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Shakespeares Othello - Desdemona, the Heroine in Othello...

Desdemona, the Heroine in Othello In William Shakespeare’s Othello Michael Cassio’s praises of the richly blessed Desdemona, as he awaits her arrival on Cyprus, are well deserved. This essay will amply support this statement. Blanche Coles in Shakespeare’s Four Giants interprets the protagonist’s very meaningful four-word greeting to Desdemona which he utters upon disembarking in Cyprus: Othello’s four words, â€Å"O, my soul’s joy,† tell us that this beautiful Venetian girl has brought great joy, felicity, bliss to the very depths of his soul. This exquisitely beautiful love that has come to a thoughtful, earnest man is indescribably impressive. For him it is heaven on earth. And all the while, almost within†¦show more content†¦(1.2) Once that Brabantio has located Othello, the father presses charges publicly in order to have Desdemona returned: To prison, till fit time Of law and course of direct session Call thee to answer. (1.2) The proceedings which take place before the Duke of Venice cause the father to permanently lose his daughter, mostly due to Desdemona’s own fluent presentation of her point of view in the city council chamber. This results in Brabantio’s virtual disowning of her and not allowing her to live in his house while Othello’s campaign against the Turks in Cyprus is in progress. Thus it would seem that Desdemona has been living her life with a father who is primarily interested in self and less in Desdemona. And yet she has emerged unscarred psychologically, and capable of deep love for Othello. Entrusted to the ancient’s care and that of his Emilia, Desdemona arrives at the seaport of Cyprus. While waiting there for Othello’s ship, she grows tired of Iago’s derogatory comments directed at his wife, and she quite matter-of-factly states her mind: â€Å"O, fie upon thee, slanderer!† and even directs Iago’s focus off of Emilia and onto her ownself: â€Å"What wouldst thou write of me, if thou shouldst praise me?† Her total forthrightness and courage show her to be the daughter of a senator! She continues to critique the ancient’s answers to herShow MoreRelatedLove and Desdemona2800 Words   |  12 Pagesothello was a tradgic play. it shows many different types of feeling inWithout Trust, Love Cannot Prevail Trust can be defined as assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something (Websters 1246). In life many people are faced with the decision on who or who not to trust, especially in the realm of love. Trust is one of the main factors needed to determine a healthy, loving relationship. In William Shakespeares Othello, the main character Othello is unableRead More Emilia, A Heroine of Shakespeares Othello Essay1305 Words   |  6 PagesEmilia, A Heroine of Shakespeares Othello   Ã‚   Shakespeare, in his tragedy Othello, presents a minor character who does great things in the final act. Her character is deserving of analysis. Kenneth Muir, in the Introduction to William Shakespeare: Othello,   explains the motivation of Emilia through most of the play: Emilia’s character, too, is determined by the plot. In the source, the villain’s wife is privy to the nefarious designs. Shakespeare wisely makes her, like the other charactersRead More Othello and the Force of Love Essay3011 Words   |  13 PagesOthello and the Force of Love  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   The William Shakespeare tragedy Othello features various types of love, but none compare to the love we find between the protagonist and his wife. In this essay let us examine â€Å"love† as found in the play.    In her book, Everybody’s Shakespeare: Reflections Chiefly on the Tragedies, Maynard Mack comments on the love that exists between the hero and heroine:    Magical in my view, though I know how far opinions differ on this point, as a wayRead More Othello and Love and Self-love Essay1908 Words   |  8 PagesOthello and Love and Self-love  Ã‚        Ã‚   Within the William Shakespeare tragedy Othello we find a full spectrum of loves and self-loves. Let’s put these under the microscope in this essay.    In the volume Shakespeare and Tragedy John Bayley explains the love and self-love in the play:    A sentimental response to the play is in some sense in league with love, the love to which Desdemona consecrates her soul and fortunes. No doubt in loving Othello with her we are also loving ourselves;Read MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Othello And Glaspell s Trifles995 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout history great writers have brought women’s struggle under male dominance to light. Shakespeare’s Othello and Glaspell’s Trifles bring great female characters to the stage that share similarities. Both Glaspell and Shakespeare follow the same theme, while using both foreshadowing and irony to illustrate that Desdemona, Emilia, Bianca, Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Peters, and Mrs. Hale live under similar oppressive conditions. Both authors write about Patriarchal dominance. Shakespeare reveals hisRead More Othello: True Love and Self-love Essay1958 Words   |  8 PagesOthello: True Love and Self-love  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   The William Shakespeare tragic play Othello manifests the virtue of love in all its variegated types through the assorted good and bad characters interacting with each other.    H. S. Wilson in his book of literary criticism, On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy, discusses the love of the Moor for his beloved even at the time of her murder:    And when he comes to execute justice upon Desdemona, as he thinks, he has subdued his passionRead More Othello and the Virtue of Love Essay2758 Words   |  12 PagesOthello and the Virtue of Love  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  The love of the protagonist and his wife in William Shakespeare’s trgedy Othello can not stand up against the repeated assaults of the sinister Iago. Let us in this essay search for and comment on the examples of love found in the play.    Helen Gardner in â€Å"Othello: A Tragedy of Beauty and Fortune† highlights the love between the hero and his beloved:    The love between Othello and Desdemona is a great venture of faith. He is free; she achievesRead More Feminine Roles in Othello Essay1310 Words   |  6 PagesFeminine Roles in Othello  Ã‚        Ã‚   A variety of roles have women in them in William Shakespeare’s tragic drama Othello. Let us in this essay examine the female characters and their roles.    One key role for the heroine of the drama, Desdemona, is to support the general. David Bevington in William Shakespeare: Four Tragedies states the hero’s dependence on Desdemona:    Othello’s most tortured speeches (3.4.57-77, 4.2.49-66) reveal the extent to which he equates the seemingly betrayingRead MoreThe Beautiful Character of Desdemona in Shakespeares Othello2743 Words   |  11 PagesOthello and the Beautiful Character of Desdemona  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   The good character of Desdemona in William Shakespeare’s tragic drama Othello meets a wretched end because of the sinister treachery of an ancient. In this essay let us analyze the beautiful character of Desdemona.    Valerie Wayne in â€Å"Historical Differences: Misogyny and Othello† comments on the proper manner of interpreting Desdemona’s body as referred to by an irate Othello:    Desdemona’s body before her supposed adulteryRead MoreShakespeare otherness in othello1349 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿Michael Grey Paper #2 11/14/13 Shakespeare’s otherness in Othello Shakespeare when writing Othello uses many different underlying themes for the reader to try and pick up on. One of the biggest is otherness. Otherness is defined as the quality or condition of being other or different, especially if exotic or strange. Shakespeare throws at the reader some interesting topics to think about race, a handkerchief, feminism, and many more. All these different topics Shakespeare wants the reader

