Renaissance Humanism vs. Modern Humanism free essay sample

The fundamental principles of modern humanism are parallel with ones from Renaissance humanism in that it emphasizes long lasting traditions and the power of the individual. These ideas are similar to the bases of Renaissance humanism, which are the revival of the classics and individualism. Modern Humanism is the product of long lasting practices and can be characterized by comparing it to the Renaissance’s revival of classical ideas. The article states that modern humanism is â€Å"the outcome of a long tradition†. It is based on previous ideas that have been passed down and adapted into new ones that pertain to the modern world. This is similar to how the Renaissance grew from the exploration of previous ideas from the Greeks and Romans. The word Renaissance itself even means â€Å"rebirth†. From classical ideas, Renaissance humanists began to shape themselves and society. One example is a Renaissance writer Leonardo Bruni who took the idea of civilians taking part in government to develop civic humanism. We will write a custom essay sample on Renaissance Humanism vs. Modern Humanism or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Inspired by the classical Roman Cicero, a statesman and intellectual, civic humanists educated themselves not only to improve their mind but to serve their state as well. The fact that modern humanism is based on traditions proves that it comes from Renaissance humanism. The modern humanist idea that â€Å"personal liberty must be combined with social responsibility† is very similar to previous ideas of civic humanism. With the freedom of mind gained from education, it is a civilians responsibility to serve society. Since the fundamental principles of Renaissance and modern humanism are the outcomes of long tradition it can be reasoned that both are based on previous ideas that date back to ancient times. Beliefs of self improvement for the benefit for one’s society have been passed down through generations and have adapted to each time period it goes through. Modern humanist’s emphasis on art and it’s powers of transformation are similar to Renaissance humanist’s appreciation for art. Art for modern humanists creates â€Å"personal development and fulfillment† (6). This belief is closely related to the Renaissances ideas of art. Before the Renaissance and during the Middle Ages, art’s main focus was the Bible. However, during the Renaissance, it changed into more secular art that used man as the focal point. These artists used the power of art to depict the changing ideals of individuals. The also began taking credit for their art instead working in obscurity. Even though it is based on a character from the bible, Michelangelos David depicts the ability of man and his unlimited potential. Through perfect muscles and poise, the artist used his work not only for his own fulfillment and glory, but also for the change of society. Society transforms as the idea from the medieval world that religion is the greatest power changes to the Renaissance conviction that man is mighty as well. Artists had a sense of self as they began to work towards the glory and power of mankind. The statement in the article saying that humanism â€Å"affirms the worth, dignity, and autonomy of the individual† (1) further emphasizes the power art. A development from Renaissance art has an effect on the modern world as well. Both modern humanism and Renaissance humanism emphasize art for its transformative traits. Whether it’s for personal development or societys development.

