Contextualising the text – Yerma

Throughout his adult life, Garcia Lorca spoke frequently and with great pleasure about the profound importance he attributed to his early childhood in the small villages in the countryside near Granada, and later, in the provincial capital itself. Lorca's father, Federico Garcia Rodriguez was a wealthy landowner with several substantial holdings in the rich alluvial plain called La Vega de Granada. Having been widowed in his first marriage and left without children, Don Federico's second marriage (of which his family disapproved because of the inferior social and economic background of his bride) was to a school teacher from Granada, Vincenta Lorca Romero. The mere fact that she had a profession and a job is an indication of her independence and strength of character. The influence of her personality was to be of the utmost importance for Federico Garcia Lorca, her eldest son, born in June of 1898. The experience of the first ten years in that fertile region of slow rivers and poplar groves, with the snow-capped Sierra Nevada in the distance, seems to have provided Lorca with an inexhaustible well-spring of inspiration and feeling for Spain's rural people and their world. The rural folk he was surrounded by became a great influence in his work as we are shown in his second rural play Yerma. Act 2, scene 1 shows us a parallel to what Lorca would have witnessed often during his childhood. In his late teens he began to write poems that he would recite in local cafes. As a child he was known to carry on conversations with inanimate objects, bestowing upon each object a personality and speaking with them as if they were living things and might speak back at any moment. His writing career began with a book of essays in 1918, followed by a play in 1920 and book of poetry in 1921. In 1919 he left to study law at the Residencia de Estudiantes, where he met and became friends with film director Luis Bunuel and painter Salvador Dali, among other Spanish notables of his generation. With the exception of summer vacations spent in Granada, Garcia Lorca would stay in the Residencia until 1928, by which time he had become Spain's most highly respected younger poet. In the period of his greatest fame, Lorca drifted into a depressive, disillusioned state of mind. He described himself to a friend as suffering â€Å"one of the saddest and most unpleasant moments of my life. † He abandoned the gypsy ballad poetry that was making him famous. He even stopped reading his poetry to friends. He was rescued from this melancholy mood by his mentor, Fernando de los Rios, who took him from Madrid through France and England to New York City. In his plays, the pivotal characters are women. Women are the ones who suffer from desire and pass through conflict to tragic or comic resolution. Most of the scenes take place in women's spaces, the domestic interiors which they rule and from which men are estranged (or, as in The House of Bernarda Alba, completely prohibited). The female characters reveal themselves most easily and deeply in conversations with other women. The poetry which erupts at moments of emotional intensity usually comes from the mouths of female characters. Especially in the three great tragedies which are known as his â€Å"trilogy of rural life,† Lorca chooses women to exemplify the human life which is crushed by Spanish customs and social life. He went to Cuba in 1929-30 and returned to Spain in 1931. That year Spain became a Republic, which gave hope to many – Garcia Lorca included – that Spain's standard of living would be improved, its illiteracy reduced and its culture more widely disseminated. He became a director of a student theatre company, â€Å"La Barraca,† which toured small villages and in the faces of harassment by Fascist partisans presented the Spanish classics to the peasants. The company produced the three â€Å"rural tragedies† on which Garcia Lorca's theatrical reputation rests. Yerma (1934), the second of the three tragedies, is the story of a woman who is unable to conceive although she desperately longs to have a child. The first and third tragedies are Blood Wedding (1933) and The House Bernada Alba, which was never performed during Garcia Lorca's lifetime. At the start of the Spanish Civil War, he went to Granada, which he regarded as relatively safe. Although he had no political affiliations, he was known to be a friend of left-wing intellectuals and an advocate of liberty. Apparently this was enough of an indictment for the Falangists who arrested him on the orders of the Nationalist Civil Governor on August 16, 1936. He was held for two days, tortured and shot. Garcia Lorca was homosexual, and he suffered greatly because of the strict, conservative nature of Spain at that time. His writings were outlawed in Granada's Plaza del Carmen. Even speaking his name was forbidden. The young poet quickly became a martyr, an international symbol of the politically oppressed, but his plays were not revived until the 1940s, and certain bans on his work remained in place until as late as 1971. Today, Garcia Lorca is considered the greatest Spanish poet and dramatist of the 20th Century.

