The Romantic Comedy Genre

The Romantic Comedy Genre If even half of the projects picked up this year actually get the green light, the first decade of the next millennium may be known as the Romantic Comedy Decade. Sales totals for the genre surged ahead of former rivals Action-Adventure and Science Fiction, landing squarely in the coveted fourth spot [below Comedy, Drama and Thriller]. There was a 50 per cent increase in the number of romantic comedy scripts bought by studios in 1998 compared to the previous year. Examples of films in this period are Four weddings and a Funeral (UK; 1994), My Best Friends Wedding (1997), Shakespeare in Love (UK/US, 1998) and There is Something about Mary (1998). Each year from 1981, the trend is towards a much higher volume of production with especially sustained activity from 1997-9 (Krutnik 2002, p10). Romantic Comedy imports from US also increased from mid-1990s. Films such as the international success Notting Hill (1999) and the Australian-French co-production Green Card (1990) encouraged Hollywood involvement in co-productions. Examples are Sliding Doors (UK/US, 1998) and Bridget Jones Diary (France/UK/US, 2001). Most of the US-British partnership ventures, however, are adaptations of prestige literary or dramatic properties targeted at international audiences (Krunik 2002, p132), including Sense and Sensibility (UK/US; 1995) and Emma (UK/US; 1996). What exactly is Romantic Comedy? How is it defined in order to help people to understand what it actually is? Romantic Comedy: a genre, a family of genres (marriages, manners, screwball), a category of production and marketing, a category of analysis. Definition, even delimitation, is difficult or impossible because all Hollywood films (except some war films) have romance and all have comedy. A workable subset romantic comedy might refer to those films in which romance and comedy are the primary components as crime, war, etc (Krunik 2002, p132) As Handerson said, the word romantic comedy not only is a particular type of a story on two lovers but it also circulates as something of a free-floating signifier that can designate a bewildering array of possible combinations of sex and comedy (Krunik 2002, p 133). Billy Mernit, who is a famous author of romantic comedy, assigns the success of romantic comedy which has continued since the 1980s to its ability to mix with other film genres. Hybridity is by no means a new development within Hollywood genre films, and it is certainly no stranger to romantic comedy (Krunik 2002, p133). Examples are Ball of Fire (1941), in which romantic comedy and elements of the gangster films are combined, I Married a Witch (1942) joins romantic comedy and supernatural fantasy and Too Hot to Handle (1938) combines romantic comedy with aviation adventure. Though there are many exceptions that prove the rule (e.g., the thoroughly old-fashioned Pretty Women), contemporary mainstream audiences seem amenable to movies that mix it up. And this is true of your buyers (the studios); a romantic comedy that promises crossover potential is more likely to pique their interest than a straight-up traditional one (Mernit, B) Pretty Women is a film which is female-centred, pure straight romantic comedy appeals to women whereas the cross-genre film has broader audience. What is more, some of new romances have the elements of sporting backgrounds. For instance, Bull Durham (1998), The Cutting Edge (1992), The American President (1995) and Bulworth (1998). In addition, another trend since 1990s has been the extension of the romantic comedy process to gay relationships (Krunik 2002, p 136). Gay scenarios have been combined within comedies aiming at broader audiences, such as The Next Best Thing (2000), The Object of My Affection (1998) and As Good as It Gets and Chasing Amy (1997). Therefore, it can be said that contemporary romantic has been reconstructed for audiences based on age, ethnicity and sexual preference. In romantic comedies, the real subject is the power of love. Love is not merely the catalyst for action in a romantic comedy, it is the shaper of the story arc. Although many romantic comedies seem to initially set up their protagonists eventual mate as their antagonist, in most cases love itself is the antagonist. Wrestling with love can force a character to grow or to resist growth, but either way, loves effect on the central character is what drives the story. Billy Mernit Heterogeneity and hybridity (Spicer 2001, p184) are the prominent features of masculinity in contemporary British cinema. It means that the range of male forms is much broader than ever before. One of the major ways by which identity is able to be reconstructed is through the mass media as this provides an outlet whereby the expression of alternative identities can be communicated. The media therefore becomes a focus whereby different expressions of gender identity can be expressed and debated. In recent years, there have been rapid changes in many ways within the politics, society and culture. There are many significant reasons for these changes. As the result of these changes there were crucial impacts on social movements. Feminism is often said to be one of the most well known social movement. The key elements and developments of both feminism and cultural discourses are closely related to each other. Question arises at this point, such as what it means to be a woman and man, how are feminine and masculine identities constructed and what is the nature of femininity, masculinity? Not only to feminists but people such as intellectuals, politicians, artists and of course ordinary women and men is interested in such struggles within the culture and society. Since, those struggle occurs when people characterises their existence by repeating the same routine within peoples daily lives. This section will examine the key elements on sex and gender to elucidate the cultural meaning within the media. Gender is a way in which social practice is ordered. In gender processes, the everyday conduct of life is organized in relation to a reproductive arena, defined by the bodily structures and processes of human reproduction. This arena includes sexual arousal and intercourse, childbirth and infant care, bodily sex difference and similarity (Connell 1995, p71). For Judith Butler, who is an American philosopher and has contributed to the fields of feminism, queer theory, political philosophy and ethics, the various manifestation of gender in culture are driven by the self-same expressions deemed to be its consequences (Butler, 1990, p25) is accepted as gender is driven by performance, or the very activity of presentation, it is therefore dependent on what and how this is currently expressed by the individual that, ultimately, constitutes the crucial determining factor, and not an all-embracing universal disposition. In this sense, Butler sees gender as a regulatory fiction that is sustained by performative acts. Due to the fact that the choices an individual can potentially make in relation to gender are restricted thanks to ongoing cultural norms and assumptions, a person is therefore presented with a limited choice of possible identities. Individuals are thereby obliged to follow a course that fits the male/female dichotomy through perform ing and conforming to prevailing gender stereotypes. Furthermore, if the gender is socially constructed the relations between sex and gender become more unstable which makes gender independent from sex. As butler puts it in her writing that, gender is free-floating artifice which culturally constructed, indeed perhaps sex was already gender, so that the sex/gender distinction is actually not a distinction at all (Butler, 1990 p7). Butler suggests that it is possible to have a designated female body and not to show traits generally considered feminine, in other words, one may be a masculine female or a feminine male. One way of challenging such assumptions, Butler suggests, is to encourage awareness of these limitations by the creation of alternative gender scenarios that can