famous singer, once stated, â€Å"I m a black American, I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am. I have a lot of pride and dignity† (â€Å"Michael Jackson†). In having pride and dignity, one must contain courage and self-determination. An example of internal pride is exemplified through Jackson’s course of actions and thoughts which resulted in a very successful career. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the definition of pride is â€Å"a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.† Pride is a process of converti ng one’s social and cultural values to their daily actions without fear of disapproval or discouragement. Pride is essential in order to support an opinion and claim the reason why there is confidence in one’s engagements both emotionally and physically. To understand the practice of pride, cultural and social values must be accepted and respected. Cultural values are opinions about topics of society. They could include attitudes towards current social norms, moral principles, and religious beliefs. Beliefs regarding abortion rights, gayShow MoreRelatedPride And Dignity By Michael Jackson1275 Words   |  6 PagesMichael Jackson the late famous singer once stated, â€Å"I m a black American, I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am. I have a lot of pride and dignity† (â€Å"Michael Jackson†). In having pride and dignity, comes lots of courage and self-determination. An example of internal pride is exemplified through Jackson’s course of acti ons and thoughts which resulted in a very successful career for him. As identified on Dictionary.com, pride, an Old English word originating before 1000 b.c. It is a processRead MoreThe Voice of Michael Jackson: Shattering the Dichotomies of Race1918 Words   |  8 PagesThe Voice of Michael Jackson: Shattering the Dichotomies of Race â€Å"Im a Black American. Im proud of my race. Im proud of who I am. I have a lot of pride and dignity† – King of Pop (YouTube 2014). 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It continues with the definition of understanding and sagacity, using formulations which are to be found in a collection of aphorisms ascribed to al-Fà ¢rà ¢bà ®, though also attributable, in part, to Miskawaih and even to Aristotle (pp