Roots Of Our Faith Essays - Christology, Prophets Of Islam

Roots Of Our Faith Essays - Christology, Prophets Of Islam Roots of Our Faith As Christians, why do we need the Old Testament when we have the New Testament? This is a question often asked in modern day Christianity. This is also the question which seems to provoke the writing of The Old Testament Roots of Our Faith, by Paul and Elizabeth Achtemeier. The Achtemeiers point out in their book that in modern day thinking we view God as a loving father (pg. 1-2), rather than the God of the Old Testament who seems to act in jealousy over his own power with the destruction of everything. So why then do we read the Old Testament? The final reason is "We can?t understand the nature of Christians unless we understand Israel."(pg.5) according to the Achtemeiers, and Israel as pointed out throughout the book is the root of all Christianity today. The main purpose behind this book is to provide us with a rope which connects us and our New Testament thinking to the Old Testament. The single main theme that conveys this thinking is that throughout all God has k! ept his word with mercy and love. Achtemeier shows us this link by basically giving us an entire overview of the Old Testament in a form which ties to the coming of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. We can believe God?s link to Jesus Christ and the world today, by the point, through everything God has gone through he has remained true to his word or covenants. God?s greatest creation, man, rebelling against his own authority has been the cause for most of the problems in the Old Testament. In started with Adam and Eve wanting to be like God themselves which led them to sin and continued on to Israel where sin was evident everywhere. In Israel, David, although chosen as the anointed one or messiah, committed adultery and murder, yet God?s mercy and forgiveness stepped in. Israel as a whole was given the ten commandments to abide by, yet they couldn?t. Despite many prophet writings that the end of Israel would come, God instead gave salvation to them through a new spirit and heart in the form of Jesus Chri! st according to the Achtemeiers. The book is organized primarily as the bible is organized with certain points, when needed, taken from other passages in both the New and Old Testament. The way it is ordered makes the book almost read like a story on a timeline through each book of the bible, in telling us what God has gone through for us to believe in his faith. Certain times in the book the Achtemeiers put in what seem like their own beliefs about particular parts which throw the reader off a bit. For example when they arrive at the time of David being the King in Israel, they seem to believe that David wasn?t the right choice to be the Messiah or wasn?t the chosen one at all. They back this point up by saying, "Yahweh seems often curiously absent from the history of Israel?s greatest king." (pg. 77) The Achtemeiers are clear throughout the book proving that God has always been true to his word and that is why we were given Jesus. An example is when the judging of Israel comes, they show us that God ra! ther than destroying Israel for being full of corruption, gives them a new heart and spirit, which falls in line with his covenant with Israel. I completely agree with the Achtemeiers feelings, after reading this book, that Jesus "is the fulfillment of the Old Testament Story." This book has been extremely helpful to me since in the past I?ve studied the Old Testament as all separate pieces with no real logical answer to any question. Before reading this I too felt that the Old Testament seemed to be more so a collection of stories that give us a basic moral understanding of how God thinks we should all act. While I don?t feel that I understand the New Testament better, I do feel that I understand the roots of it better, like where and why it came about. By knowing the roots of it better, I feel in the future while studying

Why does Stonehenge continue to capture the imagination Essay

Why does Stonehenge continue to capture the imagination - Essay Example The construction on Stonehenge began about 5,000 years ago and was completed about 4,000 years ago. The huge and colossal scale and strange aim of Stonehenge draw the attention of eight hundred thousand visitors every year, and many people visit this monument during summers to view the sunrise at this mystical and ancient site (UNESCO, 2012). The Stonehenge is undoubtedly a spectacular sun rise and sun set view and is obviously seen as a site of worship for the ancient people of Europe. History says nothing about the religion of Stonehenge people but the site became a place for worship and pilgrimage for Neo pagans who recognized themselves as Celtic paganism or Druids. The site is also popular with the people of New Age who say that the site has some powerful energy associated with it. Not only the construction but the location and site of Stonehenge also capture the attention of thousands of people visiting it each year (Stonehenge, 2012). Even today, the construction of Stonehenge is said to be an inspiring achievement of the engineers, requiring time and commitment, and also a huge amount of manual labor. First, there was a huge bank and ditch known as ‘henge’ dug into the surface of Earth around 5,000 years ago. The ditch as made by tools made up of wood or antlers of red deer. The fundamental chalk was united by picks and scooped with shoulder blades of the cattle. Subsequently, it was put into baskets and then moved away (Stonehenge, 2012). In 2000 BC, the very first stone circle (the inner circle) made up of tiny bluestones, was set up, but was discarded even before its completion. The stones which were used for the first circle are thought to be taken from Prescelly Mountains, which are situated almost 240 miles away from the Stonehenge, in the southwestern side of Wales. These bluestones have a weight of about four tons per stone and almost eighty stones are used. Considering the distance and the transportation mood of that time, it was a lot of distance to cover (Heritage). Still today, nobody has been able to give an accurate answer of who built the Stonehenge. It is still a mystery to be solved which makes this place even more eye catching and astonishing. The construction of the monument has been linked to several ancient populations, but the most lasting and appealing ascription has been given to the Druids as described earlier. This wrong conception was brought in by John Aubrey around three centuries ago. Some Roman writers, including Julius Caesar link this construction to Celtic priesthood who grew at the time of their initial conquest in about 55BC. But, the stones were already standing there for 2,000 years by this time, and most probably were in a devastated condition. Furthermore, the Druids were worshippers of forest temples and not stone structures (Stonehenge, 2012). King Arthur’s legends give a reconciliation of Stonehenge construction. It was narrated by Geoffrey, the famous writer of twelft h century, in his book â€Å"History of the Kings of Britain† that the stones were brought in by Merlin from Ireland to Salisbury Plain. During the 5th Century, there was an annihilation of three hundred British noblemen by Hengest (deceitful Saxon leader). According to Geoffrey, king Aurelius Ambrosius wished to make a fitting memorial for the slain men. Merlin came up with a journey to Ireland for the aim of relocating the huge ring stone circle to England. Now Geoffrey says that these stones were brought by giants from Africa as they were so enormous to be a work of human beings. These stones were then situated on â€Å"Mount Killaraus† and were then used as a place for doing rituals and for the purpose of healing. The

