One Dark Night Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

One Dark Night - Essay Example ught about this many a time, but he always gently explained to be that he was only this way because he cared so much about me, and wanted to make everything perfect for me. Somehow, he always managed to convince me, either by sweet-talking me or by some sort of romantic gesture. And I always fell for it. Back at the time, I believe I knew in the back of my mind I was unhappy, but I wasnt willing to admit it even to myself. My appearance and behaviour did not give me away- I was always perceived as the perfect wife who mastered everything from cooking to doing the house chores and everything else (my husband also told me I was "not too shabby" between the sheets). I was constantly being flattered about the house, the food I prepared for our friends and often to my husbands business partners, and it was not uncommon for other men to stare at me and compliment me on my looks, sometimes in inappropriate ways I sort of enjoyed. Of course, my husbands reaction would always come shortly thereafter. He would always make sure that everyone knew that Im his wife, and always did it aggressively, telling the man who flattered me to back off because I am his. This was sometimes followed by a push or a shove. This seemed very bizarre to me, since my husband was anything but violence. I dismissed it by saying to myself that he loves me so much, that he would do anything to protect me, even if Im not in danger. And I also rationalized it by saying that his manly ego wont stand it if another man came on to his wife. In that way, I thought to myself, men arent any different than they were when mankind began. The male is always the dominant one, and doesnt let other men get to close to his wife. Thats why he "marks" her as his territory and guards her well. If only I knew beforehand how right I was†¦ But my husbands behaviour did not stop there. As a part of his wanting to make everything perfect (or in other words- exactly as he wants it), he would always criticize me about

Post Colonial And World Literature In English Essay

Post Colonial And World Literature In English - Essay Example The abandonment of cultures and traditions by the colonized is one of the most significant aspects of post-colonial literature in the discourse on colonialism.The pacification of indigenous people in colonies was completed through the conversion of these individuals to Christianity because it was believed that it was the true religion and that the practices of these communities were satanic. The adoption of Christianity was considered by colonial administrators to be a means to not only pacifying the colonized but also as the first step of achieving their civilizing mission (Morrison 1984, p.327). This process was brought about through European missionary activities during the colonial period. colonialism developed mainly as a result of the diverse European powers seeking to ensure that they not only gained markets for their goods, but also for the purpose of prestige. The discussion above has shown that colonialism and racism are among the most important themes that are addressed in the post-colonial literature. Furthermore, colonialism developed mainly as a result of the diverse European powers seeking to ensure that they not only gained markets for their goods, but also for the purpose of prestige. In addition, the discussion has shown that forced labor is one of the aspects of colonialism that led to the development of resentment among indigenous people towards the colonists. Finally, the abandonment of cultures and traditions by the colonized is a significant aspect of post-colonial literature in the discourse on colonialism.

Do the right thing by Spike Lee Essay Example for Free

Do the right thing by Spike Lee Essay I dearly love the film and maintain that its one of the great pictures from the last 10 years. I dont know what the director of this movie (Spike Lee) intended the moral to be, but my take on the film has always been that NO ONE does the right thing, and this is the cautionary element of the movie. The racial message about racial injustice is very deep and one that every race should see. The climax of the movie is very powerful and deep. The heat is blazing, tensions are running high (especially racial ones), and under this kind of pressure no one behaves according to common courtesy and decency. The entire film is a chain of uncontrolled outbursts of anger that lead to everyones misery. The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability could be wrong, so is the belief that a particular race is superior to others. Anyone can have a belief like that black, white, whatever. I am not about to buy into this rhetoric that any race shoulders 100% of the blame for racism in America today. Indeed, but racism is a belief, not an action. Sociologists clearly delineate between prejudices and acts of discrimination. One can be racist (prejudice) and not act on it (discriminate). By the same token, one can discriminate against others and not hold racist beliefs (prejudice). There is simply no way, short of telepathy, to determine if anyone is truly racist. One can easily assume that Adolf Hitler was a racist based on his writings and horrific actions, but there is absolutely no way to know for sure that Hitler *truly* hated Jews or simply used the hatred of Jews as a convenient means to attain power. Anyway, those in a position of power have more opportunities to act discriminatorily