Women, Title IX and Film :: Sports Essays

Women, Title IX and Film When I was younger I can remember watching old movies with my mother every Sunday. I loved watching the dashing men sweep away the pretty women and the extravagantly cheesy music. However much I loved the romance part of the story, it always struck me as kind of funny the way the woman was usually a very passive part of the whole relationship making model. She waited for him to kiss her, and the (or I should really say perhaps then) the ball is in her court and she has the ability to make decisions. In countless movies the woman is mad at the man and so what does he do? He grabs her and kisses her passionately. I always thought that it looked like it hurt. Some guy mashing his face into yours when you really do not want to be kissed? Not pleasant. My point in all this is that if you look at movies like these and then watch, say, Bend it Like Beckham or Girl Fight, the woman is actively choosing her sport, her path in life, and her relationship. Women now have the right to be empowere d in film (despite the still pervading Hollywood kitsch) and on of these ways, is inherently, through sport. Sport empowers women. That is a proven fact, and for many of us Title IX babies, a no-brainer. The question is why? When Title IX was still a fresh, new thing, for women sport served as something once denied them that they could finally experience. It represented getting the ball and being able to play just like "one of the boys." Now women were on an even playing field, and that is always empowering. For these women it represented a chance more than anything else, but women of my generation get something else out of sport that makes the modern woman different. In films across the board, sport or no, the image of woman is changing. She is thinner, yes, to keep up with the Hollywood standard of the waif, but she is also fit and muscular. Jada Pinkett-Smith is my favorite example of the new Hollywood body. She has muscular definition in her body but she is still very feminine. Women are expected (not just in Hollywood) to go to the gym regularly and work out. A woman who is not physically fit is not as attractive in today's modern world and that is the truth.

How does Act 1, Scene 1 prepare the audience for the love theme of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”?

Act 1, Scene 1 prepares the audience for the rest of Shakespeare's â€Å"Twelfth Night† by introducing the central theme of love which runs throughout the play. Orsino, Duke of Illyria is immediately established as one of the protagonists, and it is clear that love is all he is willing to think about. Orsino is indulging himself thinking of love, but he is preoccupied with his own reactions, and doesn't take into account those of the object of his affections, Olivia. He has declared his love for Olivia, which sets up the storyline between them.Love Poem For Orsino it was love at first sight, which he explains through metaphor when one of his Lords, Curio, tries to change the subject to hunting. He explains by saying that when he first saw Olivia he was turned into a hart, and compares his desires for her to fell and cruel hounds that â€Å"E'er since pursue me†. Shakespeare has taken this idea from the Greek legend of Actaeon. In the legend, Actaeon was out hunting when he came across Diana, God of Hunting, bathing naked in the river. She turned him into a stag, and then his own hounds hunted him down and killed him. Shakespeare has used this idea to show Orsino's sense of self importance by how easily he can imagine himself in the role of Actaeon. Despite claiming to be this deeply in love, Orsino is sending his courtiers to woo Olivia on his behalf. As he is the Duke, he doesn't go himself because he doesn't want to risk the embarrassment of being rejected in person. In the first scene Valentine returns from Olivia's country estate with the response he received from her handmaid. He was not allowed in to talk to Olivia in person, as he was told Olivia was mourning the death of her brother by refusing to leave the house for seven years. He was told that for those seven years â€Å"like a cloistress she will veiled walk† and that once a day she would â€Å"water her chamber round with eye offending brine†. This