Friday, January 31, 2020

Armitage and praise song Essay Example for Free

Armitage and praise song Essay In both poems, a sense of nostalgia and reminiscence is conveyed; they are written in the past tense which leads to a state of reflection and acknowledgement. As a reader, one can immediately capture this notion, when reading Praise Song for My Mother, as the title itself has very traditional African connotations it marks a celebration or tribute of someones life. Whereas Armitage titles his poem Harmonium which is what the poem is physically about but also is symbolic of the relationship between him and his father. Armitage introduces the poem with an anecdote; this evokes a feeling of reminiscence. It contains very physical descriptions Shadowy porch of Marsden Church this establishes the setting for the reader and perhaps portrays Armitage as being entranced by the church; he appreciates very minute details. However, when describing the Farrand Chapelette, it was described using the idiom gathering dust which has a double meaning it was physically accumulating dust but also it was coming of age. In addition, Armitage describes his ultimatum; it could be bundled off to the skip or could become his for a song this suggests the church organ is not in satisfactory condition as the idiom bundled of to the skip indicates it would have been thrown out. More importantly, Armitage explains how the church organ could be his for a song which is an interesting play on words as the purpose of the harmonium is to play songs but also this idiom suggests it could have been purchased cheaply which leads the reader to assume the harmonium has lost its functionality and is impractical, similar to the freight of his father. In Praise Song for My Mother, Nichols uses You, a second person pronoun, which introduces a sense of intimacy and makes the poem very personal. This is followed by were, a past tense verb, which indicates the poem is addressed to someone who cannot hear her or maybe is no longer alive. This idea correlates with the concept of a praise song a traditional African tribute to someone no longer alive. Nichols describes her mother using a metaphor; you were water to me. Water is regarded as precious, particularly in African culture but it is also an essential element of sustaining life which leads the reader to deduce the extent of the impact the mother has had in this person. The water is then described as deep and bold with regards to the mother, one can interpret this to mean the water is a large store of knowledge that cannot be accessed as physically humans cannot survive; it is very mysterious and also it shows the great expanse of her motherhood. Fathoming derives from the Anglo Saxon era and means to embrace the water embraces many sea creatures and therefore sustains life which is essentially a quality of her mother. But it can also mean to reason out problems this relates to the idea of a store of knowledge. Armitage gives sunlight agency as it can beatify saints and raise the dead. This catholic connotation brings about positivity to the church as images of saints are lifted above ordinary people. However, this is contrasted by the destructive power of the sunlight as it weathers the aged wooden case of the harmonium and the fingernails of its key. Armitage personifies the keys to draw a parallel with his dads smokers fingers. Further damage included one of the notes lost its tongue which means sound is lost. Armitage then paints an image of a traditional organist who wears grey, woollen sock. This inspires an idea of how old the harmonium and its battle with time. Armitage describes the motion of pedalling and uses repetition to support the onomatopoeic effect/. Nichols also uses repetition as she starts the second stanza with You were. This maintains the intimate and personal element to the poem. She describes her mother as the moons eyes. Historically, the moon represents strength and an icon of femininity. By personifying the moon, it shows that whilst her mother may not be on walking earth, she is looking over her this adds a transcending aspect to her mother. References made to the moon are pull and grained which can suggest to the reader the gravitational attraction between mother and daughter is similar to that of the earth and moon and how her mother had suffered a lot through her life and was left scarred. When using mantling, it evokes an image of being covered or wrapped up to protect. Moreover, Nichols lack of apostrophe in the third stanza, fishes, suggests her breakdown in emotion. The third stanza is different from the first two as here Nichols begins to list metaphors describing her mother. She once again makes the poem more personal through the reference of crabs leg/the fried plantain smell which is a delicacy central to her tradition. Furthermore, Armitage displays his emotions coming to a breaking point in the third stanza. This is achieved through his use of but which indicates a shift in tone. He uses alliteration, hummed harmonics, to increase the pace imitating his release of emotion. Also there is an onomatopoeic aspect which denotes the sound. This allows the reader to appreciate how engaged Armitage is with the harmonium. His use of the idiom struck a chord has a double meaning it can mean to physically play a sound but more importantly it means to provoke an emotional response to something. As the stanza continues, Armitage makes reference to father and son and is talking about him and his father this increases the feeling of nostalgia as it was him and his father who had sang as choir boys. It is in the fourth stanza where Armitages emotions become apparent. He makes very delicate comparisons with his father and the harmonium dotted thumbs. After this, Armitage how him and his father would cart it away in doing so, the harmonium is described as a valueless item. He personifies the harmonium by describing its back similar to how a person would be placed in a coffin. Armitage mentions how his dad belittles his own death. His dad describes his body as freight which is monosyllabic and brings heaviness to the comical aspect of his dad. Armitage cannot respond to his dads cynical humour and has lost his tongue. This represents the difference in character between the two. In contrast to the sad mood conveyed in Harmonium, Nichols ends the poem with words of wisdom from her mother Go to the wide futures, she said. This reinforces the idea the mother is looking over her and is wise.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Essay --