than those without, but I see no evidence to suggest that The Powers That Be are more *likely* to engage in such behaviors. As such, a discriminatory action by a powerless person can be more effective than the lack of such an action by someone in power. Riots are NEVER true result of racism, but rather the violent, destructive impulses of citizens with no faith in the justice system to take matters into their own hands. They are simply an opportunity for a misguided youth, unsupervised or uninstructed on issued of morality, to appease their violent appetites by destroying the livelihood of someone who is not exactly like  them. In every major example of the last 40 years in US, the violent rioters were not good citizens who felt pushed to the breaking point by some act of injustice, but degenerates whose prejudices against anyone with more money than they found an excuse in the politicized racial arguments to act out what they never truly cared to know was wrong (Heath Petraitis, 1987). The only result of a race riot is hatred, looting, and murder. It is not the answer to anything, and should never be treated as such. It is an insult to the millions of black citizens who seek to live their lives as normal, peaceful, law-abiding citizens of the United States to associate them with the few degenerate thieves and murderers who commit race riots (Singer Singer, 1986). Thats why Do the Right Thing has always touched its viewers. The ending turns a decent, fine comedy-drama into a vessel for class and race related hatred. I do believe in violence as a last measure to protect ones self, or their personal freedoms, or in the case of a moral war. Just look at my signature closing line. I do not in any way believe that the situation in Do the Right Thing presents a need for violence. It is merely a bunch of tempered people retaliating against the brutality of the police by burning an innocent mans pizza shop down, apparently only because he was a white business owner. That is sad. I think, really, this films central theme if there really is one is the path black men in America today face as inspired by their most prominent leaders. Radio Rahiem is easily the wisest in the entire film as hes aware of the dichotomy and thus tries to balance his existence under both directions fight the power constantly playing takes on an entire new meaning here as the film doesnt really know what the power is that PE wants us to fight. Rahiem knows though, its the self. Pretty amazing imagery. But on the other hand, he rarely speaks but instead relies on his radio to speak for him. Likewise, he doesnt understand his own rhetoric on the nature of love and hate. That made him as racist as any other character in the film, with the possible but unlikely exception of smiley, and brings his own death on himself. I wondered what would be the cops reactions if racial positions had been  reversed (ie a black mans pizzeria, a white man accidentally killed after basically making a complete, hostile mess of himself, then resisting arrest etc) Would a white cops strangle a white man to death? Thats where racial issues arise. I was upset at the death of radio Rahiem, but just couldnt escape the fact that he had brought it on himself. No one deserves to die like that. But if he had avoided escalating a completely unnecessary confrontation by assaulting Sal, he wouldnt have died. He was responsible for his own death, just as Sal was responsible for the destruction of the pizzeria (very nearly his own death) when he destroyed Rahiems radio. Radio Raheem was pissed off, his whole existence was that radio. Sure he physically assaulted him, but he didnt say anything like, Ill kill you. Maybe if Radio said in an earlier scene Man Im gonna kill that irk bastard etc. Id be more apt to agree that Radio Rahiem intent was to kill Sal. Technically Sal brought the destruction of the pizzeria on himself too, by (through the chain of events) not putting up pictures of brothers on the walls; but it is his pizzeria and he was within his rights to do so. He yelled racist epithets which is a direct act of aggression and smashed someones property to pieces. Instead of destroying someones property, he should have called the police to escort Buggin out and Radio Rahim. Radio Rahiem was NOT within his rights when he entered the store and refused to turn his radio down. Of course Sal and Radio Rahiem are both racists, everyone in the film is. No one did the right thing in the end, but the unfortunate fact is that, in the final encounter with Radio Rahiem, Sal was just a little more right than Radio Rahiem. Imagine Radio Rahiem and Sal were both black (or white.) Imagine the ultimate reasons behind the clash were not racially based. Radio Rahiem is the aggressor, and because of this, ultimately audience sympathy would lie with Sal. Radio Raheem and Buggin Out were trying to bully an innocent business owner. It was Sals restaurant, if they did not like his regulations than they could leave, but he was entirely within his rights to demand for them to either leave or turn off the music. He certainly gave fair warning, and he never ever tried to physically harm anyone until Radios attack. While it is  unfortunate Radio died, he simply was not worth the destruction that was carried out in his name. I also find it mystifying that Mookie, supposedly the levelheaded character in the movie, was so superficial that he blamed Sal for Radios death. I cannot reconcile myself with the notion that Mookie throwing the trash can through the