means she was planning on wearing a veil as a closed order nun would, and cry in her bedroom every day. To do this for seven years seems to be a disproportionately long time, at that time the more normal period of grieving was six months or a year. Olivia has plunged into grieving with the same haste as Orsino has into love. The way in which Olivia grieves is in stark contrast to that of the other female protagonist, Viola. At the time the play is set, it would have been hard to be an independent women, as most women were looked after by their husband, family or employer. Both Olivia and Viola have been put into this situation by the death of their brothers, but they both cope with it in different ways. While Olivia becomes withdrawn, Viola, although initially devastated, immediately takes constructive action to get out in the world and take control of her own well being. She constructs a plan with the help of the Captain to become Cesario and disguise herself as a eunuch (a castrated male servant with a high pitched voice) to go to serve the Duke. You can read also Audience Adaptation Paper Olivia becomes dependant on the only remaining men in her life, but who are also the wrong sort of men. These men are Malvolio, her head servant, her uncle Sir Toby Belch, a drunkard, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Sir Toby's idiotic friend who he has brought to the household as a suitor for Olivia. She is letting her servants run the household for her and Sir Toby and Sir Andrew are getting away with the heavy drinking and irresponsible behaviour that would normally have got them thrown out the house. These are the only men she has seen since the death of her brother, so when she sees Viola/Cesario she falls for her, because compared to the men she has been with Viola/Cesario would seem to be perfect. One theme which is touched upon in the first scene and later recurs throughout the play is that love is seen to be destructive. While in the first scene Orsino claims that when he first saw Olivia he thought she â€Å"purged the air of pestilence†, Olivia talks of the plague in Act 1, Scene 5 as destructive. She says â€Å"even so quickly may one catch the plague?† to tell Viola/Cesario that she is falling in love. By comparing it to the plague she shows she does not want to fall in love, but is going to do nothing to stop it as she says â€Å"well, let it be†. Another comparison made to illustrate loves destructiveness is with the sea. Orsino again uses metaphors to make his point, comparing love to the sea. He says that the spirit of love â€Å"notwithstanding thy capacity, Receiveth as the sea†. What he means is that his love has the capacity of the sea, but nothing that enters retains its value, the sea and his love both destroying everything. He echoes this sentiment in Act 2, Scene 4 saying that his love is â€Å"all as hungry as the sea, and can digest as much†. In this scene, Shakespeare consciously echoes the words of his opening theme. In Act 2, Scene 4, Orsino continues to ponder the nature of love as he does in Act 1, Scene 1. He is questioning Viola/Cesario on who it is she has loved. She is trying to hint that it is him by saying they are of his complexion and his years. Orsino thinks that men are fickle and that Viola/Cesario shouldn't love a woman older than herself. He says â€Å"our fancies are more giddy and unfirm, more longing, wavering sooner lost and worn, than women's are†. He is saying that men are shallow, and that they will lose interest when a woman loses their looks, so men should always marry younger women. In Act 1, Scene 1, he shows how hard it is for him to keep interest, even when he is so in love it is all he can think about. The very first line of the play is â€Å"If music be the food of love, play on†. Orsino wants the music to stimulate thoughts of love, he wants more. In the last line of the scene this is also shown, when he says â€Å"away before me to sweet beds of flowers: love-thoughts lie rich when canopied with bowers†. He wants to maintain his heightened emotional state and he needs it to be artificially induced because eventually he will be doing it because he feels he has to, rather than because he wants to. He wants to continue in this state until â€Å"The appetite may sicken and so die†.

