Dead Poets Society Essay examples -- essays papers

Dead Poets Society Dead Poets Society Hysterical Text One person’s interpretation of a story is always different than another’s. Some of us may see things that are not being shown to us. Dead Poets Society, in author Tania Modleski’s eyes has taken on a manifestation larger than the author herself. This story is not what the author will have you believe, whereas the true story was hidden in the misconception of Modleski’s beliefs. The sexual content, homoerotic tensions, and antiauthoritarian behavior, seemed to come from the author’s wishful thinking as opposed to the reality of the film. In the film a homosexual theme could not be seen. When Mr. Keating came to the school to teach, he did not insist on being called oh captain my captain. That phrase was used only three times in the movie, once by Mr. Keating himself. Oh captain my captain was used by two separate young men as a show of admiration and respect for Mr. Keating. In contrast Modleski sees oh captain my captain as a â€Å"pious deference to male authority†(Modleski â€Å" Dead White Male Heterosexual Poets Society† 315) because the very authority the film pretends to be challenging. One character that just enrolled at the school and was somewhat of a loner, and misfit, and is expected to achieve great success as his brother did before him. He is an example of how some families push one child to be exactly like another i.e. his older brother. When he first comes in contact with Mr. Keating he could not speak openly in front of a crowd. This is evident when he decides not to write a poem that is to be read in front of the class the following day. When Mr. Keating calls upon him to read and he cannot, he uses the technique of spinning him around while spewing... ...land. Mr. Keating probably was dismissed from the school in England for his freethinking ways. He may travel from school to school spreading the Dead poets Society way of free expression. This is illustrated when a boy returns to his room, and finds Mr. Keating’s book of poetry lying on his desk. When Modleski critiqued this movie, with good intentions in mind, somehow she lost her way. There are two sides to every story and these boys and Mr. Keating’s has been told. The illustrations, and aforementioned reasons, show that Dead poets society is a hysterical text. We may never know the real meaning behind this movie, but we all have our interpretations of it. There are no hidden or reclusive meanings being portrayed here, just a boarding school that suppresses freedom of thought, and creativity. This is why Mr. Keating’s character comes through loud and clear.

Environmental issues and economics

Economic growth, unemployment and a better standard of living have always been the main objectives on the agenda of economists throughout the world. The environment is and has always been the major attribution to achieving these goals as it is the source of natural resources, many amenities and as a place to dump whatever waste, whenever necessary. Up to the 1960s there had never been the awareness of problems affecting the environment's role. The population started to grow rapidly since the industrial revolution, first in the west and then in the 20th century developing countries followed. Today the world population is over 6 billion and in relation to the rate of economic growth there has been a mass of extra pressure put on the environment. Also read this  Cheating in a Bottom Line Economy There is a great list of issues, disasters and environmental problems that have been discovered during the last forty years that are on the constant agenda of the majority of economist's decisions and that are in desperate need of a solution. Some economists choose to dismiss the issue altogether, for example the USA who make up only 5% of the population, yet contribute to using 25% of the world's energy and produce 22% of the world's CO2. For them to dismiss the allegations of their contribution to damaging the environment is a very serious issue as they refuse to cease the growth of their economy i.e. their car market. Their only attempts at solving this problem are unrealistic and would do little towards helping the environment. The main issues are the problems caused to the environment by global warming, nuclear disasters, water pollution, intensive farming, the loss of non-renewable sources and of course the cause of it all, rising population. When the environment becomes damaged it is due to a failure of the market (Demand and Supply). That is, as the environmental damage has not been taken into account when applying the concepts of economic growth. This can generally be accounted for by the lack of property rights, as there is nobody who can take the side of the environment and hold to account those who damage the sea, air, rainforest etc, so there is very little done about it. In almost every circumstance it is cheaper for businesses/ firms to pollute the environment than to attempt to clean up the damage they have caused. A good way of analysing the effects of production on the environment is to draw it on a diagram of the production possibility curve/ frontier to comprehend a range at which there can be production and environmental protection. At point Y – Maximum production and worst environmental conditions. At point Z – Environment is perfect but there is no production at all. At range X – There is production and environmental protection. There are five main aims of government policy which all contribute to affecting the environment in their own way. One of the main objectives of government is to reach full employment, which is economically, a very good position to be in for an economy. Full employment can and often does however lead to more factories, offices, shops, purchased cars, manufactured goods and therefore the possible loss of countryside which all lead to pollution, congestion etc. The same kind of damage is also caused by economic growth. A policy set by the government (especially monetarists) is to fight inflation that ordinarily results in unemployment, which is seen clearly from the Phillips Curve. Targeting and achieving low inflation will cut aggregate demand and so the environment actually suffers less damage. Improving the balance of payments deficit also contributes to less damage on the environment, as there is again a cut in aggregate demand. The final aim of government policy is to redistribute income accordingly to a specific school of thought e.g. 1945-1979 The rich were taxed heavily (income tax) to pay welfare state (help the poor) which inevitably boosted aggregate demand, harming the environment. Since about 1970 the concept of sustainable development has been more widely discussed. Sustainable development is about economic growth being the cause of damage to the environment. An economist named R.K. Turner once quoted that sustainable development is â€Å"to leave future generations an amount of wealth, which is at least equal to that inherited by the current generation†. Agenda 21 set up in 1992 was an attempt to solve this world problem for the generations. It was a conference in Rio where all the countries governments agreed to an outline plan to protect the environment, especially global warming. To follow this attempt, a further conference was set up in 1997 in Kyoto. In this conference legally binding targets were introduced to reduce CO2 emissions with the exception of developing countries that were allowed to increase CO2 emissions up to a limit as they industrialise. In order to apply these individual targets set for the environment within a country would have to produce an evaluation to establish whether the benefits are greater than the costs to the environment before starting a project. This is done through Cost-Benefit analysis, which is a way in which economists assess the private internal costs and benefits (relates to the firm/ businesses) and the social external costs and benefits (relates to society). The problems that arise with this method of assessment though is that it is very subjective and open to wide interpretation, as you cannot value pollution e.g. an eye sore or the gains of a quicker journey to work. Solutions to pollution and other social costs can be approached in two ways, through the private sector and the government sector. I order to control pollution and social costs in the private sector without the interference of the government, several approaches would need to be made. Property rights would need to be extended, the polluters and the pollutee would need to bargain (Coarse Bargaining) about pollution, there might need to be a merging between the polluter and the pollutee so that it would be in the polutee's best interest to clean up their act as the social costs would affect their profit levels. There might also have to be some altruism, which they can use as a marketing strategy. The price mechanism is also a strong solution to solving the problem of losing non-renewable goods e.g. oil. When demand exceeds supply then the prices rise and products like oil are instantly rationed which leaves an incentive to find alternatives. Alternatively for some products such as glass, paper, cans etc, it may become more economic to recycle as the prices for these scarce resources rise. However, i.e. with bottles, the factories used for recycling pollute the atmosphere as do the lorries collecting the bottles from the bottle bank as do the cars used by the public to take the bottles to the bank. Should the public sector fail to take these factors into account (market failure), there is a case for government intervention in order to apply a solution to pollution and other social costs. The government often sets standards as either an outright ban e.g. CFC's or as a partial ban e.g. leaded petrol. Other standards are also introduced that are often more difficult to enforce as they are not as effective as taxes and the government may face possible costs e.g. MOT tests. Taxes are deemed as effective and are therefore often imposed in an attempt to internalise external costs. These are effective, as the buyer has to pay the equivalent price for the damage to the environment; this is an effective disincentive to buy e.g. VAT and excise duty on petrol. The effect caused by added taxes is in this supply and demand diagram OP (price) & OQ (quantity) do not take damage to the environment into account As the taxes are introduced supply shifts to S2 due to the high price change at OP2. Subsequently this makes us aware of the damage caused to the environment and demand contracts to OQ2. The problems that arise however with indirect taxation are that the poor are consequently more affected than the rich are. One strategy that is now in the progress of being experimented within the USA that requires a combination of both the private and government sector. This involves the issuing of â€Å"permits to pollute†. This allows firms/ businesses to compete amongst themselves after the government has set up a structure by which permits are sold for the right to pollute. Over several years the permits are then cut and it is left to the private sector companies to compete with each other or to put investment into efficient power generators that are more environmentally friendly that require less or no need for permits. It is clear that there are many arising environmental issues becoming apparent to the economist throughout the stages of meeting government policies. Despite that there has been noticeable actions taken out since these problems have been discovered, there is still a long way to go.