pizzeria window was even remotely doing the right thing. I sympathize a lot with Sal, but I also sympathize with Mookie. Sal also cared a lot about the black in Bastury, and was genuinely hurt when some of them turned against him. I will vehemently argue that Sals character is not racist; he drops an n-word at the end, but the man is watching his lifes work being torched by arson at the hands of a group of African-Americans; his outburst is understandable and forgivable. Vito, Lees Sister, and the baby are as decent as people could be. Da Mayor is a good man who has made mistakes but is trying to change so at this point hes a good man trying to be a better man. He does drink too many beers with little money, though. One thing that always confused me about this film (although its one of my favorites) is why Mother Sister painfully screams noooo, when only a few minutes beforehand, she was right with the crowd yelling burn it! burn it! it seems like a bit of a flaw to me, but I could be wrong. My guess is the Burn it down Burn it down is with respect to the pizzeria. The noooo is with respect to radio Rahiems death. Lets assume that the film is about the cyclical nature of violence. Does Spike Lee( the director) think that all violence is bad or only certain violence is? After reading Martin Luther Kings quote I thought it was all violence; after reading Malcolm Xs quote I got the message that some violence is ok. I know that Blacks have been prejudiced against for a long time, but I dont see how violence ever solved their problem. It seems to me that Martin Luther Kings non-violence approach ultimately did much more to further equality than Malcolm Xs approach of violence-sometimes-needed approac h. The cops didnt necessarily care for Sal or anyone there. They didnt kill Rahiem because they wanted revenge. They did a right think by choking Rahiem, but they should have weakened him enough to handcuff him and then have thrown him in the police car. I doubt either Clubbing or strangling  will ever equate to, to use your words, holding him in place until he calmed down. I doubt those are the only options law enforcement officers have. They shouldnt have killed him. It was an extreme use of force pure and simple. The key being that if as you say they were trying to prevent Sal from being chocked by a criminal than why didnt they release their choke hold on Radio Rahiem after he had let go of Sal? They kept choking him long after he was a threat to anyone and it was obvious he himself was being choked to death. Why did they not throw him to the ground at that time and handcuff him? They didnt even try. In the film, Da Mayor says you gotta Do The Right Thing. Rahiem does not because he wont respect Sals wishes to turn off or turn down the radio (Also didnt respect Sals decision to represent only his culture in the pizzeria). Bugging Out is just a racist who knows nothing and wants to pretend to have a calling so he rides in on Radios coattails. Rahiem did the wrong thing and Sal did nothing wrong until he uttered the N-word. I dont think Sal meant it in that way. He was angry so he exploited a characteristic of Radios boom box. The people were angry at Sal for saying the n-word but they didnt go against Sal. They got confused and yelled. Then the police came in and everything went up in flames. Obviously, a spark leads to a fire. The spark: The police killing Rahiem. The Fire: The mob. It was understandable for there to be a riot and it was understandable that they got angry at white men in general because they are black people and they live in an ugly area. But just because its understandable, doesnt mean its right. The name of the movie is Do The Right Thing. And to be honest, even though thats very straight and very literal, towards the end it becomes ironic. The moment that they could do the right thing, they did the worst thing of them all. And that riot could have been right but it went wrong. Their anger went in the wrong direction. Things just happen. Sals pizzeria going down in flames is symbolic of the fact that people just destroy each other. And in the end, the face of the oppressor (The white man) is thrown on every white body and someone with the face of the oppressor is oppressed. Well, theres a line (Not from this movie) that goes You become the monster so the monster will not break you. You become what you terrify you. And in  this case, the oppressed (The black community) gets so fed up (Throughout the entire movie, there is talk of there recently being a police brutality situation involving black civilians being killed) with being oppressed that they become what they hate and they oppress someone else: Someone whos been more of a family member to them then most of their families has a different face than they do. He has the face of the monster, and they dont like past skin deep and treat him the way they should treat the people who do oppress them. And its painful and we dont know what to think. Im the least racist person in the world and Im also the person who is more annoyed than anyone with jokes being allowed to be made about white people and not about black people. I dont like going to the park and having some guy say, White boy, dont want none of this. It irritates me because I want plenty. Sometimes it gets so hard to hear all the unfairness and listen to a persons lack of understanding for another. This film is just a day. Its the hottest day of the summer. You can do nothing, you can do something, or you can Do The Right Thing. You can. So do it.

