An Analysis of Fairy Tales Essay -- Literary Analysis

Sagas about princes and princesses, beauty, magic, and love, fairy tales like Snow White and Cinderella among others have become children’s favorite bedtime stories. However, as parents tuck their sons and daughters in, they fail to realize that there is a much more daunting purpose to these stories. American writer and poet, Jane Yolen suggests that fairy tales indicate life values. Furthermore, Yolen insists that these tales are â€Å"thumbprints of history† (Yolen 27). Studying fairy tales in depth, she proves that the â€Å"functions of myths† consist of â€Å"creating a landscape of allusion [and] enabling us to understand our own and out culture from inside out† (Yolen 18). Yolen confirms that these stories comment on, â€Å"the abstract truths of our common human existence† (Yolen 18). To Yolen, fairy tales inform the audience about significant themes and historical events. Jack Zipes, a retired professor, has lectured on the subject of fairy tales and folklore for many years. Zipes maintains that fairy tales are far from harmless and play a much larger role in society. In fact, he concludes that â€Å"the creative purpose and major themes of the folk tales did not concern harmony but the depictions of changing social structures† (Zipes). Moreover, he insists that â€Å"might makes right† as the ideas in a particular fairy tale usually display the beliefs of the dominating class (Zipes). According to Zipes, â€Å"central to most tales is the concept of power† (Zipes). Furthermore, Zipes argues that fairy tales frequently present elitist and sexist views. Zipes argues that fairy tales reflect the views of the dominating class, often mocking the minorities of a given community. As stated by Jane Yolen and Jack Zipes, fairy tales play a much greater ro... ...h much more significant themes and truly enlighten people (Yolen 36). â€Æ' Work Cited Tatar, Maria. â€Å"Jack Zipes: Breaking the Disney Spell.† The Classic Fairy tales. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1999. 332-352. Yolen, Jane. â€Å"How Basic Is Shazam?†Touch Magic: Fantasy, Faerie and Folklore in Literature of Childhood. Little Rock: August House Publisher Inc., 2000. 13-19. Yolen, Jane. â€Å"Once Upon a Time.† Touch Magic: Fantasy, Faerie and Folklore in Literature of Childhood. Little Rock: August House Publisher Inc., 2000. 27-36. Zipes, Jack David. Breaking the Magic Spell: Radical Theories of Folk and Fairy Tales. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2002. Zipes, Jack. â€Å"On the Use and Abuse of Fold and fairy Tale with Children: Bruno Bettelheim’s Moralistic magic wand.† Literature Resource Center. Gale, 2007. Web. 18 Feb 2010.

Have parents given too much freedom to their child Essay

Sir/Madam, first of all, I’d like to briefly define and introduce the topic. It means, in this post-modern capitalist human society, attitude of extreme liberalization has led parents lavish too much liberty, blank check and affection on their children which have proved dangerous in each and every aspect. I 100% agree with this statement. This freedom is multifaceted and begins at home as making negative use of the liberty of expression and action, children are allowed to say and do whatever they like. Then the very freedom penetrates schools and the concept of â€Å"Maar Nahin Piyar† is overemphasized. Moreover, rich and busy parents promote habits of extravagancies among their children by giving free rein over the use of money. Mr. /Ms. President, I am not against this freedom; I am only concerned with its evil aspects in the long run. The world we live in is not a paradise, so this many-sided freedom eventually gives birth to multifarious evils which later on become impossible to be eradicated. Children constitute an age group of human society characterized by immaturity lacking awareness and experience. They are like iron in the molten state which, if left free, will flow in any direction and will result in a useless rather troublesome shape. So, children need intense care and control for their result-oriented moulding. Mr. /Ms. President, everything in the universe is bound by limits which are set by Allah as â€Å"Tilka Hu-du-dullah-hey† meaning â€Å"These are the limits set by Allah†. Nature and natural law are based on the principle of moderation. In case of humans, this moderation has to be enforced by the use of force because man by nature is hasty and contentious. So, this moderation in the children can only be ensured by parental control. Mr. /Ms. President, the children given free hand usually keep bad companies and adopt smoking, drug addiction, alcoholism, gambling and get indulged in robbery, thievery, dacoity, murder, assassination and other nefarious social evils and crimes like suicide bombing. That is why our Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad PBUH said, â€Å"Parents must always keep a stick for check and control over their children†. As an obvious and direct consequence of extra-freedom and unrestrained liberty, our new generation is rebellious, rude, void of spirituality and blindly pursues materialistic approach. As a result, ever increasing desires and over necessitation of survival facilities by children, create everyday a new headache, anxiety and an insolvable problem which makes the parents’ lives  unbearable. Now, with the permission of Mr. President, I’d like to express my conclusive remarks. As a matter of routine experience and according to the findings of various global surveys, children’s misconduct and their evil habits are caused either by too much restraint or too much freedom. Such unruly, rebellious and trouble making children instead of being a divine blessing prove to be a curse not only for their parents but also their kith & kin, neighbors, society, nation and even international community. In short, love alone can do nothing; â€Å"love† and â€Å"law† should go side by side. Love proves to be beneficial only if accompanied by due restraint.