lead to a more genuine realisation of ones identity. In effect, this provides for greater flexibility and range of options by which a person is able to construct a unique individuality. The fashion world definitely had the great impact on gender identification. It has been the case that distinctions of the gender are made when looking at fashion magazines such as masculine male and feminine female. The stereotypes of the gender role are repeatedly shown in the advertisements, fashion runways. As if it is saying that this how men and women should look like thus it limits our choice. These examples that I am going to give show how some of Butlers ideas have been taken up in a practical manner. Tailored jacket, bow tie and so forth have been socially accepted for mens clothing. However wearing mens clothing item such as oversized tailored jacket or a bow tie become as a fashion trend for womens clothing in recent years. This indicates from my point of view, that there are no such assumptions or rule for the style of gender identity. There are no set of rules for wearing clothes in order to represent certain genders identity. However there are social taboos which limit people to choose their own identity. But by looking images or photographs in magazines gender is not something fixed it is actually transformable as it shifts in style time to time. Thus, it can be explained that it is challenging the male dominance by reducing the assumption of the cultural meaning of the gender and sex to the level of fashion and style. Another example is how the boundary of men and women has been blurred. First example is a skinny male fashion model, what I found interesting in this example is that how assumption of the male body has been changed. Within the fashion industry, where their fashion products should be sold in order to make a profit. Traditional male fashion models in the past showed strong masculine male body to represent their products. Furthermore, second example is a photo shot of male fashion model by PRADAs spring/fall collection. As I explained of skinny male models above, PRADA also chooses skinny male model. But this time the model is wearing a trousers and a skirt at the same time. This also can be explained as it is breaking the traditional gender stereotype. The formula which says that I dont wear a skirt therefore I am male I am male therefore I dont wear a skirt fails in this image. Again it is just the style and fashion which blurs the boundary of fixed gender and sex .These examples above show how some of Butlers ideas have been taken up in a practical rather than passive way to meaningfully challenge how the public view gender to the extent that the younger generation are now coming to accept a more ambivalent attitude towards sex and gender. Moreover, androgynous models seem to becoming more common in the media a further sign that boundaries are becoming permeable. All societies have cultural accounts of gender, but not all have the concept of masculinity. In its modern usage the term assumes that ones behaviour results from the type of person one is. That is to say, an unmasculine person would behave differently: being peaceable rather than violent, conciliatory rather than dominating, hardly able to kick a football, uninterested in sexual conquest, and so forth (Connell 1995, p67). Perhaps we are aware of masculinity than ever before as it has become one of the interests that have been analysed since mid 1980s. Definitions of masculinity have mostly have taken our cultural standpoint for granted, but have followed different strategies to characterise the type of person who is masculine (Connell 1996, p68). Essentialist focuses on the core of masculine and their lives whereas positivist finds out what men actually are. Normative definition is a standard and explains that masculinity is that men should be. Semiotic definition, however, is that masculinity is non-femininity so that the level of personality is limited. Rather than attempting to define masculinity as an object (a natural character type, a behavioural average, a norm), we need to focus on the processes and relationships through which men and women conduct gendered lives. Masculinity, to the extent the term can be briefly defined at all, is simultaneously a place in gender relations, the practices through which men and women engage that place in gender, and the effects of these practices in bodily experience, personality and culture'(Connell 1996, p71). A concern of much early masculinity scholarship was to highlight the range and diversity of male identities that exist both within society as a whole and in specific settings (Crew 2003, p27). It means that there is class difference between men and the power that they have masculinities in working-class and middle-class to different experiences of capitalist working practice (Tolson 1977; Willis 1977). Tolson described masculinity in working-class as characterised by collective recognition and solidarity, physical toughness and presence, bravado, confrontation, anti-authority sentiment, and the avoidance of feelings (Crew 2003, p27). By contrary, masculinity of middle-class was described as moral dignity, emotional restraint, respectability and individualised notions of self-discipline, ambition and competitiveness (Crew 2003, p27). The interweaving of masculinity and class was most clearly illustrated in Paul Willis (1977) ethnography of a group of working-class lads. Most striking was how the lads associated different types of work with different genders such that they valorised their own identities and the futures that awaited them explicitly masculine terms (Crew 2003, p27). For example, it is both shop floor workers and managers in middle-class who construct a masculine hierarchy in which physical labour is at the summit (Roper 1994: 106). Managers find it hard to show their masculine position and masculinity in their work. It was suggested by Collison and Hearn (1996) that similarly, whilst shop floor workers reject the idea of promotion because it would compromise their masculine self-images (Crew 2003, p27), men working in office also are endangered by what they think of their work as unmasculine. What is more, it is important to see the difference here between what men want to be and what they really are. masculine identities are lived out in the flesh but fashioned in the imagination, with cultural representations providing the repertoire of cultural forms upon which fantasies are cast (Dawson 1991: 118). Masculine heterosexuality somewhat in line with the laddish personalities they were ascribed in the press (Crewe 2003, p 128). They are certainly not macho, overbearing or aggressive: nor did they exhibit the emotionally inhibited toughness of Ropers (1994) organisational men (Crew 2003, p 128). There are two social practices that reinforce oppressive, discriminatory forms of heterosexuality are homophobia and the sexual objectification of women (Pease 2000, p76). The term homophobia is created by The Gay Liberation Movement to identify the fear of homosexuality. According to Kirk and Madsen (1989:26-7), hetero sexual men dislike gays because they believe that homosexuality is caused by sinfulness, mental illness or recruitment (Pease 2000, p 76). It means that homosexuality is a distortion: gay men are evil and corrupted. Most heterosexuals have this misidentification and misconception as they have a negative image of the gay world. Sedgwick (1985:1) used the term homosocial to describe the non-sexual social bonds between men and to analyse how these social bonds keep men in power (Pease 2000, p77). The inability to recognise any homosexual impulses in oneself causes men to project all homosexuality desires outward on to gay men (Kupers, 1993:49) (Pease 2000, p77). Therefore, homophobia is seen as caused by hidden homosexuality. Many men are not aware of flaws or suspects of their heterosexuality. So if heterosexual men regard themselves as normal, homosexual men become abnormal. Heterosexual men try to avoid doing anything that other men