The Function of the Federal Reserve System in the US Economy

When countries issue currency, especially fiat currency that is not specifically backed by any commodity, it is necessary to have a central bank whose job it is to monitor and regulate the supply, distribution, and transacting of currency. In the United States, the central bank is called the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve currently consists of the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C., and twelve regional Federal Reserve banks located in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Kansas City, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, San Francisco, and St. Louis. Created in 1913, the history of the Federal Reserve represents the federal government’s   ongoing effort to achieve the goals of any central banking system — ensure a secure American financial system by maintaining a stable currency backed by the benefits of high employment and minimal inflation.   Brief History of the Federal Reserve System The Federal Reserve was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act. In crafting the landmark legislation, Congress was responding to a series of economic panics, bank failures, and credit scarcity that had plagued the nation for decades. When President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law on December 23, 1913, it stood as a classic example of an all-too-rare politically bipartisan compromise balancing the need for a consistently regulated centralized national banking system with the competing interests of established private banks backed by a strong â€Å"will of the people† populist sentiment. Over the more than 100 years since its creation, responding to economic disasters, such as the Great Depression in the 1930s and the Great Recession during the 2000s, have required the Federal Reserve to expand its roles and responsibilities. The Federal Reserve and the Great Depression As U.S. Representative Carter Glass had warned, years of speculative investments led to the disastrous â€Å"Black Thursday† stock market crash of October 29, 1929. By 1933, the resulting Great Depression had resulted in the failure of nearly 10,000 banks, leading newly inaugurated President Franklin D. Roosevelt to declare a banking holiday. Many people blamed the crash on the Federal Reserve’s failure to stop the speculative lending practices quickly enough and for its lack of an in-depth understanding of monetary economics necessary to implement regulations that might have lessened the devastating poverty resulting from the Great Depression.  Ã‚   In response to the Great Depression, Congress passed the Banking Act of 1933, better known as the Glass-Steagall Act. The Act separated commercial from investment banking and required collateral in the form of government securities for Federal Reserve notes. In addition, Glass-Steagall required the Federal Reserve to examine and certify all banking and financial holding companies. In a final financial reform, President Roosevelt effectively ended the long-standing practice of backing U.S. currency by physical precious metals by recalling all gold and paper silver certificates, effectively ending the gold standard. Over the years since the Great Depression, the duties of the Federal Reserve expanded significantly. Today, its responsibilities include supervising and regulating banks, maintaining the stability of the financial system and providing financial services to depository institutions, the U.S. government, and foreign official institutions. How Does the Federal Reserve System Work? The Federal Reserve system is overseen by a seven-member board of governors, with one member of this committee chosen as the chairman (commonly known as the Chairman of the Fed). The president of the United States is responsible for appointing Fed chairmen to four-year terms (with confirmation from the Senate), and the current Fed chair is Janet Yellen. (The regular members of the board of governors serve fourteen-year terms.) The presidents of the regional banks are appointed by each individual branchs board of directors. The Federal Reserve system serves a number of functions, which generally fall into a couple of categories: first, it is the Feds job to ensure that the banking system stays responsible and solvent. While this does sometimes mean that the Fed has to work with the three branches of government to think about explicit legislation and regulation, it more often means that the Fed works in a transactional sense to clear checks and to act as a lender to banks that want to borrow money themselves. (The Fed does this mainly to keep the system stable and is referred to as the lender of last resort, since the process is not really encouraged.) The other function of the Federal Reserve system is to control the money supply. The Federal Reserve can control the amount of money (highly liquid assets such as currency and checking deposits) in a number of ways. The most common way is to increase and decrease the amount of money in the economy via open-market operations. Open-Market Operations Open-market operations simply refer to the process of the Federal Reserve buying and selling U.S. government bonds. When the Federal Reserve wants to increase the money supply, it simply purchases government bonds from the public. This works to increase the money supply because, as the buyer of the bonds, the Federal Reserve is giving out dollars to the public. The Federal Reserve also keeps government bonds in its portfolio and sells them when it wants to decrease the money supply. Selling decreases the money supply because the buyers of the bonds give currency to the Federal Reserve, which takes that cash out of the hands of the public. There are two important things to note about open-market operations: first, the