Superflat Free Essays

Bijutsu Fine art Kindai Bijutsu Modern art Manga Manga are comics and print cartoons, in Japanese and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 20th century. Otaku Known as a mass media product presenting Japanese Culture, anime, has gained an increasing exposure and acceptance overseas during the 1990s.The term otaku, which was coined in 1982 and came into popular usage by 1989, is usually translated as ‘geek’ or ‘aficionado,’ and refers to a group of people who ‘take refuge in a world of fantasy, drinking in the images supplied by the modern media – usually from television, magazines and comic books, but also computer images or video games’ (Baral 1999: 22). We will write a custom essay sample on Superflat or any similar topic only for you Order Now The etymology of â€Å"otaku† was drawn upon the work of Volker Grassmuck in his seminal otaku-studies article: I’m alone, but not lonely†: Japanese Otaku-Kids colonize the Realm of Information and Media, A Tale of Sex and Crime from a faraway Place. Superflat art â€Å"The world of the future might be like Japan is today – Superflat. Society, customs, art, culture: all are extremely two-dimensional. It is particularly apparent in the arts that this sensibility has been flowing steadily beneath the surface of Japanese history †¦ [Superflat] is an original concept that links the past with the present and the future. † (Murakami, 2000: 9)Superflat is a concept and theory of art created by the contemporary Japanese artist, Takashi Murakami. The Superflat (2000) exhibition in Tokyo marked the launch of this new aesthetic which took contemporary Japanese art and identity into a globalised milieu of critical thought. The exhibition, which was curated by Murakami and subsequently travelled to the United States, featured the work of a range of established and emerging artists drawn from art and commercial genres in Japan. As an essential part of Murakami’s political strategy, Superflat was always designed to travel globally.An elaborate, bilingual catalogue Super Flat (Murakami, 2000), which included Murakami’s manifesto, A Theory of Super Flat Japanese Art, accompanied the exhibition. In this manifesto Murakami affirmed that the Superflat exhibitions were created to provide a cultural-historical context for the new form of art that he was proposing, and which was specifically exported for Western audiences. Superflat art, as a cultural text, is intricately enmeshed in the tensions between the location and rep resentation of local/global cultural identities.These identities, while proffering resistance through the assertion of difference, are also formed as part of the processes of globalization rather than in strict opposition to it (Robertson, 1995). In producing Superflat for Western art markets and Japanese art worlds, Murakami addresses existing discursive knowledge of Japanese art, history and popular culture, while simultaneously presenting a new variant of those identities. In this way, Superflat is part of the politics of commodification and expression of cultural difference generated in global consumption.Murakami’s Superflat concept identifies a new aesthetic emerging from the creative expressions produced in Japanese contemporary art, anime (Japanese animation), manga (graphic novels), video games, fashion and graphic design. Superflat is presented as a challenge to the institutions and practices of bijutsu (fine art), which Murakami argues are an incomplete import of Western concepts. Murakami is specifically referring to the modern institutions of kindai bijutsu (modern art) that were adopted during the Meiji period (1868–1912) as part of Japan’s process of modernization and Westernization.To Mur akami, the innovation and originality of post-1945 forms of commercial culture represent a continuation of the innovations of the Edo (1600–1867) visual culture. Murakami problematically argues that Edo culture represents a more ‘original’ cultural tradition, because it was a time of restricted foreign contact. At the same time, Murakami self-consciously uses Western art markets and the popular appeal of Japanese consumer culture to propose the Superflat alternative. That is, Murakami utilizes the Western popular imaginings of Japanese culture as a hyper-consumeristic, postmodern layhouse (Morley Robins, 1995: 147–173) in constructing Superflat. SUPERFLATNESS: GLOBALIZING STRATEGIES IN ART MARKET As the interaction between social groups has become increasingly globalized, the meaning-making and expressivities associated with ‘art’ have also become progressively more engaged through national and transnational gradients (Papastergiadis Artspace, 2003). In particular, the formation of identity and expressive modes in a national genealogy becomes problematic within a globalizing cultural sphere.Many artists struggle to find the binary position of balancing East and West cultures, while Takashi Murakami, contemporary Japanese artist, with his theory of Superflat art, worke d out his way in this dilemma. He provides a useful case study of the strategies artists can employ to negotiate cultural and artistic identities ‘in between’ this binary. This paper investigates the Superflat concept and analyses Murakami’s art works to expose the tensions and dialogues regarding cultural identity and commodification that are produced by their global circulation. The first section maps Murakami’s strategy in constructing Superflat and contextualizes this in relation to discourses of Japanese national-cultural identity. The second section applies this theorization by analyzing the visual codes of Murakami’s figure sculpture My Lonesome Cowboy. This figure sculpture is part of a series in which Murakami combined the aesthetic codes and markers of otaku culture, particularly the prominence of anime and manga characters, with various art historical references.This piece demonstrates the multifarious local/global codes and cultures that Superflat art engages. Global Flows and the Soy Sauce Strategy Globalization creates spaces in which mobile elements interact with both positive and negative effects. Three key issues emerge in contemporary theorizations of globalization that are relevant to this discussion: firstly, the problem of how to retain the concept of local/national cultural particularity and to concurrently recognize the onv ergences and overlaps between cultures in a global context (Robertson, 1995); secondly, how to recognize the value in cultural difference as a tool of critical (oppositional) agency (Fisher, 2003) and acknowledge that difference can also become a commodity in the global market place (Hall, 1991); and thirdly, to acknowledge the dominance of Western cultural, political and economic imperatives in globalization (Hardt Negri, 2000), but also to recognize that it cannot be reduced to this condition (Held et al. , 1999). Consequently, concerns and celebrations are generated by the increasing fragmentation of national and cultural identities (MorleyRobins, 1995). In response to this process of deterritorializing identity, impulses arise to reclaim local and national identities in a form of resistance (Hall, 1995). This resistance is complicated because it is formed in relation to the transnational imaginings of the Self and the Other, stimulated by the constant circulation of people and mediated images through globalizations (Appadurai, 1996).These are irresolvable struggles and they demonstrate how globalization contributes to rather than eliminates incommensurability (Ang, 2003). Thus, while cultural identities can become territorialized and demarcated, for instance as ‘Japanese’, they are also challenged by the processes of deterritorialization activated through interaction and exchange. The meaning of ‘Japanese’ is therefore open to re-articulation by both global and loca l forces allowing new strategic identities to emerge.These processes are evident in Murakami’s â€Å"soy sauce strategy†. Murakami demarcates the identity of Superflat as Japanese by proposing it as an affirmation of a Pop Art aesthetic that is â€Å"born from Japan† and distinct from Western art: a type of post-Pop (Murakami, 2005: 152–153). Murakami asserts Superflat as an example of the current influence of Japanese culture globally and as a model for a future aesthetic, thereby identifying the ‘Otherness’ of Superflat in a positive way.Even though Murakami acknowledges that this sensibility emerges from the transformations arising from the influences of Western culture, he simultaneously reaffirms the originality of Superflat as a Japanese sensibility. This is what he refers to as his â€Å"soy sauce† strategy. Japanese contemporary art has a long history of trying to hide the soy sauce. Perhaps they will strengthen the flavor to please the foreign palette, or perhaps they’ll simply throw the soy sauce out the window and unconditionally embrace the tastes of French or Italian cuisine, becoming the Westerners whose model of contemporary art they follow .. .I see the need to create a universal taste – a common tongue – without cheating myself and my Japanese core †¦ I continue to blend seasonings †¦ I may have mixed in the universal forms and presentations of French, Italian, Chinese, or other ethnic cuisines – and I am vigilant in my search for their best points – but the central axis of my creation is stable †¦ at its core, my standard of ‘beauty’ is one cultivated by the Japan that has been my home since my birth in 1962. (Kaikaikiki Co.Ltd Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2001: 130) This essential Japanese identity of Superflat is reinforced by the ways in which Murakami connects (visually and ideologically) the kawaii (cute) forms of anime and manga with the playful aesthetic of Edo period artists and the two-dimensional formal properties of Japanese screen painting. This foundation is then used to propose Superflat as an alternate lineage of Japanese visual culture, one that breaks away from the canon of kindai bijutsu and Western art history. Edo functions in Superflat as the determinant of its cultural authenticity – that is, as the DNA of Superflat (Murakami, 2000: 25). Edo is presented as the site of Japan’s cultural tradition and subsequently as a symbol of its Japaneseness. This is a convention from modern Japanese discourses in which Edo becomes the repository of nostalgic yearnings for a pre-modern, traditional Japan (Ivy, 1995).In the late 1980s and early 1990s this was extended to become part of the debates on Japan’s (post)modernity; postmodern cultural expressions in Japan were considered to be a revival of Edo concepts and practices and thus particularly ‘indigenous’ to Japan (Karatani, 1997). However, as Gluck (1998) points out, the definition of authentic and traditional Japanese expression in relation to a fixed point of origin in Edo culture has been heavily challenged. Therefore, Murakami’s use of Edo to mark the culturally authentic transmission of the Superflat a esthetic should be treated with caution.At the same time, Murakami has emphasized that he is not presenting Superflat as the definitive interpretation of Japanese art nor does he claim a unified identity for Japan: Unfortunately, I can never give ‘Japan’ a fixed shape. I cannot meet my real ‘self’. Nor can I discern what ‘art’ really is †¦ I thought I could solve the problem by lining up a series of images in a powerful procession that words could not clarify. (Murakami, 2000: 9) Even this position can be critiqued.Murakami self-consciously demonstrates his awareness of the historical interaction between Japan and the West and stresses the hybrid history of Superflat. However, he also tends to celebrate Japan’s skill in assimilating and domesticating foreign influences, echoing other discourses on Japan’s hybridity as a national-cultural trait (Tobin, 1992), which paradoxically reconstructs Japan’s hybridity as an essential identity. Murakami’s intention to create an epistemological context for Superflat is explicitly part of his aim to sell work in international art markets: First, gain recognition on site (New York). Furthermore, adjust the flavoring to meet the needs of the venue. 2 With this recognition as my parachute, I will make my landing back in Japan. Slightly adjust the flavorings until they are Japanese. Or perhaps entirely modify the works to meet Japanese tastes. 3 Back overseas, into the fray. This time, I will make a presentation that doesn’t shy away from my true soy sauce nature, but is understandable to my audience. (Kaikaikiki Co. Ltd Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2001:131)The impulse in Superflat towards the affirmation of a national-cultural aesthetic can be considered as a form of self-Orientalism: an identity formation that is constructed in relation to the Western Oriental gaze (Said, 1995). While self-Orientalism has been considered (although not specifically in relation to Superflat) as an empowered strategy, because it appropriates the West’s gaze of Japan and re-packages it for the same audience (Mitchell, 2000), others have considered it collusive to Orientalism and a continuation of the Japan/West binary construction (Iwabuchi, 1994).This self-Oriental identity is complicated by a number of factors. First, Superflat does echo conventional discursive constructions of a Japan/West binary, which obscures the connections and power relations in this structure. In particular, Superflat can also be interpreted as being part of the discourses on Japanese identity, particularly the emergence of nihonjinron and postmodernism post-1970s in relation to Japan’s economic and technological influences (Befu, 2001). There was a tendency in both these strains of discourse to emphasize Japan’s national identity as unique and different from the West and the East.Secondly, while Murakami acknowledges the Western influences on the Superflat aesthetic, his simultaneous transposing of this hybrid identity into a reinforcement of a Japanese identity, characterized by cultural assimilation and hybridization, reinforces a unified national-cultural identity. This identity is supported by the references between Superflat and already existing discursive constructions of Japanese culture as post-modern and the interpretation of the two-dimensional properties of Japanese art, which will be discussed later in the paper.Thirdly, Superflat is also part of ongoing trade relations and cross-fertilizations of visual culture forms between Japan and the West particularly since the late nineteenth century. These include the adoption of bijutsu in the Meiji period, the popular consumption of Japanese visual cult ure in the West (in late nineteenth century Japonisme and since the 1990s with the consumption of anime and manga), and the post-1945 influx of commercial culture from the United States and its subsequent impact on the development of the anime and manga industries (Kinsella, 2000).In some ways, the self-Orientalism of Superflat can be interpreted as a post-colonial defensive reaction. Superflat is presented by Murakami as a localized expression of cultural uniqueness resisting the global hegemony of Western art and