Persian Proverb Doubt Is The Key To Knowledge Philosophy Essay

Persian Proverb Doubt Is The Key To Knowledge Philosophy Essay I have been quite fascinated by the many changes that keep happening to what seems to be a certainty and realized that doubt has traditionally played a significant part in the philosophy of knowledge. The ancient Greek philosophers debated the issue of knowledge and the relevance of doubt. Plato described knowledge as justified true belief1 the key word being belief which in itself is subject to interpretations by individuals. The famous French philosopher Renee Descartes tried to define knowledge in terms of certainty and in his arguments the path to certainty begins with doubt. In his book Meditation 1 What can be called Doubt, he says I realised that it was necessary, once in the course of my life, to demolish everything completely and start again right from the foundations if I wanted to establish anything at all in the sciences that was stable and likely to last.2 So is there any truth in the Persian saying Doubt is the Key to Knowledge? Is this purely an epistemological rhetoric or will it hold true in areas of knowledge as diverse as science and arts? Nobel laureate and leading physicist, Richard Feynman described doubt in relation to science as follows: Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty -some most unsure, some nearly sure, none absolutely certain. A strong parallel can be drawn between his statement and space research. What made man land on the moon or explore the possibility of life on Mars? As a knower, I know that if we would not have doubted the probability that man could live on the moon, space expeditions to the moon would have stopped after the near life and death drama of Apollo 13. The Apollo3 series of expeditions seemed to have established that the moon was completely uninhabitable because of its inability to sustain water. The desire to know and doubting what was already known, led to the Indian unmanned space expedition to the moon. The Indian space craft Chandrayaan discovered traces of ice on the moons surface. So, can man really live on the moon? Science generally relies on a set of deductive logic to prove their hypothesis. Euclids two dimensional geometry is a classic case of using modus ponens or deductive logic to prove assumptions or hypothesis. Going by this, one could easily argue as follows: Man needs oxygen and water to live. Water contains oxygen. Ice is formed from water. Ice has been found on the moon therefore, man can live on the moon. www.plato.stanford.edu/entries/knowledge-analysis/à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ modus ponens xenodochy.org/article/popper.html www.rep.routeledge.com/article/DA026SECT4 www.space.com/8193-caused-apoll-13-accient.html Popper doubted this process of deductive truism and said it cannot prove a theory true every time. In his theory of falsification he argued that modus ponens is purely truth preserving and therefore a better alternative is modus tollens which uses the conditions of denying to falsify the assumption e.g. if P implies Q and Q is false, then P must also be false. Poppers falsification theory pointed out no scientific theory is ever conclusively verified, no matter how many tests it has survived4 For example, Schizophrenia has all along been seen as a chronic relapsing psychotic disorder that primarily affects thought and behaviour.5 A recent study by the University College of London has established by means of an experiment that in some cases, the perceptions of schizophrenic people is more accurate than those without schizophrenia. Therefore a doubt is created whether schizophrenia is really a psychotic condition or are there other dimensions to it. Going by the argument that deductive knowledge doesnt always hold good, I can safely surmise that we do not have adequate information to conclude that man can live on the moon and therefore more questions need to be asked. On the other hand doubting every scientific fact leading to unnecessary research and information overload could lead to a situation of complete paralysis in our normal day to day life. For example, if we were to doubt that oxygen is a life giving substance, then it could lead to critical situations in medical emergencies. Similarly while dealing with society at large and friends and relatives in particular, if we were to doubt everything to seek more knowledge, we are most likely to find ourselves with very little knowledge and even fewer friends! Peoples emotions, intentions and their behavioural traits like honesty, integrity, sincerity etc. should not be doubted. There will be rare cases where people may want to deceive, but that by itself cannot lead to a doubt about people in general. _____________________ science.martinsewell.com/falsification.html priory.com/schizo.htm. Shakespeare said If music be the food of love, play on6.Wonderful as it sounds and probably not argued too much, yet people have researched the effect that music has on plants. There is one school of thought that believes and claims to have empirical data to prove that plants respond well to sedentary classical and similar genre of music but they wilt under the influence of hard rock and similar music. Drawing a parallel with human life they argue that hard rock, metal etc is actually detrimental for human growth and therefore should be banned. Traditional botanists however argue that the so called empirical data based on research is purely coincidental and there is no correlation between music and growth of plants. They resort to another set of evidence which shows that growth of plants is related to a number of factors that are not related to music such as condition of soil, temp, moisture content etc. On a third dimension, music itself has different genres enjoyed by different people. Therefore is music also subject to perception or is it absolute? Does it really impact plant detrimentally or otherwise? If we doubt the basis of the claims and counterclaims and pursue with investigation from all angles, then, knowledge will progress and facts can be established. Science notwithstanding, art is abstract enough to create