Gattaca Oral Presentation Draft Essay Example for Free

Gattaca Oral Presentation Draft Essay From the day Vincent was born, he had always been concidered as highly flawed, and as an invalid. His parents were planning on carrying on the family name with their first born child by calling Vincent, Anton, after his father, Antonio. However, once finding out that Vincent was prone to illness such as neurological disorder, manic depression, attention deficit disorder, heart failure, and was expected to live for only 30.2 years, Vincents father felt that he wasnt worthy of the family name, and decided to call him Vincent Anton instead. Mother and Father, Maria and Antonio had a second child, who Antonio felt was worthy of the family name, because unlike Vincent who was conceived the natural way, Anton was born through genetic engineering. As the two boys grew up, Anton was always considered superior to Vincent as he was always upstaging him at everything they did. Until one day, when the two boys played a game of chicken. Like usual, Anton was expecting Vincent to turn around and swim back to shore. However, no matter how much effort he put into trying to beat his brother, Anton and Vincent were neck and neck the whole swim. Anton was confused at how Vincent still had the energy to swim, and finally Anton wasnt able to go on any longer and he gave up. Passing out and starting to drown, Vincent saved his brothers life. For the first time in their lives, Vincent was better than Anton at something. Even though everybody believed that he wasnt good enough to acheive his goals, Vincent now believed that he could achieve anything that he set his mind to. Vincent decided to run away from home and he got a job as a janitor at Gattaca. This was his first glimpse of Gattaca, and he liked what he saw. Vincent met Jerome (Aka Eugene), a depressed and alcoholic Gattaca valid who was hit by a car, which left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Nobody that was apart of the Gattaca institite knew that Eugene was in a wheelchair, which saw an opportunity for Vincent. Eugene decided that his life was concidered over because he was crippled, and he felt that even though his dream of becoming a gold medal swimmer would never come true, he would attempt helping Vincents dream of travelling into space to come true, so he gave a makeover and his next-to-perfect vailid identidy to Vincent. Eugene would shed and collect his own dead skin particles, loose hair, urine and blood and would store them away for Vincent to pass off as his own and each day, Vincent would remove any loose skin and hair that was at risk of somebody finding and tracing it back to him. After being accepted into Gattaca, Vincent was going to be apart of the once in a lifetime space launch to Saturns largest moon, Titan. However, one of the directors was trying to stop the space launch from happening, resulting in his murder. Coincedentally, one of Vincents invalid eyelashes was found at the crime scene which started a search for him because everybody thought that he was the murderer, when infact, he wasnt. Although everybody knew what Vincents invalid self looked like, nobody suspected the valid Vincent (Aka Jerome) to be the murderer because he no longer looked like his old self. Nobody suspected Vincent to be imitating Jerome except for Vincents brother Anton, who was working as a Gattca detective. It took a while for Anton to confirm his suspicion, but he did in the end, although didnt turn his brother in for fraud. Once arriving to Gattaca on the day of the Titan space launch, there was an unexpected urine sample test. Vincent took the urine test and it came up with a photo of his invalid self. However, the Gattaca doctor felt somewhat connected to Vincent because his son was also classed as an invalid and had health problems just like Vincent did. The doctor then revelied that he had known the whole time and turned his invalid into a valid and therefore, Vincent was able to continue on his space mission. In the end scene, we see Eugene sitting in his boiler and Vincent sitting in the rocket capsule. The rocket launching and the boiler lighting fire happen at syncrinized times. Eugene commited suicide and Vincents dreams had come true. Not only was he going to space, but he had also fallen in love with a co-worker, Irene, who would be eagerly waiting for his return to earth.