transcending the imported colonialist history of bijutsu by presenting â€Å"icons of excessive otherness† (Matsui, 2001: 48). This resistance, in turn, strategically uses identity as a commodity in Western art markets.By explicitly emphasizing the differences of Superflat, and Superflat as Japanese, Murakami becomes open to criticism that he is merely providing a futuristic Orientalist spectacle for Western audiences (Shimada, 2002: 188–189). Furthermore, the ever-present danger with this position is that the centrality of the United States and Europe is re-asserted rather than challenged. Murakami explicitly reinforces this centrality through his statements regarding the importance of his profile in New York, London and Paris (Kelmachter, 2002: 76).Murakami’s strategy of merging artistic expression and the commercial imperatives of Orientalism also echoes the export art of the late nineteenth century in which new works were created for foreign markets, according to the dictates of those markets (Conant, 1991: 82–84). Export objects were deliberately constructed to appeal to the taste for Japonisme that was fashionable in Europe and the United States at the time. Murakami’s affirmation of Superflat as a Japanese-made model for the future also reiterates the recent rhetoric on Japan’s global cultural power in relation to the export of anime and manga (McGray, 2002). These discourses emphasize the symbolic (and subsequent economic) capital of the Japaneseness of anime and manga texts and they deliberately emphasize the commodity potentials of self- Orientalism. Murakami draws attention to these politics in the Superflat exhibition Coloriage (Coloring) at the Foundation Cartier by referring to it as â€Å"post-Japonisme† (Kelmachter, 2002: 103–104), thereby both connecting with the past market in Japanese art and suggesting a new contemporary context for the consumption of Superflat art.However, to reduce Superflat to a collusive Orientalism, or to see it as just a commodification of identity in a pejorative sense, misinterprets the dynamics in play. Murakami is both proffering resistance as well as marketing his work strategically. Firstly, Murakami articulates his identity through the exhibition structures of the West as well as through conventional signifiers of Japanese aesthetics in order to establish his profile and to sell his work.Yet he also acknowledges the ambivalences of his own position and the playfulness of this global soy sauce flavoring: In the worldview that holds delicate flavoring as the only concept of ‘beauty’ with any value, heavy flavouring is taboo, and too much stimulation is definitely problematic.. . In order to create something that is understandable both to the West and Japan, what is needed is an ambivalent flavor and presentation †¦ . (Kaikaikiki Co. Ltd Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2001: 131)Furthermore, dominant scholarly arguments on the popular consumption of anime and manga outside Japan hold that these forms express plural cultural identities and, as Allison (2000) shows, are detached from specific representations of space and place. This suggests that the consumption of Superflat, like that of anime and manga, is not simply based on a desire for reflected images of Japaneseness as a cultural Other; rather, it offers audiences a flexibility of alternate identities, free from specific geo-cultural connections.It can also be argued that a critical factor in the reception of Murakami’s works in the United States and Europe has been the familiarity of the Superflat aesthetic to anime and manga as part of a common rather than Orientalised visual vocabulary. Superflat echoes the paradox of affirming the non-nationality of texts, while also presenting them as expressions of national-cultural identity. However, there is another way to explain this contradiction of Superflat between the affirmation of non-national and specific cultural identities.The critical theorist Yoda Tomiko (2000) presents contemporary anime forms as a useful example of a coterminous fluidity between local codes that are interchangeable and coexistent with non-local elements. Elements in the text can be swapped around and adapted for different audiences, and these elements are simultaneously collated with non-specific elements drawn from a wide variety of sources; therefore, the overall form remains transportable as well as expressing cultural proximity.While this process of adaptation is not new, what Yoda indicates is that it is increasingly becoming a normative process within the logic of postmodern consumer society. The local identity expressed in Superflat utilizes the connections with Edo and anime and manga culture to articulate its cultural specificity and yet it also expresses a postmodern fluidity and self-reflexivity that enables it to be globally circulated. The following section demonstrates the multifarious local/global codes and cultures in Murakami’s figure sculpture My Lonesome Cowboy. Superflat IdentityTakashi Murakami may have been the happiest at Sotheby’s Auction on May 14th. My Lonesome Cowboy, his larger-than-life sculpture of a boy waving an ejaculate lasso, brought in $15. 2 million — quintupling the artist’s previous record at auction. Just like what Alexandra Munro has written, â€Å"Murakami does not merely appropriate the manga and anime based worlds of otaku subculture; he operates within them. His lushly bright, mutant characters, all of which have names, act coveted by convenience store consumers as much as they are sought after by intern ational art community. Murakami’s works always act in the multiple spaces in and between Japan and the West, referencing there intertwined relations. My Lonesome Cowboy can be linked to a number of familiar aesthetic forms from both Western and Japanese art history, thus it is a field of knowledge operating both within and between the social, cultural and aesthetic conditions of East and West. My Lonesome Cowboy is characterized by a large lasso of ejaculate reminiscent of Jackson Pollock’s splash paintings in the late 1940s.The confident masturbatory pose of the figure can be interpreted as a parodic and sexualized reference to the phallo-centric ideology of Western Modernism, in which the autonomy and expressive subjectivity (as well as the masculinity) of artists such as Pollock was celebrated. The title itself, My Lonesome Cowboy, also references the heroism and romanticism of the iconic image of the cowboy, which was celebrated in relation to the New York Abstract Expressionist painters , and was parodied in the homo-erotica of Andy Warhol’s film Lonesome Cowboys (1969).The stream of ejaculation fluid is both an exaggerated and grotesque parody of otaku (hard-core anime and manga fans) imaginings and masturbatory activities and a parody of the ‘unique’ stroke of the brush of the artist. The overt and ironic decorativeness of the fiberglass splash subverts the modernist ideology of the unique mark of the artist’s hand as an expression of interior subjectivity in a manner that is reminiscent of Roy Lichtenstein’s series of screen-prints, Brushstrokes, created in the mid to late 1960s. These references are then combined with recognizable Japanese aesthetic markers. For example, the Dragon Ball Z character Goku is the model for the head of the cowboy; the splash of ejaculate is also reminiscent of the static dynamism of Hokusai’s ukiyo-e print View of Mount Fuji through High Waves off Kanagawa (ca. 1829–1833). The standing pose of the figure with the power and energy concentrated in the hips thrust forward, accentuated by the expulsion of liquid from the penis, is something that has also been specifically linked to the style of character pose developed in anime (Kaikaikiki Co.Ltd Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2001: 96). This is contrasted to the Western comic hero pose in which the concentration of power and muscular strength is emphasized in the pectoral muscles (96). The sense of dynamism between stasis and movement in My Lonesome Cowboy can also be linked to various forms of compositional structures in Japanese screen-paintings and anime. One of the key features of early Japanese television animation is an aesthetic based on the frozen pose, in which a figure can leap in the air and freeze the pose, unfixed from gravity.Part of the rationality behind the frozen moment in animation was a response to budget constraints and efficient production processes; by freezing the frame and allowing the dialogue to continue fewer frames of animated movement were needed for the narrative (Lamarre, 2002: 335). As a stylistic tendency, the technique of freezing the action in animation relies on selecting the most dramatic or aesthetic moment to freeze, creating a dramatic pause before the action (2002: 335–336).Therefore, what is evident is that Murakami simultaneously articulates Japanese and Western aesthetic markers in My Lonesome Cowboy. While these references can be individually demarcated and identified, there is also an interchangeable flexibility that is addressed. More specifically, what this means is that the splash of semen can simultaneously reference Pollock, Lichtenstein, Hokusai and Kanada. Thus, it becomes a fluid and slippery signifier. This can be explained as one of the reasons for the global prominence and popularity of Superflat and Murakami.Furthermore, the art historical and popular cultural references would be considered relatively conventional markers for audiences conversant with these texts. Many of the Japanese works in the Superflat catalogue are held in Western collections, including Hokusai’s Great Wave. Murakami’s works are therefore characterized by a particular inter-determinacy, which enables him to manipulate the Japanese identity of the works while also utilizing the familiarity of the visual references for Western audiences. This trategy is further complicated by the overlapping historical aesthetic relationship between Japan and the West. First, the concept of Superflatness, as an aesthetic of two-dimensionality, reinforces the Western image of Japan as a culture of surface. The development of the flat surface, which has been interpreted by Clement Greenberg as the underpinning a esthetic realization of Western modern painting, was influenced by Japanese art, particularly ukiyo-e prints, in the nineteenth century (Evett, 1982: ix–x). In particular, an aesthetic of two-dimensionality was identified as a distinctive feature of Japanese art in late nineteenth century Europe (1982: 30). 13 In contrast to the Western discursive construct of Japanese art as inherently two-dimensional, Western practices of linear perspective by this time had already influenced Japanese art. 14 Secondly, because anime and manga are increasingly familiar to consumers outside of Japan, particularly since their export in the 1990s, they have become part of the database of visual aesthetics of artists and fans outside of Japan (Craig, 2000: 7).The complex visual cultural relationships between Japan, United States and European art are more politically intertwined than these explicit and obvious references imply because they are influenced by ideologies and constructions of national identity. The image of Japan as a culture of surface continued into the twentieth century and was translated from the mid-1980s into the confirmation of Japan†™s post modernity: Japan as a culture of surface was now celebrated (Barthes, 1982; Field, 1997) and it was constructed (arguably) as the epitome of post-modernity (Miyoshi and Harootunian). 5 This was contrasted to Western modernist discourse of the surface as a manifestation of interior subjectivity. Postmodernism presented a challenge to this concept of originality and interior/exterior distinctions through theories of simulacrum, pastiche and the collapsing of surface/depth models as developed by Baudrillard (1983), Jameson (1991), and Virilio (1991). Even the discourses that emphasized Japan’s creative skill in domesticating foreign imports (Tobin, 1992) as a contrast to the earlier pejorative concept of mimicry reinforced the image of Japan as an appropriator of different styles or surfaces.While the distinction between surface and depth is not absent in Japan, the duality between surface and depth in Western modern epistemology (and even in subsequent discourses that challenge it) is not necessarily expressed using those dichotomous terms in Japanese culture; rather, the surface is considered to be meaningful and creative. For example, the art historian Tsuji Nobuo (2002: 18) identifies the decorative surface as providing a link between the ordinary and everyday sphere and the extraordinary metaphysical realm.In this way, the decorative surface does not ‘lack’ meaning but is active as an intermediary expression and aesthetic. Hendry (1993) also identifies the importance of ‘wrapping’ in Japanes e culture, in which the external layers, whether they be clothing, architecture or gifts, form the critical meaning structure. Wrapping operates as a method of accumulating ‘layers of meaning’ that are not normally present in the unwrapped object (1993: 17). This process inverts the Western philosophical privileging of the core (the object inside the wrapping) as the primary site of meaning and the external wrapping as obscuring the object. In fact Hendry argues that the meaning of the enclosed object and the layers of wrapping are conceptually embedded in each other and cannot be separated (1993: 17). While flatness and the emphasis on surface quality and decoration in Superflat art can thus be considered an exploitation of the Western construct of Japan as a culture of surface aesthetics, it can also be interpreted as an assertion of the creative value of the surface in Japanese culture. In this latter interpretation Superflatness becomes a unique aesthetic form that articulates multiple and active spaces, not the erasure or reduction of meaning.The concept of active flatness and continual transformation is a useful approach to understanding the Superflat aesthetic. It is difficult to differentiate a singular point of origin or a stable and unified subject in the multiple cultural identities embedded in My Lonesome Cowboy. Such is the shared history and cross-fertilization of aesthetic forms that these multiple layers of references and aesthetic histories of Japan and the United States/Europe present a significant complexity to the explicit identification of these references as Japanese or Western.Furthermore, to presume that they will even be decoded as signifying geo-cultural aesthetic territories is equally problematic. It is evident that Murakami’s explicitly playful references act as heterogeneous and malleable signifiers of identity, and thus can be readily interpreted as a postmodern expression of multiplicity. Furthermore, the inter-textual references to Japanese art history, Western art history, and imagined constructions of Japanese identity, play to the knowingness of audiences. The Westernization of Superflat and its Japaneseness articulate two forms that can be accessed by Murakami from his database of codes. How to cite Superflat, Papers