Sejarah Agama Buddha Agama Buddha lahir di negara India, lebih tepatnya lagi dikenali wilayah Nepal pada masa kini. Sejarah agama Buddha bermula pada abad ke-6 SM sampai sekarang dari lahirnya Buddha Siddharta Gautama. Dengan ini, Agama Buddha adalah salah satu agama tertua yang masih dianuti di dunia ini. Agama Buddha berkembang dengan unsur kebudayaan India, ditambah dengan unsur-unsur kebudayaan Helenistik (Yunani), Asia Tengah, Asia Timur dan Asia Tenggara. Dalam proses perkembangannya, agama ini telah berkembang hampir seluruh benua Asia dan telah menjadi agama mayoritas di beberapa negara Asia seperti Thailand, Singapura, Kemboja, Myanmar, Taiwan dan lain-lain. Pencetusnya ialah Siddhartha Gautama yang dikenal sebagai Gautama Buddha oleh pengikut-pengikutnya. Ajaran Buddha sampai ke negara Tiongkok pada tahun 399 Masehi yang dibawa oleh seorang bhiksu bernama Fa Hsien. Masyarakat Tiongkok mendapat pengaruhnya dari Tibet sesuai dengan tuntutan dan nilai moral. Setiap aliran Buddha berpegang kepada Tripitaka iaitu sebagai rujukan utama kerana di dalamnya tercatat sabda dan ajaran sang hyang Buddha Gautama. Pengikut-pengikutnya mencatat dan mengklasifikasikan ajarannya kepada 3 buku iaitu Sutta Piá ¹ ­aka (kotbah-kotbah Sang Buddha), Vinaya Piá ¹ ­aka (peraturan atau tata tertib para bhikkhu) dan Abhidhamma Piá ¹ ­aka (ajaran hukum metafisika dan psikologi). Sejarah kelahiran Pencetus Agama Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) Peringkat 1: Mimpi pelik. Raja Kapilavastu, ialah ayah kepada Buddha, iaitu Siddharta Gautama. Walaupun raja telah lama berkahwin dengan Ratu Maha Maya, tetapi masih tidak mendapat cahaya mata. Semasa Ratu Maha Maya berumur 40, pada suatu malam, ratu bermimpi pelik. Dalam mimpi itu, ratu ternampak seorang pemuda yang s... ...n apabila mereka minum social, ia biasanya adalah untuk mamatuhi. Walaupun sedikit alcohol memesongkan kesedaran dan menggangu kesedaran diri. Jika arak diambil dalam kuantiti yang besar, kesannya boleh mengakibatkan kemusnahan. Kesimpulan Kesimpulannya, Agama Buddha telah menjadi 3 agama yang utama di dunia ini. Agama Buddha ini telah berjaya mempengaruhi gaya hidup orang ramai di dunia itu supaya mengamal nilai-nilai yang murni ini dalam kehidupan mereka. Kesemua ajaran-ajaran agama Buddha mengenai soal hidup mati dan juga kebenaran-kebenaran mulia yang diajar oleh Buddha telah pun dicatatkan. Pada masa kini, Agama Buddha telah menjadi salah satu daripada 3 agama utama di dunia ini. Keusahaan dan kepayahan Gautama Buddha untuk mencari jawapan kepada semua soalan-soalan itu teleh membawa kejayaan yang agung. Kejaayan ini telah membawa manfaat kepada orang ramai