its own set of debates which normally focuses on the likes and dislikes of the perceiver. This leads me to wonder, if art and aesthetics are synonymous then to what extent is beauty a necessary ingredient for something to be considered art? Platos theory of forms claimed that It is by beauty that beautiful things are beautiful. Immanuel Kant, an 18th century German philosopher on the other hand claimed that aesthetic experience is not a matter of understanding or reason, (and hence not true knowledge), but is a matter of judgment [Critique of Judgment].7 Taking this argument further, the painting by Eduord Manet8, Luncheon on the Grass, was hotly debated when it was first exhibited in 1863. Most of all it was not viewed as an art, but as an affront to society. The painting, depicting a naked woman sitting amidst two fully clad men, all of whose images were contemporary and almost identifiable as one among the viewers, earned the painter the wrath of the critiques and masses. Yet an earlier painting by Thomas Coutre in 18479, Romans in The Decadence of the Empire depicted a scene with Romans lying about with many naked women in various poses of sensuality. It appears to me, that a nude in classical settings such as the ancient Greek or Roman empires was considered acceptable but a nude in contemporary setting was not. Either way, the painting, known for its controversy today hangs as a masterpiece in the Musee D Oray in Paris. 6. www.enotes.com/shaespeare-quotes/music-food-love-play 7 www.creatorix.com.au/philosophy/t03/g010.html 8 http://blog.photos2view.com/2008/05/27/art-and-controversy.htm 9 http://www.essentialart.com/acatalog/Edouard_Manet_prints_Luncheon_on_the_Grass.html As a student of visual arts in IB, I was told that there are three basic colours red, yellow and blue. While using the computer, trangely I found that the primary colours were red, green and blue, otherwise called the RGB format. So, what are the basic colours? The answer lay in the different mediums where they are used. Red, yellow and blue are primary colours which are used in while mixing dyes to achieve other shades and colours on a painting canvas. Red, green and blue are used where there are overlapping shades to be used while projecting on screens such as in LCD panels or monitors for computer screen. My doubt about the basic colours led me to seek additional information. The key to knowledge in this area of art was learning how to mix primary dyes in painting and this learning has been both experimental and experiential. Taking the Platonist view that knowledge is justified true belief, I can now reasonably claim to have knowledge that red and yellow if mixed in equal proportions would give the colour orange or shades of orange. Whether the area of knowledge is science or arts, doubts and questions remain. Some answered with a reasonable amount of justification which points to a probable definitive answer based on information available at that point in time and others remain unresolved leading to further doubts. Therefore the question is knowledge absolute or is it infinite? We can never know unless we doubt all knowledge leading us to seek more and more information. The downside do we doubt everything in life or should we accept some events as empirical realities. The answer? It is situational. At the end, as a knower, when I look at the word doubt I can safely say that the Persian saying Doubt is the Key to Knowledge is not just an epistemological rhetoric; it is indeed a means to gain more knowledge. In the words of H L Mencken an influential writer and critic of the 20th century, Men become civilized, not in proportion to their willingness to believe, but in proportion to their readiness to doubt.9 ___________________________ www.leopoldsegedin.com/essay_detail_mona_lisas_smile.cfm www.notable-quotes.com/d/doubt_quotes.html

Summary Of The Great Gatsby :: essays research papers

Summary of 'The Great Gatsby';   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Great Gatsby is a book about rich people that are fighting about women, money etc. After I read this book I realized that even if you are rich you don't have to be happy. There are two main characters: Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby, both rich men. Here's the story in a short version... Nick Carraway is a young man from a wealthy family, living in a Middle Western city. The Carraway's are something of a clan actually. Nick's grandfather came here in 1851 and started a business, which his father carries on today. Nick graduated from Yale University in 1915, and just a little later he was in the Great War. When he came back he decided to go East and learn the bond business. He came East permanently in the spring of 1922. He found a house on the island which extends due East of New York. He has a beautiful house in a place called West Egg. That was on Long Island.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He made contact with his neighbor living closest to him, Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby was a very rich man with an enormous property. His house had a big lawn, a swimming pool and an exclusive garden. Despite all his money, he wasn't a very happy man. There was no woman in his life, just servants. His way of getting in touch with people was through his parties. He had parties in his home all the time. The house always got messed up, so the servants had a lot to do the day after the party.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nick got to know a lot of people, some better than others. One of the people he met was a man called Tom Buchanan. He was the kind of man nobody likes. When he got angry, he would take it out on his wife, Daisy. He would beat her, once he even broke her nose. He always got drunk at parties and started arguments. He was also a cheater. He had a mistress named, Myrtle Wilson. She lived in an expensive apartment in New York, which Tom paid for.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Daisy knew about Tom's affair with Myrtle she just never spoke a word to him about it. She actually fell in

Lexicogrammar Essay