Italy (595 words) Essay Example For Students

Italy (595 words) Essay ItalyItaly, is a boot shaped country in south-south eastern Europe. Italy, also knownas the Italian Republic, is one of the seven most industrialized countries inthe world. This lineup includes: United States, Russia, Germany, England, Japan,China and Italy. Italy is about the size of North Carolina and it has apopulation of around thirty-seven million people as of 1991. An interesting factabout the population of Italy is that it is neither growing nor shrinking. During the last decade, Italys population hasnt exceeded a .9% increase ordecrease in population. Of the 37 million inhabitants of Italy, many work asfarmers, and factory workers. Climate The climate of Italy is mild. Along thecoastal areas, there is a long hot summer, with a short mild, and windy winter. Italy much of the time is cold and wet especially in the winter. The yearlyaverage temperature is 40 degrees. Main Industries/Resources Italy is a highlyproductive and industrialized country. Some main industries are as follows:food, mining, and manufacturing. Starting with food, is probley Italys mostrecognizable industry. Italians are known for producing a fine, fresh meal, withmuch care taken to top quality ingredients. Italians grow the worlds best olivetrees. That is why much of the worlds olive oil is exported from Italy. Half ofItalys farmland is occupied by grapes. Much of the worlds finest vine comesfrom the vineyards of Italy. Since Italy is on the coast of the MediterraneanSea,very good fishing results. Tomatoes, soybean, and other vegetables are alsogrown in Italy. Italy is also a successful mining nation. Mining includes:stone, marble, sulfur, mercury, natural gas, and limestone. Italy has a largeabundance of limestone and marble, as most structures remain from Romes glo ryyears. These resources are non-renewable, since they cannot be replenished. Others, mentioned before such as tomatoes, olive and grapes are renewableresources of Italy. Another important industry of Italy is manufacturing. Italyproduces a wide abundance of chemicals, textiles and machines. Italy is theworlds top developer in clothing. Top designers such as Armani, and Valentinoare among the most prestigious names in the clothing industry. The worlds bestcars are produced in Italy. Ferrari, which is based in Marenello Italy is theworlds best automaker. Also included in Italys manufacturing system is Fiat,Lamborghini and Maserati. Italy is also Europes largest tire maker. PirelliTyre Co. makes the finest tires in the world. Italy is also one of the worldslargest railroad car and track manufacturer. Italy exports 36% more goods thanwhat is imported in to the country. Interesting Points Some interesting facts onItaly is that it is 116,300 square miles. That makes it a fairy large countryfor Europe. The average length of life in Italy is seventy-three for men, an dseventy-nine for women. Italy was once under the dictatorship of BenitoMussolini, the Italian dictator with ties to Adolf Hitler. The crime rate isfairly low in Italy, but an organized crime group called the Mafiahas led an underground life of crime. Some Italian Mafia bossesconduct business in America. In Italian lifestyles, and they also have adifferent way of eating. If you are invited to eat at somebodys house, you mustfinish the meal. Otherwise you are considered rude. Economic System I feel Italyhas a moderate command economy because while the government does have muchcontrol over what can be traded, the citizens have an abundance of ways toproduce their own goods. This allows for a lot of small business entrepreneurs,and keeps the economy not so controlled by government. .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973 , .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973 .postImageUrl , .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973 , .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973:hover , .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973:visited , .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973:active { border:0!important; } .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973:active , .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973 .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u74e4f1c0765fe268e2e8231a025fe973:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: John rocker EssayBibliographySocial Structure in Italy: Crisis of a System, Acquaviva, Santino, andSantuccio, Mario, (1976) -World in View, Italy, Barbara Walsh Angelillo 1991Steck-Vaughn Co.

Left And Right Brain Essays - Cerebrum, Neuroscience,

Left and Right Brain The article in which I chose to examine is called Right Brain, Left Brain: Fact and Fiction, written by Jerre Levy. In the past fifteen years or so there has been a lot of talk of left brain and right brain people. Levy's reason for righting this article was clearly to stop the misconceptions and show the truth about how our brain hemispheres operate. Levy first explores the myth of the left brain and right brain theory. She states that generally people see the left hemisphere of the brain controlling logic and language and the right, creativity and intuition. In addition people differ in their styles of thought, depending on which half of the brain is dominant. She believes that most of what these notions state is farce. Next the article explores the history of this fascination of the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Apparently the study of this aspect of the brain traces back to time of Hippocrates. Levy weaves in and out of the various theories and prominent people known f or contributing to the confusion. It wasn't until 1962 when Roger W. Sperry began experimenting on certain aspects of the brain that contribute to the truth of the left and right brain theory. Sperry studied people who had undergone surgical division of the corpus callosum, the bridge between the two hemispheres. His studies showed that, "an object placed in the right hand (left hemisphere) could be named readily, but one placed in the left hand (nonverbal right hemisphere) could be neither named nor described. Next to branch off of Sperry's studies was psychologist Doreen Kimura. Kimura developed behavioral methods which involved presenting visual stimuli rapidly to either the left or right visual fields. Another important method developed was "dichotic listening" which centered around the use of sound to study the hemispheres. Through these tests and the continual study the theory that the left brain controlled ended. Instead a new theory was born known as the two-brain theory. Th is said that at different times one of the two hemispheres would be operating. An example of this is that the right hemisphere is in control when an artist paints but the left hemisphere was in control when a novelist wrote a book. This theory failed because of one physical studies showed that people with hemispheres surgically disconnected could operate in everyday life. Also, research demonstrated that each hemisphere had its own functional expertise, and that the two halves were complementary. Next, the article states its worth. The author shows the up to date agreed upon theory of the two hemispheres in five simple points. 1. The two hemispheres are so similar that when they are disconnected by split-brain surgery, each can function remarkably well, although quite imperfectly 2. Although they are remarkably similar they are also different. The differences are seen in contrasting contributions. Each hemisphere contributes something to every action a person takes. 3. Logic is not confined to the left hemisphere. Although dominant in the left logic is present in the right hemisphere. 4. There is no evidence that either creativity or intuition is an exclusive property of the right hemisphere. Same theory as #3. 5. Since the two hemispheres do not function independently, and since each hemisphere contributes its special capacities to all cognitive activities, it is quite impossible to educate one hemisphere at a time in a normal brain. Levy comes to the conclusion that people are not purely left or right brained. There is a continuum in which the hemispheres work together in harmony. Often the left or right hemisphere is more active in some people but it is never the sole operator. She concludes, "We have a single brain that generates a single mental self." Compared to what we did in class related to the left and right hemispheres of the brain, both what we learned and the article taught were extremely similar. Our exercise showed that we are not left or right brained but merely somewhere on the scale between left and right brain. Some of us were extreme left, few extreme right and most in the middle leaning left a bit (this is where I fell). I could