Fed itself isnt directly responsible for printing money. Printing money is handled by the Treasury, and there are multiple channels by which the money gets into circulation. (Sometimes, for example, the new money just replaces worn-out currency.) Second, the Federal Reserve doesnt actually create or issue the government bonds, it just handles them in secondary markets. (Technically, open-market operations could be conducted with a number of different assets, but it makes sense for the government to manipulate the supply and demand of an asset that was issued by the government itself.) Other Monetary Policy Tools Although not used nearly as frequently as open-market operations, there are other tools that the Federal Reserve can use to change the amount of money in the economy. One option is to change the reserve requirement for banks. Banks create money in an economy when they loan out customers deposits (since both the deposit and the loan count as money), and the reserve requirement is the percentage of deposits that banks have to keep on hand rather than lending out. An increase in the reserve requirement, therefore, restricts the amount that banks can lend out and thus reduces the money supply. Conversely, a decrease in the reserve requirement increases the number of loans that banks can make and increases the money supply. (This, of course, assumes that banks want to lend more when they are allowed to do so.) The Federal Reserve can also change the money supply by changing the interest rate that it charges banks when it acts as the lender of last resort. The process by which banks borrow from the Federal Reserve is called the discount window, and the interest rate that the Federal Reserve charges is called the discount rate. When the discount rate is increased, it is more expensive for banks to borrow in order to cover their reserve requirements. Therefore, a higher discount rate causes banks to be more careful about reserves and make fewer loans, which reduces the money supply. On the other hand, lowering the discount rate makes it cheaper for banks to rely on borrowing from the Federal Reserve and increases the number of loans they are willing to make, thus increasing the money supply. Decisions regarding monetary policy are handled by the Federal Open Market Committee, which meets approximately every six weeks in Washington in order to discuss changing the money supply and other economic issues. Updated by Robert Longley

NetBeans is Javas Popular Software Development Platform

NetBeans is a popular software development platform, mostly for Java, that provides wizards and templates to help developers build applications quickly and easily. It includes modular components across a wide range of tools and features an IDE (integrated development environment) that allows developers to create applications using a GUI. While NetBeans  is primarily a tool for Java developers, it also supports PHP, C and C and HTML5. NetBeans History NetBeans origins stem from a university project at the Charles University of Prague in the Czech Republic in 1996. Charmingly called Zelfi  IDE for Java (a takeoff on the programming language Delphi), NetBeans  was the first Java IDE ever. The students were enthused about it and worked to turn it into a commercial product. It In the late 90s, it was acquired by Sun Microsystems which  integrated it into its set of Java tools and then turned it over to open source. By June 2000, the original netbeans  site was launched. Oracle purchased Sun in 2010 and thus also acquired NetBeans, which continues as an open source project sponsored by Oracle. It now resides at  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹www.netbeans.org. What Can Netbeans Do? The philosophy behind NetBeans is to provide an extensibleIDE that provides all the tools necessary to develop desktop, enterprise, web and mobile applications. The ability to install plug-ins allows developers to tailor the IDE to their individual development tastes. In addition to the IDE, NetBeans includes the NetBeans Platform, a framework for building applications with Swing and JavaFX, the Java GUI toolkits. This means that NetBeans provides pluggable menu and toolbar items, helps manage windows and perform other tasks when developing a GUI. Various bundles can be downloaded, depending on the primary programming language you use (e.g,  Java SE, Java SE and JavaFX,  Java EE). Although it doesnt really matter, as you can pick and choose which languages to program with through the plug-in manager. Primary Features Swing GUI Builder:  Drag and drop Swing components to build an applications GUI.JavaFX UI toolkit: Work with JavaFX in the same way as Swing, easily incorporating its components.Developer Collaboration:  Work with other developers on using NetBeans through the Netbeans Community which includes forums, tutorials, training materials  and the NetBeans Dream Team, a group of committed enthusiasts.Netbeans Platform:  The modular NetBeans Platform provides APIs to help make desktop applications easier by handling some of the more common tasks involved in developing Swing applications. Netbeans Releases and Requirements NetBeans is cross-platform, meaning that it runs on any platform that supports the Java Virtual Machine including Windows, Mac OS X, Linus, and Solaris.   Although open source — meaning that it is run by the community  Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã‚  NetBeans adheres to a regular, rigorous release schedule. The most recent release was 8.2 in October 2016. NetBeans runs on the Java SE Development Kit (JDK) which includes the  Java Runtime Environment as well as a set of tools for testing and debugging Java applications. The version of the JDK required depends on the NetBeans version you are using.   All these tools are free.