might interpret as effeminate or unmanly. Men fear that any intimacy between men may sully their sexual identity (Pease 2000, p 78). Most heterosexual men are attracted by womens bodies and this objectification is the process by which men sees the woman as a thing or an object and fixation to the process of focusing on parts of the female body (Buchbinder, 1987:65-6) (Pease 2000, p84). Heterosexual men are aware of sexism and they often feel torn between their sexual desire and their awareness that their expressed fantasies about women can be experienced as oppressive by women (Horowitz and Kaufman, 1987:81) (Pease 2000, p84). Objectification is one of the key processes in mens sexual relationships with women, in which often a part of the women is seen to represent the whole (Kaufman, 1993: 124) (Pease 2000, p84). Heterosexual men have not done any reflective writings about their sexual desires: Rich (1983:66) has also challenged men to say why they like pornography, whilst gay men have challenged heterosexual men to be up front about their sexuality (Stoltenberg, 1991: 8) (Pease 2000, p85). In part these changes reflect the present state of British film-making which has become decentred and eclectic, lacking studio infrastructure or dominant producers of the earlier period (Spicer 2001, p184). Since 1970s, British film production has recovered and a new generation of film producers has become known that grips a more commercial cinema. The arrival of the multiplexes encouraged revival in cinema-going (Spicer 2001, p184) in all UK. Most of cinema-goers are young people, but ABC1 is the major audience who frequently do cinema-going. The balance between men and women is equal. However, cinema-going will never return to its former importance as a leisure pursuit, but film viewing continues to be a significant part of popular culture with the majority of films watched on television or on video (Spicer 2001, p185). The use of DVD and internet help to increase consumption of film viewing and it eventually makes cinema remain a popular and influential medium, among all classes and age groups and representation of masculinity (Spicer 2001, p185). It has developed from successful British films put in to a national image culture. This section will look at various complex types of masculinity in contemporary British Cinema and give examples for each type. James Bond has been the most enduring post-war British film hero in twenty films spanning thirty-eight years (Spicer 2001, p185). Films that represent Bonds heroic masculinity are A View to a Kill (1987) where Roger Moore re-created Bond as an old-style debonair hero, more polished and sophisticated (Spicer 2001, p185) and The World is Not Enough (1999). He continues to be a hero who keeps the masculinity of traditional male adventurer. There is a new man concept which emerged within commercial culture, in particular, within retailing, advertising, and the early formation of the UK mens magazine market (Crew 2003, p27) and it was in many ways driven by the discovery of a new market (Seidler 1997, p8). The formation of new man imagery has developments in and associated with menswear play an important role. Together with the reshaping of the mens toiletries and grooming products markets, development in menswear markets set some of the big terms for the emergence of the new man imagery (Nixon 1996, p31). The new man concept is the creation of imagery that represented men in ways that were more narcissistic, self-conscious, emotionally expressive, domesticated and feminine than conventional iconography of patriarchal authority, action and machismo (Brannon 1976; Goffman 1979; Wenick 1987) (Crew 2003, p 31). Nixon said the new man imagery was most important in that it represented a loosening of the binary opposition between gay and straight-identified men and extended the space available within the representational regimes of popular consumption for an ambivalent masculine identity (Nixon 1996: 202) (Crew 2003, p 31). The New Man was an alternative image to the macho tough guy, embracing female roles and qualities, a vulnerable nurturer in touch with his emotions, but also rather narcissistic (Spicer 2001, p 187). Hugh Grant in two romantic comedy films embodied the New Man: Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and Notting Hill (1999). Both films show the gentle, low-rent Man About Town, lovably awkward, tongue-tied, endlessly self-deprecating and sexually naà ¯ve (Spicer 2001, p 187). The independence and the power of women in films like Four Weddings and Notting Hill made Grant show more feminine sides. This is manifested in his insecurity and compliance, his lack of ambition and his desire for stability and heterosexual union, thereby fulfilling his supportive New Man credentials (Spicer 2001, p187). The type of the damaged man appears so frequently in recent British cinema and it has become the most representative image (Spicer 2001, p195). Shallow Grave (1994), Jude (1996) and Heart( 1998) are the performances of Christopher Eccleston who showed the figure of the damaged man with his gaunt features and suffering eyes (Spicer 2001, p 195). Mike Leighs Naked (1993) shows that the underclass male is often irreparably damaged by social disintegration and the film deepened this paradigm into an existentialist nightmare (Spicer 2001, p196). Mark Renton in Trainspotting is perhaps the most representative contemporary male: young, alienated, but also a chameleon, neither hero, villain, conformist or rebel. He is the product of a culture that is decentred and heterogeneous, no longer recognising clear national, ethical or sexual boundaries, where forms of masculinity are becoming increasingly hybrid and audiences delight in the knowingness and self-referentiality of popular culture (Spicer 2001, p 204). Contemporary British cinema has capability to produce positive forms. In Affairs to Remember, Bruce Babington and Peter Evans define romantic comedy as a genre that centres on the couple, celebrating the passionate but hopefully companionate love that brings them together, and typically ending at the moment of passage into the responsibilities of marriage (Babington and Evans 1989:234). (Spicer 2004, p78). In Britain, successful romantic comedy films since the revival are If Only (Maris Ripoll, 1998), Fanny Elvis (Kay Mellor, 1998), Sliding Doors (Peter Howitt, 1997) and Hugh Grant films. Hugh Grant is arguably the most successful current British star, famous throughout the world, able to sell a film on the strength of his name alone (Spicer 2004, p77). The revival of British romantic comedy is linked with popularity that Grant has. Grants films such as Notting Hill (Roger Michell, 1999), Four Weddings and a Funeral (Mike Newell, 1994), Bridget Jones Diary (Sharon McGuire, 2001) and About a Boy (Chris and Paul Weitz, 2002) share a central characteristic: the reluctance to commit, and yet the need to find love meaningful and central to well-being and happiness (Spicer 2004, p77). In Bridget Jones Diary, Grant was No More Mr Nice Guy (Spicer 2004, p83), and his bare-chested in tight leather trousers was photographed in womens magazines to show his new and more muscular body. Hugh Grant plays Renee Zellweggers boss at the publishing company, Daniel Cleaver, sophisticated, sexy professional with long, flowing dark locks and rakish hair (Spicer 2004, p 83). Cleaver is another familiar archetype, the Byronic anti-hero. The essence of the type is its fascinating eroticism (Spicer 2004, p83). The scene where he is undressing Bridget and he says, Silly little boots, silly little dress and these fuck me absolutely enormous pants. Dont apologise, I like them. Hello Mummy! Thats all him. Id have written What the fuck are those knickers? or something similar. He fooled around a lot on Bridget because it was in line with his own style of naughtiness. (Curtis in Raphael 2002s:13) (Spicer 2004, p 83). Some judged that he, like many Byronic males, was more attractive than tedious virtue (Spicer, p84), Daniel is has more charisma than dull Darcy.