Aaron Douglas’ “Crucifixion”

Aaron Douglas’ Crucifixion Throughout much of Modernism many artists were influenced and informed by the work of exotic regions throughout the world, more specifically Africa. African Art would influence much of the Modern Movements from the latter part of the Nineteenth and the beginning of the Twentieth Centuries. Much is said of the artists within the Harlem Renaissance, and how it directly reflects the influence of Africana upon their art. Often times, this work is neglected to be considered Modern if not in specialized selections of course throughout many of today's higher institutions of learning.However, thus being said, Aaron Douglas, often considered the pioneer of African American Modern Art, would bring this notion to the forefront of Modern Society. With Douglas’ â€Å"The Crucifixion,† illustrated in â€Å"God’s Trombones† in 1927, he would shatter all notions of work within the Harlem Renaissance as not being Modern, but more viably Mo dern than most work produced at this time. He would give tremendous validity to African American Art as Modern in any context by not only incorporating modernist concepts, but truly making social criticism about the plight of the African Americans and the struggles of becoming important.In Douglas’ â€Å"The Crucifixion,† he draws from Western academia and his African roots, not only to place his work among Modern fine art, but would make the Black voice a viable and acceptable as any other movement within Modern Art. It is important to point out the formal qualities of â€Å"The Crucifixion. † The piece is made of oil on canvas. However, with the delicate treatment and translucency of the paint it is not hard to imagining it watercolor or gouache. The color palette is limited and specific. The use of a very monochromatic purple tonal range sets the mood for the piece as a whole.Purple denotes a heavenly or royal handling of the subject matter. The use of purple within the Western canon, oftentimes symbolized the holy. With the piece aptly titled â€Å"The Crucifixion,† it is no wonder that Douglas is setting the scene of Gospel related subject matter. In addition to the aforementioned, â€Å"The Crucifixion† was originally illustrated in James Weldon Johnson’s book of poems, â€Å"God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse† (Driskell, 110). However, with the subject matter and the painterly quality it is not hard to place them among fine art painting.For the vast majority of Douglas’ work, as with â€Å"The Crucifixion,† black history, religion, and myth provided the substantive sources for his stylized subjects (Driskell, 111). The composition is highly composed with a designer’s eye for detail and stylistic elements. Furthermore, the central figure of Jesus, which is washed-out, flattened white, surrounded by geometric forms and interpenetrating circular shapes, possibly signify ing a halo or representation of thereof, and also moves the composition outwardly from the central Jesus; hinting towards the modern use of interpenetrating lines that occurred within Cubism (Pinder, 107).Douglas layers Cubist design elements to create a highly fragmented, yet cohesive composition that reads more designed and symbolic through imagery. To add, the use of very directional/graphic arrows pointing upwards and outwardly, it is not hard to read this as something taking the importance away from the central Jesus figure to the overshadowing black man and to the heavens. Additionally one cannot begin to confront the issue of Modernity and Modern Art movements without mentioning the influence of African art objects on Modern Artists.One only has to look at Picasso and Braque to see the influence of African masks and twisted perspective as in Ancient Egyptian sculpture with â€Å"Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. † It is not hard to imagine Modern artists who implemented these sort of design elements into their work to be considered new and cutting edge. If one is to take that same mentality and apply it to any number of artists within the Harlem Renaissance, especially Douglas, then their use of African imagery must of set them worlds apart at the time.Who better understands this art, then those whose heritage is deeply involved with such art? Aaron Douglas understood this, and was able to draw upon African ideals concerning art and incorporate them