The Holidays Essay Example for Free

The Holidays Essay The Holidays The meaning of holidays is essentially a time we embark moments and share time with love one’s. In the United Sates, holidays are a very superior time that many of us embrace. Many can think back on holidays that they’ve encountered and recollect favorable moments. For many, it is the time of the year when people seem to grasp inside of one another and distinguish the best of things. Clearly, to some amount the â€Å"holiday season† gives people a sense of pleasure. Halloween and Christmas are two holidays that many people choose to rejoice. Indeed, they are both the most decorated holidays of the year, and both originate from Christian beliefs. But there’s something about the two that have mystified throughout their existence. Halloween and Christmas share similar attributes, but they are also vastly different in history, culture and traditions. On October 31, many people celebrate the eve of All Saints Day; better known to the world as Halloween. When people think of Halloween, they think of a day filled with frights, terror and fun. There are many cultural influences that have prompted to the holiday e now call Halloween; such as Day of Dead and All Souls Day. Halloween is refrained by death, but this doesnt make the holiday wicked. In fact, its a time of celebration for greeting spirits that have departed from past years. Some beliefs include wearing costumes so spirits would think that the living coexisted with the dead. Consequently, decorations on Halloween entail of skeletons, ghost, witches, and pumpkins. Simply, the idea is to decorate your house as daunting as it can be. As a tradition, children are able to stroll at night going oor to door, and receive as much candy as they can fit into their pillowcases. By the end of the night, children compete with siblings and friends to see who received the most candy. Halloween is the only holiday kids receive so much candy; it can last the entire year. It is clear that children take a joy on this event. Also, in today’s modern time it’s the only day out of the year a person can dress up as a character. However, Christmas is a sacred religious holiday; celebrated on December 25. The yearly centenary of the Christian church to memorialize the birth of Jesus. Though the original concept of Christmas is for the church service to celebrate the birth of Christ; people celebrate Christmas Day in many ways. Our culture has formed it more around giving gifts to loved ones and spending time with family. Subsequently, there are many types of decorations that are displayed during Christmas time that contain whites, reds and greens. Decorating houses with bright lights, mistletoe’s, bells, snowmen, angels and stockings is a traditional act. As for kids, they await for Santa Clause to arrive, so they can open gifts on Christmas morning. Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, is a historic, legendary and mythological individual. Believed by numerous children to bring gifts to the homes of well-behaved children. The iconic Santa Claus has been in existence since the early 1800’s who’s been portrayed as a stocky, joyful, white- bearded man with red rosy cheeks, wearing a red coat with black leather boots. Furthermore, receiving gift is one of the most exciting aspects of modern Christmas. Gift are usually items that were asked for throughout the year. In all, many citizens take the time to enjoy time away from work and dearly spend it with love ones. We come across many holidays that contribute to a social phenomenon like religion, beliefs and traditions. Despite the similarities among Halloween and Christmas, they are more different than people may present. Overall, I think people can view both in a positive or negative way, but some may agree that all holidays always have a very special meaning. A holiday give people time to experience and learn; that is how they can differentiate holidays