Pregnancy and Advanced Maternal Age

Pregnancy and Advanced Maternal Age As more women focus on their careers, more women are getting pregnant and having children after the age of 35 years old, which means in the medical field that they are placed in a group of mothers that are classified as being of advanced maternal age. Not that many years ago most of the women if they were able to conceive, would not carry the child to term or would die before the baby was born, but because of advances in medical technology most of these women easily get pregnant and have normal pregnancies; however there are some issues and risks involved when having a baby during your later childbearing years. As women age, they become less fertile and the ovaries do not always release an egg each month during the menstrual cycle which can be a cause of infertility. As you age there is also an increased risk that the baby will have a genetic disorder, like Downs Syndrome. There are always concerns for the mother and fetus during pregnancy, but for the woman who has hit advanced maternal age she will be specially monitored for problems related to her age. The risk of miscarriage increases to about 1 in 4 at the age of 35 and 1 in 3 after the age of 45, with the majority of these caused by a genetic problem with the baby. The advanced maternal age mother is more then twice as likely to develop high blood pressure or diabetes during her pregnancy as a younger woman under 35 years of age. There is also an increased risk of placental abruption and placenta previa in older mothers. Regular checkups during the pregnancy are always important, but with the mother of advanced maternal age checkups s hould be started earlier and more tests will be provided to monitor the fetus. Common tests offered to mothers over the age of 35 are blood test called AFP, triple screen, quad screen and/or integrated tests, which is done between 15 to 18 weeks pregnant and measures several different substances in your blood to look for a problem in the babies spine or signal a possible genetic problem. Another more invasive test called Amniocentesis and Chorionic villi sampling are tests used to check for genetic problems with the baby. Amniocentesis is done by drawing away a volume of amniotic fluid by inserting a needle, usually guided with ultrasound, through the mothers skin where it crosses the uterine wall into then amniotic sac where the baby and fluid reside. It is most often done in the third trimester to test for lung maturity when there is a danger in allowing a high-risk pregnancy to continue and at 15 weeks to do genetic testing. Chorionic Villous Sampling (CVS) is a technique that us es a needle through the cervix (a vaginal approach) to biopsy some chorionic tissue (placental tissue). The cells retrieved can be tested for genetic abnormalities, yielding the same information that amniocentesis provides, but over a month earlier. With all tests there comes increased risks and worrying for the patient and family, teaching is especially important during these times. With the more invasive testing there comes an increased risk of miscarriage and then waiting for the results can also cause anxiety Not all is negative for the mother who is of advanced maternal age, these women are usually more educated, financially stable and have good healthcare, and they are usually in good relationships with extended family support. Most women of advanced maternal age are encouraged to have genetic counseling prior to pregnancy to determine if they are at risk of having a baby with a genetic disorder such as Down syndrome and so therefore are more educated regarding these issues and better able to make decisions that might effect themselves or the future of the baby. Women of advanced maternal age should be provided the same instructions for prenatal care as a younger mother, such as to see her provider before getting pregnant and continue with checkups as scheduled. Like any other pregnant mother she should take a multivitamin everyday, eat a variety of healthy foods, plenty of rest and exercise. Teaching should be done when to call the doctor, such as having bleeding with or without pain, severe headache, problems with eyesight, severe swelling of the face, hands, ankles and feet, any fluid leaking from the vagina and having contractions before her due date. Because of all medical advances that have been made, mothers of advanced maternal age can safely get pregnant and carry the baby to term, these mothers are really just like any other pregnant women, but because of their age will need to be monitored a little more carefully for risks that could affect any pregnant women.

Shakespeares King Lear - A World too Cruel? :: King Lear essays

King Lear - A World too Cruel? King Lear is at once the most highly praised and intensely criticized of all Shakespeare's works. Samuel Johnson said it is "deservedly celebrated among the dramas of Shakespeare" yet at the same time he supported the changes made in the text by Tate in which Cordelia is allowed to retire with victory and felicity. "Shakespeare has suffered the virtue of Cordelia to perish in a just cause, contrary to the natural ideas of justice, to the hope of the reader, and, what is yet more strange, to the faith of chronicles."1 A.C. Bradley's judgement is that King Lear is "Shakespare's greatest work, but it is not...the best of his plays."2 He would wish that "the deaths of Edmund, Goneril, Regan and Gloucester should be followed by the escape of Lear and Cordelia from death," and even goes so far as to say: "I believe Shakespeare would have ended his play thus had he taken the subject in hand a few years later...."3 Many critics have sworn that the story is too fantastic and cruel to be true and that it should be viewed only as an allegory or fantasy. Yet Johnson called it a "just representation of the common events of human life" and C.J. Sisson has cited historical evidence from the lives of several men which closely resembled Lear's division of his kingdom and tragic rejection by his daughters. Despite its undeniable greatness, throughout the last four centuries King Lear has left audiences, readers and critics alike emotionally exhausted and mentally unsatisfied by its conclusion. Shakespeare seems to have created a world too cruel and unmerciful to be true to life and too filled with horror and unrelieved suffering to be true to the art of tragedy. These divergent impressions arise from the fact that of all Shakespeare's works, King Lear expresses human existence in its most universal aspect and in its profoundest depths. A psychological analysis of the characters such as Bradley undertook cannot by itself resolve or place in proper perspective all the elements which contribute to these impressions because there is much here beyond the normal scope of psychology and the conscious or unconscious motivations in men.