Writing a Kick-Ass Astronomy Essay Detailed How-to Recommendations

Writing a Kick-Ass Astronomy Essay Detailed How-to Recommendations Astronomy is the branch of science that focuses on celestial objects (like the planets, stars and the moon) physical universe and space. Generally, astronomy is the study of all things outside the earth atmosphere. Writing an astronomy essay is one way of gauging your knowledge on universe formation, development of celestial objects and facts about earth, etc. Writing an effective astronomy essay requires thorough brainstorming and proper planning to ensure that the essay is well structured and the information presented aligns with the astronomy topic. Pre-Writing Tips from Our Experts on How to Start Off After going through the various topics and identifying one that is the most appropriate and interesting, it is now time to think about the organization of the paper and the information to be included. Here are some of the main pre-writing tips worth considering when writing an astronomy essay. Think of the right structure of your astronomy essay. The focus of the paper determines the type of the structure that the essay should follow. Focusing on the astronomy topic determines the type of essay you are writing. Is it an informative, descriptive or persuasive essay? It’s up to you to decide. This will help you in developing a suitable structure for the essay and guide you on where to start. Develop the primary ideas and points to include in the essay. Knowing the prime points and ideas to incorporate in the essay makes writing easy and enjoyable. Brainstorm about what the topic entails and put down the points that you feel you should concentrate on while writing. Make a distinction between weak and strong points to ensure that the essay is not based on ideas that cannot be well-substantiated or proved. Also, keep in mind the structure of the essay. Think of the main argument of the essay. For an essay to be considered effective, it must comprise an argument that it is trying to put across and also provide ample evidence to support the claim. Analyze the major points you have identified and look at the message that they are trying to communicate. Think of the various arguments that you can make and choose the most compelling one. Even more, focus on the claim you are making and try to determine whether it is a claim that has been made by others or it is a new one. Formulate questions about your major claim. Having acquired the right claim, it is now time to draft some questions to assess the validity and accurateness of the argument. Ask yourself whether the claim makes sense and can be supported. Think of how your argument can be challenged and how you can defend it. Notably, avoid making biased arguments or those that have already been proved to be fallacious and invalid through research, unless you have enough evidence that proves otherwise. Research your topic. Conducting preliminary research about the topic is crucial in essay writing. Carry out brief research on the chosen topic to gain an idea about what others have written about the subject. This will help you to understand the arguments that have been made in prior studies, thereby helping you to decide whether you should narrow or broaden your topic. Researching can enable you to acquire new and critical ideas which you can make use of in your essay. Moreover, through research, you can finally determine the validity of your claim and get to know the arguments that have been disputed over the years and those that researchers have rendered to be totally illogical. Outlining. Once you have successfully undertaken all the above steps, you can now proceed with organizing your ideas in a logical and presentable order through an outline. Constructing an outline will help in narrowing down the essay’s most critical ideas and arguments. Topic Selection for the Astronomy Essay Selecting the topic that the essay will center on is the first step in getting started with the writing process. The topic of the astronomy essay should be carefully chosen and should also be clear and of interest to the writer. Also, the topic should be narrow and as straightforward as possible. In order to come up with the right topic, it is crucial to follow several steps as outlined below: Identify interesting topics that are both informative and have great content; From your list, identify three topics that have not been covered a lot in the last few years; From this brief list, identify the most appealing subject. There are numerous astronomy topics that you can focus on, which include but aren’t limited to the following: The Formation of the Solar System. This is an engaging topic that details how the solar system was formed. Choosing a topic on the solar system will allow you to interact with ample research and evidence, thereby gaining more knowledge. The Effect of Asteroids on the Earth. The topic entails the exploration of asteroids impact on the earth. In this astronomy subject, you can focus on the importance of the near-earth asteroids, their effect on earth and the consequences they have on society in the 21st century. Planetary Comparison. This is an essential and central topic in astronomy that fosters critical thinking skills. It requires the students to critically compare the different planets in the solar system. Here you can concentrate on writing an essay that extensively compares the planet’s size and distance as well as the basic features of the planets. The Big Bang Theory. This is a popular scientific theory that describes the first materialization of the world. Writing about the Big Bang Theory can introduce you to the intriguing facts of the model as well as the basic concepts that help with understanding the universe expansion. The Universe and What It Has to Hide. A topic on universe covers all galaxies, stars, particles, planets, and matter. When writing the essay, you can organize it to include an exploration of all the components of the universe while highlighting the key facts and arguments. Formulating a Strong Thesis Statement In order to write a paper that is both succinct and informative, it is crucial to be disciplined throughout the writing process. A thesis statement helps an individual to achieve this goal. Through a thesis statement, the writer is able to establish the main idea of the astronomy essay and then explore it in the body paragraphs. A good thesis statement should be original, specific and reflective of what the astronomy essay is about. It is crucial to organize your ideas in such a manner that each body paragraph has a different theme. One should then connect these paragraphs with transition sentences or phrases as they help to maintain the flow of the astronomy essay. Build up an Appropriate Outline An outline provides the ultimate direction that the essay will take. It presents the key claims and points to be incorporated in the essay. Noteworthy, by providing a good sense of what the essay will entail, an outline helps with making sure that the writing process will be smooth and less complex. Organizing ideas in an outline also ensures that the essay is clear and coherent. Let us look at how to create an outline and some of the things to consider when doing so. Begin with the introduction. While drafting an outline start with the introduction part where you introduce your topic and lay the major argument. The introduction should comprise a few sentences and end with a thesis statement. Body paragraphs. Write down the ideas of each body paragraph. 1st paragraph Topic sentence. The first paragraph should contain a topic sentence that conveys the idea to be discussed or explored. Evidence. Present the evidence that supports your idea, and argue your point. 2nd and 3rd paragraphs Following the same structure of the first paragraph (highlighted above) jot down the claims of the second and third paragraphs. Come up with a topic sentence that tells the reader the point that each paragraph will be addressing. Also, use adequate and credible evidence to support each point made in the paragraphs. End each paragraph with a critical analysis of your topic. Conclusion. In the conclusion section, you sum up all the claims presented in the body paragraphs and restate the thesis statement. In other words, the conclusion should sum up the arguments of the essay. Other things to consider. When writing an outline, always make use of bullet points to highlight the fundamental ideas and claims you will be focusing on in each section. Notably, an outline should be straightforward, well-organized and brief. A good outline should be between one and two pages. Having come up with an outline, the next step is engaging in the actual writing of the essay. This part entails elaborating on the information provided in the outline and presenting it in a way that is more coordinated and concise. An astronomy essay should contain three primary sections in which the selected topic should be adequately addressed. Let us critically focus on the 3 sections. The Introduction This part is the initial opening of the astronomy essay that introduces the reader to the topic. The introduction should clearly communicate the topic under study and present the thesis or the main argument of the essay. In the introduction part you should focus on doing the following: Begin with an attention grabber that will make the reader become interested in reading the whole of your essay. You may start with a quote, term definition or intriguing facts concerning the chosen astronomy topic; Offer brief background information on the topic that informs the reader of the direction you are taking. Ensure that the information is not too broad to avoid confusion; Lay out the thesis statement or the essay’s argument. Once you have introduced the topic, present your claim. The thesis statement should be specific and short, preferably one or two sentences, but it may be longer depending on the essay’s length. The Body The body is the chief part of an astronomy essay which includes the support and evidence of the essay. The body should contain three or more paragraphs that should assist you to prove your argument. It should also be organized in an orderly and logical manner. The leading goal of the body section is to develop a clear analysis and defend your thesis adequately. When writing the body, you should do the following: Include a series of paragraphs which address a central theme that assists in furthering your argument. Each paragraph should have a topic sentence that introduces the theme. Use evidence to support and expand on the claim introduced in the topic sentence found in every paragraph. Critically analyze and describe the evidence to demonstrate how it strengthens and relates to the particular argument you have presented in the paragraph and to the overall thesis. Moreover, whenever possible and necessary incorporate several examples to support your point. Further, ensure that paragraphs comprise five to seven sentences which are well-written. Make use of transitions to ensure that the ideas presented in the paragraphs are distinct from each other and the essay retains a good flow. Make sure that the essay has a logical order of ideas. When presenting your arguments and evidence pay attention to chronological order, emphatic order and spatial order. This will help you to ensure that your essay employs profound evidence and makes compelling claims. Presenting Arguments about the Thesis When supporting your thesis with the relevant arguments, it is crucial to separate them in different paragraphs. This arrangement makes it easy to follow the flow of the essay’s ideas. One must also embolden the argument by inserting reliable and high-quality examples. In doing so, one is able to appeal to the reader’s sense of logic. Conclusion This is the final section of the essay that wraps all the points and claims made in the essay. Commonly, the conclusion brings together your arguments and restates to the thesis statement. The conclusion, however, surpasses a summary, in that it shows why your thesis has merit. In this section you should do the following: Summarize the argument. Focus on summarizing the major ideas and points made in the essay while showing how they connect to the thesis. Refrain from adding anything new in this part and concentrate on the information that you have already analyzed in the body. Explain the importance of your thesis. Although not mandatory you may choose to briefly expound on why the argument you have made in the essay matters. The explanation can be done in three sentences, and depending on your topic you can end by calling the readers to take a specific action. Post-Writing Tips You Can’t Skip At this juncture, you have successfully completed writing the astronomy essay and what remains is going through your work once more to ensure the paper is free of errors and has a good flow. The following are the activities you should focus on. Proofreading/editing. After completing the writing process, you should take a small break before going through your paper. After relaxing take your essay and go through it, look for typos, errors, incorrect use of tenses, misuse of words and edit the paper accordingly. Referencing. Academic essays necessitate a reference page that lists all the sources utilized in writing the essay. Ensure that you include all the books, articles, newspapers or journals that you have used to compose the essay on the reference page. Also, make sure that you format all the sources according to the specified formatting style. References Chapman, C. R. (2004). The hazard of near-Earth asteroid impacts on earth. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 222(1), 1-15. Coffin, C., Curry, M. J., Goodman, S., Hewings, A., Lillis, T., Swann, J. (2005). Teaching academic writing: A toolkit for higher education. Routledge. Lea, M. R., Street, B. V. (1998). Student writing in higher education: An academic literacies approach. Studies in Higher Education, 23(2), 157-172. Savage, A., Mayer, P. (2006). Effective academic writing: the short essay. Oxford University Press. Unsà ¶ld, A., Baschek, B. (2013). The new cosmos: An introduction to astronomy and astrophysics. Springer Science Business Media.