Transcendence in Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping Essay -- Robinson H

Transcendence in Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping William H. Burke suggests that transience in Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping is a type of pilgrimage, and that â€Å"the rigors and self-denials of the transient life are necessary spiritual conditioning for the valued crossing from the experience of a world of loss and fragmentation to the perception of a world that is whole and complete† (717). The world of reality in Housekeeping is one â€Å"fragmented, isolated, and arbitrary as glimpses one has at night through lighted windows† (Robinson 50). Many of the characters that precede Ruth in the narrative rebel against something in this world that is not right. Edmund Foster, her grandfather, escapes by train to the Midwest and his house is â€Å"no more a human stronghold than a grave† (3). His daughters, Molly, Sylvie, and Helen, all abandon their home and their mother; Helen, in fact, makes the greatest â€Å"leap† away from the world into death when she cannot effectively deal with the expecta tions placed on her to â€Å"set up housekeeping in Seattle† with husband and children (14). Ruth takes up a transient life with her mentor and aunt, Sylvie, to escape from history and the past into a new life, a new awareness. Crucial to this spiritual awakening is the abandonment and the isolation of the self. Transience is Ruth’s escape from the impermanent illusory world, a world that rejects one of the tenets of transience, that â€Å"the perimeters of our wanderings are nowhere† , in favor of fixity and stasis (218). She acknowledges the world’s illusory nature when she admits that she has â€Å"never distinguished readily between thinking and dreaming†, and that â€Å"Everything that falls upon the eye is apparition, a sheet dropped over the world’s true workings... ...orld (219). Works Cited Burke, William H. â€Å"Border Crossinsgs in Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping.† Modern Fiction Studies. 37 (Winter 1991): 716-724. Mallon, Anne-Marie. â€Å"Sojourning Women: Homelessness and Transcendence in Housekeepking.† Critique 30 (Winter 1989): 95-105. Miller, Heather. Grace Through Isolation in Herland, Housekeeping, and Ellen Foster. Masters Thesis. University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg. December 1991. Ross, Dianne Lillian. The Circle in the Waters: Unity and Visions of Regeneration and Immortality in Housekeeping, To the Lighthouse, and Surfacing. Masters Thesis. UVA May 1986 Schuler, Carol. Crossing the Boundaries with M/Other: Beyond Dualism into the Dream of a World made Whole in Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping. Masters Thesis. California State University, Stanislaus. May 1994.

Michelangelo: Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo: The Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican City. It is one of the most famous and memorable pieces of art in the history of art. This beautiful piece of art history took a little over four years to complete. He started this project in July of 1508 and finished in October of 1512. Pope Julius II had requested Michelangelo paint the ceiling in the chapel. The Pope was strong-minded that Rome should be renovated to show its prior exaltation.He was on a mission to show this by painting the ceiling of the chapel and he wanted the very best painter complete it, which he believed to be Michelangelo. Julius II assumed that if he had the ceiling painted that it would glorify his name and he would become more popular with the people under him. Pope Julius II wanted to make sure that every job he did for the Vatican City was more impressive than Pope Alexander VI, which was Julius’s rival. The ceiling to this day is 131 feet lon g by 43 feet wide which means that Michelangelo painted roughly 5,000 square feet of the ceiling.There were questions such as why was Michelangelo painting when he was a sculptor and the answer was that the Pope believed he would be the best for the job, even though that Michelangelo had only painted one other painting in his career because he worked mostly with sculptures. The start to this painting was slow simply because Angelo had never painted frescoes before. Angelo had to learn many new techniques for this painting but once he understood what he was doing his pace of painting sped up quite a bit. (Esaak. Many questions were asked about the painting and about Michelangelo while the painting was going on and many, many years afterwards. There are still questions going on to this day. One questions asked was why it took four years to paint the ceiling and there were many various reasons as to why this was. There were many setbacks such as mold, which made the painter and some of the others in the building during this time sick, and glum, wet weather often because of the frequent rain that prevented the plaster and molding to dry and stick together.During the time period of the painting Pope Julius II went off to war, and became close to death at one time. (Katz. ) This prevented Michelangelo from getting paid and furthering the painting because, although the entire project and design was his, Angelo did not want to make any decisions without the conformation from Julius. Angelo created this whole design himself, but he did need assistants when it came to completing the project. His assistants did things such as mix paints, rush up and down the ladders, and prepare the plaster he needed for his project.Angelo trusted very few to let him ever paint the ceiling. There were rare