Negative Effects of Cell Phones - 1731 Words

Technology is anything that people use to make a task easier. A cell phone is a type of technology that is a common thing to see in everyday life. The world and the people in it have gotten used to this technology. Cell phones are making the lives of an estimated two hundred sixty five million Americans (Natterson 103) and three billion worldwide (Natterson 103), easier. As useful as cell phones may be, there are negative effects in over using cell phones. Cell phone technology was first developed in the 1980’s, but cell phones became common in the early 1990’s (Firestone 24). As time progressed so did the cell phone’s technology. Cell phones became digital in the early 1990’s; making them more affordable and small enough to comfortably†¦show more content†¦DNA is damaged by mobile phone radiation. The stronger the intensity of the radiation the greater the damage is done to the brain. DNA damage increases the risk for cancer. The risk for a harm ful effect is small with short calls and get worse over time. To minimize the damage to DNA make shorter calls (Mobile Phone Safety). Swedish researcher Leif Salford, neurosurgeon, found that blood-brain barrier protects the brain from inflow of harmful substances from the bloodstream. It was disrupted by mobile phone microwaves during normal calls. There is a risk that disruption of this protection barrier may damage the brain (Mobile Phone Safety). When signal is weak, mobile phones irradiate. Avoid speaking in elevators and other confined places. Avoid calling close to children and pregnant women because the thin skulls of children increases brain tumor risk (Mobile Phone Safety). People should be very restrictive when using cell phones because scientific evidence has proved serious hazards like brain tumors (Mobile Phone Safety). People below 20 have a higher risk in getting cancer and should have mobile phones that allow SMS messages only (Mobile Phone Safety). Cell phones have also caused psychological problems to people. In Spain two 900/1800 MHz mobile phone base stations showed people with symptoms of depressive tendency, fatigue, sleeping disorder, difficulty in concentration, and loss of memory (Mobile Phones Brain Damage). Cell phones can aid in losing focus orShow MoreRelatedNegative Effects Of Cell Phones1318 Words   |  6 Pagesthe conclusion that there is a strong correlation between the usage of cell phones and personal health. Studies show that cell phones emit radiofrequency energy, which is a form of electromagnetic radiation and it is proven that radiation exposure to the human body is hazardous. Technology has its ups and downs, with that being said cell phones are a good example of how sometimes advancements can be good and bad. Yes, cell phones have a lot of fun things to do, from playing your latest and favoriteRead MoreNegative Effects Of Cell Phones1465 Words   |  6 Pagestremendously. Almost everyone has had a c ell phone since middle school age, or even younger. People spend an average of five hours on their phones a day from recent studies (Perez, 2017). Cell phones are a means of communicating with people more often and faster. The average cell phone user spends two hours a day using them. This shows that out of all the down time people have from school, jobs, or other activities, they are usually going to be on their cell phones. Almost everyone is addicted to havingRead MoreThe Negative Effects Of Cell Phones717 Words   |  3 Pages In todays technological era we rely heavily on technology, from our phones all the way to our Smart Tvs. However, peoples need to bring their smartphones with them everywhere they go has started to become a problem regarding the way we connect with others. We need better cell phone etiquette because without it the way people intermingle could completely change in a negative way. A lack of a stricter cell phone etiquette has led people to stop interactin g with each other, live their lives throughRead MoreNegative Effects Of Cell Phones1005 Words   |  5 Pagesthat were involved by the cause of having a cell phone. Mobile device has a great impact in the human race, by advancing in technology and causing harm in lives. Cell phone etiquette is not disrespecting a person by discarding the conversation and getting on the phone. Today’ s modern world people all around the planet have a cellular device, but do people really know how to use a cell phone? Why do teachers get so frustrated when a student is on their phone while there lecturing? People all aroundRead MoreNegative Effects Of Cell Phones707 Words   |  3 PagesAlmost everyone in the world owns a cell phone. In previous years, mobile devices did not exist. Surprisingly, people would have to use their house phone that everyone in their family shared or they would have to wait until they could the person and talk to them face to face. But, our technology just keeps get ting better. Cell phones allow people to communicate quicker and easier that they have become apart of people’s everyday lives. Sadly, there are many negative affects of always having our mobileRead MoreNegative Effects Of Cell Phones1192 Words   |  5 PagesIn this day and age, more than half of the worlds population owns and uses cell phones. It is a well-known fact that cell phones emit