The Prospects for a National Missile Defense :: Research Papers

The Prospects for a National Missile Defense Imagine this scenario: approximately fifteen intercontinental ballistic missiles are unintentionally launched from Russia. The missiles are equipped with several nuclear warheads, and their final target is the United States. The United States already possesses an early-warning system and thus detects the missiles more than twenty minutes before they land. However, even though they can detect the missiles, the United States has no means of defending itself from them. If even one of the warheads lands inside the United States, the consequences will be devastating. Hundreds of thousands will perish, millions more will suffer life-altering injuries and diseases, and the targeted city will lie in ruins. The prospect of a ballistic missile attack has been a fear in the United States since the 1950s, and that concern has been renewed with the end of the Cold War. Currently nations have limited means of protecting themselves. Both Russia and the United States have the bounded capability to d efend against short-range missiles, but neither can protect their territory from intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). As a result of a growing concern in the United States, Congress has pushed for a national missile defense system. The purpose of a national missile defense system is to destroy a ballistic missile launched on the US before it can ever reach it. If an operational national missile defense system were implemented, the United States would theoretically be able to thwart any ballistic missile attack on any of its fifty states. Two questions must be answered, however, before the United States begins the implementation of a national missile defense system. First, how feasible and reliable is the technology of the system? Second, assuming that the defense system would be operational and could protect the United States against a ballistic missile attack, what implications would such a system hold for international security? That is, would it serve as a stabilizing or destabilizing factor? This paper will serve to show that the technology for NMD is feasible when its technical components are looked at individually, and it is only a matter of years before a national missile defense system could be minimally operational. However, if countermeasures are taken against an NMD system, it will never be completely successful in a ballistic missile attack. Finally, regardless of its feasibility an NMD system would destabilize international security and could possibly even reinitiate another arms race, and for this reason, alternatives should be considered.

In Praise of the F Word Essay

According to, In Praise of the F Word, by Mary Sherry tens of thousands will graduate high school with meaningless diplomas. Those with meaningless diplomas are the ones who’s been passing along even though they don’t truly understand the materials taught to them. Sherry argues that our educational system is to blame for cheating those students out of a proper education; however, an easy remedy is for teachers to use the trump card of failure. Sherry claims that before students can concentrate, the teacher needs to get their attention first. I agree with Sherry that it’s unfair to those student cheated by our educational system but her trump card of failure doesn’t solve the problem. Instead, it feels more like a threat to the student than a motivation. Her method is incompatible for all students because all student are different and it takes a teacher’s involvement to understand, not a teacher’s threat. Sherry used blame the student’s lack of concentration to the class but instead she now blames the failure to get the student’s attention. No matter what distraction are at hand for the student, the teacher needs to get the student’s attention first. Sherry states that there are many ways to do this depending on the teaching style but one sure way is the trump card of failure. She points out an example of her son who was lacking attention in class and then received the trump card of failure. It resulted in her son finishing the semester with an A. I feel like Sherry’s argument is incomplete. She doesn’t acknowledge that all students are different, and that some come from a more rugged background than others. Different students need to be treated differently, so one method will not work on all students. For example, there are students that plainly do not understand the material taught to them so instead they make excuses. Teachers will see the student’s excuse as a lack of attention and fail that student but instead all that student needs is a bit of guidance. Sherry’s method will not work for students that are afraid to ask for help. Furthermore, the threat will not help the student but give the doubt in their abilities. A tool for motivation turns into a tool for discouragement. Instead of facing the challenge head on with the help of the teacher, the students are left alone with the threat ringing in their ears. Students that can’t take the pressure eventually drop out, students that can just keep to themselves and barely passing by. I admit that Sherry brings up a good point; In order for a student to succeed in school, they first need to be attentive. Teachers need to find way to get the student’s attention but Sherry’s one all be all way will not help the teacher nor the students. Sherry implies that students perceive education as less important compared to their adult counterparts. no matter what environments they come from† students will not put school as a top priority on their list. Her argument was that for adults, even with complications in life i. e. unemployment, drug, abusive relationship, still make an effort towards higher education. Sherry states that compared to the adults, students rather be carefree while on cruise control through school. I wholeheartedly agree with Sherry that students would rather have a fun stress free school life instead of a prison, but I have a problem with her implications of a â€Å"terrible environments. Sherry hints that environments does not affect a student’s involvement in school but i think she’s severely inaccurate. Where a student come from, i. e. his life’s background, greatly affect what kind of person that student will turn out to be. For example, a student can come from a background that greatly values education; at the same time, another student can come from a background that could care significantly less about education. Not everyone is molded the same, there are students that are eager to learn, while there are also students that would refuse the help of a teacher. Sherry claims that the threat of flunking can be used as a positive teaching tool; a show of confidence by the teacher and parent to the student. However, She also completely fails to specify why students fail in the first place. There are students who doesn’t value education because of their unsupportive parents. Sherry’s son might be an inaccurate example because not all students have an english teacher as a parent. My friend Hao is a perfect example. Hao and I were best friends in middle school and freshmen year high school. His parents are always working so he’s exceedingly relaxed towards school. Everytime I hang out with him he’s either playing video games or watching movies. Eventually the lack of care for school caught up with him and he was held back for another freshman year. We try to keep in touch but our friendship grew apart because we aren’t in the same grade anymore. Sometime we would go weeks without seeing each other and the intervals just got longer each time. The times I do see him, I can tell he’s miserable. He dropped out without telling me and to this day I still wonder if I encouraged him alittle more about school, maybe he would’ve graduated with me. To my friend, Hao, school was just not important to him and even a threat of failure will not convince him otherwise. In his world, games were more important and school is just a nuisance. He was never taught the true value of an education by his parents. I know he’s not alone and there are many students like him. Although their world might not be gaming, it could be something else like friends, drugs, intercourse, etc. Sherry’s trump card of failure would of failed them, instead they need support not threats. While Sherry may claim that the success of the trump card of failure in the past. I would like to point out that things are forgotten for a reason. In this care the trump card of failure is deemed ineffective against the youths of today. Her method of teachers using threats against students for their attention will not help but damage. Everyone is unique and teachers need to deploy unique tactics to encourage students. A word of threat can only get so far, but the consequence greatly outweighs the worth.