into this specific piece. Additionally, the Jesus figure is overshadowed by a large darkened African man carrying the cross for Jesus: possibly marking the weight of the world on his shoulders and carrying the burden that one must go through society as African Americans.As Driskell said in Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America, â€Å"Jesus the savior is also Jesus the bearer of everyman’s burden, particularly the black man’s burden. † Of course, the large African American man carrying the cross represents that man. This may also represent the hardship of the black man at the beginning of the Twentieth century. As Kymberly Pinder suggests in her article, Our Father, God; our Brother, Christ; or are We Bastard Kin? : Images of Christ in African American Painting, â€Å"in the black under-standing of Christ and Christianity from the beginning.The analogy between Christ's persecution and the racial oppression of blacks past and present is essential within this piece. † Symbolically, Douglas is relying on the suggestion that Black is Christ-like to forward his artistic expression. Truthfully speaking, without these elements â€Å"The Crucifixion† would not carry the lofty message it elicits. Douglas paints in a hard-edged style that defined the figure, borrowing of course from the Synthetic Cubists (Driskell, 111). The figures themselves are angular and exaggerated borrowing from ancient Egyptian sculpture.This work exemplifies design with the way Dougl as plays with design motifs, such as arrows and interpenetrating geometric shapes, to give the composition a highly stylized and polished feel while still portraying the figure to produce a highly designed and spatially related composition (Driskell, 111). Any of the abovementioned would suffice in the consideration of Douglas’ â€Å"Crucifixion† as Modern. One only has to look to Cubism and German Expressionism to consider his work modern. His use of religious symbolism hints towards the same practice within German Expressionism.In addition, his use of very angular figures pointing to works by Otto Dix and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Furthermore, with the concept of interpenetrating planes and geometry one only has to look to the work of Picasso and Braque to see that this has similarities with Synthetic Cubism. According to Susan Earle in Aaron Douglas: African American Artist, â€Å"in Modern art, Douglas saw the potential for abstracting two-dimensional form, eliminati ng surface detail, fracturing line, and using color harmonies, almost mirroring that of works by Synthetic Cubists (Earle, 107).Additionally, with Douglas’ use of agile line work and his economic usage of recognizable symbolic features, it is evident that Douglas borrows from Art Deco (Driskell, 129). However, he takes clear advantage of Art Nouveau and the movement it brought to the fine arts. Douglas incorporates this with the rhythm and movement of Harlem Renaissance music. Additionally, one could look towards the Futurists and their uproar and social commentary to inform Douglas’ crucifixion; albeit, â€Å"The Crucifixion† is not overcrowded with color and direct movement.However, his use of angular figural representations and his comment on the situation of African Americans makes a social commentary about the lives of African Americans. Bibliography Brigham, David R. â€Å"Bridging Identities: Dox Thrash as African American and Artist. † JSTOR. The University of Chicago Press, 1990. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. http://www. jstor. org/stable/3108983. Earle, Susan and Renee Ater. Aaron Douglas: African American Modernist. New Haven: Yale UP, 2007. Print. Driskell, David C. , David L. Lewis, and Deborah Willis. Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America.New York: Studio Museum in Harlem, 1987. Print. Pinder, Kymberly N. â€Å"Our Father, God; Our Brother, Christ; or Are We Bastard Kin? : Images of Christ in African American Painting. † FLITE Database. Indiana State University, 1997. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. http://www. jstor. org. libcat. ferris. edu/stable/3042461. Thompson, Aubrey. â€Å"Great Plains Pragmatist: Aaron Douglas and the Art of Social Protest. † [email  protected] of Nebraska – Lincoln. University of Nebraska, 01 Nov. 2000. Web. 10 Nov. 2012. http://digitalcommons. unl. edu/greatplainsquarterly/314.