Biological energy production Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Biological energy production - Essay Example There are mainly four recurring steps of the entire process of beta oxidation of fatty acid catabolism. However, the activation of fatty acids is quite necessary before that. The fatty acids are able to penetrate the plasma membrane because of the high fat solubility and poor water solubility of the plasma membranes. A fatty acid can react with ATP after it gets in the cytosol, and give a fatty acyl adenylate in addition to inorganic pyrophosphate. It is this reactive acyl adenylate that reacts with free coenzyme A in order to produce fatty acyl-CoA ester and AMP. The first step of fatty acid catabolism or beta oxidation is the oxidation of the fatty acid by the Acyl-CoA- Dehydrogenease. A double bond is formed between the C-2 and C-3. The purpose that the enzyme serves is to catalyze the process of formation. In the second step of fatty acid catabolism the bond between the C-2 and C-3 goes through the process of hydration. This is a stereospecific reaction that forms only the L isomer. The third step of fatty acid breakdown is the oxidation of L-beta-hydroxyacyl CoA by NAD+. In this process the hydroxyl group is converted into a keto group. The last step of catabolism of fatty acid is called Thiolysis. It is the cleavage of beta-ketocyl CoA by the thiol group of a different molecule of CoA. It is between the C-2 and C-3 that the thiol is inserted. (Miles, 2003) Aerobic respiration is one kind of ce... The principal condition for the aerobic respiration to take place and generate ATP is that this biological process necessitates the presence and participation of oxygen. There is more than one part of the cells that are involved in the entire process of ATP being generated and used. One of the major and important phases of the production of ATP is that Pyruvate has to be broken down from glycolysis and has to enter the mitochondrion so that it can get fully oxidized by the Kerbs cycle. Therefore, mitochondrion can be regarded as one of the cell parts that are involved in the production of ATP in aerobic respiration. Though it is believed that mitochondria, that is considered to be the powerhouse of the cell, is the cell part where all ATP is produced. The fact remains that all ATP is not produced in mitochondria, though most of them are. Since the process of oxidative phosphorylation takes place in mitochondria, it is thought that all ATP is produced in mitochondria. Some of the ATP is also produced in the cytoplasm. The production of ATP also takes into account the creation of chemiosmotic potential through the process of the protons being pumped across a membrane. The membrane, therefore, comes to be one of the parts of the cell that are involved in the production of ATP in aerobic respiration. (Porter and Brand, 1995; Kaiser, 2001) Identify the sites within cells where ATP is both produced and used up during anaerobic respiration. So far as anaerobic respiration is concerned, pyruvate is not metabolized without oxygen by cellular respiration. In fact, it goes through a process of fermentation. Apart from the fact that the production of ATP in aerobic

Life in Vietnam Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Life in Vietnam - Research Paper Example Nevertheless, U.S gradually began to pull out its forces in 1969 when the war seemed continuous (Oraclethinkquest, n.d). Further, it states that Vietnamese fought France for control over Vietnam during the first stages of war. At this time, French were the colony of Vietnam. Vietnamese won and that is why there was north and South Vietnam. Harry S Truman had a strategy that the united state must aid any state susceptible by communists. The next three president of the US adopted Truman’s policy and they thought that if one of the southeast states surrendered to the communist, they would all fall one after another. In April 1967, Martin Luther King condemned American for taking part in the Vietnam War, the liberals’ war. Vietnam War had already and would go on to intersect with the forceful political and social era movements. However, the New York king sermon which was more striking and clearly developed the customs in which civil rights, issues in Vietnam, class at home, race, and the inadequacy and guarantee of liberalism were structured than other episodes in the 1960s (Buzzanco, 1999). The king was very sure that there was a connection between the US war in Vietnam and the fight against poverty at home and struggle for civil right. Vietnam’s government was displaying insincerity in racial matters, as African-Americans and other minorities in the early years of war were dying in extremely high percentage though only small proportion of the population was accounted for. This was the time when the United states begun sending solders and resources into Southeast Asia. The king wa tched the military commit equality and domestic justice. Vietnam generated the biggest mass remonstration movement in the US history. The war forestalled civil right growth and anti-poverty and radicalized movements related with those issues; uncovered the restrictions of liberal reform; helped bring other movements into existence, like liberation of women or the

Understanding the history of community heaath Essay

Understanding the history of community heaath - Essay Example These projects are created in order to serve people within a specific geographic region (Organizing a community health improvement initiative). Therefore, the definition of community health depends on the type of project involved and its objectives. Some projects focus on physical health, while others focus on behavioral health, environmental perspectives or socio – economic factors. The application of community health projects depends on the nature of its definition. (Organizing a community health improvement initiative). Population oriented healthcare is based on the health of individuals and families who make up that community. It is essential in population oriented health care programmes to recognize the environment of the population at which the program is targeted. This enhances the chances of promoting overall health. Therefore, population oriented health care can be defined as interventions that seek to prevent disease and promote health, in order to enhance the overall health profile of a community (Lundy and Janes). In the early 1960’s people of disadvantaged populations could not access health care facilities. To address the problem, the government implemented the Great Society programs. The cost of healthcare was on the increase. Healthcare for the elderly was disproportionately expensive. Subsequently, Congress implemented the Medicare Program and Medicaid programs, in order to succor the disadvantaged and the poor people. The ambit of these programs was further expanded, so as to include disabled people and people suffering from chronic kidney ailments (Shi and Singh). Subsequently, in the late nineteenth century, cancer screening and immunization services were included in the Medicaid program. In 1997, the government made a budgetary allocation of twenty – four million dollars to implement State Children’s Health Insurance Program. This program