The Battle of Cajamarca: an End to an Empire in South America

The Battle of Cajamarca: an end to an Empire in South America New World: Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro (c. 1475 – June 26, 1541) seized Incan emperor Atahualpa (pictured; c. 1502 – August 29, 1533) after victory at Cajamarca, Peru. Pizarro had just 168 men and Atahualpa had 80,000 battle-hardened soldiers who had recently defeated an indigenous enemy. However, the Spaniards had iron swords, guns, horses and armour, which the Incas did not. The result: one of history's most incredible battles, and it was all over in one afternoon. Atahualpa (or Atahuallpa; Atabalipa) (ah'-ta-oo-al'-pa), was the13th and final emperor of the Incan Empire. He was a younger son of the Incan ruler Huayna Capac and an Ecuadorian princess of the Quito; although not the legitimate heir, he seems to have been the favourite. When Huayna Capac died (c. 1527), the kingdom was divided between Atahualpa, who ruled the northern part of the empire from Quito, and his half-brother Huascar, the legitimate heir, who ruled from Cuzco, the traditional Inca capital. Contemporary chroniclers depicted Atahualpa as courageous, ambitious, and very popular with the army. In 1532 he was celebrating his victory in a devastating war of accession with his elder half-brother. He had been embroiled in war with Huascar for control of the whole Incan Empire. The war ravaged Inca cities, wreaked havoc on the economy, and decimated the population. Early in 1532, near Cuzco, while Pizarro was making his way to Atahualpa's heartland, the army of the Incan lord had defeated Huascar's army in what was probably the greatest of any Incan military engagement to date. Atahualpa treacherously captured his half-brother and his family and later had them executed, while Atahualpa was himself a prisoner – of Pizarro. (As Huascar had been something of an ally to the Spanish, his half-brother's actions were later cited as a cause of the treatment Pizarro meted out to Atahualpa. ) In November, while the newly victorious Atahualpa and his battle-hardened army of 80,000 were relaxing with the hot springs in the town of Cajamarca, before their planned triumphal entry into Cuzco, Francisco Pizarro entered the city with a force of 168. Atahualpa got wind of the incursion. History was about to change in a most dramatic way. On November 15, as the Spanish band moved close to Cajamarca, they tortured a few natives and discovered that Atahualpa was waiting for them at Cajamarca. Bravely, ‘Governor' Pizarro’s ‘army' moved towards the Incan town, and saw a beautiful place filled with so many tents that the soldiers were filled with fear. Hernando Pizarro, the leader’s brother, estimated the number of Incan soldiers at 40,000, but an eyewitness wrote that he gave this estimate in order to calm his comrades: there were in fact more than 80,000. Meanwhile, most of Pizarro’s men were hidden around the main courtyard of Cajamarca. Atahualpa ambushed Invited by the Spaniard to attend a feast in his honour, the Inca chief accepted. The next day, he arrived at the appointed meeting place with several thousand unarmed retainers; Pizarro, prompted by the example of Hernan Cortes and Moctezuma in Mexico, had prepared an ambush. The next day at around noon, Atahualpa appeared in the town centre, carried on a litter, or palanquin, borne by 80 Incan noblemen in rich blue livery, and with a retinue of 2,000 Indians sweeping the road before him. An eyewitness wrote â€Å"Then came a number of men with armour, large metal plates, and crowns of gold and silver which they bore, that it was a marvel to observe how the sun glinted on it. † Atahualpa was also surrounded by his warriors, many thousands of them. One of the Spaniards who was present wrote: â€Å"Atahualpa himself was very richly dressed, with his crown on his head and a collar of large emeralds around his neck. He sat on a small stool with a rich saddle cushion resting on his litter. The litter was lined with parrot feathers of many colours and decorated with plates of gold and silver †¦ Governor Pizarro now sent Friar Vicente de Valverde to go to speak to Atahualpa, and to require Atahualpa in the name of God and of the King of Spain that Atahualpa subject himself to the law of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the service of His Majesty the King of Spain. [The priest advanced] with a cross in one hand and the Bible in the other hand, and going among the Ind ian troops up to the place where Atahualpa was †¦ â€Å"Atahualpa asked for the Book, that he might look at it, and the Friar gave it to him closed. Atahualpa did not know how to open the Book, and the Friar was extending his arm to do so, when Atahualpa, in great anger, gave him a blow on the arm, not wishing that the Book should be opened. Then he opened it himself, and, without any astonishment at the letters and paper he threw it away from him five or six paces, his face a deep crimson. â€Å"The Friar returned to Pizarro, shouting, ‘Come out! Come out, Christians! Come at these enemy dogs who reject the things of God †¦. Why remain polite and servile towards this over-proud dog when the plains are full of Indians? March out against him, for I absolve you! ’† It has been reported that Atahualpa asked Friar Vicente on what authority he acted, and the friar told him it derived from the book he was holding. The Incan emperor then commanded: â€Å"Give me the book so that it can speak to me. † Atahualpa, holding the book next to his ear, tried to listen to its pages. Finally he asked: â€Å"Why doesn't the book say anything to me? † and defiantly and disdainfully threw it to the ground. On the friar's command (rather than Pizarro's), the Spanish soldiers emerged from the porticoes around the square and fired into the crowds of unarmed warriors and citizens. Seven thousand slain Just several hours of bloody battle ensued, with the conquistadors having the technological advantage. By evening, Pizarro and his men had killed 7,000 Indians yet lost not one of their own merry men. Later, Pizarro said to Atahualpa through an interpreter: â€Å"When you have seen the errors in which you live, you will understand the good that we have done you by coming to your land †¦ Our Lord permitted that your pride should be brought low and that no Indian should be able to offend a Christian. † During the melee, Pizarro had personally grabbed Atahualpa from his litter, calling out the Spanish war cry (â€Å"Santiago! , or â€Å"St James! †) as he did so, and took Atahualpa prisoner. Soon, Atahualpa recognised that a huge ransom was his only chance of freedom, so he promised a huge hoard of gold to the Spaniards, which the Incan king’s subjects duly paid. The ransom, the largest ever made, was staggering – when melted down, it consisted of suffi cient gold to fill a room 22 feet long by 17 feet wide to a height of more than 8 feet! What artistic treasures were lost, we shall never know. We note here that the Incas made even the soldiers rich, not just Pizarro and the King of Spain (who took 20 per cent of the booty). The conquistadors each received a share appropriate to his rank: horseman received 40 kilograms of gold and 81 kg of silver, while foot-soldiers received half that amount. After the full amount had been delivered, Pizarro reneged on his promise and on August 29, 1533, the conquistador ordered Atahualpa burned to death. However, when Atahualpa was brought to the stake, Father de Valverde offered him the choice of being burned alive or being killed by the more merciful garrot if he would convert to Christianity. Although throughout his captivity Atahualpa had resisted conversion, he agreed to it and so died that day by strangulation. Cajamarca was not the only occasion in 1532 on which Western technology was able to trounce Incan technology – for technology such as guns and steel swords, rather than fighting skills and valour were what won the day. Jared Diamond, from whose excellent, Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Guns, Germs and Steel, (Vintage, 1998), the above quotations come, writes: â€Å"During Pizarro’s march from Cajamarca to the Inca capital of Cuzco after Atahualpa’s death, there were four such battles: at Jauja, Vilcashuaman, Vilcaconga, and Cuzco. Those four battles involved a mere 80, 30, 110, and 40 Spanish horsemen, respectively, in each case ranged against thousands or tens of thousands of Indians. † Footnote On January 18, 1535, as Pizarro thought the Inca capital of Cuzco was too far up in the mountains and far from the sea to serve as the Spanish capital of Peru, he founded the city of Lima, still the capital of that nation.