Rolands Heroic Hero - 1443 Words

The loss of his men deeply troubles Roland into portraying the heroic quality of honoring the dead. As the battle against the Saracens slowly diminishes the French forces, Roland scans the mountains pass and cries out, â€Å"Barons, my lords, may God give you his grace, may he grant Paradise to all your souls, make them lie down among the holy flowers. I never saw better vassals than you. All the years you’ve served me, and all the times, the mighty lands you conquered for Charles our King!† (140. 1854-59) The feeling of despair in Roland is evident in these lines. None of the rearguard ran away when they saw a fierce battle approaching. Instead, they followed orders and fought honorably under the command of Roland. At the sight of all†¦show more content†¦It is notable to realize that Roland is physically about to die, yet the obligation of blessing his companions is his top-priority. Roland returns, lays the brave men down according to their rank, and watches as the Archbishop blesses each one. Roland shows particular emotion when he sees Oliver lying on the plain When Roland fixes his eyes on Oliver’s cold body, he â€Å"felt such grief and pity, he begins to weep; and his face lost its color with what he felt: a pain so great he cannot keep on standing, he has no choice, falls fainting to the ground.† (164. 2215-20) Roland and Oliver’s relationship is much more meaningful than friendship. Although the two arguments between Oliver and Roland seem like they pit each vassal against each other, they still resemble brothers-in-arms (Ailes). No matter how different they may seem, Roland honors Oliver in the end. In addition, the Twelve Peers that fought so bravely by Roland’s side. Through the excruciating loss of twenty thousand French soldiers, including his dear companions, Roland’s final words still bless his Heavenly Lord. Just hours before this moment, Roland was so caught up in his pride that he didn’t even realize how he had endangered the lives of his troops and disobeyed his feudal relationship with Charlemagne. His pride distorted his motivation behind attacking the Saracens without warning the rest of the army, yet he keptShow MoreRelatedSong of Roland Essay595 Words   |  3 PagesRoland is not depicted as a hero in every way. In what particular way does his h eroism cause him to fail himself and others, and what does that tell us about the culture out of which the poem emerges? The Song of Roland is a heroic epic that depicts the tragic defeat of Roland, the courageous leader of Charlemagne’s army. Within the epic Roland is not depicted as a hero in every way. I believe that Roland’s pride eventually becomes the root cause of his failure to himself and to others. 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