Modality refers to the expression of speakers’ opinion or attitude towards the proposition that the sentence expresses or the situation that the proposition describes, or the speakers’ judgment of the likelihood of the proposition being true. While modal auxiliaries are â€Å"helping words†, functioning as helpers to make up verb phrases, they are prohibited from being used independently. The present study attempts to conduct a corpus-based study on three modal auxiliaries should, ought to and must with regard to their collocations, colligations, as well as semantic features in Chinese learners’ oral productions. This study reveals that Chinese learners overused should and must a great deal as compared against the native speaker data, while they used ought to much less frequently than native speakers. As for collocations, the observed frequencies of the collocates of these three modal auxiliaries, as shown in the two corpora, are different, but those frequently co-occurring words of the three modal verbs, as have appeared in the two sets of dataï ¼Å'are more or less the same. Key Words: Deontic modal meaning, Epistemic modal meaning, Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis, Colligation, Semantic features, nativelikenessï ¼Å'modal auxiliaries Introduction Medals, known as small words, perform particular functions in both written and oral communication. This thesis is devoted to an analysis of three modal auxiliaries, namely should, ought to and must. It aims to find out how Chinese learners use these three medals and their differences from native speakers in four aspects: frequency, collocation, colligation and semantic features. Significance: Modal auxiliaries belong to a group of small words yet performing particular functions. Present study may be of some help in two ways. Firstly, it may help students notice their shortcomings in using those modal auxiliaries compared with native speakers and think over the reasons, thus to help them improve their communication ability. Secondly, it may provide teachers with some implications for language teaching, raising their awareness of the importance of natural and authentic language resources in teaching and research, and encouraging them to use more effective teaching methods to help students with their English learning. It is also hoped that the results of this study will shed some light on the common problems of the use of modality in EFL speaking environment. Purpose: English modal auxiliaries play an important role in language communicationï ¼Å'as well as in second language acquisition. The study aims to provide some useful information for English learning, teaching and research. We will investigate and describe the characteristics of the collocations, colligations and semantic features. This study also aims to find out some causes of the differences between the two target groups of English-users’ uses of three chosen modals in their speeches. It is hoped that the findings of this study will give a deep understanding of how frequently the three modal auxiliaries are used by Chinese EFL speakers and contribute to the teaching and teaching reforms in the future. This thesis will probe into these issues through Contrastive Intedanguage Analysis. In the whole study, the following major questions are to be addressed: 1. Is there nativelikeness shown in the speakers’ representation of the four modal auxiliaries will would, shall and should, their related chunks with not, have and of their related tenses and subjunctive mood by EFL speakers and L2 speakers? 2. What are the problems found in Chinese EFL speakers in their learning the four modal auxiliaries will would, hall, and should, their related chunks with notï ¼Å'have and of their related tenses and subjunctive mood as a result of the comparison with those of L2 speakers and native speakers from a quantitative perspective? If anyï ¼Å'what are the possible causes of the found problems? 3. What is the tense and subjunctive mood distribution of the four modal auxiliaries used by Chinese EFL speakers in contrast with native speakers as a result of the qualitative analysis? Structure: The present dissertation falls into 5 chapters focusing on the listed research questions: 1. Introduction: significance, purpose, questions to be answered, how the idea is originated, sketches out the outline 2. Definitions of key terms to describing the theoretical foundations, reviews, set up the main framework 3. depicts research design (data and instruments), methodology, procedures 4. main body, negative forms, affirmative forms, contracted forms, original forms, future tenses and subjunctive mood, results(quality and quantity) 5. conclusion, major findings presents pedagogical implications and limitations of the study, suggestions

Dreams and Nightmares: Big Parts of Our Lives? Essay

Everyone sleeps. Humans, dogs, primates, rats, and the rest of earth’s inhabitants all experience the relaxing and necessary state of sleep. It appears to just be an unconscious state essential for survival; however, much more is going on than meets the eye. Sleep is accompanied by dreams, a term associated with adventures, experiences, and conflicts, which occur in one’s mind during those hours while one is fast asleep in bed. All people dream from the moment they enter this world to the day they leave, but whether or not they remember what they experienced the previous night varies. I, of course, am no exception and have dreams dating years back to my younger days that have remained in my memory. Upon waking, I recall having a confused, entertained or disturbed reaction to these dreams and even remember some of them affecting the rest of my day or just my life in general. The recent premiere of the movie Inception, a movie revolving around the dream world, has helped spark my interest into the dreams and their true purpose. I have been pondering if they have a bigger role in our lives rather than just a source of entertainment while we sleep. Prior to beginning research, my factual knowledge of dreams was quite limited to my personal experiences, as I have had my fair share of dreams as well as nightmares. I knew that dreams were usually perceived as happy and nightmares were almost always