low doses of radiation each time one is used, however, people tend to brush it off and not think about the long-term effects it may have. Its only small doses, what harm can come from it? That is a question us cell phone users may ask ourselves, yet never really look into or research. Maybe its because we choose not to know the actual truth and just focus on theRead MoreNegative Effects Of Cell Phones1100 Words   |  5 Pagescreated the thing that runs the lives of many ---- a cell phone. For those living under a rock, cell phones are portable telephones that requires cellular network ( ATT, Verizon and Tmobile) to make and receive phone calls. For the first time ever, a generation of kids are going through their adolescence with smartphones. As stated by Pew Research Center, â€Å"75% of 12-17 year-olds now own cell phones, up from 45% in 2004† (Lenhart 1). As cell phones advanced over the years, the increase of adolescenceRead MoreNegative Effects of Cell Phone of Society1609 Words   |  7 PagesSteve Sheridan Professor Simakowicz 1st Draft Paper 13 April 2010 â€Å"Do Cell Phones Help or Hinder Society?† Times have changed tremendously in the last twenty five years in regards to how the world communicates with each other. The birth of new technology such as cell phones with internet capability, laptop computers, and even the recently released I-Pad has made communication with anyone outside of talking distance immediately accessible. Even though to many people this seems like a movement in theRead MoreNegative Effects Of Texting And Cell Phones894 Words   |  4 PagesTexting and cell phones have, of all age groups, likely affected kids the most. In one way, it has made young kids more socially awkward. These kids are being raised having more communication on social media portals and by texting much more often than face to face interaction. This problem will only get worse as we progress into the future. Children that are raised being able to front their problems and meet new people by using a phone will greatly lack the ability to deal with problems face to faceRead MoreNegative Ef fects Of Technology On Cell Phones807 Words   |  4 PagesWith the growth of new technology, society is becoming too dependent on cell phones. Although communication and information may be important over a screen, it may take away from interaction in society. Overuse can cause negative side effects when it is not available as well as take away the overall experience of life itself. Cellular technology has contributed to negative and positive factors. It is best to view each side and understand how to best use it for a healthy lifestyle. To begin with,

When I Was a Lad Free Essays

Throughout my life, a number of events have happened that I have never forgotten. None of these things are particularly important, but each of them have made such an impression on me that I have never been able to get them out of my mind. Each of them have remained seared on my memory. We will write a custom essay sample on When I Was a Lad or any similar topic only for you Order Now The first occurred when I was about five or six years old, every weekend my family and I would go into town to do the weekly shopping. My sisters and I would each be given a pound with which to buy an ice cream. If we had any change left over, we would go to a nearby sweet shop and buy a small pick ‘n’ mix. However, one day, we passed by a bookshop which was filled from floor to ceiling with shelves upon shelves of books and magazines. In the window, was the 1992 Beano Annual which I wanted more than anything in the world. I used to buy the Beano comic every week on the way home from school with the change from my dinner money. I pleaded with my parents to buy me it but they told me that I would have to save up my change from my ice cream every week until I had enough money to buy it myself. My elder sister had also seen a book she liked and so decided to save up her money as well. So every weekend I would purchase a small ice cream instead of a large one so as to receive more change. However, my sister still purchased a large ice cream so she received less change than me. After a month or two of saving, my father took my sister and I back to the bookshop. I was quite confident that I would have a bit of money left over and I was correct, after I had purchased the Beano Annual I had a pound to spare. However, when it came to buying my sisters book she was just under a pound short of purchasing it. I thought that it served her right for being so greedy by purchasing a large ice cream every week. However, she started to cry, right in the middle of the shop. People were turning around and staring at us, so my dad took my pound off me and gave it to my sister! I was outraged! I hadn’t had small ice creams all those weeks while she had large ones just so I could give my money to her! I stormed out of the shop and ran away as fast as I could, but my father soon caught up with me and gave me a good telling off before dragging me home. Now that I look back, I don’t see why I made such a big deal about it. The next thing that stands out in my mind, happened two or three years later when my family and I went on holiday to Majorca. We stayed in an apartment on the top floor of the building that was directly next to the