Difficulties and Challenges in Entrepreneurship

Difficulties and Challenges in Entrepreneurship Evidence suggests that small business stands a significantly higher chance of failure than a large business yet many small businesses survive and some dont. These gaps have been discovered that hinders the success of small firms in entrepreneurship, economies of scale, human capital implementation, limited resources, geographical location, and management skills. We operate in an increasingly global economy, which is highly competitive. Hence the importance of superlative management skill should be devised. It is highly crucial in ensuring that small businesses not only survive but grow in the quality of management, hence lacking key management services could limit the success of small business. The purpose of this literature review is to explain and critically analyse the work that has been reported on problems and challenges faced in entrepreneurship. Having identified these gaps I have established my topic, identifying the problem small business face in entrepreneurship. Identifying the key terms of the literature terminology is crucial as it includes the dependent variable and independent variables. RESEARCH QUESTIONS Why do small businesses encounter so many difficulties at start up point? What are the major problems influencing small firms in entrepreneurship? Is it relevant to acquire entrepreneurship skills before venturing into small business? RESEARCH OBJECTIVES To collect a variety of entrepreneurial ideas related to entrepreneurial opportunities via various techniques. To distinguish the importance of planning and give examples of how planning can surmount problems. To analyze obstacles and explain how these obstacles may impede creative thinking and generation of new ideas. INTRODUCTION According to Paula McCoy Pinderhughes, an entrepreneur is a person who visualizes or possesses a burning desire to make a change through hard work, dedication and determination, knowing that it will satisfy their ultimate personal and business objectives. To one businessman, an entrepreneur appears as a threat, an aggressive competitor, whereas to another businessman the same entrepreneur may be an ally, a source of supply, a customer, or someone who creates wealth for others, as well as finds better ways to utilize resources, reduce waste, and produce jobs others are glad to get (Hisrich Peters, 2002). The word entrepreneur is defined as a person who has possession of a new enterprise, venture or idea and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome. The term is originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish economist Richard Cantillon. (Bill Bolton and John Thompson (2004; 14) A literature search for a suitable meaning of an entrepreneur designates that it is rather easier to explain the worth of an entrepreneur. But it is hard to accurately identify who is an entrepreneur. A number of definitions are indicated in the literature. According to an article by Mona Abdulla (2009) states that typically, entrepreneurship means a business is being created with the express goal of fetching larger through an aggressive growth schedule. Entrepreneurship is a corporate development. This is the major challenge to any new business. Consumers are cautious about trying new goods and services. Most items being purchased today is frequently based on identified brand names and using familiar purchasing patterns. Apparently, it is easier for customers to procure the items or brand that they have used. Considerably, a new business must ensure that its target market are pleased with the brand, proper marketing strategy has to be taken for consumers to embrace a new product. This problem is sensitive to the immense amount of marketing clutter that most organization encounters. Getting rid of clutter is most especially difficult for new firms with limited budgets set aside for marketing and promotion strategy. Traditional methods o f advertising and consumer promotions may not be enough to get recognized. Company leaders must be sure to deliver on promises and provide a high quality experience especially on the customers first purchase, as bad experience often lead to fall in business. THE PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES Entrepreneurs have become one of the most active forces in the market, which is itself driving much of the worlds economic growth. This makes entrepreneurs very important from a macro-economic perspective. As the globalism of business becomes even more extensive, this impact will be felt. Entrepreneurs are already becoming a major force in developing nations and the economy worldwide. The process of redefinition is an essential component of a companys strategic renewal and therefore constitutes an important aspect of entrepreneurship (Guth and Ginsberg, 1990). It is through leadership strategies that the entrepreneur helps to facilitate the reflection of excellence (cornesky et al., 1990: 58-59; peter and Austin, 1985: 5-6) Todays entrepreneurial leader requires new people who does not depend on organizational superiority and subordinate theses contemporary leaders helps to create enhanced capacity in their people, who in turn become the steward of all organizational stakeholders (Mc lagan and Nel, 1995: 46-47) The scope of what entrepreneurship involves will continue to change and evolve, and yet there are some regular issues of how to start, finance and run a business. Companies that go internationally face the foremost challenge of integrating various types of acquaintance so that the organization as a whole can benefit (Zahra et al., 2000a). One ordinary factor for all entrepreneurs is the test of starting a business, searching for an innovative idea, passing the right prospect to venture into a business. Entirely entails organizing all the aspects so that the entrepreneur can maximise his or her goals. Most entrepreneurs also face problems financing their entrepreneurial project, as well hurdles within corporate rules. Except if one single handled the venture, getting money is a challenge that requires prepares funds proposals for loans and many more. We have so much in turn written on this phase of an entrepreneurial that implementing the very best would b e more of an advantage well as challenging. IMPLEMENTATION STAGE All said and done, passing this face ups and challenges, ordinarily one should expect to have smooth glide. Given the business has a good plan; the venture should carry on with less glitches, the execution process seems to be the real craft-or-crack point of an entrepreneurial venture. There are proposition that part of the problem is that ideal people for this process, Perhaps, there are wide varieties of skills needed at this stage, that an individual can not dwell on all of the skills. Alternatively, for entrepreneurs to be successful, identifying the key factors of their field would be very necessary, as they can easily get subcontractors who can fill the missing gaps. Perhaps looking at what different skills that can get a business started would be necessary. Such skills includes, marketing, workers, publicity, sales, communications, public relations, human resource, legal needs, government regulations, crisis management, risk management, natural disaster planning, insurance, te chnology, and the financial aspects of the organization accounts, bookkeeping, paying taxes, managing debt, and so on. One should take into consideration that without a strong technical foundation, the business cant be successful, an above all, the conceptual aspect of organization, are leadership, growth philosophy, ethics, and most importantly the exit strategy of the any organization. These are issues that we tend to overlook, yet it set the whole subject and direction that any business will take. CRITICAL CHALLENGES There are types of businesses that can be started on a small budget; one will need access to capital to fund the business, where the money comes from is less important, but the most important thing, is a need to be realistic about startup costs and being able to manage the funds well. Developing a, realistic, thorough and honest financial plan will help to avoid this mistake. New entrepreneurs often underestimate the length of time it takes for a business to become profitable and the amount of money they will need to invest in the business before its profitable. Employees responsibilities are limited to a narrow job description. According to Gupta and Govindarajan (1991), superior levels of awareness flows have serious implications for a companys control systems. Knowledge that is vital to sustaining and promoting entrepreneurship includes both expertise and market-based knowledge (Gupta and Govindarajan, 1991). However, at the start of a business, the entrepreneur becomes responsibl e for everything from exploration to development process as well as to product delivery to detailed account. This implies that there are field that will be beyond the owners area of expertise. Reckon upon the range of the business, it is possible that the organization does not have the ability to handle different responsibilities due to incompetent staff. It is important to be honest about your own limitations for the success of the company, seek out expert advice in such fields and the support of achiever in entrepreneurship. An entrepreneur does work harder for him/herself most precisely than you would ever work for any one. Building a successful business requires a large investment of your time. It will be important to schedule specific work hours. Setting goals can also help you to stay on track. To overcome these problems. It is important to remember that customers are interested in benefits as opposed to product or service features, and doing all you can do to stay on track would be the most to keep your business. JUSTIFICATION OF LITERATURE CONCLUSION How is an entrepreneur to deal with all this overload of challenges? To meet these challenges, subsidiary executives should also demonstrate higher levels of lenience for indistinctness (Gupta and Govindarajan, 1991). It is nice to know that there are resources one can count on such as, training programs, discussion groups, educational resources, professional associations, and publications to turn to for advice and support at all times.

Soliloquies of Shakespeares Hamlet - The To be or not to be Soliloqu

Hamlet -- the â€Å"To be or not to be† Soliloquy  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   In William Shakespeare’s dramatic tragedy Hamlet the fourth of the seven soliloquies by the hero is generally considered exceptional and more famous than the others. This essay will examine and analyze this soliloquy, and explore the reasons for its fame.    This famous soliloquy manifests the expression of very deep and conflicting emotions. Ruth Nevo in â€Å"Acts III and IV: Problems of Text and Staging† explains the basic conflict within the hero’s most famous â€Å"To be or not to be† soliloquy:    Since we know what Hamlet’s obligatory task is, we cannot but register the possibility that the taking of arms and the â€Å"enterprises of great pitch and moment† refer to the killing of Claudius, though the logic of the syntax makes them refer to the self-slaughter which is the subject of the whole disquisition. And conversely, because self-slaughter is the ostensible subject of the whole disquisition, we cannot read the speech simply as a case of conscience in the matter of revenge – Christian revenge and the secular sanctions and motivations of honor. (46)    Is the fourth soliloquy addressing only the prince’s specific situation? Or is it applicable universally to humankind? Lawrence Danson in the essay â€Å"Tragic Alphabet† discusses the most famous of soliloquies as involving an â€Å"eternal dilemma†:      The problem of time’s discrediting effects upon human actions and intentions is what makes Hamlet’s â€Å"To be, or not to be† soliloquy eternal dilemma rather than fulfilled dialectic. Faced with   the uncertainty of any action, an uncertainty that extends even to the afterlife, Hamlet, too, finds the â€Å"wick or snuff† of which Claudius speaks: â€Å"Thus conscience† – by... ...ons: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Rpt. from The Motives of Eloquence: Literary Rhetoric in the Renaissance. N.p.: Yale University Press, 1976.    Levin, Harry. â€Å"An Explication of the Player’s Speech.† Modern Critical Interpretations: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Rpt. from The Question of Hamlet. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1959.    Nevo, Ruth. â€Å"Acts III and IV: Problems of Text and Staging.† Modern Critical Interpretations: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Rpt. from Tragic Form in Shakespeare. N.p.: Princeton University Press, 1972.    Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos.            