Comparing Gravitys Rainbow and Vineland :: Gravitys Rainbow Essays

Comparing Gravity's Rainbow and Vineland  Ã‚   From the author of Gravity's Rainbow (1973), the famous apocalyptic novel of World War II, comes Vineland (1990), a trip into the California of 1984: a Reagan-era wasteland of yuppies, malls, food-preservatives and, above all, the Tube: the Cathode-Ray Tube. The opening line of Gravity's Rainbow, "A screaming comes across the sky," which describes a V-2 rocket on its lethal mission, finds a way into Pynchon's latest work, albeit transformed: "Desmond was out on the porch, hanging around his dish, which was always empty because of the blue jays who came screaming down out of the redwoods and carried off the food in it piece by piece." One passage describes war. Another tells of birds stealing dog food. The change in scope is huge, but misleading. Some readers may scoff at first at Pynchon's subject matter-hippie holdovers running from narcs-but there is no mistaking Vineland's connection to Gravity's Rainbow. The newer work acts as a corollary to the older one. The book begins with Zoyd Wheeler waking up one summer morning with some Froot Loops with Nestle's Quick on top. He lives in Vineland County, a foggy, fictional expanse of Northern California which makes a great refuge for wilting flower children. Zoyd is one of them-a part-time keyboard player, handyman and marijuana cultivator who acts publicly crazy (he jumps through glass windows once a year on television) to qualify for mental disability benefits. He and his teenage daughter Prairie both mourn the disappearance of Frenesi Gates, who was mother to one and wife to the other. Frenesi was a radical filmmaker during the 60's until she was seduced by Brock Vond, a federal prosecutor and overall bad-guy/nutcase who turns her from hippie radical to FBI informant. With her help he manages to destroy the People's Republic of Rock and Roll. Fast-forward two decades. Frenesi is about to be kicked out of the Witness Protection Program because the government is tired of subsidizing her. Zoyd wants to find her, for obvious reasons. Vond, still the charismatic little psychopath, wants Frenesi back too, and decides to kidnap Prairie to get her. Prairie, the only sane and sober person in the book, also wants to meet Frenesi, the mother she never knew. But there's more, like in any Pynchon novel: Vond is apparently the ultimate law-enforcement spoilsport and he's not done hounding guys like Zoyd. Comparing Gravity's Rainbow and Vineland :: Gravity's Rainbow Essays Comparing Gravity's Rainbow and Vineland  Ã‚   From the author of Gravity's Rainbow (1973), the famous apocalyptic novel of World War II, comes Vineland (1990), a trip into the California of 1984: a Reagan-era wasteland of yuppies, malls, food-preservatives and, above all, the Tube: the Cathode-Ray Tube. The opening line of Gravity's Rainbow, "A screaming comes across the sky," which describes a V-2 rocket on its lethal mission, finds a way into Pynchon's latest work, albeit transformed: "Desmond was out on the porch, hanging around his dish, which was always empty because of the blue jays who came screaming down out of the redwoods and carried off the food in it piece by piece." One passage describes war. Another tells of birds stealing dog food. The change in scope is huge, but misleading. Some readers may scoff at first at Pynchon's subject matter-hippie holdovers running from narcs-but there is no mistaking Vineland's connection to Gravity's Rainbow. The newer work acts as a corollary to the older one. The book begins with Zoyd Wheeler waking up one summer morning with some Froot Loops with Nestle's Quick on top. He lives in Vineland County, a foggy, fictional expanse of Northern California which makes a great refuge for wilting flower children. Zoyd is one of them-a part-time keyboard player, handyman and marijuana cultivator who acts publicly crazy (he jumps through glass windows once a year on television) to qualify for mental disability benefits. He and his teenage daughter Prairie both mourn the disappearance of Frenesi Gates, who was mother to one and wife to the other. Frenesi was a radical filmmaker during the 60's until she was seduced by Brock Vond, a federal prosecutor and overall bad-guy/nutcase who turns her from hippie radical to FBI informant. With her help he manages to destroy the People's Republic of Rock and Roll. Fast-forward two decades. Frenesi is about to be kicked out of the Witness Protection Program because the government is tired of subsidizing her. Zoyd wants to find her, for obvious reasons. Vond, still the charismatic little psychopath, wants Frenesi back too, and decides to kidnap Prairie to get her. Prairie, the only sane and sober person in the book, also wants to meet Frenesi, the mother she never knew. But there's more, like in any Pynchon novel: Vond is apparently the ultimate law-enforcement spoilsport and he's not done hounding guys like Zoyd.