Rachel and her Children essay Essay

We see them almost everywhere! We can hear them around the corner, and we see their shadow from far away. We try to avoid looking directly into their eyes, and we pretend we did not hear them when they talk to us. We walk around the block to avoid them, and walk faster to leave them behind. These people that we consider to be invisible are actually homeless human beings. Homelessness in America remains an issue of deep concern in the 21st century. Without a permanent roof over their head, these people seek refuge in various places such as homeless shelters and tent cities. If they are fortunate they will find a safe place to stay the night. The less fortunate ones are forced to spend their night in public places that are unsafe and unfit to sleep in. Although homelessness is not a new issue to write about, in â€Å"Rachel and her children†, Jonathan Kozol brings us into an entirely new world. A world where the homeless are not just figures with hands held out asking for spare change. He brings us into the lives of these homeless story by story case by case sharing his personal interviews with these unfortunate people. What Kozol describes deeply in the book throughout true incredible stories goes beyond our expectation. Especially in chapter 5,† Distancing ourselves from pain and tears† which is one of the center of the book, the author raises more concern about our attitudes toward poor homeless people. What Kozol means by â€Å"distancing† in the chapter is that people do really care about homelessness. They do understand and feel guilty about what homeless people are suffering day by day. Because of the guiltiness, they try to create a â€Å"distance† by themselves to ignore the responsibility for these homeless people. Instead of blaming the reckless negligence of the government’s welfare system, people end up blaming homelessness for creating their own destitution. In some ways, it is surely that most Americans would have a certain enhanced sympathy toward homeless people. However, not many of us do truly care about them, want to know what the story is behind them becoming homeless, and try to help them get out of their dark side. We do have compassion, but our compassion is not big enough to connect us closer to homeless people. Even though we feel very bad whenever we hear about the poor people, every one of us does have a distance ourselves from homelessness. The first thing that come to my mind and other people’s when thinking about homeless people is that all of them are panhandlers, those who are mentally unstable, and victims of â€Å"dumping† by greedy hospital or drug addiction. Last summer I came to visit my friend who lives in downtown San Francisco. As I was walking down to the bus station, I remember passing an old homeless woman who was asking people for money at the corner of the station. Being careful not to touch her, I dropped a few spare coins in his hand. Automatically assuming that the money I gave her would be used for drugs or alcohol, I looked upon her with contempt. After reading this book, I understand that the woman I saw at the corner of the station could have, at one time, been just like me. Even though being a little proud of just doing something good, I found that I (as well as other people) fail to create a distance from homelessness. At the beginning, Kozol opens his book with the story of Peter and Megan who are living in the Martique homeless shelter. Before ending up being homeless, they had a happy life with their five children. Peter did plumbing and carpentry. He was also a contributing and working. After a fire destroyed the house and all of Peter’s collection of tools he had built up for years, Peter’s family had to struggle in the Martique. By opening with this story, Kozol gives the readers a new vision of homeless people. Stereotypes of the homeless as individuals struggling with mental health issues or substance addictions no longer hold. They used to be normal members in the society just like us, but for some reasons cause them to become destitute. Kozol’s book documents how many homeless were recently employed, cast into homelessness by financial misfortune such as ongoing unemployment, staggering medical bills or medical disabilities. Many homeless people are in their existing condition of living on the streets because of being born poor, while many other homeless people used to have money, fame and property before but lost it all in some big personal or external event. We have never thought what lead those people into their dark sides. We are too hasty to put everyone into the same category. Because of that failure in thinking, we naturally build an invisible distance that separates us from homeless people. There are hundreds of fears which could be called typical of human needs existing inside of us such as: going broke, foreclosure on house, humiliation from public speaking, running out of food, or major disasters†¦. However, a life that is financially is unsecure, and in a depressed economy, the fear of being homeless seems to be considered as the biggest concern for human beings. For those who have been homeless and are now off the street, generally they promise themselves never to let that happen again. Many people now fear being homeless who are close to foreclosure. Too many people bought at the top of the market or re-financed with variable rate deals. Therefore, this fear of being homeless is a real fear. When people are scared of something so much that they cannot face it, they tend to ignore it in order to release the fear that they are going through. We all know that homelessness still exists. We also know that that the number of people who stay in the street as their home, lack of food, tremble because of cold, and carry on so many disease is increasingly higher in every states of the U.S. Since we fear of being homeless, we try to disregard the existence of homelessness. We even blame homeless people for creating their own situation. In order to push away our own â€Å"nightmare†, we unintentionally create the distance between ourselves and homelessness. Not only do we eliminate our â€Å"nightmare† by blaming the homeless people but also we evade our responsibility by making an excuse that there is no â€Å"quick fix† for erasing homelessness in America. That means people who are living in the street have to wait a long time to get a house. Most of us usually think that we already gave a hand for helping homelessness by the tax we pay to the government every year, and that the government themselves have had programs for low-income Americans. However, we do not know that the money the government gives up to help poor people is â€Å"just over a tenth of the federal budget† (131). Yet, that ten percent of the budget was cut into one third by the Reagan budget cuts. In other words, when that amount of money reaches to the homeless people, it means nothing. The question here is: What is the rest of the money gone instead of using to help homeless? The rest of billions of dollars is used for national defense such as: military, weapons, and so-called wars†¦ Without knowing this, we blame homeless people for creating their own destitution instead of the government. The book â€Å"Rachel and her children† incredibly tells stories of homeless people. Each person has his or her own different circumstances, but generally these people used to have the same normal live before they became homeless. Many of us would sympathize with homeless people on the street, but only few truly want to help them get out of their extreme circumstances. In some ways, we still draw ourselves a distance from homelessness either because of our guiltiness or our own fear of being homeless one day. When we confidently give up our little spare coins to homeless people without worrying if they are used for drugs or alcohol, that is when we little by little erase our distance and get closer to these poor homeless human beings. View as multi-pages