Professional Action Plan Essay

I am a firm believer that in order to best choose what to do with your life, you must first know who you are in life. Self-awareness can help create a happy, balanced, and fulfilled existence on a personal and professional level. This can equate to success on both sides of the spectrum. HCS/449, Health Care Capstone has helped me understand this statistic more clearly and it will be etched in my psyche for years to come. I will aim to expand on this knowledge of self and how I may effectively convey it to the world around me; specifically the world of health care on a management level. I am a: hard worker, high performer, fast past learner, self-starter, team player, and work well under pressure. I am a motivator by choice and possess keen communication skills. I was lastly employed in the health care industry in 2010, to pursuit a BSHA and will return to the industry as a more valuable asset. My extreme passion is sometimes misread as aggression and I am strategically learning to control my passion to fit my environment. The objective of this essay is to answer: what my professional goals are, what job I plan to have in the health care sector, what skills I currently have for this job, which skills I need to change or alter, my plan for ultimately achieving my professional goals, what professional organizations can help me achieve these goals, and what benefit does the career action plan outline? Professional Goals The health care industry is one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing industries. I am eager to return back to it, for it is one that I love.† Employment of medical and health services managers is expected to grow by 22 percent from 2010 to 2020, faster than the average for all occupations.†(Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012) At a minimum I seek to obtain a career in health care administration on a management level and ultimately work my way towards executive leadership. My sights are set high because I would like to make a difference in the industry and I feel that I am highly capable of being a good steward in the capacity that I seek to serve. Job Interests There are so many jobs that interest me in the health care industry on a management level. Medical and health services managers also called healthcare executives or healthcare administrators, plan, direct, and coordinate medical and health services. They might manage an entire facility or specialize in managing a specific clinical area or department, or manage a medical practice for a group of physicians. As healthcare changes, medical and health services managers must be able to adapt to changes in laws, regulations, and technology. Upon conducting an assessment of self, I realized that I enjoy making a positive difference in the life of others , being a voice of reason, and an advocate for identified much needed change. That result has led me to the decision of wanting to be a source of knowledge and advocate within the health care industry, taking on a managerial role in any aspect to make a difference. I would like to take on an active role of accountability and assist in bringing about positive change for the consumers and stakeholders alike. Accountability is defined as â€Å"the act of accepting ownership for the results or the lack thereof† (Sullivan & Decker, 2005, p. 144). † Accountability in health care encompasses the procedures and processes by which health care leadership justifies and takes responsibility for its activities such as achieving various organizational goals. Health care providers and officials are constantly striving to improve quality and efficiency in health care by using performance management systems and quality improvement initiatives. Creating and maintaining a culture of accountability in health care is important because accountability is the reason for measuring and improving performance towards the aim of rendering quality, efficient health care.† (O’Hagan & Persaud, 2009) Skills I have a broad range of health care services skills afforded to me by the United States Air Force with a job occupation of 4A071, Health Services Management Craftsman. â€Å"The occupation description from service file for 4A071: Manages health services activities. Plans, develops, manages, and performs health services activities. General Duties and Responsibilities: Performs resource management functions.† (Verification of Military Experience and Training, 2010) I have been trained to perform duties in support of patient services activities to include: admission and disposition procedures, outpatient and inpatient records functions, medical terminology, inpatient unit administration, appointment booking systems, managed care programs, third party liability, medical air evacuation of patients, and information management skills to name a few. In addition I have management and supervisory experience in each capacity. All of my previous skills go hand in hand with the information being afforded to me in the University of Phoenix, BSHA program. Needed Skills Medical and health services managers typically need at least a bachelor’s degree to enter the occupation. Prospective medical and health services managers have a bachelor’s degree in health administration. These programs prepare students for higher level management jobs than programs that graduate students with other degrees. In addition to education other needed qualities consist of: analytical skills, communication skills, interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills, technical skills, and be detail oriented. I truly feel that I possess these much needed skills and excel at them although there is always room for improvement on every level. The only credential I seem to lack is a BSHA in hand. However, I am well on my way to achieving this personal and professional goal that I have chosen and set for myself. My expected time of graduation is May 2013. Ultimate Plan My plan for ultimately achieving my professional goal is to complete the BSHA program at University of Phoenix and be able to meet the minimum education requirements of qualifying to become a health care manager. I will continue on with my education and pursue a MHA to bring about more opportunities and expand my health care knowledge because I feel that it is necessary to advance. I would like to remain current with policies, procedures, and health care laws to bring my best into any organization that affords me the opportunity to be a part of their establishment. I will also seek out professional organizations that can help me achieve my professional goals by way of networking and mentorship. Partnerships are vital in succeeding in the health care industry and I understand that now. I am now curious about joining the American Council for Health Care Executives (ACHE). I think this organization could definitely help me in achieving my professional goals. I think I would also be a valuable asset to their professional organization as well. Action Plan Outline Initially, I was perturbed by the idea of having to complete a career action plan outline, but in all honest it helped. It served as a writing guide and helped shape what I wanted to say. It also served as some sort of SWOT analysis. It highlighted my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to selecting a career that I identified as seeming right for me. Conclusion This assignment was highly effective. My career goals have been set and my career action plan is complete. I know what I have done, what I can do, what I want to do, and what I need to do. I have been equipped with the necessary tools and knowledge of making my dreams a reality. I have some immediate goals, and some long term goals. They are all a work in progress but well within reach. Achievement starts with me. References Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition, Medical and Health Services Managers, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/medical-and-health-services-managers.htm (visited August 13, 2013). DD Form 2586 (2010) Verification of Military Experience and Training O’Hagan J. & Persaud D. (2009) Creating a Culture of Accountability in Health Care Retrieved from http://www.nursingcenter.com/lnc/static?pageid=935642 Sullivan, E. & Decker, P. (2005). Effective leadership and management in nursing (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

The Spanish Conquistadors

The Spanish Conquistadors From the moment of Christopher Columbus discovery of lands previously unknown to Europe in 1492, the New World captured the imagination of European adventurers. Thousands of men came to the New World to seek fortune, glory, and land. For two centuries, these men explored the New World, conquering any native people they came across in the name of the King of Spain (and the hope of gold). They came to be known as the conquistadors. Who were these men? Definition of Conquistador The word conquistador comes from Spanish and means he who conquers. The conquistadors were those men who took up arms to conquer, subjugate, and convert native populations in the New World. Who Were the Conquistadors? Conquistadors came from all over Europe. Some were German, Greek, Flemish, and so on, but most of them came from Spain, particularly southern and southwestern Spain. The conquistadors typically came from families ranging from the poor to the lower nobility. The very high-born rarely needed to set off in search of adventure. Conquistadors had to have some money to purchase the tools of their trade, such as weapons, armor, and horses. Many of them were veteran professional soldiers who had fought for Spain in other wars, like the reconquest of the Moors (1482-1492) or the Italian Wars (1494-1559). Pedro de Alvarado was a typical example. He was from the province of Extremadura in southwestern Spain and was the younger son of a minor noble family. He could not expect any inheritance, but his family had enough money to purchase good weapons and armor for him. He came to the New World in 1510 specifically to seek his fortune as a conquistador. Armies Although most of the conquistadors were professional soldiers, they werent necessarily well-organized. They were not a standing army in the sense that we think of it. In the New World, at least, they were more like mercenaries. They were free to join any expedition they wanted to and could theoretically leave at any time, although they tended to see things through. They were organized by units. Footmen, harquebusiers, cavalry, and so on served under trusted captains who were responsible to the expedition leader. Conquistador Expeditions Expeditions, such as Pizarros Inca campaign or the countless searches for the city of El Dorado, were expensive and privately financed (although the King still expected his 20 percent cut of any valuables discovered). Sometimes the conquistadors themselves chipped in funds for an expedition in the hopes that it would discover great wealth. Investors were also involved: wealthy men who would provision and equip an expedition expecting a share of the spoils if it discovered and looted a rich native kingdom. There was some bureaucracy involved, as well. A group of conquistadors could not just pick up their swords and head off into the jungle. They had to secure official written and signed permission from certain colonial officials first. Weapons and Armor Armor and weapons were crucially important for a conquistador. Footmen had heavy armor and swords made of fine Toledo steel if they could afford them. Crossbowmen had their crossbows, tricky weapons which they had to keep in good working order. The most common firearm at the time was the harquebus, a heavy, slow-to-load rifle. Most expeditions had at least a few harquebusiers along. In Mexico, most conquistadors eventually abandoned their heavy armor in favor of the lighter, padded protection the Mexicans used. Horsemen used lances and swords. Larger campaigns might have some artillerymen and cannons along, as well as shot and powder. Loot and the Encomienda System Some conquistadors claimed that they were attacking the New World natives to spread Christianity and save the natives from damnation. Many of the conquistadors were, indeed, religious men. However, the conquistadors were far more interested in gold and loot. The Aztecs and Inca Empires were rich in gold, silver, precious stones, and other things the Spanish found less valuable, like brilliant clothes made of bird feathers. Conquistadors who participated in any successful campaign were given shares based on many factors. The king and the expedition leader (like Hernan Cortes) each received 20 percent of all loot. After that, it was divided up among the men. Officers and horsemen got a larger cut than foot soldiers, as did crossbowmen, harquebusiers, and artillerymen. After the King, officers, and other soldiers had all gotten their cut, there was often not much left for the common soldiers. One prize which could be used to buy off conquistadors was the gift of an encomienda. An encomienda was land given to a conquistador, usually with natives already living there. The word encomienda comes from a Spanish verb meaning to entrust. In theory, the conquistador or colonial official receiving an encomienda had the duty of providing protection and religious instruction to the natives on his land. In return, the natives would work in mines, produce food or trade goods, and so on. In practice, it was little more than slavery. Abuses The historical record abounds in examples of conquistadors murdering and tormenting native populations, and these horrors are far too numerous to list here. Defender of the Indies Fray Bartolomà © de las Casas listed many of them in his Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies. The native populations of many Caribbean islands, such as Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico, were essentially wiped out by a combination of conquistador abuses and European diseases. During the conquest of Mexico, Cortes ordered a massacre of Cholulan noblemen. Only months later, Cortes lieutenant Pedro De Alvarado would do the same thing in Tenochtitlan. There are countless accounts of Spaniards torturing and murdering natives to obtain the location of the gold. One common technique was to burn the soles of someones feet to get them to talk. One example was Emperor Cuauhtà ©moc of the Mexica, whose feet were burned by the Spanish to make him tell them where they could find more gold. Famous Conquistadors Famous conquistadors who have been remembered in history include Francisco Pizarro, Juan Pizarro, Hernando Pizarro, Diego de Almagro, Diego Velazquez de Cuellar, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Juan Ponce de Leon, Panfilo de Narvaez, Lope de Aguirre, and Francisco de Orellana. Legacy At the time of the conquest, Spanish soldiers were among the finest in the world. Spanish veterans from dozens of Europeans battlefields flocked to the New World, bringing their weapons, experience, and tactics with them. Their deadly combination of greed, religious zeal, ruthlessness, and superior weaponry proved too much for native armies to handle, especially when combined with lethal European diseases, such as smallpox, which decimated native ranks. Conquistadors left their marks culturally as well. They destroyed temples, melted down golden works of art, and burned native books and codices. Defeated natives were usually enslaved via the encomienda system, which persisted long enough to leave a cultural imprint on Mexico and Peru. The gold the conquistadors sent back to Spain began a Golden Age of imperial expansion, art, architecture, and culture. Sources Diaz del Castillo, Bernal. The Conquest of New Spain. Penguin Classics, John M. Cohen (Translator), Paperback, Penguin Books, August 30, 1963. Hassig, Ross. Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control. The Civilization of the American Indian Series, First Edition Edition, University of Oklahoma Press, September 15, 1995. Las Casas, Bartolomà © de. The Devastation of the Indies: A Brief Account. Herma Briffault (Translator), Bill Donovan (Introduction), 1st Edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, February 1, 1992. Levy, Buddy. Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs. Paperback, 6/28/09 edition, Bantam, July 28, 2009. Thomas, Hugh. Conquest: Cortes, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico. Paperback, Reprint edition, Simon Schuster, April 7, 1995.