frightening experiences. Some dreams could also be interpreted for deeper meanings. Lastly, prior to researching, I knew dreams only lasted a portion of the time, and one usually had a difficult time remembering the content of the dream upon awakening. Through my research I wished to discover how people are affected by their dreams and nightmares in their behavior, mood, and their overall physical health. I also wished to know if there were any past evidences of events which happened in direct correlation to dreams. I was hopeful in finding the true meaning of dreams and how big of a role they actually have in our lives. Dreams do not come and go as they please; the period when people experience dreams is when they are peacefully sleeping. When one finally falls into a slumber, the body and mind follow a cycle through five sleep phases (Obringer). In the first phase, one is in a very light sleep where it is easy to be wakened, and as the cycle continues one falls into a deeper and deeper sleep. Up to the fourth phase, muscle activity greatly declines, breathing and heart rate slow down, and the brain sends out the slowest of the brain waves, Delta Waves. Up to this point, known as Non REM sleep, the body and mind are at basically full relaxation without experiencing rapid eye movement. The fifth phase, however, is when things seem to reverse. As the body enters the fifth stage, known as Rapid-Eye Movement, or R.E.M, the heart and breathing rate accelerate, blood pressure rises, and brain activity increases to the same level as when one is awake (Obringer). This is the period when most dreaming takes place. The body also appears to get paralyzed by an amino acid during this stage and it is suggested that â€Å"this paralysis could be nature’s way of making sure we don’t act out our dreams† (Obringer). REM was named after the movement of the eyes during this period, where the brain tells the eyes to move and scan a scene that only exists in the mind (Dement 299). One goes through this entire five-phase cycle about four or five times a night, with each dream only lasting about five to twenty minutes (Diagram Group 24). How could an event with such a short duration possibly have a big impact on our lives? Dreams have been deemed important and meaningful in our lives for thousands of years. From the Babylonians and Egyptians to the Greeks and the Romans, dreams have been believed to be of great importance. In ancient times, people believed most of the dreams to be sent from the gods and nightmares to be sent from demons (Diagram Group 4). They believed dreams helped heal the sick and injured, delivered messages and demands from the gods, and even foresaw the future (5-7). In later years, theories began to develop about the purpose of dreams. One of the most respected theories came from Sigmund Freud, a well esteemed psychologist. Freud believed that dreams serve to aid in maintaining sleep through possible disturbances: â€Å"When one is sleeping and is exposed to a disturbing stimulus, psychological processes would work to incorporate the dream into a dream rather than allow the person to be woken† (Robbins 14). For example, a loud noise in the dreamer’s environment would be morphed into thunder in a dream by the mind to keep the dreamer asleep (Robbins 14). He also claimed that dreams used symbols to show us our hidden aggressive and sexual desires (The Diagram Group 32). Others suggested that dreams showed one’s hidden ambitions and fears, one’s desire for power and one’s past memories. Everything seen in a dream is a projection of the dreamer. Despite the theory, it was clear that dreams had a purpose in life rather than just to entertain dormant minds. From the earliest moments in time, people have wakened from sleep just after going through an experience they could have sworn had actually occurred; however they had only just experienced a dream, or a series of images, sensations, ideas, and emotions occurring in the mind during sleep. As time has passed and dreams have been recorded and recalled, categories of dreams have been developed: lucid dreams, where one knows he’s dreaming; nightmares, disturbing dreams with anxiety and frightening images; recurring dreams, repeating dreams with little variation; healing dreams, dreams that affect the body; prophetic dreams, dreams seemingly to predict the future; progressive dreams, a sequence of dreams that continue over period of nights; and epic dreams, vivid dreams that one cannot ignore (Dream Moods Inc). All these dreams have the common underlying fact that â€Å"[they] reflect your own underlying thoughts and feelings†¦ and [everything] in your dreams are personal to you† (Common). Dreams have been described as links to our subconscious. It is said that the subconscious never stops taking in all the factors, events and people that affect one’s life: †¦Henry Reed talks about a higher self, or â€Å"the witness†, which watches everything we do, say feel and think. Our high self never goes to sleep, it is always awake, watching, processing and seeing things from an objective perspective as we struggle through our lives (â€Å"Dreams†). Henry Reed, a psychology professor at UCLA, used the term higher self to refer to the subconscious of the body. The body and mind may sleep, but the subconscious does not, as if analyzes everything that one saw, experienced, smelled, etc and all other aspects of a person’s life. It recognizes stress and other negative factors impacting our lives, and, as a result, dreams are created in order to help people solve problems and get on with their journey through life. The subconscious can make images and â€Å"embed symbols inside of dramatic stories† in dreams so that â€Å"you can see yourself from the inside†, and be capable of solving personal issues one may never have recognized before, or has just neglected in hopes it would go away (â€Å"Dreams†). Dreams provide valuable insight deep within oneself, and have led to affect many people’s lives upon returning to reality. Dreams experienced during the night may majorly affect people for the rest of their day once awake. Dreams revolving around the body can help in avoiding potential health problems