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Renaissance vs. Islamic Art

Mirriam Webster defines art as â€Å"the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects†. It is a broad definition, because nothing about art is specific. Art has many different meanings, takes many different forms, and achieves many different things. Culture, including religion, greatly influences art. The artistic works of a culture may reflect a lifestyle, language, religion, or belief of said culture. Some would consider the heart of art in our modern world to be Europe, specifically, Italy.This is logical, seeing as how Italy is famous for a time period called the Renaissance which was a vital turning point in the history of art in the world. The Renaissance period of time immediately followed the middle ages. During the middle ages, people had no concept of individuality, and there was no focus on mankind. Instead, the focus narrowly on God, celestial beings, and the afterlife. All things that happened were considered a mystery that only God could understand or be involved in. Because of the reliance on religion, people did not venture into thinking about science or how things really worked.The Renaissance was named as its own time period in order to signify the end of medieval thinking of the middle ages. Important aspects of the Renaissance include secularism and humanism, which were concentrations on human capability and a furthering from the all-encompassing spiritual norms. Art during the Renaissance sought to apply humanistic methods to Christianity. As people began to concentrate less on the ideal and more on what was realistic, they began to paint in a realistic fashion which included portraits, and human figures which were proportionate.What’s more is not only that they were painted realistically, but that average humans would be depicted in art in the first place. Although the Renaissance was secular, and concentrated on humans rather than deities, there are many Italian paintings with religious subjects. Italy didn’t live in a little bubble of scientific, humanistic advancement. While the Renaissance took place, Italian culture was somewhat challenged by Islamic culture when the Ottoman Turks made an attempt to conquer Europe.Ottoman rulers such as Mehmet and Suleiman are, in my opinion, responsible for the spread of Islamic art and culture from Persia to Algeria. As the Ottoman empire grew, its art and culture flourished under the rule of a select few rulers. Although the art grew and flourished, it still had its roots in Islamic faith, meaning it still followed the â€Å"rules† of the Muslim religion. The Ottoman empire’s occupation of South-east Europe and domination of the Mediterranean were tools which unintentionally spread Islamic culture to Europe, Italy included.When a group attempts to colonize an area, they (though sometimes inadvertently) spread their culture to said area. This is usually done through propaganda and artwork. The similarities between Islamic art and art in Renaissance Italy results from the fact that many elements of Islamic art spread to Italy during the spread of the Ottoman Empire into Europe. We can see many purely Islamic elements in European art in the Renaissance time period. To begin with, the Muslims are responsible for bringing glass, ceramics, and pottery to Italy.The development of glass and ceramics began in the Middle East. Using these mediums, they developed techniques such as gazing, gliding, qualities of color, and sparkle in order to add an artistic dimension to every day necessities. When the Muslims invaded Europe and held an Italian city, Italians learned to make ceramics, and then followed the Islamic way of adding sparkle to their glass and gold to their ceramic pieces. The Italians were influenced by, not only the artistic medium itself, but also the decorations on Islamic art.A cardinal characteristic of Islamic art is an inclination towards covering surfaces wit h patterns composed of vegetal and/or geometric elements. They valued sophisticated patterns and variety such as those found in Islamic artwork. They were fascinated by the intricate patterns, so much so that they began to imitate the designs on their own glass and ceramic artwork. They copied a certain design pattern, which was a sort of scrolling foliage, which they gave the term arabesque. Both Islamic and Renaissance art are greatly influenced by general religion, and even exhibit some of the same elements.Geometric figures in Islamic art are used to make said art perfectly symmetrical in any way possible. Even the arabesque scrolling foliage is more symmetrical and perfect than actual foliage. The geometric shapes in their works, are used to create a sense of superb balance and order, which is representative of Muslim ideals. Similarly, the artwork of the Italian Renaissance used realism to create balance, order, and proportion, which were fundamental ideals of the Renaissance. Aside from the designs and depictions in the artwork, what makes them similar is the way in which the artwork came to exist.The term â€Å"patron of the arts† was widely used during the Renaissance, and described those individuals who possessed the funds needed to aid the artists in creating their art. During the Renaissance, the patrons of the arts were able to use their wealth to achieve power and respect, by creating a work of art that proclaimed their devotion to themselves, their city, and their god. The most famous of the patrons during the Renaissance were the Medici family. During the height of the Renaissance, the Medici in power was known as Lorenzo the Magnificent.He held power in Florence by his involvement in gaining commissions for artists such as Sandro Boticelli and Leonardo da Vinci, who were both famous artists of their time. The Muslim empires had a very similar system. Certain Ottoman rulers are known for their positive contributions to the art and cultur e of their empire. Their contributions were not making the actual art, but providing the resources for the â€Å"professional† artists to do so. Suleiman the Magnificent is known to be one of the best and most influential rulers of the Ottoman empire.One reason he earned this title is that art and literature flourished under his rule. His artistic nature (reflected in everything he did), paired with his access to wealth made him an important patron of the arts, helping artists express original Ottoman ideas in a Turkish format. The interest of the patrons determine what kind of artwork gets created and released to the public. Because of this, the artwork of a time period may reflect the thoughts and ideals of the upper class because they were wealthy enough to commission certain works to be done.The patrons were the people responsible for the prospering and growth of art in both time periods, though they existed in slightly different forms. Although the