American Films and Mall Floor Essays

American Films and Mall Floor Essays American Films and Mall Floor Essay American Films and Mall Floor Essay In my attempt to remember the night, Id discovered why some things were convenient to forget. My head was throbbing. But it wasnt Just from lack of hydration, it was also from excessive humiliation. And the question still remained: had I attacked **** with my tongue? In more ways than one? And did I ruin his shoes? No. F-ing. Way. I KISSED This was bad. This was bad bad. This was the Colossus of bad. They were going to build a giant freaking statue commemorating my horror and terrible decision-making nd unintended bestie betrayal. And then theyd probably build another. Whoever they were. The kiss was Just an additional thing I could add to the list of reasons why Id potentially Just screwed up everything with****. But for now, **** could wait. Sienna couldnt. I had to talk to her before doing anything else. The kiss didnt mean anything. I didnt even remember it. If only I could make her forget it, too shed understand, right? Unlike **** ****** wasnt afraid to be a dork. And I was ready to dork out with him. I was living in the moment. And I didnt know if it was by chance or by choice. But I didnt care. It was time for me to bust a move. On the mall floor, Brittney found out that ***** had been her missed connection. I told **** Id explain it later, but in truth, the story was short. Brittney had connected with the guy she thought was missing. Which made me wonder if I was still missing the guy I had been connected to? And then I stopped thinking. And I let myself live in the moment. Everything with ****** was easy. Everything was as it was meant to be. Cuz finally the other guy I had been pining over was all but a distant forty feet away. **** had come to find me at the dance. Clusterf*ck #1. And he saw me in a scene with ******. Clusterf*ck #2. We were speaking in code and he wanted to know if it was too late. Too late to be with me. I was confused. I didnt know if I should listen to my head or my heart. So I went with my hand. that slipped into ****** One door to my heart had closed. Which meant a new one could open. And

Descartes Summary essays

Descartes Summary essays Introduction: Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy 16th Century: emergence of modern philosophy : changes from Classical inheritance Descartes: certain that knowledge is possible : uses philosophy to show how knowledge is possible : figures knowledge is a Philosophical principle, not way of world organization knowledge: (a.k.a.: K) secure t come from empiracle world; philosophy is the only way to achieve it : provides foundation for science Meditations: written in Latin and French Part 1: gives us approach to what we will be reading in the Meditations... I observed with regard to philosophy, despite being cultivated by best minds, it certained no point that is undisputed or doubtful. Philosophy: provides blue print dealing with knowledge, in order to show flaws in theory of K Descartes: gathered the great minds of his times to contribute to his book Things that are disputable t rely on what anyone says. Doubt: pernicious, difficult to construct system of knowledge in climate of doubt Descartes: admits situation: any project of knowledge should be placed center stage to defeat... 20th C: Hana Arendt: says Descartes was first to conceptualize modern doubting... its invisible Modern Age: conceptual philosophy, article of wonder, things are amazing... : constructed ramifications of doubt Descartes: not interested in skepticism with philosophy : confronts question: are you mining knowledge? : says you must: make doubt center stage and defeat it : obsessed with questions: how do I know if I am awake? How do I know if I am dreaming or if this is reality? Knowledge: important, so natural sciences can continue without interf ...

