Friday, January 31, 2020

Paradise Lost Essay Example for Free

Paradise Lost Essay Paradise Lost is divided into twelve books. In Book I Milton explains the theme of his work, man’s disobedience to God, his expulsion from Heaven and the story of the rebel angels sent to Hell. In Book II the angels meet in council to decide what they will do. In Book III God makes a speech on man’s freedom to choose between good and evil. In Book IV Satan observes the happiness of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In Book V God sends Raphael to warn Adam. In Book VI the war in Heaven in described. Book VII and VIII tell the story of the creation of the Earth and the universe. In Book IX Satan persuades Adam and Eve to taste the forbidden fruit. In Book X God’s Son pronounces the sentence of expulsion. In the last two books Adam and Eve abandon paradise. Paradise Lost is an epic poem. Milton chose the epic genre because of the greatness of the subject. He follows the typical epic conventions in his masterpiece, such as the opening with the statement of the theme. This epic takes place in the universe, in Heaven, Hell and Eden. The main characters, God, Satan, Christ, Man and the fallen angels remind the warriors and heroes of the classical epic, even though they are more philosophical heroes. Milton knew the Copernican cosmology but he based the universe of Paradise Lost on the traditional Ptolemaic system because he thought that this conception was fixed in the minds of the people and it had limits within which it was easier for him to work. In Milton’s Heaven God created the Earth, fixed in the centre of the Universe, and he put his life and thoughts in the natural world so that the external reality reflects the divine soul. In Paradise Lost evil and good are opposed. However, Satan has many characteristics of the epic hero, courage, leadership, initiative. Milton has sympathy for his Satan because he himself was a rebel against the political and religious authority. Both Milton and Dante said that their works had divine inspiration but they had contrasting ideas about Satan’s physical appearance and meaning. Dante’s Satan becomes a means of punishment and it resembles a mythic monster, with wings and three heads. Milton’s Satan is a symbol of God’s justice and it takes several forms, first it is a fallen angel, then it has an inhuman form and finally he becomes a snake. The style of the poem is elevated, the poet used a new kind of magnificent blank-verse.

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Bram Stokers Dracula Meets Hollywood Essay -- Film Films Movie Movies

Bram Stoker's Dracula Meets Hollywood For more than 100 years, Bram Stoker’s Victorian novel, Dracula, has remained one of the most successful and revered novels ever published. Since its release in 1897, no other literary publication has been the subject of cinematic reproduction as much as Dracula. Dracula has involuntarily become the most media friendly personality of the 20th century. When a novel, such as Dracula, is transformed into a cinematic version, the end product is usually mediocre and provides non-existing justice to the pain staking work endured by the author. Due to production costs and financial restrictions, the director and screenplay writer can never fully reproduce an entire literary work into a screen version. With the complications of time restriction in major motion pictures, a full-length novel is compacted into a two-hour film. This commonly leads to the interference in the sequence of events, alternation of plots and themes, and the elimination of important characters or events. But the one true adversary of novel-based films is Hollywood fabrication. Producers, directors, and playwrights add or eliminate events and characters that might or might not pertain to the storyline for the sake of visual appeal, therefore defacing the author’s work. The above explanations have not paralyzed the countless attempts made by directors to bring the legendary Dracula to the big screen. Some cinematic reproductions of the novel have been more successful and critically acclaimed than others. According to Stuart, â€Å" From 1897 to 1993 there have been at least 600 vampire movies. Dracula has been portrayed on film at least 130 times† (Stuart 217). But three versions of the genre have emerged as the most d... ...James Craig. Dracula in the Dark: The Dracula Film Adaptations. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1997. Skal, David J. The Monster Show: A Culture History of Horror. New York: W.W.Norton & Co., 1993. Silver, Alain, and James Ursini. The Vampire Film: From Nosferatu to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. New York: Limelight Editions, 1994. Tibbetts, John C., and James M. Welsh. Novels into Films: The Encyclopedia of Movie Adapted from Books. New York: Checkmark Books, 1999. Filmography Browning, T. (Director), & Fort, G. (Screenplay). (1931). Dracula [Motion Picture]. United States: Universal Studios Murnau, F.W. (Director). (1922). Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie des Grauens [Motion Picture] Germany: Prana Films Coppola, Francis F. (Director), & Hart, James V. (Screenplay). (1992). Bram Stoker’s Dracula [Motion Picture]. United States: Columbia Pictures

