June Yip proposes post colonialism to evaluate Taiwanese films Essay Example for Free

June Yip proposes post colonialism to evaluate Taiwanese films Essay June Yip analyzes Taiwan in the book Envisioning Taiwan as a new breed of country in the postcolonial era which has least interest in the idea of nation-state, maintaining it’s very local faces as well as open to international influences with much surprise. Yip takes a look at Taiwan’s post-national territory status through its fiction and cinema movement concentrating her attention to filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien. (Winterton) Taiwan has a long history of colonialism and suppression, but the multinational capitalism, mass migration, the arrival of new electronic media; all these encouraged a postmodern culture and have questioned the traditional limit as well as made the notion of nation irrelevant. June Yip emphasizes the hybrid nature of identity as fallout of postmodernism, is vastly reflected in the present form of Taiwanese films. The earlier versions were more conventional and guarded the theme of nationhood. She points in her book Hou’s films present a picture â€Å"the island as an increasingly complex and hybrid social space, an ever-changing formation†. (Yip, 230) Yip focuses that Taiwanese New Cinema, emerged in the 1980’s and its patrons are fascinated with displaying the socio-historical qualities of modern Taiwan’s experience and also to form a sense of Taiwanese cultural identity with centralizing on the search for nationhood in their works. They represent the tough transition period of Taiwan’s history through which the island came to the global order and try to depict the same in their films with â€Å"a quest for an understanding of a modern Taiwanese experience† and rising questions from present and future. (Yip, 10) Yip also presents the grim picture of Taiwan’s history where under various regimes; either Japanese or Chinese, the linguistic medium of films was strictly regulated by the ruling authorities. Most of these languages were foreign to the locals while the local medium was eclipsed. So, in modern Taiwanese cinema, a global touch could be felt where characters easily switch from Taiwanese to Mandarin to Japanese to English, showcasing a multicultural effect. (Yip, 6) Yip clarifies that Taiwan’s cultural awareness took time to surface itself on cinema due to its colonial Hanover. As there is a strong link between cinema and the idea of nationhood but in the later half of the 20th century the cinema carried a huge responsibility of nation building as being a visual medium. Government was always involved in making of Taiwanese films but in 1990’s it felt the need to loose the belts as to get back commercial as well as critical acclaim. Most of the film personalities have grown the age of rigidity, so when they started working they tries their best to free themselves from the knuckles and criticized the government under its banner itself as well as displayed the new experiences with global changes. The films Three Times and Puppetmaster have shown the changes of post colonialism. Three Times is a film consisting of three episodes based in three periods of Taiwanese history showcasing the problems of the turbulent times in the history, urge for freedom and also the confusion prevailing in a contemporary city. The Puppet master recollects the life of a puppeteer spanning during the period of Japanese occupation of the island and portraying the sorry state of the Taiwanese people and their hardships and also depicts the loss of tradition under suppression and western influence. Both the films in their respective themes lament sufferings of the history and urge to come out of the rigid circumstances supporting Yip’s thesis. (Schumann) While The Wedding Banquet is a drama with humorous touch where personal relationships, based on generation and cultural conflicts within individuals of slender theme rather matching the concept of analysis of Yip of Taiwanese cinema.