Impact of Islam on Indian culture Essay

There is a close relationship between Islam and Indian. Islam is a religion that is based on Quran which explains revelations from god and is believed that it is unaltered throughout the decades. There is about 1.57 billion supporters which is the same number as of 23 percentage of earth’s population. It is the second-largest religion in the world and it is still growing fast. The support of Islam is called a Muslim. Islam’s prophet is Muhammad who was born in Mecca, was caravan merchant and he often recites Quran. There are five important pillars of Islam which are the basic concepts of worship, explaining Islamic law as well as every side of society and life and it also provides instruction about many things about environment, welfare, banking, etc. Five pillars are categorized as faith, prayer, haji, charity and ramadan. Reading Quran is highly recommended for muslims but it is not one of those pillars. In Islam, god is called Allah. There is a well-known sentence which people call Declaration of faith. It is â€Å"There is no god but god (Allah) and Muhammad is his messenger†. This quote implies that there is only one god who is Allah and all other ones are fake. Muslims believe that God is incomparable and the purpose of existence is to perform and serve Allah.Most muslims are either Sunni or Shia and approximately 13 percentage of Muslims live in Indonesia, the place with the largest Muslim-majority country and they have influenced on Indian culture heavily. Then how Islam has influenced Indians culturally and politically? Islam entered India in the 10th century A.D and created more ethnic complexity. When other ethnicities such as Greek, Mongolian, Parthian, and Scythian conquered India, they became Hinduised completely and assimilated with Indians. However Islam did not negotiated with Indians because Islam is monotheistic religion. Since total of four groups which are mughals, pathans, sayyeds and sheikhs did not unite with Hindu society, Indian ethnic system became much more complex. They created their own system, similar to caste system. Brahmins turned into Sayyeds and the rajputs who are descendents of Kshatriya merged into sheikhs, mughals and pathans. Before Isalm influenced Indians, their society was not divided into two separate  societies even though they had two religions which are Buddhism and Jainism. However Islam established India society into either Hindus or Muslims. Islam also brought Sufism to India. Sufism began as teaching religion more deeply in the Middle East about the Truth of Islam from Mohammad. Sufism involves an enlightened inner being with god and is an actualization of divine ethics. The practice of Sufism is selflessly involving with going forward with the truth by meaning of love and devotion. It could be called the way towards God or the spiritual path. The very basic concept of Sufism is to minimize individual identity as much as possible. One of other concepts of Sufism is that every religion offers a way to enlightenment and to true god realization, regardless of how it is fulfilled. It states that any god from any religion is all in equal position because they are derived from the same divine source. At first, the term Sufi was applied to those who had fully realized God, however it has became common to anyone who follows that particular spiritual way. Sufism is an important part of Islamic culture and society that also affects hugely in India. Related to Sufism, Islam propelled the Bhaktic cults. It is movement that is emotionally bonding with goddesses. It  was often expressed as chants, dances and drugs. The goal of this movement was to purify of the existing system. It affected greatly on many religious leaders. Bhaktic cult Muslim and Hindu traditions devoted on emergence of the new religion called Din-I-Illahi by Akbar later on. Culturally, Islam impacted Indians by teaching them forcefully and tested them on their faith. Islam made them adopt Muslim culinary. They adopted one of Muslim’s custom which is wearing sherwani, achkan, kurtha and pyjama. They also controlled Hindu women by imposing pardah. They had to wear pardah forcibly from being invaded or kidnapped. Islam also contributed in Art and literature in Hindu society. Islam constructed their places such as durbars and mosques which are ways to worship Allah in every country they conquered. There were often schools next to the mosque where people could learn and study about Quran. As Islam were developing their territory in India, many great schools, universities, libraries were established which led Indians to  be more knowledgeable. They also remodeled many temples that were previously ruined or damaged. They introduced of creating beautiful gardens in many places in India. Not only in the field of architecture, had Muslims done much on practicing of music which is a blend of Persia and Hindu. They invented many new musical instruments like Sarangi, Sitar and Tabla. Other than those examples that were mentioned previously in the essay, there are plenty of other things that Islam has influenced Indians. There were times that Indians had to follow what they did not really wanted, but with Islam’s help India was able to develop as a better, strong country in many different ways. They were able to have a better school system, more developed music and arts, overall more comfortable life for people. It is crucial to know about Islam and their culture as well as their background in order to understand Indian society.