Clothing Shop and Fabrics Sale Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Clothing Shop and Fabrics Sale - Essay Example Now the owner knew that he can also use different social networking service to benefit his business. He starts using Facebook to promote events for different sports such as snowboarding and skating. The owner fund webcasts are helpful, so he develops the clothing brand accounts on Instagram and Facebook to provide the customer with full news and announcement about his products. He wanted the customer to feel more connected to his business. Therefore, he establishes an online shop to make it easy for the customer to shop. Nowadays there are many ways for business owners to advertise their products. One of these ways is the electronic advertisement that has advantages and disadvantages. Knowing these advantages and disadvantages will help business owners to choose the best way for them to advertise their products. We all know that an electronic advertisement is a new way in the business world, and it is an unfamiliar way for many people. This reason caused most of the electronic advertising drawbacks. Another reason is peoples satisfaction with the traditional way of advertising."Technology has still not advanced enough to allow electronic advertising to compete with television and print"[1]. In order for an electronic advertisement to be successful, the technology has to improve but in these days we didn't reach a high level of technology development. Even though if technology has developed, many people won't have the ability to explore the online information system. On the other hand, people who have the skill to use the online information system find electronic advertisement distracting and annoying. Therefore, they try to avoid visiting website that has the advertisement for it. Moreover, most of the advertisers tend to use the traditional way to advertise because they find electronic adve rtisement is not appealing to them.And that what help television and print advertisement to have a huge market with much attraction from advertisers.