All About Speciation

All About Speciation Evolution is most usually defined as a change in a population of a species over time through the accumulation of adaptations that are acted upon by natural selection. That may be a mouth full and nearly impossible to truly understand if there is not a full grasp on what a species actually is or how one changes over time. Sure, things change, but what makes them change? How does that affect other species? How long does it all take? Here we will shed some light on these questions and others like them about how evolution and speciation works. Definition of Species Perhaps the most important thing to be understood before truly grasping the idea of speciation and evolution is correctly defining the word species. Most books and reference materials will define the word species as a group of individual organisms that can interbreed in nature and produce viable offspring. While this definition is a good starting place, lets examine why it may not be quite  as accurate as it should be. First of all, there are many species out there that are asexual. This means there is no real interbreeding happening within those species. Any unicellular organism would be asexual. Some other types of fungi also produce their own spores for asexual reproduction. Some plants can also self-pollinate meaning they also do not interbreed. Do these species undergo speciation and ultimately evolution? The short answer to this question is yes, they do. However, while evolution is usually driven by natural selection, natural selection cannot work on a gene pool that does not have any variation. Offspring of an asexual organism are essentially clones and have no traits that are different within the entire population. However, some changes at the microevolutionary level may occur. Spontaneous DNA mutations are one way new genes can enter the picture and natural selection then has diversity to work on within that species. Eventually, those mutations and adaptations add up if they are favorable and the species changes. Another problem with the basic definition of a species is the existence of what are known as hybrids. Hybrids are offspring of two different species, like how mating a horse with a donkey gives a mule. Some hybrids are sterile, which is sort of taken care of with the viable offspring part of the original species definition. However, many other hybrids are capable of producing their own offspring. This is especially true in plants. Biologists do not agree on a single definition of the term species. Depending on the context, the word species may be defined in more than a dozen different ways. Scientists often choose a definition that fits their needs or combines several to take care of that problem. For the majority of evolution biologists, the general definition above usually suits their purposes, although alternate definitions may be used to explain various parts of the Theory of Evolution. Definition of Speciation Now that a basic definition of species has been decided, it is possible to define the term speciation. Much like a family tree, the tree of life has several branches that show where species change and become new species. The point on the tree where a species change is called speciation. Using the definition of species above, it is when the new organisms can no longer interbreed with the original organisms in nature and produce viable offspring. At that point, they are now a new species and speciation has occurred. On a phylogenetic tree, speciation is the point on the tree where the branches diverge from one another. The farther back on the tree the branches diverge, the less closely they are related to one another. Points, where the branches are closer together, means those species recently diverged from each other. How Does Speciation Occur? Most of the time, speciation occurs through divergent evolution. Divergent evolution is when a species becomes less similar and changes into new species. The original species that branches off is then known as the most recent common ancestor of the new species. That is the process that causes speciation, but what triggers divergent evolution? Charles Darwin described the mechanism of evolution which he called natural selection. The basic idea behind natural selection is that species undergo changes and accumulate adaptations that are favorable for their environments. After enough adaptations have built up, the species is no longer the same as it was and speciation has occurred. Where do these changes come from? Microevolution is the changing of the species on a molecular level like with DNA mutations. If they are significant mutations, they will cause adaptations that may or may not be favorable for their environment. Natural selection will work on these individuals and the ones with the most favorable adaptations survive to create the new species. Changes in species can also happen on a larger scale. Macroevolution examines those changes. One of the most common causes of speciation is called geographic isolation. This is when a population of a species is separated from the original population and over time, the two populations accumulate different adaptations and undergo speciation. If they were brought back together after the speciation has happened, they will no longer be able to interbreed and are therefore not the same species anymore. Sometimes speciation happens because of reproductive isolation. Unlike geographic isolation, the population is still together in the same area, but something causes some of the individuals to no longer be able to mate and produce offspring with the original species. This could be something along the lines of a change in mating season or a different mating ritual. In some cases, males and females of the species have special colors or distinct markings. If these mating indicators were to change, the original species may no longer recognize the new individuals as potential mates. There are four types of speciation. Allopatric speciation and peripatric speciation are caused by geographic isolation. Parapatric speciation and sympatic speciation are the other two types and are generally due to reproductive isolation. How Speciation Affects Other Species Speciation of one species can affect the evolution of other species if they have a close relationship in an ecosystem. When populations of different species come together to form a community, they often depend on each other in some way for survival or to make life easier. This is especially apparent in food webs and food chains and in particular predator and prey relationships. If one of these species were to change, other species may also need to change. An example of this coevolution or cospeciation could be the speed of a prey species. The prey may accumulate adaptations that create larger leg muscles to help them run faster. If the predator does not adapt, it may starve. Therefore, only faster predators, or perhaps stealthier predators, will survive to pass down their favorable adaptations to their offspring. That means since the prey evolved or became a new species, the predator had to also evolve or change.