What was the Impact of the Holocaust on Postwar Art and Culture Essay

What was the Impact of the Holocaust on Postwar Art and Culture - Essay Example This figure represented two thirds of the total European Jewish population and a third of the world’s total. Causes Germany was forced to sign the humiliating Versailles Treaty, at the end of the First World War, in which the country was forced to cut down on its armed forces, its prewar territory was reduced, and Germans were forced to admit guilt for the war. They were also forced to pay reparations to the allied forces for losses incurred during the war. The country was also forced to adopt a parliamentary governing system, and it is through this system that Adolf Hitler became a Chancellor, or prime minister, in 1932. Soon after, his government started propagating hate campaign against Jews, claiming that they were the source of all German problems and, therefore, needed to be exterminated as a race from the world. This is what led to the Holocaust, a tragedy that peaked during the war and only ended with Germany’s defeat, by the allied forces, in 1945 (AICE). ... Other museums across the world have set aside sections that keep these objects too. Paintings and Pictures Visual representations have also been done through paintings, photography and films. Evidence from the concentration camps indicates that the detainees engaged in the art to express their feelings and sufferings, and to avoid getting bored. Though some of this work was discovered by the Nazis and destroyed claiming it was part of ‘horror propaganda’, and the artists punished severely, however, some of it survived. This includes Josef Nassy’s 200 drawings which he painted while at Bavaria’s Laufen and Tittmoning concentration camps. His pieces of art survived the concentration camps and these help in capturing an eye witness’ account of the dehumanizing nature in which Nazis treated the Jews. ‘No names’ are paintings by Alice Lok Cahana, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who tells her story as a teenage detainee. Her work is preserved i n the Collection of Modern Religious Art gallery, at the Vatican Museum. Some other artists helped in producing paintings of life at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp months after its liberation and these include Mary Kessell, Leslie Cole, and Sargeant Eric Taylor who was one of the camp's liberators. A lot of these paintings have been done over time including those by contemporary artists and are on display in different museums and art galleries across the globe (Zelizer 8). Photography Photography has also been used extensively to preserve memories of the Holocaust. Among these is the more than 10,000 photos taken secretly by Mendel Grossman while at the death camps. Though he died in the same camps; however, the negatives were used to develop photos