Japanese traits Essay Example for Free

Japanese traits Essay In short, the characters of anime show the Japanese who so aspire to Western traits as they would like to see themselves. It is an effect that cannot possibly be duplicated by live actors, who — being alive — can never really change the physical characteristics determined by their genetic makeup. They can dye their hair and even change their eye color with contact lenses, but they cannot fundamentally alter their skin color, facial features, or physique. And even if they tried, using special make-up effects or plastic surgery, the result would be unnatural. Only anime, and its cousin manga, can convincingly meld Japanese and Caucasian attributes into a natural-looking human being. This is because the upside of these genres inherent lack of realism is their unique ability to exploit the appeal of and fascination for the unreal. And that is why manga and anime have attained such a high status in the popular culture of Japan, compared to that of other countries. These are the only two media capable of portraying reality the way Japanese feel it should be. By comparison, live-action films sacrifice appeal from the outset simply because they feature Japanese actors. Fashion illustrator Nagasawa Setsu expressed the feelings of many Japanese in an essay he wrote in 1983 for the Japanese playbill of the British film Dont Look Now: With their sharp-featured faces and long-limbed bodies, Westerners (read Caucasians) are physically suited to the movie screen; everyone looks almost too beautiful, down to the minor characters . .Japanese are just the opposite. Even people who appear delicately beautiful in person look round and dumpy and totally unstylish on camera. The reason many people today say they dislike the ugliness† of Japanese films — content notwithstanding — is that the looks of Japanese screen actors put domestic films at a crucial disadvantage. Period pieces at least allow one to cover up these failings with elaborate costumes. But when they take off their clothes for bedroom scenes, even the most glamorous Japanese actors and actresses look hopelessly unattractive — which is why you cant pay me to watch Japanese porn. That Nagasawa is not alone in his preference is attested to by the growing number of animated pornographic videos that have been produced in Japan since the mid 1980s. Thus, the history of the past twenty years, during which anime has pushed live-action to the side and emerged as the face of Japanese cinema, has in essence been the history of ethnic bleaching in Japanese film. Incidentally, it was also during the last two decades that manga, originally regarded as kids stuff, truly came into its own as adult entertainment. In contrast to ideologies of American communities being portrayed as great melting pots, Americans have historically aligned themselves along racial and ethnic divisions. This has flourished in stereotypes of practically all non-majority members in the media. Japanese-Americans have been no exception. Characterizations of Japanese-Americans in the media often fail to make distinctions between Japanese, Japanese-Americans, Asians and Asian Americans. Consequently, attitudes towards Japanese-Americans have been heavily influenced by portrayals of all Asians. The first Asians to come to America in significant numbers were Chinese laborers. The early depictions emphasized slant-eyes, buckteeth and yellow skin. This representation reinforced the notion of â€Å"otherness. † Anti-Asian bias was a major reason behind immigration exclusion acts directed first at he Chinese, then the Japanese. Rather than the media acknowledging the difference between Asian cultures, American representation of Asians often borrowed indiscriminately from all cultures. All the dozens of Asians and Pacific Island cultures are lumped together into one homogeneous group identity. Even the Korean and Vietnamese women in the late 1950’s-70 were commonly called â€Å"Mama San† despite the Japanese American origins of the term. Characterizations of Japanese-Americans (and all Asians) in the media of the 1920’s and 1930’s as â€Å"vicious, rat-like sneaks, part of a world-wide â€Å"yellow peril† appears to have been one of the reasons for the internment. Amy Kashiwabara in â€Å"Vanishing Son: The Appearance, Disappearance, and Assimilation of the Asian-American Male in American Mainstream Media (1996) states â€Å"The visceral hatred of the Japanese inevitably tapped into yellow peril sentiments before the turn of the century which had been directed mainly against the Chinese†. In early movies, attached to the assignation of being Japanese came the implication of duplicity, violence and untrustworthiness appearing as Japanese traits, thus, sending the message that Asians, particularly Japanese men could not be trusted, no matter how Americanized they seem. This furthered the notion that Japanese-American men were even more dangerous than unassimilated ones because they could deceive people into trusting them. Persistent in early media was the idea of the diabolical Japanese that continually plotted the destruction of America in general and white women in particular. The 1946 film, â€Å"The Yellow Menace,† showed attempted Japanese domination. The 1940’s images on film were rife with scenes of Japanese torturing and abusing white people. The majority of Americans in the ‘40’s were intimately introduced to the Japanese in the context of war and violence at the movies, newspaper editorials, propaganda posters (*scan example) and later on in the 1950’s on television. Films from 1942 included â€Å"Prisoner of Japan,† â€Å"Remember Pearl Harbor,† and â€Å"Secret Agent of Japan. †

Connectivity, Reading/Writing, and the Cyber Age :: Technology Technological Essays