Character and plot Essay

Discuss the ways in which Arthur Miller uses the characters of Alfieri to highlight cultural differences and to develop the audience’s understanding of theme, character and plot. Arthur Millers ‘A View from The Bridge’ uses a character called Alfieri to introduce characters, the plot and theme of the story. Alfieri is an Italian American meaning he was born in Italy and immigrated to American to work. . He is a man of his 50’s and in this story, not only does he play the role of a character, but also a narrator. He makes us aware of the cultural differences between American and Italian culture through his opinions. He works as a lawyer; from this we can immediately tell he is educated and very wise. The immigration law changed in 1921-1924. This law only allowed people from Britain, Ireland and Scandinavia to migrate to America. This resulted to illegal immigration. ‘A view from the Bridge’ is about the movement of immigrants migrating from Italy to America. They moved because of the ‘American Dream’s which was people from other countries going to America to start a new life and earn a good living full of opportunities. The Italian migration happened mainly between 1820-1920. More than 4 million Italian people moved to America. Brooklyn Bridge and its surrounding areas are used as the setting of the play. The word Gullet is used by Alfieri to describe the place where they live. The word is a metaphor and it creates an atmosphere that is not very pleasant to live in. Alfieri’s first speech introduces the background information of Italians. Italians would hardly ask a lawyer for help because in Italian culture lawyers are not good news, they are considered to be connections to disasters. The honest and trustworthy Italians can be quite revengeful. They solve their own situations by taking matters into their own hands. Although Italians are settling into America their two cultures remain diverse. Repetition of the words Distrust, Law and Justice by Alfieri signifies them and the even suggests that the plot is based on these words. Alfieri understands both Italian and American culture and can conclude in his last speech how he feels about Eddie and what he has done. From the start Alfieri hinted that the ending of the play wasn’t going to be a happy one. He says â€Å"†¦ and sat there as powerless as I, and watched it run its bloody course. † From that, we can sense doom and that is why this play is a Greek tragedy. Eddie, Catherine, Marco use a lot of slang type sentences where as Alfieri uses long, well punctuated and sophisticated sentences. This linguistic technique makes the audience understand what is happened if they do not follow what Catherine, Eddie, Beatrice, Marco and Rodolpho are saying. The use of short, simple sentences spoken by the other characters makes the situation more realistic, makes the audience awake because it is very fast and the characters speak more often. Arthur Miller also uses a lot of exclamation marks so that the sentences are more interesting and so that the actors know when to shout or act exaggerated, this is a very good technique. With the use of exclamation mark the sentence gets energy. There is more attention than if there were long sentences. In the play there are four main characters. Eddie (a protagonist), Catherine, Beatrice and Alfieri. Eddie, a protagonist, meaning that he commits an offence without knowing it; he then learns his fault and usually results in death or suffering. He gains Alfieri’s sympathy towards the end of the play. Eddie loves Catherine not only as a niece but also as a daughter and a friend and Alfieri knows this. Eddie was over protective and loved Catherine too much which proved to be fatal. Alfieri knows that Eddie does not want to any one to take her away from him, but on the other hand, she does not belong to him. He says â€Å"And yet, it is better to settle for half, it must be! † Marco kills Eddie in Act 2. We do not know if he intended to or if it was for self-protection but in a way, this is revenge. When he was talking to Alfieri, he says â€Å"In my country he would be dead by no. He would not live this long. † Alfieri understands how he feels but tells him not to kill. He is in America right now and such a deed can result to a life sentence. He says â€Å"To promise not to kill is not dishonourable. † Italians are not as civilised as Americans but this is one of the cultural differences between the two diverse cultures. Arthur Miller includes many stage directions leaving the director making up more of their own directions. Alfieri plays the part of a character and a narrator making him â€Å"A view from the bridge† because he is looking and dealing with the situation and also telling the story as if it happened yesterday, this helps him to tell the story and give opinions making the audience aware, have a better understanding of the play, the characters and the plot. The moral of this story suggested by Alfieri is â€Å"we should be satisfied with half if not the whole amount. â€Å"

Chinese And United States Foreign Policy - 958 Words

To: Empress Cixi From: UK diplomate Asiana Cooper Date: 30 January 1902 Chinese, English and United States China Foreign Policy in Asia This memo communicates my deepening anxieties about the broadening disparity in trade and commerce and a shift in the balance of military power between China, England and the United States. Since our last communique, the POTUS (President of the Unites States) McKinley has died.There’s been a reversal of the Open Door Strategy since President’s McKinley’s assassination. President Roosevelt now commander and chief of America and has restructured a grand American vision for the U.S. to expand its authority far beyond her natural borders. The U.S. goal to spread its Washingtonian Gilded Age democracy through merchants and missionaries has ended and is now being transformed and driven by hegemony and empire building. The new POTUS and Secretary of State John Hay (former Ambassador to England) have implemented a strategy to make the building of the U.S military its number one national objective. We see this large scale military buildup as a threat to both England and C hina. English trade merchants rightly protest the U.S. devouring unfairly the lion’s share of profits from China’s commerce that has resulted in a profound shift in the balance of Pacific trade favorably towards the United States. England believes there are still greater plans by the U.S. to manipulate currencies to promote their quest to conquer the entire American andShow MoreRelatedThe Pursuit For World Domination1305 Words   |  6 Pagessatirically describing the pursuit for world domination as a â€Å"game† between coercive countries and highlighting the deceptive nature of these countries to win the â€Å"game†. 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