incidents that allowed him to trust someone enough to work on the sky or landscape parts, but they never did more than that. Most people always wondered if he completed the ceiling all by himself and questioned if that was a reason the painting took so long to accomplish. One question that also struck the audience was if Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel lying on his back, as most rumors would tell. The answer to this question was no, he did not.There was a movie made which reenacted the painting of the chapel, and the actor in that movie did lie on his back to create a more dramatic effect of how challenging the painting was. Angelo actually assembled a scaffolding system, which is a temporary structure for holding workers and materials during the production or decoration of a building mostly used by painters. The one he created himself was sturdy enough o hold himself, workers, and materials needed to complete his project but was higher up because there was always a chance it couldn’t hold the weight up. Katz) There were many rumors going around that Angelo had a few misfortunes when it came to his health during the duration of the painting. He had to bend over backwards to paint the ceiling and paint over his head, which was quite a weird, uncomfortable position to be in for the long period of time he was there. This type of position could cause neck and back aches permanently, and cause a burning in ones arms that would not help the pain. Angelo also claimed that this permanently ruined his vision, which led to rumors of him being blind.Andrew Graham-Dixon, who was the chief art critic for London’s Sunday Telegraph said, â€Å"He (Angelo) was working on the largest multi-figure compositions of the entire ceiling when the actual fresco plaster itself became infected by a kind of lime mold, which is like a great bloom of fungus, so he had to chip the whole thing back to zero and start again. Eventually he sped up. He got better. † The audience’s today question how someone could start off so badly on a project like this, and complete something as magnificent and beautiful as this when they had never painte d before, and it end up the way it did and become so popular and famous?Some people say that most artists are born with talent and started whatever they’re good at well; Angelo was good at sculpting, not painting. He had only completed one other painting and the rest of his artwork was sculptures. Graham-Dixon asked a very inquisitive question that went into great detail of the painting. Andrew asks, â€Å"Yet I found myself wondering, why did Michelangelo have God create Adam with a finger? † (Katz. ) This is a type of question that digs further than the questions the general audience would ask simply because he understands art and tries to reveal true meanings behind his findings.Graham-Dixon wrote a book, which this previous question was asked in, and he also states: â€Å"In other representations, for example, if you look at Ghiberti’s doors in Florence, God raises up Adam with a gesture of his hand. And as I turned over various ideas and theories, I began to see it as the creation of the education of Adam, because that’s the symbolism of the finger. God writes on us with his finger, in certain traditions of theology. In the Jewish tradition, that’s how he writes the tablets of the Ten Commandments for Moses—he sort of lasers them with his finger.The finger is the conduit through which God’s intelligence, his ideas and his morality seep into Man. And if you look at that painting very closely, you see that God isn’t actually looking at Adam, he’s looking at his own finger, as if to channel his own instructions and thoughts through that finger. † Statements and questions like this in the book take up many debates and myths about the Sistine Chapel, like the rumor about Angelo lying on his back to complete the painting when really it was just portrayed that was because of a movie.Another stimulating testimony made in Andrew Graham-Dixon’s book, Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel, wa s a short exert from a poem Angelo wrote to his friend trying to be amusing saying, â€Å"My beard toward Heaven, I feel the back of my brain upon my neck. My loins have penetrated to my paunch†¦I’m not in a good place, and I’m no painter. † The obvious idea of the ceiling is the principle of humanity's need for Salvation as offered by God through Jesus. This is a visual representation of the need for a strong relationship with God.When studied by professional researchers and scientists, the picture unravels more interesting details than most would imagine. The entire sections of the painting tell the story from nine scenes that came out of the Book of Genesis. (Sistine) The visual effects of this project portray the idea the God created a perfect world then placed the humankind as part of this perfect world but humanity couldn’t handle it and they completed actions that deserved punishments as bad as death and separation from God.The painting goes o n to show the deeper troubles that humanity dug themselves into, and the punishments they endured to show they were becoming a disgrace. It goes on to show God sent their savior, Jesus, to better the world and rid them on their sins. Although most of the painting is linked back to the early church beliefs, the ceiling also has components that express the exact Renaissance thinking that required reconciling Christian theology with the belief of Humanism of the Renaissance. (Sistine. ) Angelo was an odd individual in his younger years.At the age of 17 he began dissecting corpses from the