Securities Analysis and Portfolio Management Essay

Securities Analysis and Portfolio Management - Essay Example Louis is no longer working as a stock broker and Simon is now using the services of Cheryl who has strong views about Simon’s portfolio. Cheryl, a graduate in finance from York University, believes that markets are essentially efficient and admires the work of Harry Markowitz and Fama and French. She believes that the important thing is to have a good portfolio rather than good individual investments. Cheryl tells Simon that she doesn’t feel that he even has the best companies now even if they had been when the portfolio had been set up. Cheryl goes on to say that that a good portfolio needs to include exposure to overseas companies and smaller companies thus reducing the â€Å"beta† and improving the â€Å"alpha† of the portfolio. Cheryl also argued that it is vital to watch the â€Å"momentum† and have stop-losses on all the holdings in order to protect against primary downside movements. Simon is very concerned about his share holdings after talk ing to Cheryl and has approached you for advice. You ascertain that Simon, who doesn’t work, is 65 years old and is receiving a more than adequate income from his existing portfolio. Simon rents a flat in a seaside resort and does not wish to buy property. Simon is not willing to take on any additional risk. In addition to the shares discussed above Simon has ?14,000 in a bank account and ?300,000 in medium dated conventional gilts. Simon has two children from his short lived marriage to Susan who both have well paid jobs. Simon does not wish to transfer assets to his children as he would prefer to support any future grandchildren he has through their education. Simon’s ten equity holdings are: Company PE Ratio Dividend Yield Dividend Cover Equity Market Capitalisation (?m) BAE Systems 7.9 4.96% 2.5 11,003 BP 7.2 8.84% 1.6 77,353 British American Tobacco 15.4 4.2% 1.5 47,264 BT Group 7.6 4.89% 2.7 10,956 Diageo 14.8 3.47% 1.9 66,234 GlaxoSmithKline 10.5 4.78% 2.0 66,23 4 HSBC 29.9 3.34% 1.0 116,479 Marks and Spencer 10.9 4.16% 2.2 5,705 Rolls Royce 14.7 2.56% 2.6 10,847 Unilever 16.1 2.31% 3.2 23,281 Required: (a) With relevant statistics, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Simon’s existing portfolio above (make reference to eps/dps growth; betas; price performance; and sector spread of the ten shareholdings). (35 marks) Simon’s stock portfolio has been constructed according to the established views of modern portfolio theory, which seeks â€Å"alpha† by selecting stock holdings in companies that will outperform the return of the general stock indices or interest rates over time. Modern portfolio theory is based in the tenets of risk management, which analyze security investments according to â€Å"beta† or the volatility of stock pricing due to company specific business activities, market factors, macroeconomic changes, natural disasters, wars, etc. Investors have different expectations, personal, and professional motivations in building their investments and with this also comes varying appetites or tolerances for risk. Modern portfolio theory was developed largely before ETF vehicles existed to track index performance through large, distributed

Fictional story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fictional story - Essay Example Since he looked hopeless and pathetic, the Holmes were happy that he could help them with some homework. They hoped to keep him so that they could also send him for errands and leave them at home looking after the kids. â€Å"How much will you be paying me for the responsibilities?† asked John, â€Å"we do not have to pay you, that will compensate for the accommodation and food that we will be giving you.† Upon hearing this, John was annoyed. He started complaining and even almost insulted the Holmes for their lack of concern for him. It took the intervention of Julieta, a woman who personally knew John in the village. Since he had no other place to go, he had to accept the deal with the Holmes. Life at the Holmes was a bit challenging. He was forced to wake up early and slept late. Although he did not spend not even a cent of his savings, he did not earn anything except food and accommodation benefit. This infuriated John and made him confront the Holmes on the second day, â€Å"This is too unfair! I have to leave you alone with your pathetic offers.† John had started imagining that everything would work out well for him and that he no longer needed Holmes’ help. He even accused the Holmes of misusing him and vowed to sue them by the end of the week. This is despite the fact that he had personally agreed to the initial deal of staying with them and doing what the family does for no pay. Outside the Holmes, life was not as he had expected. It reminded him of his school days when he solely depended on his peers. When he was in class five, he had entered into a peer gang that taught him many ‘skills’ including what he referred to as ‘taking what others had misplaced.’ The only thing that kept John away from stealing is the memory of his late father who had died while John was twelve. John had not seen his father since birth and only spent three months with him before his death. As his mother had earlier narrated to