Invisibility Over Negation in Invisible Man Essay -- Invisible Man Ess

Invisibility Over Negation in Invisible Man      Ã‚  Ã‚   Early on in Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison's nameless narrator recalls a Sunday afternoon in his campus chapel.   With aspirations not unlike those of Silas Snobden's office boy, he gazes up from his pew to further extol a platform lined with Horatio Alger proof-positives, millionaires who have realized the American Dream.   For the narrator, it is a reality closer and kinder than prayer can provide: all he need do to achieve what they have is work hard enough.   At this point, the narrator cannot be faulted for such delusions, he is not yet alive, he has not yet recognized his invisibility.   This discovery takes twenty years to unfold.   When it does, he is underground, immersed in a blackness that would seem to underscore the words he has heard on that very campus:   he is nobody; he doesn't exist (143).   Hence, Invisible Man is foremost a struggle for identity.   Ellison believes this is not only an American theme but the American theme; "the nature of our society," he says, "is such that we are prevented from knowing who we are" (Graham 15).   Invisible Man, he claims, is not an attack on white America or communism but rather the story of innocence and human error (14).   Yet there are strong racial and political undercurrents that course the nameless narrator towards an understanding of himself and humanity.   And along the way, a certain version of communism is challenged.   The "Brotherhood," a nascent ultra-left party that offers invisibles a sense of purpose and identity, is dismantled from beneath as Ellison indirectly dissolves its underlying ideology:   dialectical materialism.   Black and white become positives in dialectical flux; riots and racism ... ... with Ralph Ellison.   Jackson:   U of Mississippi P, 1995. Hersey, John, ed.   Ralph Ellison:   A Collection of Critical Essays.   Englewood Cliffs:   Prentice-Hall, 1974. Jacoby, Russel.   Dialectic of Defeat:   Contours of Western Marxism.   Cambridge:   Cambridge UP, 1981. Jain, Ajit, and Alexander Matejko, eds.   A Critique of Marxist and Non-Marxist Thought.   New York:   Praeger, 1986. Marx, Karl.   The Communist Manifesto.   Ed.   Frederic L. Bender.   New York:   Norton, 1988. Osborn, Reuben.   Marxism and Psychoanalysis.   New York:   Dell Publishing, 1965. Schafer, William J.   "Ralph Ellison and the Birth of the Anti-Hero."   Hersey   115-126. Schor, Edith.   Visible Ellison:   A Study of Ralph Ellison's Fiction.   Westport:   Greenwood, 1993. Vogler, Thomas A.   "Invisible Man:   Somebody's Protest Novel."   Hersey   127-150.       Invisibility Over Negation in Invisible Man Essay -- Invisible Man Ess Invisibility Over Negation in Invisible Man      Ã‚  Ã‚   Early on in Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison's nameless narrator recalls a Sunday afternoon in his campus chapel.   With aspirations not unlike those of Silas Snobden's office boy, he gazes up from his pew to further extol a platform lined with Horatio Alger proof-positives, millionaires who have realized the American Dream.   For the narrator, it is a reality closer and kinder than prayer can provide: all he need do to achieve what they have is work hard enough.   At this point, the narrator cannot be faulted for such delusions, he is not yet alive, he has not yet recognized his invisibility.   This discovery takes twenty years to unfold.   When it does, he is underground, immersed in a blackness that would seem to underscore the words he has heard on that very campus:   he is nobody; he doesn't exist (143).   Hence, Invisible Man is foremost a struggle for identity.   Ellison believes this is not only an American theme but the American theme; "the nature of our society," he says, "is such that we are prevented from knowing who we are" (Graham 15).   Invisible Man, he claims, is not an attack on white America or communism but rather the story of innocence and human error (14).   Yet there are strong racial and political undercurrents that course the nameless narrator towards an understanding of himself and humanity.   And along the way, a certain version of communism is challenged.   The "Brotherhood," a nascent ultra-left party that offers invisibles a sense of purpose and identity, is dismantled from beneath as Ellison indirectly dissolves its underlying ideology:   dialectical materialism.   Black and white become positives in dialectical flux; riots and racism ... ... with Ralph Ellison.   Jackson:   U of Mississippi P, 1995. Hersey, John, ed.   Ralph Ellison:   A Collection of Critical Essays.   Englewood Cliffs:   Prentice-Hall, 1974. Jacoby, Russel.   Dialectic of Defeat:   Contours of Western Marxism.   Cambridge:   Cambridge UP, 1981. Jain, Ajit, and Alexander Matejko, eds.   A Critique of Marxist and Non-Marxist Thought.   New York:   Praeger, 1986. Marx, Karl.   The Communist Manifesto.   Ed.   Frederic L. Bender.   New York:   Norton, 1988. Osborn, Reuben.   Marxism and Psychoanalysis.   New York:   Dell Publishing, 1965. Schafer, William J.   "Ralph Ellison and the Birth of the Anti-Hero."   Hersey   115-126. Schor, Edith.   Visible Ellison:   A Study of Ralph Ellison's Fiction.   Westport:   Greenwood, 1993. Vogler, Thomas A.   "Invisible Man:   Somebody's Protest Novel."   Hersey   127-150.      