The Problem of Hell Essays

The Problem of Hell Essays The Problem of Hell Essay The Problem of Hell Essay Essay Topic: Religion The existence of a place for those who are corrupt and sinful, a place so full of misery and pain, a home to agony for all eternity is frightful for anyone to imagine. It has many names and connections with religions the most common name in Western Christian culture is Hell. For centuries, this abode of the damned has put fear into the hearts of Christians, keeping them aligned with the ethical and moral view of their faith. While Hell is a very real problem for many Christians, perhaps it is not what it seems to be. It is an entirely different plane of existence from that which is most commonly thought of: the usual fire and brimstone, the crackle of eternal fires and demons that tirelessly torture souls for the rest of time. Richard Swinburne, Stephen T. Davis and Marilyn McCord Adams all have written articles interpreting who it is who is exiled to Hell, and what exactly Hell is. I agree with them for the most part with who is sent there, but I think that Hell is something much different than the traditional view that Christians hold. In Stephen T. Davis essay Universalism, Hell and the Fate of the Ignorant, he argues that while Universalism, the belief that all will be rescued, is a good idea it is not plausible. He is himself a Separationist; one who believes some will eternally be away from God. In his essay he takes the argument of the Universalist (the idea that through the atonement of Jesus, every person who has ever lived will ultimately be saved), identifying the good points of it, and then gives his critique. Next he takes the point of the separatist stating his case for that belief. He notes that God hates sin and sinners, and although this is plausible, it seems to be a contradiction of His eternal Love and Tolerance. It is also a common Christian belief that God hates the sin, but loves the sinner, and Davis seems to have missed this. But then Davis goes on to say the existence of Hell is a form of therapy to bring so called sinners closer to God through repentance and absolution. He thus says that the wrath of God is part of his overall strategy to bring the people back to Him. The Universalist believes that Hell is merely temporary, and will exist forever, for some have hardened their heart against God. This point is valid: some have had an incident or a tragedy that has turned them away from their faith, their God. Although Davis says God has, according to the Universalist, unlimited time and resources to bring these people back to Him; God will not force anyone into His Kingdom. He wants them to choose freely, and this is something that may cause a problem for some Christians their own free will. Davis makes a good argument for Universalism with the notion that true bliss in Heaven is difficult if a sanctified soul has a loved one in Hell. In Davis critique of Universalism, he notes that Separationists can also believe that God will save everyone. He also believes that Universalists misinterpret the texts, and that their view of Hell and its attachment to God and sin would cause the traditional outlook of salvation Christians have. Davis also notes that the interpretations are not viewed in the entirety of the scriptures and thus seem inconsistent with the testimony. Davis admits that he really likes the idea of total salvation for all, but cannot see the logical reasoning the Universalists have. Davis view on Hell is that it is a place where you are out of Gods light and love, separated from Him, but not totally, else it would not exist. Davis further explains that Hell is a place where the source of all joy, peace and love does not reach causing its inhabitants to be miserable and tormented. People are not sent to Hell, but rather, freely choose to live there out of Gods sight. God, in his infinite Love, allows Hell to exist for those who are ignorant of God so they will not be miserable in Heaven. Davis agrees that one can freely choose Hell over Heaven in they so wish. Hell, Davis explains, is consistent with Gods power and love, for He created Hell as a home for those who choose to ignore Him, and that is a showing of Love. Top address the philosophical points, Davis says that while God has the power to impose His will on humanity, he does not because then we would clearly be robotic with no free will. Some Christians believe that salvation is a matter of grace, in that we are all sinful but still God forgives us out of His love for us; we should be condemned, but are saved by this loving and merciful God. Davis makes a small mistake in his view of Separatism here, because this theory of Grace causes some inconsistencies in its line of belief. If an all-loving God cannot condemn us, then grace has no part of it either, and He is simply justly freeing us from an underserved punishment. He finally argues that while the Bible says that all go to God through Christ, it is not the final authority on all aspects of Christian belief and practice. It should be implied to take into account those born before Christ and those who have never encountered any form of Christianity. Davis makes many good points in his essay. His idea of Universalism is a good idea and allows for the chance of salvation in the end. Another good point is that Hell is a separation from God, and he explains that it is a place that people are miserable by being out of the reach of Gods love and light. His view that humanity has the free will to choose or reject God agrees with Christian teaching, however he thinks that Hell is merely an extension of Gods love. This would seem like an oxymoronic statement. Hell is an existence without God, and therefore cannot relate to Gods love whatsoever. Richard Swinburnes text Theodicy of Heaven and Hell discusses things in the context of the clearly good and the clearly bad (37). He makes reference to Catholicism in this paper, and says that to be admitted to Heaven one must have faith formed from a love of God. He also makes an interesting case for the people who were either born before Christianity or for those who have yet to hear Christs message. His point is that God should allow those who follow his ways and who live good lives into heaven whether they know Christs message or not. He further says that we do not choose our beliefs in the beginning, but outside influences force a change in them over time. This too may cause considerable stress on Christians who are looking, even if just for the sake of curiosity, at other religions and belief structures. He states that all those who seek truth be granted access to Heaven: whether they find truth or not is irrelevant. The attempt is all that is necessary. He poses the logical question of whether a loving and merciful God would share the bliss of Heaven with all, including the bad, or at least shape souls to become good and thereby gain admittance. The reality, it would seem, would be that a loving God would allow all into Heaven, but He would not shape a soul to do what He desires of them. This would take