Renaissance art was in fluenced by Islamic art, and both were influenced by religion and earlier time periods, there are fundamental differences between the two. These differences lie in the way each culture chooses to portray their religion in their art. The axiomatic dissimilarity between the two types of art, as far as paintings and tapestries are concerned, is that there are no physical beings depicted in Islamic art, and the opposite is true for the art of the Italian Renaissance.The reason for this goes back to the individual foundation and central ideas of each perspective religion and, for the Renaissance, the practices influenced by the time period. Renaissance thinking was secular, but Renaissance art was not about excluding religion altogether, it was more about including humanism in the depiction of religious figures and events. One can see the religious elements in works such as The Birth of Venus, painted by Sandro Botticelli in 1486. The nudity of Venus in this work is a suggestion of Eve b efore â€Å"the Fall† as well as the pure love of Paradise.Once arrived on the planet or â€Å"born†, the love goddess dons earthly, mortal sin, which leads her to become the New Eve, otherwise known as Madonna. The Madonna’s purity is represented by the nude Venus, and she has become a personification of the Christian church. What makes such a work specific to the humanistic aspect of the Renaissance is the ideals captured in it. Venus as the center of the painting represents a celestial being, but is painted very realistically in form, being accurately proportioned. This alone captures the characteristics of humanism, with its focus on realism, and roots in Greek and Roman myths and culture.Muslims do not agree with the way that Christians portray religion through their artwork for their own reasons, so they choose not to do the same in their own artistic practices. Muslims saw an intrinsic flaw in the Christian way and they did not want the message of their G od to be confused with the worshipping of the medium, or for anything to be mistaken for idols or idolatry. Therefore they did, and still to this day, do not allow any physical beings in their art, because such art might allow for attention to and worshipping of Mohammed rather than attention to the word of their God.By these interpretations, the Qu’ran is Midieval in the nature of its message in that physical beings have no right to be depicted in artwork because the word of God is all-important. Because of this Muslim view, Islamic art does not possess the same elements as the Christian art from the Renaissance. There are no people at all depicted in Islamic art, but that’s not to say that it still is not religious. A calligraphic panel by one Mustafa Rakim is a perfect example. The background is red, with beautiful gold characters which are arranged so that the outline appears to be that of a man with a turban who is praying.It reads â€Å"God, there is no god but He, the Lord of His prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the Lord of all that has been crated. The aforementioned is exemplary of how Islamic works of art could be religious, but approached in a different fashion than in the Renaissance. There could not be a physical depiction of their god, Muhammad, or a man praying, so instead calligraphy was used in a shape in order to further convey a message. In fact, calligraphy is the highest form of visual art, and the nly spiritually meaningful form of art because of its association with the Qu’ran, which Muslims worship every word of. Christians worshipped Jesus Christ, who was a human being, and simply a messenger of God. For example, atop Carcovado Mountain in Brazil, there is a statue entitled â€Å"Christ the Redeemer†, which offers a panoramic view of Rio De Janeiro. The statue is not only a major tourist attraction, but more of a source of religious solace for all who come to visit it. There are also many Christians who choose to worship at the feet of the aforementioned statue, and others like it.The Muslims think of the Christians as wrong for doing such things as worshipping at a statue of Jesus Christ because in their religion, the prophet Mohammed shan’t be worshipped because of his position as the messenger of their God. The Islamic focus is on the teachings of their God alone, and not on the medium through which they received said teachings. Art with physical depictions of religious figures would also go against the teachings of the Qu’ran, which by some interpretations suggests that Muslims should be against idolatry, meaning they should not believe in the worshipping of a physical object or person as a god.Physical depictions in religious art have also been known to change along with the time period, which could in turn change the mindsets of the followers of the religion. For example, in Christianity, depictions of Jesus Christ contributed to the influence of the church and rulers who associated themselves with and promoted Christianity. During the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries, the image of Jesus changed from a humble shepherd to a richly robed and commanding persona—a fitting companion for the emperors whose images were also portrayed in mosaics on the walls of churches.Because the Muslims view the word of their god as all-important, they do not want interpretations of the religion to be further influenced by the time period, as what has happened with the image of Jesus. Art, in any form, has the ability to represent everything about a culture. In my opinion, it has the most impact on how we perceive certain people, religions, and cultures. He who is in control of the art is, in essence, in control of the opinions of future generations. Essentially, comparing the art of two separate cultures is comparing everything from their language and religion to trends and important societal topics.

Monday, January 6, 2020

How Bronte Uses Setting to Reflect the Experiences of Her...

Explore how Bronte uses setting to reflect the experiences of her characters. Bronte describes every setting in Jane Eyre in a vast amount of detail, using a number of different language techniques, so as to portray the experiences of her characters, almost subconsciously, to the reader. As well as this, she conveys the moods of her characters using methods such as pathetic fallacy and symbolism, in order to express their emotions indirectly. Furthermore, Bronte uses all of these methods, in addition to a number of scenes containing juxtaposition, as well as the overall structure of her writing style, consistently throughout the book, following Jane through her life. And, transmitting her personal changes and experiences at†¦show more content†¦Furthermore, in order to portray Janes position mentally, Bronte emphasises the fact that Jane is trapped in the room with no escape route. 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