church graveyard. There were reasons to believe that Angelo had secret messages in the painting he completed for Pope Julius II. This was followed by the evidences that Angelo was also a anatomist and not just an artist. Angelo tried to hide this detail about him by destroying almost all of his anatomical drawings and notes. After many years of study with the evidence Angelo did not get a change to de stroy, scientists discovered that his drawings and notes were hidden in the painting of the Sistine Chapel.In the panel of God Creating Adam was a clearly and easily seen visual of the human brain in the cross section. (Fields. ) Scientists guess that Michelangelo surrounded God with a veil representing the human brain to suggest that God was giving Adam not only life, but also supreme human intelligence. (Fields. ) In the panel The Separation of Light from Darkness there is more evidence of Angelo having anatomical visuals in his painting. Leading up to God’s chest and developing though his throat, there is a clear depiction of a human spinal cord and brain stem that researchers and scientists have discovered.Some people have come to the understanding or belief that these hidden discoveries are just homage to God. (Fields. ) The lighting in the neck of God in one panel showing the clear visual of the brain is questioned because scientists do not understand how one can commit the clumsy act of highlighting the secrets he was trying to keep hidden. There is more that researchers have not discovered yet, but there will be more studying of the painting until what scientists believes to be everything hidden by Angelo is uncovered.Once the Sistine Chapel was completed Pope Julius II celebrated, and shortly after a few years later he passed away. After his passing, Michelangelo was asked to paint the wall behind the alter; he accepted this request and title this piece of art The Last Judgment. (Last Judgment. ) He started the project in 1536 and finally finished it in 1541. The picture comes out from the center of Christ, and Michelangelo had decided to show the many different saints included in the work holding the instruments of their martyrdom instead of the actual scenes of torture.Once Michelangelo completed this painting, the new Pope, Pope Paul III, had officially decided that since these paintings were in House of God that the naked people had to be c overed with some type of veils, loincloths, or any type of cloth as long as they were not being exposed to the public in this House of God. (Last Judgment. ) Angelo had been given an artistic license too not only portray images from the Bible in his paintings, but also in mythology. The genitalia in the fresco was covered in 1564 when Michelangelo passed about by the mannerist artist Daniele da Volterra, when the Council of Trent condemned nudity in religious art.Some artists have become famous just by using techniques used by Michelangelo and inspire such artists to try to achieve a greatness he has accomplished, and is undertaking today still even though he isn’t around anymore. Works Cited Esaak, Shelley. â€Å"Michelangelo – The Sistine Chapel Ceiling. † About. com Art History. N. p. , n. d. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. Fields, Douglas R. â€Å"Michelangelo Secret Message in the Sistine Chapel: A Juxtaposition of God and the Human Brain | Guest Blog, Scientific Amer ican Blog Network. Michelangelo Secret Message in the Sistine Chapel: A Juxtaposition of God and the Human Brain. N. p. , 27 May 2010. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. Katz, Jamie. â€Å"Smithsonian. com. † Smithsonian Magazine. N. p. , 10 Apr. 2009. Web. 22 Sept. 2012. â€Å"The Last Judgement. Images of a Masterpiece. † Last Judgement, Michelangelo's Sistine Masterpiece. N. p. , n. d. Web. 30 Sept. 2012. â€Å"The Last Judgment (Michelangelo). † Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Nov. 2012. Web. 27 Sept. 2012. â€Å"Sistine Chapel Ceiling. † Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Nov. 2012. Web. 26 Sept. 2012.

The Flea By John Donne - 997 Words

â€Å"The Flea†, by John Donne is a raunchy romantic poem that explains the speakers unyielding love that is represented by an insect. Using the insect to seduce his beloved after they both get bitten by the insect. As the speaker seduces his beloved, he involves her beliefs and values, intending to get his way with her no matter what it takes. But she doesn’t give in to his manipulation. As you read more deeply into the poem, we can also see the larger and symbolic meanings of this poem. For example the flea, sex, marriage, and religion. The flea is the main focus on of this poem, It’s size is considered small but it is large on the inside because it symbolizes their â€Å"marriage†. Since both of their bloods have been mingled, making the speaker seem desperate for her and continues to find a way to convince her. The audience will also get a sense the speaker’s character throughout the poem, he is confident, clever, charming, considerate, frustrated, and whiny. Sex is the main focus for the speaker. In line seven, Donne writes, â€Å" Yet this enjoys before it woo†, the flea is actually enjoying sucking her blood because that’s what flea’s do. All the speaker wants is to enjoy himself with her as much as the flea does when he sucks her blood. The speaker is very unreliable when it comes to love because that’s not what he’s looking for. If he was then he wouldn’t try to involve his beloved in premarital sex. He tries to convince her that she wouldn’t be committing a sinful act, andShow MoreRelatedThe Flea By John Donne883 Words   |  4 