Ethics andPublic Administration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Ethics andPublic Administration - Essay Example The author of the paper "Ethics and Public Administration" assumes that morality defines the way in which one differentiates their intentions, how they arrive at their decisions and choose actions that their consciousness perceives to be right over what is wrong (Kakabadse, Korac-Kakabadse & Kouizmin 2003). Politics, on the other hand, entails the practice of structured control over people on an individual or civic level by those in governance positions. The functions of politics range from making laws to negotiating with opposing political views in order to promote one’s views, to exercising force against enemies (which may include warfare). On the social level, politics is practiced from family units, clans, tribes and societies. On a broader scale, it is inherently present in local governments, institutions, states and international levels (Kakabadse, Korac-Kakabadse & Kouizmin 2003). In view of morality and politics, Machiavelli, an Italian writer, humanist, philosopher, d iplomat and politician of the renaissance period, argued that the requirements of the two are not compatible. Although there are upright, incorruptible politicians, it is common knowledge that most require help from influential individuals or corporate bodies to get past the preliminary stages of elections. However, this help is more often than not to be paid back, which forms the basis of argument of this paper, which will support the argument that the requirements of a moral and political life are incompatible.... When factional conduct is pursued, it always compromises the goal of common welfare which politicians are ideally meant to achieve. Evidently, factions are, therefore, the results of both public and private corruption among the citizens. Machiavelli believed that to avoid the corruption, one had to choose between two sets of virtues. Whoever chose personal morality would have to give up any vision of an unwavering and prosperous society where everyone flourishes on what is rightfully earned. On the other hand, whoever chose politics would have to give up all hopes of quenching personal anxiety. One sees that Machiavelli’s thinking shows that although the ultimate goal of personal morality and politics may be the same, they are driven by entirely different sets of values that contradict each other and may lack rational, achievable solutions (James 2003). After officiating in the Florentine Republic as secretary to the chancery and being responsible for military and diplomatic a ffairs, Machiavelli’s arguments must have been informed by actual experiences. One of his popular writings, The Prince, was done after the recovery of power by the Medici, who were not in power during the time he served as secretary to the chancery. From The Prince, one can draw a picture of Machiavelli’s view of political rule without influence of ethics or morals, where the politicians are completely conscious of the institution of politics in exercising power effectively. Like many political philosophers, Machiavelli believes there is a correlation between authority and moral uprightness. However, he goes further to point out that the relationship is different when it comes to â€Å"legitimate† authority. Exercising political power can

Regression and Statistical Effects Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Regression and Statistical Effects - Assignment Example The data is divided into two groups. The total data set is divided into 4 segments: low lifetime, low revenue; low lifetime high revenue; high lifetime, low revenue, and high lifetime, high revenue. The first step ion the analysis is the calculation of bivariate Pearson’s correlation coefficient between lifetime and profit. The author graphically analyses the trends between profitability and lifetime of the customer. Then, a linear regression model is developed to describe the relation for the four segments. The author then suggests a method using discriminant analysis that helps managers find out the most profitable customers. The research finds that it is not necessary that long-life customers are more profitable than short-life customers. The author also concludes that long-life customer do not necessarily pay more, and have higher costs. Regression analysis has been used in the study to the relation between the profitability of the customer and time. The researcher regress the profitability of the 4 segments with respect to time using the equation The relation between the profitability and time can be ascertained by the sign of the regression coefficient. A positive coefficient indicates a positive relation between the profitability and time for the particular segment. The researcher also makes use of a dummy variable to reflect the effects of a large first month purchase because purchase amount for the first month is generally found to be higher than succeeding months. Besides this, the researcher also attempts to draw broad conclusions regarding the direction of relation between the profits and time by using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and charts depicting the behaviors of the 2 groups. The small correlation coefficient (0.175 for Cohort 1 and 0.219 for Cohort 2) indicates a moderate linear relation between the lifetime duration and lifetime profits. Besides this, the researcher draws the graphs with lifetime