away mans free will, and a loving God would not do that. Swinburne tries to understand why a just God would seal a mans fate at his death, and so he makes a point to say that God does not do that. It would seem that he believes all souls can get to Heaven because God will not judge us. This would seem to be a contradiction to his earlier statement that only those who seek truth will enter Heaven. Christians may become confused by this and sense that they are going to Heaven no matter what, which is not what Swinburne is saying. He describes Heaven in placid terms that supreme happiness in Heaven is to know God, to have Him as your friend. This implies that God isnt your friend to begin with which seems absurd. He points out that Heaven is a home for good people, and not a reward for good actions. He also talks about mans free will, and that if God were to take that away, it would be detrimental to mans well-being and God cannot act in any contradictory way such as this. He makes an interesting comment that if God subjected sinners to an infinite amount of pain, physical and emotional, it would be inconsistent with His infinitely good nature. He really makes no mention of Hell within his essay, but more a guide to Heaven and its benefits. Swinburne does make references to Hell, but not to the circumstances which condemn a soul to damnation, nor to what it is actually like. This seems odd since he incessantly discusses Heaven. This article, while encouraging many to become better people, it fails to show that there is still a problem of a place where fear rules and chaos is as common as dew in the morning. In the article The Problem of Hell: A Problem of Evil for Christians, the author, Marilyn Adams presents her view that some people will be consigned forever to Hell, and that the Christians may be somewhat troubled by this theory. Nobody is safe, it would seem. Adams tackles the problem on two levels at the theoretical level, and the pragmatic level. She first discusses the logical impossibility of God and evil existing at the same time, but tells the readers of her essay that she will attempt to clarify the issue. According to many traditional theologians, she explains, Divine Sovereignty means that God has no bounds on whatever doctrine of salvation He has established. After all, He is Truth Himself! She further explains that God could negate our existence after death, that Hell is legislated as a temporary reform school for sinners to which they will afterwards be placed into an eternal Utopian environment (oxymoronic given that Utopia literally means no place in Latin). Adams explains that many Christians have a kind of free will defence. While God ultimately desires that all His children be saved, he has given man the ability to work out his own destinies for himself to be separate and yet one with God simultaneously. Damnation is not something God does to his creations, but rather something He allows to befall mankind for its actions. With regards to Divine Justice, she writes that God can, logically, never be unjust. Her reasoning follows from Anselms theory that God is not obligated to us in any way, since He is infinite in all aspects, and we are only finite. We are thus insignificant with regards to God. This is uncomforting given the thought that we may not have any value to Him. An interesting point of Adams is that because we are finite, we could not comprehend some things in their entirety. If we were to experience the agonies of Hell or the glorious bliss of Heaven for a finite period, we still could not understand the full extent of either plane. Adams makes mention of Anselms view that the severity of the sin is not only based on the actions of the individual, but also on the relationship that he has with God. Since God deserves nothing but worship, honour, respect and the like, any offence against Him is considered immeasurably indecent, and thus, infinitely offensive. Adams reply to this view is that fair to have consequences that greatly outweigh the offence of a created being. Human life all starts out helpless, weak and ignorant, and unable to make decisions. As a child grows, he constructs a view of the world and everything in it over time. His interaction with human nature and the environment forms as well. The habits we develop, she writes, become rooted in our personality like character traits or quirks, thus giving us individuality. These habits are acted out in an individuals life unintentionally, even though they could possibly cause suffering to themselves and to others before realizing it and attempting to make the arduous and emotionally painful change of spiritual reformation. Therefore, we are no more responsible at certain times in our lives (such as infancy) than children, and that God like a parent is the primary source of responsibility and He is culpable. This portrays God as an unfit parent one who is never available. This is a frightening thought. Another interpretation is that Hell is the consequence of human error. Adams makes a mention of Universalism. By removing the threat of Hell, people would lose their motivation to maintain their moral diligence. This is prevalent in modern society. The media and thus popular thought trivialize Hell and Satan, and sadly enough, God and Christ as well; the whole spiritual concept is foreign to a large portion of the population of the western world. These three authors seem to generally agree, and imply that while not everyone may go to Hell, still no one is truly good. To illustrate this point, Paul stated in Romans 3:10 and 3:13: And there is none righteous, no not one For all have sinned, and fall short of the Glory of God. It seems as if man has no choice but to wait and see what awaits him in the end. Davis and Adams present a conception of Hell while Swinburne avoids this issue. While the orthodox view is one of fire and brimstone, the Devil upon his throne of sulphur and skulls, and demons tormenting souls for eternity, this may seem somewhat excessive and a very Hollywood fabricated idea. It would seem more likely that Hell is simply living outside of the love of God, and that would be eternal sadness, and thus the fire and tormenting etc, may seem irrelevant. Anything we do here on earth affects our eternal standing with God, and those unjust and evil acts have adverse effects. Hell might be complete and utter darkness for all time with no feelings but those of agony, remorse, sadness and the likes. It is interesting to note that Dante, in his Divine Comedy presents Hell as icy cold: as far removed as possible from the source of all light and warmth. This is contrary to the conventional view of Hell, but it makes perfect sense. Satan eternally beats his bat-like wings in an attempt to free himself from the icy prison in which he is frozen, but the constant beating of his wings keeps the inner circle of Hell frozen. The ideas presented are not meant to trivialize and dumb down the idea of Satan and the brutality of Hell. Given Gods eternal love however to live without that love and joy would be punishment enough, and thus Hell.