beach. The sun beamed down on us every day that we were there so we were on the beach most days. The beach was in a secluded bay in Porta Pollenca and the water was a lot warmer than at any British beaches. A couple of days into the holiday, my elder sister and I rented a pedalo. A pedalo is a funny looking rowing boat that is sailed by means of pedals and steered by a sort of joystick. We decided to pedal out into the middle of the bay where there was a small rocky island that would only be able to hold about three people at a squeeze. It took about five minute to reach the tiny island and we decided to get out and sit on it. We sat and looked out back at the beach and talked for what must have been about five minutes. My sister looked at her watch and said that we should be going as our parents would be wondering where we were so we turned around to get back into the pedalo only to find that it had gone! We looked around the bay and saw that it had floated quite a long way away, we were stranded! None of us could swim very well so we couldn’t swim out to the pedalo. It was then that a large green crab crawled up onto the rock. My sister is afraid of anything with eight limbs, spiders and crabs alike, so she started to scream at the top of her voice and jump up and down, flailing her arms around. Everybody on shore started to point and stare at us. In the end, someone phoned the lifeguard and they came out and took us back to shore, it was so humiliating! It is memories like these that have shaped me into who I am today. I still have the 1992 Beano Annual up in the attic along with photographs of my holiday to Majorca. But in several years time, when these things are covered in layers of dust and are just about ready to fall apart, the memories that they have given me will live on for eternity in my mind, and when I’m old and senile, I can torture any grandchildren I may have by regailing them with tales of ‘when I was a lad’. How to cite When I Was a Lad, Papers

The Millers Tale Essay Example For Students

The Millers Tale Essay By examining the different elements of humour in The Millers Tale, show how Chaucer makes the comic tale work on different levels.  The principal reason for the vast difference in style of humour in The Millers Tale is derived from the fact that there was such a vast audience that Chaucer was catering for when writing these tales. There would have been great difference in the levels of intellect in the audience, so Chaucer needed to present a large degree of difference in the humour in order to appeal to the different types of audience. Essentially, there are two platforms from which the varying degrees of humour are delivered, and each caters for a different type of audience. One is Chaucer, the intellectual with a higher level of humour who presents the tale to us, and the Miller, the janglere and goliardeys who tells us the tale. We know there is a distinct difference between the two and the type of humour they present to us from when Chaucer sets himself apart from the Miller and his tale in The Millers Prologue, and apologises for what is to be said, Aviseth yow, and put me out of blame; And eek men shal nat maken ernest of game. It is thus obvious to the audience that the tale will contain varying types of humour, catering for its varied audience. There is the higher level humour presented to us through Chaucers presentation of the tale, and one example of this more intellectual humour is the literary parody in which form The Millers Tale is presented to us. The Millers Tale parodies the theme of courtly love, as it imitates generic conventions of a typical courtly love tale (such as its predecessor The Knights Tale). For example there is the whole mockery of the presentation of Alison, who would typically be the courtly lady, but through the description she is presented more like a country wench, the description of her is far from a chaste, virginal one we would expect, She was a primerole, a piggesnie, For any lord to leggen in his bedde, Or yet for any good yeman to wedde. There is also the example of Absolon and his ridiculous portrayal as a courtly lover vowing for the lady, although he would be better suited as the heroine! This is shown through the ridiculous portrayal of him, where he is given qualities such as, Crul was his heer, and as the gold it shoon, his eyen greye as goos, and he song som time a loud quinible. These qualities would be more apt to that of a courtly heroine, and the general nonsensical portrait of him as a courtly gentleman is a parody in itself. These literary parodies would only been appreciated by more intellectual audience, as it relies on certain previous knowledge of the generic conventions of courtly love tales and the humour is derived from ridiculing them. Another humorous feature, which would generally be appreciated only by the more intellectual audience, is the literary irony. For example the epithets used to describe a character throughout, for example hende Nicholas, although by the end, due to events in the narrative, we infer a change in meaning on the word. For example, hende Nicholas at the start of the tale suggests a useful, courteous and kind gentleman to John, but ironically by the end it suggests Nicholas skilful, lustful and successful advances to Alison. This shifting of nuances creates an ironic tone as the exact same language changes the audiences inference of what is being said, especially in the case of hende Nicholas. .