Monologue and Attitude Revealed through Browning’s ‘My Last Duchess’ Essay

The 16th century poem My Last Duchess by Robert Browning is a monologue of a Duke showing an audience the painting of his late wife. Browning, in this poem, as in many of his poems, uses monologue to reflect on the concepts and notions of his time.   This particular monologue reflects on the perception of women in the 16th century, and in particular, aristocratic women. In this particular monologue, like many of Browning’s monologues, we get not only a feeling for the Duke’s character, but also a feeling about the expectations of a particular class and a particular gender—basically, a women must be obedient to her husband, and any independence is frowned upon. Browning typically used monologue in many of his poems to use this affect—basically, he creates a character to reflect on his own feelings of society, but by using the character, he is able to somewhat mask, or hide behind, that character’s observations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this monologue, we see the Duke as a particularly jealous man. His suspicion would be easily aroused every time his wife thanked someone, especially if it was another man, for a small favor done to her. The Duke thinks that his â€Å"gift of a nine-hundred-years-old-name (line 33)† was the most valuable gift his wife received from her and thus, she should have not just given away her smile and blush for anyone but him. He saw this attitude as a kind of stooping down on her part and in turn, an insult on him and his position in society.   Ã‚  The monologue thus reveals a lot about the main character that is speaking, and in this poem, it is the Duke: The style and structure of this poem play a significant role in the effect of the poem.   As is typical of Browning’s poems, â€Å"My Last Duchess† is written as a dramatic monologue: one speaker relates the entire poem as if to another person present with him.   This format suits this poem particularly well because the speaker, taken to be the Duke of Ferrara, comes across as being very controlling, especially in conversation (My Last Duchess Analysis). When he got tired of these exchanges of smiles between his wife and other people, he â€Å"gave commands;/ Then all smiles stopped together (Browning, lines 45-46).† This ambiguous statement gives the reader a clue as to how the Duchess became an ex-wife. It is not specific, however, so that one can only guess as to what happened—maybe he had her killed or sent her away where she died. From these absurd, oftentimes ridiculous, and obviously arrogant words, the reader can conclude that the Duke was a controlling husband. Lines 50 onwards tell the reader that the Duke is looking for a new wife and the person whom he is showing the painting to, is the assistant or messenger of a Count whose daughter the Duke is eyeing as a prospective wife. The talk he would have later with the Count would be about the arrangement of his next marriage (My Last Duchess Discussion).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Duke represents the traditional male and his attitude towards his late wife mirrors the attitude and expectations of a patriarchal and Victorian society towards women in his monologue. The society of that time expected women to simply obey. She should only reserve her charms for her husband. She must not even try to be beautiful in her own painting. The mere act of being happy, pleasant to anyone regardless of rank and stature in life, and to love the simple pleasures in life as watching the sunset or riding a mule in the case of the Duchess, were all considered acts of unfaithfulness. In short, it was a sin to be naturally beautiful and to have a happy disposition. Men liked to control their wives. Being the only one who could open the curtain to reveal the painting of his beautiful and smiling late wife is symbolic of how this man would do anything to control his wife. If he couldn’t stop his wife from smiling at anyone when she was still alive, at least when she was dead and only lived through her painting the Duke could finally decide as to whom to share his wife’s smiles and charms. Through the painting done by a master, she has also became the expensive commodity that she should have been while living, but a role of which she never assumed because she stooped to being accessible to anyone, much to the disappointment of her husband, the Duke. Noble women should assume the position that their rank in society expected them to and this meant they should be unreachable in the eyes of commoners. They should not be easily pleased with trifle matters like favors from servants. Finally, the talk of arranging his new marriage with the father of his future bride suggests how women were not allowed to express an opinion even to the important topic of whom to spend the rest of their life with. Women were commodities traded upon by men and they have price tags called dowries. By showing the Count’s emissary the painting of his former wife and telling him why he didn’t like her conduct sends the message as to how he expects his next wife to behave. Otherwise, she might become another Last Duchess, another hidden painting in the house. Therefore, this monologue, like many of Browning’s monologues, reflects on his interpretations of his society.   However, by using a character’s reflections on a particular thought, Browning can somewhat mask his inner feelings and thoughts.   The aspects of his reflections come across clearly, and in this monologue, Browning is obviously taking a deeper look at the treatment of women. Work Cited Browning, Robert. My Last Duchess.   2009 April 21. 2011 May 4. . My Last Duchess Analysis.   2007 January 7. 2011 May 4. My Last Duchess Discussion.   2008 May 14.   2011 May 4.