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Paranormal Activity

Paranormal Activity: An Evaluation Movies are images of a certain character’s life; it depicts the character’s environment, the weather, and all the necessary ingredients that make up the movie that is being watched. There are many types of movies: comedy, drama, documentary, and sci-fi; but there is one type of genre of movie, that most people have the pleasure of watching. The scary movies; they are the best kind, they scare, yet the audience cannot turn away. Watching the movie Paranormal Activity, it really scared me.But the things that had grasped my attention were the actors, plot, scenes, sound, and cinematography. The actors were extremely well in portraying the part of a stricken girlfriend with a demon in her home with her caring boyfriend. They were very nice in screaming in all of the parts that were needed to be screamed at. But not only did it cause her, but also will cause the viewers to scream in terror and fear. Micah is this manly sort of man who feels that he can take care of the demon and his girlfriend.Katie becomes extremely annoyed by the antics of Micah and tries to find help in other ways. Another reason why I enjoyed the actors was because they made everything seem so real. They made the sleeping, the arguments, and the existence of demons real. You also see the change inMicah, he goes from unafraid, and not disturbed by her past, to a complete 360. He becomes fearful, and gets mad and try to take out the demon. All the scary movies start out the same way, everything is always normal, and something drastic happens, which makes the main character afraid of her surroundings.But in the movie, Paranormal Activity, it was always with her. It never seems to leave her alone. She was haunted by the ghost. In the end of the scary movie, nothing good ever comes out of it, something that is dramatic always plays out, in order to scare the viewers out. It is always assumed that the plot is bound to have a good twist because it is a f rightening movie, while waiting for the twist in the movie; it ended, and realized that there was no twist. It is the same old boring type of scary movie as previously seen before.It is a pretty straightforward movie, with no twist and no excitement, just a lot of scary faces. When the scene of a haunting movie takes place there is always that one scary building that has people talking about it, creating rumors, and scaring people. The only difference is that instead of a scary building it is a nice two bedroom apartment. Instead of the community creating rumors about the house, it is the girlfriend. The scenes of the movie could be established by the days of nights that they had stayed in the place.It was fairly nice as to the scenes could be distinguished from each other. It caused the viewer to establish a certain timeframe as to when and where the haunting is taking place. The scene is also great because in the woods or a big house all to youself, everyone knows what is bound to happen. The audience realizes the danger of the woods, or the mansion Yet this house is similar to your own house or one you have lived in for a while. No one really suspect any scary things to be happening in a place where you are surrounded by people in every direction.I also love the scenes because in the beginning there is no opening credit or the title of the movie, it seems like two normal happy couples with a small problem. It makes the movie really believable and scares you from even standing up in a dark room. One scene that made me think was when Micah was mad at his girlfriend for not telling him that she had a demon that came to her from time to time. It shows his concern for his safety, and his anger at her omitting some information from him.The sound in every scary movie is always the same, and so, it is true with this one as well. First the sound begins, getting you ready to be spooked, yet you let all the anticipation get hyped up, only for a door swinging back and forth. They keep on using the same sounds over and over again conditioning you, to get all scared for no particular reason. It was very well played in the sense that it had a warning bell in order for your attention. But the sound really does create a sense of urgency in you to close your eyes, run away or even take the disc out.The reoccurring sound shows that it is meant to be scary as with the night time style camera. Since the sound was played in almost every scene, it adds more horror to the film. But just when you get tired and bored of hearing the same noises over and over again each and every couple of night, you get taken aback. Shock takes over instead boredom and surprise instead tiredness. You start to rise back up into your seat, and get sucked in by what is happening, all because of the sound. The cinematography reeled me in from the start.The movie is not some guy who is a professional at handling cameras; it is the same guy that is the main character. It is done extr emely well also because it is not bumpy, nor shaky; it is held by a really steady hand. In the start you see the character and their change between Micah and Katie. They make it seem like a normal day with their normal life and nothing out of the ordinary. It is shown as a life just like you and me but at night is where the real fun begins. He puts the camera on a tripod and the night vision is turned on so we can see all that is going on.There was really good visuals on the nights, and the days, and also on the mundane activities that were going on like her making jewelry, or her talking to her friend. It sparked your interest because you wanted to know when the scary part was going to take place. Any scary movie can be scary if you throw in a demon or a ghost in the mix, but if you include all of the right mixture then you may truly scare any individuals. It may either be by the plot, scenes, actors, or even the cinematography. Overall, while the movie was a bit of a cheap thrille r, it made you flinch and your heat lurch and everyone needs a good thrill now and again.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

How to Organize a Dorm Room

Given how ridiculously tiny the room might be, knowing how to organize a dorm room can be a challenge. So just what can you do to make the most of what space you do have? Dont have anything in the room that serves only one function. Sure, that plug-in grilled cheese maker seems cool, but it takes up a lot of space and can only do one thing. Make sure that every item in your room serves more than one function. For example, pick a speaker system for your iPhone that charges it at the same time. Use a throw on your bed that you can also take to football games when it gets cold outside. Youre paying a lot for that little room -- make sure your stuff is earning its keep, too! Think about the actual number of things youll really need at any time. Do you really need 20 highlighters? Or will 5 do? Let your campus bookstore be the one to keep things in stock; you can always run down there and get more of any supply (or borrow some from your roommate or friends down the hall). Split things with your roommate. Do you really need two printers? Two mini-fridges? Two MLA manuals? Of course, if sharing makes things get sticky, avoid this rule ... but, most likely, you and your roommate can make things work out by sharing some of the most important stuff. And you can save some sacred space (and cash) in the meantime. Avoid empty space. You probably have a duffel bag or suitcase for your trips home (or elsewhere). When you store them in your closet, dont store them empty. Put out-of-season clothes, big jackets, blankets, and anything else that will fit inside of them. Is there room under your bed? Buy storage boxes and cram in as much as you can. Youll still have your stuff accessible -- but no longer in the way. Aim for keeping things organized as often as you can. You may hear echoes of your mother in this rule, but its true: in a space that is especially small, keeping things organized will make the space seem larger. If youre pulling an all-nighter, getting everything off your desk except the stuff you need will help as your ability to focus starts to fade. If you like to read and study on your bed, being able to do so without having to fig ht for space with your laundry will make it easier -- on both your body and your brain.