and aid in the healing process when one is sick or grieving (Dream Moods Inc). Bodies have the capability of warning the mind through dreams that something is wrong before physical symptoms even appear, leading to many people making sudden doctor and medical appointments. Dreams also have the ability to overall heal the mind and body through a feeling of rejuvenation. Progressive and recurring dreams help people solve problems they usually do not face directly and usually try to avoid. These can also be called problem solving dreams, as they allow one to explore different options and approaches to a problem, situation or relationship. Prophetic dreams appear to show future actions and events, or provide a sneak peak, before they occur in one’s life. These have potential to greatly alter one’s actions during the day, as one may try to change the future depending on the content. Dreams, in general, also have potential in determining one’s mood for the following day. Those that cause strong emotion or feelings canâ€Å"[affect] the body†¦ practically as much as does an†¦ emotion when awake† (Walsh). A dream that causes extreme sadness can lead to one absorbing that emotion and feeling it throughout the rest of the day. Dreams are packed with symbols and metaphors that can lead to realizations of feelings deep within oneself, such as hidden feelings of being powerless, vulnerable, alone or ashamed (Pliskin 123). If one realizes the symbol and attempts to change the feelings, dreams actually can be life changing experiences. Another area dreams serve in is in the creativity department. They sometimes serve as store houses for inspiration, as The Dream Foundation says, â€Å"†¦Artists, musicians, dancers, sculptors, and inventors are able to dive deep into the source of inspiration and explore the vast reaches of their own creative potential by meeting face to face with the unconscious†. The Beatles’ popular hits ‘Yesterday’ and ‘Let It Be’, Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide, and works by artists such as Billy Joel and Beethoven are all examples of creations based off dreams. Dreams have the potential to have a very large role in determining the actions we take in life. Upon awakening, one must remember this concept: Dreams serve as the voice of our subconscious, and if it’s ignored, it may try to gain your attention in a more powerful way. A more negative and powerful type of dream is the nightmare. The word nightmare actually alludes to a night devil, who people used to believe would approach you as you were sleeping and press against your chest which caused the nightmares (Robbins 10). Of course this belief has been discredited but it has not stopped people’s lives from being greatly affected by nightmares. What exactly could be behind you having a nightmare? Well, besides the chance that you may just have a nightmare one night, there are other pre-sleep activities that may cause nightmares. A late night snack actually leads to an increase of the metabolism and also increases brain activity (WebMD). Medications and drugs may also be underlying factors, as they affect the brain in numerous and varying ways. Lastly, post-traumatic stress disorder can lead to nightmares as it causes people to relive past horrifying experiences. Nightmares are caused by many things that impact and increase brain activity, as well as just past bad memories. However, these nightmares greatly impact one’s body. They can lead to sleeping deprivation, or insomnia, as they actually make one scared to sleep because of the chance of a recurring nightmare. Sleep deprivation then leads to other medical conditions such as heart disease, depression and obesity. Due to quickened heart rate and increased blood pressure from the fear and anxiety associated with nightmares, natural death can even actually occur for those with bad heart conditions. Along with all the physical effects on the body, nightmares, just like dreams, act as warnings and have deeper meanings while analyzed. One example of a common nightmare is being in an out of control car. This may be a signal that you feel your life is hectic (Dreams Foundation). If you find a way to slow life down this type of recurring nightmare may cease. If one tries to ignore or block nightmares, the subconscious, who is behind the content of the dream, may try to â€Å"speak louder to get our attention† (Dreams Foundation). They may start affecting our waking lives in sickness, accidents, relationship difficulties or other unfortunate issues that force us to deal with the problem. Although nightmares seem very negative one must remember this concept: â€Å"An avoidance or denial approach is much like putting a band aid on a car’s blinking oil light because the light seems annoying† (Dreams Foundation). Why ignore something that can potentially change your life for the better? The information I collected on dreaming led me to conclude that dreaming is, in fact, a huge part of our lives. Dreams virtually act as the voice of our subconscious and they warn us, help us and just sometimes allow us to go on adventures that are impossible in reality. Dreams occur for our benefit. That being said, nightmares occur for our benefit as well. Despite all the negative effects nightmares may have, they, just as dreams do, provide a window into our hidden and secret problems and ambitions. The purpose of dreams is not to supply pure entertainment while asleep, but to get out suppressed feelings that can change our life for the better. I was surprised to find that dreaming actually may lead to death as some people with worse heart conditions could die from the increase in heart rate while dreaming. I was also surprised to find that many artists are inspired by what images or people they see in their dreams. Further questions I have include how our mind is able to create places and people we’ve never seen before and yet make them meaningful and familiar to us? This research has most definitely opened my eyes to what’s really going on when my eyes are closed. In the future when I dream I shall be determined to find what the meaning is to me and how it can possible change my life for the better. Dream on.