6 Secrets of Using Essay Quotes to Make Your Papers Rock

Quotes are an excellent tool to boost up credibility of your essay and attract the reader’s attention the moment he sets eyes on it; but just like with any other tool, you have to use them properly if you want them to be effective – and here are some ways to do so. 1. No More than 2 Quotations per Essay As the saying goes, too much of a good thing is good for nothing – and it is certainly true for essay quotes. A couple of cleverly chosen ones will do wonders to spice up your essay, but if you start cramming them into every other sentence it will, a) look as if you have nothing to say on your own, b) return unpleasantly high plagiarism results in automated plagiarism checks. In addition to that, an essay is a fairly small text, and using multiple quotes will quickly deplete your word limit. 2. Cite the Quote and Do It Correctly If you don’t want to be accused of plagiarism, make sure you properly cite every quote you use – consult your relevant style guide for details. 3. Paraphrase Quotes Paraphrasing means transferring the meaning of a phrase in your own words. This way you can avoid repeating the original phrase (thus making it less likely to trigger plagiarism checker) and introduce it more naturally into the flow of your own speech. Paraphrasing is quite a useful technique because it allows you to eat your cake and have it: you both cite an author of the quote (showing that you are familiar with his work) and make it a natural part of your writing (showing that you fully understand what it means and can write on your own). 4. Use Correct Punctuation Marks Punctuation used with quotes may be somewhat tricky, but learn it once, and it won’t be a problem anymore. If a direct quote is preceded by an identifier like â€Å"she said†, or â€Å"according to New York Times†, you should precede the opening quotation marks with a comma. Also, make sure that the full stop, question or exclamation mark ending the sentence is inside the quotation marks. Like this: She said, â€Å"I don’t know what to think anymore.† If the quote has a text following it, there should be a comma at the end of quote – again, within the quotation marks: â€Å"I don’t know what to think anymore,† she said. 5. Vary the Words Introducing Quotes There are many more words in English than â€Å"says† or â€Å"writes† to introduce quotes. Make sure you bring a bit of variety into your texts by using them. Here are some suggestions: Argues, points out, reveals, suggests, supposes, demonstrates, states, claims, concludes†¦ Just open a thesaurus. 6. Make Your Quotes Stand out Sometimes (especially in case of longer quotations) mere quotation marks are not enough to satisfactorily separate quotes from the rest of the text. If you style guide allows it, try using a different font for them. As you may see, introducing quotations into your essays is not as straightforward as it seems – but we hope that with these tips you will be able to add that little spice to your texts which makes all the difference.