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416 , .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416 .postImageUrl , .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416 , .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416:hover , .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416:visited , .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416:active { border:0!important; } .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416 { 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; } .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416:active , .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416 .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; } .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416 .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u993ec7603368510cc05b8198a1024416:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Growth after Loss EssayThe tale is full of dramatic ironic moments, which would appeal to a wider audience, not just the more intelligent audience; these are based on events that occur in the narrative so little previous knowledge of generic conventions or a high grasp of linguistic knowledge is required on the audiences part, simply a reasonably close following to the narrative. This is why this humour opens up the comedy of the tale to a wider audience. Moments of real dramatic irony in the tale include Alisons response to Nicholas initial advances, I wol nat kisse thee, by my fey! This turns out to be highly ironic as Nicholas obtains his sexual desires only soon after this idle threat of chastity. Another, more humorous example of this arises from Nicholas duping of John, through heavily ironic flattery to John, Thou art so wys, it needeth thee nat teche. This is humorous in its irony, as Nicholas has just previously told John what to do exactly and how to do it; the fact that sely John sees himself as intelligent would be humorous to a wide audience. This seemingly intelligent level of humour stands alongside the extremely simple slapstick, almost visual (through language and imagery) type of humour we are given through the platform of the Miller. This would be more appealing to the less intelligent audience, as this bawdy, slapstick humour requires little or no thought. For example, the incident in which Absolon pokes Nicholas amidde his ers with the hoote koulter. This coarse slapstick humour is included by Chaucer through the Miller in order to please the less intelligent audience, this would be regarded somewhat as cheap thrills to a modern audience. There is also the type of humour that comes from mocking and laughing at the characters. Again this level of humour would appeal equally to a less intelligent audience, as it doesnt rely on previous audience knowledge; and a more intelligent audience who appreciate the fabliau genre of the tale. This form of humour is particularly effective in the tale, as we dont form a strong empathetic or sympathetic bond with any of the characters. One of the reasons for this is because we are told the tale in the 3rd person, so we never get a chance to become close or truly empathise with them, unlike if the tale was in the first person. Another reason is the nature of the tale; the fabliau genre of the tale is typically the same normal narrative with the same type of characters (ie the cuckhold, the student) so its hard to empathise with a tale with typical generic conventions, such as fabliaux tales. Examples of this laugh at characters humour includes the general mocking of Absolon in general and his ridiculous nature and love-longinge. Also, the audience laughs at John as he is cuckholded, and Nick is also the butt of jokes when he gets his painful comeuppance from Absolon, And Nicholas is scalded in the towte. The theme of crudeness and innuendo is also a form of humour that would typically be appreciated by the less intelligent audience, and this features frequently in the tale through the platform of the Miller. The tale is littered with coarse and sexual language, the use of the word queynte at the end of successive lines with very different meanings. This crudeness would be welcomed with shocked hilarity to the audience of the day. The less intelligent, more common audience would generally have appreciated the coarse and vulgar language more. In conclusion, it is evident that there is a vast variety of humour in the tale, which appeals to the vast audience. These are essentially given to us through two platforms, the Miller and Chaucer, the Miller usually providing laughs for a less intelligent audience whereas Chaucer provides humour for a more intelligent audience. For some of the humour to work, it relies on an attentive audience, for example the more intellectual humour such as the literary parody and the irony, it expects some previous knowledge in order for it to be appreciated; however, some of the crude slapstick humour only requires a loose following of the narrative. The vast type of humour all works on different levels in order to appeal to great diversity in the audience, so there is humour for everyone in this tale.