Connectivity, Reading/Writing, and the Cyber Age I own a cell phone. And a desktop computer. And I carry this old laptop around to all the coffee shops and bars in whose noise I try to drown out the mean little voices of writerly anxiety so I can just get my fucking homework done. At work I use a touch screen ordering system to get my drinks from the bar and artichoke dip from the kitchen. I check my horoscope online (as well as those of the men I’m interested in—blushing with shameJ,) stay in touch with friends via email, and use my college’s online services to register for classes. I do a great deal of my research for class via the electronic databases Eastern Michigan maintains, I have a blog, I’ve tried to get my poetry published at online literary magazines. With the help of a very patient friend, I even filed my federal taxes online this year. The internet and wireless technology make my life easier to move through quickly. I am grateful. But somewhat ashamed. In the same way that I feel guilty every time I drive the old pollution-mobile a mile and a half to work, using all this high-speed information technology feels like being seduced away from my principles by the lure of ease. I believe in slowness. I love speed. It’s a difficulty. I am not the only person struggling with the conflict between the speed modern life demands and that at which actual life happens. Women’s magazines are full of tips on organizing the kitchen, the carpool, the craft supplies, so that more time can be found for the important things in life—hanging out with the kids, spending time with parents, maybe even having sex with partners. Advertising companies pitch scads of products as time-savers, from meals-in-a-bag to blocks of cleanser that clean the toilet with every flush. All my friends complain about not having enough time to get everything done. My girlfriend who is working on her PHD and Master’s degrees at the same time doesn’t have enough time to see her lover and spend time with her mother in the nursing home. My other dear girlfriend with two [fabulous] kids, a husband [that’s out of this world,] a house, two cars, and two jobs doesn’t have enough time for anything. Most of my men friends don’t have enough time to work their jobs, take care of their bodies, support their ladyfriends in whatever way and still know what they’re feeling from moment to moment.

Formalist Criticism on “Waiting on the Curb: Lynwood California, 1967”

Marquetta Brown Eng 241 J. Zeff Formalist Criticism The poem ‘Waiting oat the curb: Lynwood California, 1967 written by Deborah Escobedo is about a young girl named Debbie in Lynwood, California who is waiting on a friend at the curb. When first examining the title of the poem, I think of waiting on the curb as a sign of prostitution or hitchhiking. They way I imagine the scene of the poem is; a hot summer day in an urban area in Lynwood, California. I imagine Debbie’s father outside a small white house watering the lawn. In the poem the characters were Debbie, mother, father, neighbor, a friend, and America. Even though the friend and America didn’t have lines in the poem the still had an effect on how the poem was interpreted. When I analyze and picture Debbie’s father, I see an older, overweight, lower middle class gentleman. I see him standing on the front lawn watering the grass with a white T-shirt on and denim shorts on. The father seems to be a very relaxed individual. â€Å"His law, the one green he can count on. He can’t count /On his money, or his Dodgers slipping on the green/. By the author saying that he can’t count on his money shows that he may have some financial troubles. Also in examining those two lines of the poem about the father, they give more insight about the father’s possessions. The word his is capitalized when it refers to â€Å"His lawn†, but not when is refers to â€Å"his Dodgers†. While reviewing the personality of the father and his relationship with his daughter, â€Å"Maybe he could speak his mind about decency†. Ordinarily id a father had to question what his daughter was wearing he would have stopped her immediately. Instead of him stopping her and telling her to go change her clothes, he â€Å"†¦rolls the garden hose/Onto the sling of his arm. Debbie, where are you going/With no clothes on? † Debbie says, â€Å"Dad, this is how it is†. The dad doesn’t say or do anything. In conducting a character analysis of Debbie, she seems to be an older teenage. Debbie also appears to be a little bit rebellious. With no regard or respect for her father she dresses inappropriately and waits on the curb. â€Å"She thinks and spins the music of her time†. She is dressed in cut offs, â€Å"Cut too short†, and a gypsy blouse. It appears that she could be possibly day dreaming this event while she is waiting on the curb. The poet made the reader pay attention to the details of Debbie’s attire. By saying a gypsy blouse it makes the reader picture something seductive and showing skin and cleavage. The tone of the poem changes when â€Å"America is getting ready. † The author is taking about the people and the world around the characters in the poem, referring to the people as â€Å"America†. She then describes what America is doing around her. â€Å"America is shoveling ice cream into Tupperware bowls,/America is setting up trays in front of snowy TVs. † At this point in the poem she brings forth a reality. Debbie comes to a realization at this point as well. She begins to pull at her shorts that have risen up form being cut to short. I can picture Debbie looking at everything around her with the woman in curls yelling at her own old man then Debbie saying, â€Å"I gotta get outta here,/ It seems as if at this point she is unsatisfied with where she is at and the culminating events made her realize that this is not the life she wants. Overall the poem told a story. The author’s diction made the reader key into certain areas of the poem. The way the poem was presented on the page also had an effect on the way the poem was interpreted.