PagesJohn Donne was a contemporary of Shakespeare. His writing career occurred during the Renaissance. Poems about seduction were common during this era. The Flea by John Donne was a poem about a man urging his love interest into a sexual union with him by way of reason. In this time, premarital sex was considered a great sin and could get someone in a lot of trouble. The flea in this poem was used as a symbol of love and romance. A flea was one of the things that would least likely be used to describeRead MoreThe Flea By John Donne1558 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"The Flea† Essay â€Å"The Flea† by John Donne when looked at briefly is simply a poem about a man trying to seduce a woman into participating in pre-material sexual relationship with him. However, â€Å"The Flea† constructs many more important arguments than simply that one. The poem touches on religion, love, and sex in a non-romanticized way, contrasting the normal glamorized stance seen in most of poetry. Most of John Donne’s poems have either romantic themes or religious themes; â€Å"The Flea† has both. ItRead MoreThe Flea By John Donne1314 Words   |  6 Pagescliches about love such as, cheeks like roses or, hearts pierced by the arrows of love.. John Donne, a well known poet of that time period writes many poems about love, but none using all those tired, worn out cliches. Donne brings his poems to life using vivid imagery and elaborately sustained metaphors known as conceits. (The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. B 1260). In Donne s poem The Flea the reader gets to see more of a funny and amusing love poem, while his poem A Valediction:Read MoreThe Flea By John Donne Essay1497 Words   |  6 Pagesthe poem. The author John Donne has written many poems that could be interpreted in many ways, and are analyzed by many people in the United States and around the world. John Donne’s â€Å"The Flea†is a good example of a poem that can be analyzed for its physical and intellectual parts, and how they work together to make the poem what it is because it is descriptive, and can be interpreted in many ways. First, it is important to look at the physical parts of a poem. Donne’s â€Å"The Flea†is comprised of threeRead MoreThe Flea By John Donne1354 Words   |  6 Pagesmost notably that of intimacy. In John Donne’s poem â€Å"The Flea,† extended metaphor is used to explain that the act of intimacy does not matter whether it is performed before or after marriage. Also, explicit imagery is noticeable through the poem and outlines the underlying taboo topic being discussed. Another important detail, the flea within the poem is not only used as a comparison in the extended metaphor, but also as a symbol of innocence. In â€Å"The Flea,† Donne plainly spites the acceptance ofRead MoreThe Flea By John Donne Essay923 Words   |  4 Pagesimpression of â€Å"The Flea,† one does not expect an erotic love story. The title suggests a tiny insect may be the main focus of the poem, but this assumption proves to be incorrect. Using intense metaphors, ima gery, symbolism, and alliteration to perform his argument, the speaker is attempting to woo a lady in a rather repulsive romantic comedy approach. Throughout the couplets, the flea is personified and becomes symbolic of a much greater meaning. Although John Donne’s â€Å"The Flea† obviously discussesRead MoreEssay on The Flea by John Donne2357 Words   |  10 PagesThe Flea by John Donne â€Å"The Flea†, a witty poem of seduction and conceit, taken from John Donne’s â€Å"Songs and Sonets† is the poem that I have chosen to compare to â€Å"Song†, another poem of John Donne’s where he is passionately pleading with his wife not to be disheartened about his departure abroad. Both poems which belong to â€Å" Songs and Sonets†, written around the time of the 16th century, show that their title suggests they are both short poems, following the traditional form of a sonnetRead MoreThe Flea by John Donne Essay1059 Words   |  5 PagesThe Flea by John Donne In the poem The Flea, by John Donne, the speaker uses a peculiar analogy in order to persuade his beloved to engage in premarital intercourse with him. The poem is composed of three stanzas that tell a story in chronological order about a flea that has sucked the blood of the two subjects. It tells the reader how the speaker attempts to persuade his beloved not to kill the flea because it is their marriage bed and then tells of how the womanRead MoreThe Flea By John Donne And Easter Wings1412 Words   |  6 PagesIn the poems, â€Å"The Flea† by John Donne and â€Å"Easter Wings† by George Herbert use the literary device of a metaphor to convey the meaning of the poems. The use of metaphor by these two authors are essential to the themes of the poems. Metaphors are used to compare two different subjects to explain the poem. The metaphors in these poems draw from the central themes to help the reader understand the deeper meaning of the poem. â€Å"The Flea† uses the metaphor of the flea to explain the relationship of theRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem The Flea By John Donne1033 Words   |  5 Pagesnoticeable influence. For example, in the poem, â€Å"The Flea†, by John Donne, initially it referred to a flea biting the speaker but as the reader proceeds further the perspective changes from this flea into the larger picture, which is a humorous little debate whether the speaker and his beloved will partake in premarital sex or not. Donne chose to word the poem in a format very similar to Frost’s definition of poetry. Donne begins using the flea as an analogy and this translates into the persuasive