Model employed by Massive Inc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Model employed by Massive Inc - Essay Example It will also help publishers offset the skyrocketing costs of video game development, which can in turn benefit gamers, keeping game prices affordable and opening the door to free game play, free content, tournaments and other possibilities that add realism and entertainment value to the overall game experience. The gamming industry in Australia stretches decades of years back. Over time and again games industry has earned a reputation for quality in a vast wide world market hungry for the new content. The government on the other hand has been very supportive by realising that digital games create growth and generate jobs for many people including developers, hardware manufacturers, publishers and retailers, it has resorted to developing a large and thriving 'high-tech' sector by funding strategies through providing Sony PlayStation 2 and Xbox Development Kits to local companies that would usually not be able to afford them and grab a bigger share of the market. This has been promulgated funding local game content through Film Victoria's Digital Media Fund. In a nut shell the Australian games industry is made up of over 40 companies employing more developers. 2The amalgamation encompassing local branches of large international publishers, established larger local companies, plus smaller and newer companies that only have a few employees is also a monumental key driver in the Australian game industry since three quarters of these companies are in the business of developing games. A growing number of tertiary institutions that offer Diploma and Degree courses in games development are meant to create a bridge in the technical expertise in the gaming industry by focussing and teaching strictly on the design aspects of games while others take an IT and programming-based approach. Potential Vulnerability. The worst anathema facing games industry, according to trade body the Interactive Entertainment Alliance of Australia (IEAA), is piracy. Which represents 15 of the top game platform holders and publishers, including Electronic Arts, Vivendi, Sony Computer entertainment, Nintendo and recent joinee Nokia Research commissioned by the IEAA in 2002, estimated the cost of piracy at $100million a colossal figure that was growing with the economy. The widespread availability and low cost of CD burners had clearly facilitated the growth of these sources of pirated product, the IEAA claims. The impact of computer markets on the games retail channel varied across Australia, according to retailers contacted by. One publisher that confirmed it would ship unclassified games to Australia is running with Scissors, a small US game publisher whose game Postal was banned in Australia in 1997. Any local publishers did not pick up the sequel, Postal 2, and thus it was not submitted for a rating through t he OFLC. Popular web auction site eBay is another avenue in which buyers can obtain banned games, either domestically or from overseas. And the infiltration of illegal games. Hot spots for the sale of pirated games and mod chipping in Sydney include Liverpool, Campbell town and Flemington, says distributor Tech Pacific's games category manager Nathan Dingle. Description & analysis of the online market in

Quentin Tarantino Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Quentin Tarantino - Essay Example He was given exposure to different kind of films and he was also influenced by the pop culture, which still influences many people. He called it a day as far as schooling was concerned at the age of 17 and wanted to pursue his career in acting, he supported himself financially during this time. When he turned 22, the genius in him started to show, he started writing scenes which were used in the practice of his acting classes and people also admired him because of his knowledge in the field of movies. All this came to him naturally, right from his childhood films played a big role in shaping up his life. Tarantino did not get success instantly; he literally wasted many years writing scripts for his debut as a director. The year 1991 saw him write Reservoir Dogs, an upcoming producer by the name Lawrence Bender took notice of Tarantino's work and asked him for a month's time to turn his work into a fully-fledged movie. All the plans became successful and the movie was shot in less tha n a month in exotic locations in Los Angeles. The movie has a star cast, which included stars like Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Laurence Tierney, Chris Penn and the movie was a huge success and turned around the fortune of Tarantino. 1997 saw him writing and directing Jackie Brown. The movie was based on Elmore Leonard's novel Rum Punch, the stars of the movie got nominated for academy awards and this goes to show that the film was a very successful one. "Tarantino's first career goal was to become an actor, and he has continued to play roles in his own films and in the work of others. He was the thief known only as Mr. Brown (That's a little too close to 'Mr.Shit,') in Reservoir Dogs and the jittery Jimmie Dimmick, saddled with a fresh corpse, Pulp Fiction. In the Man from Hollywood section of Four Rooms, he was a blow-hard movie director. He also played bandit George Clooney's loony brother, Richard Gecko, in Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn, played the title rol e in Jack Baren's Destiny Turns on the Radio (1995) and appeared in Spike Lee's Girl 6 (1996). Quentin Tarantino became very renowned after the release of Pulp Fiction (1994), the movie did really very well and shot Quentin Tarantino into the limelight. The writers of the movie were Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary. The movie achieved the biggest prize which any director can dream of, which is undoubtedly The Oscar Award. "This film oozes inspired casting, of actors who either played against type or at least became offbeat and edgy in ways in which we hadn't hitherto known them. Then, through the editing process, by telling the story in a maximum non-linear way, out of time, reducing the film to a series of seeming disjointed non-sequential vignettes, each vignette featuring the aforementioned snappy dialog delivered by the aforementioned hand-picked edgy actors. It is only after watching the entirety of the movie, and reflecting back on it, does the gestalt emerge for the viewer. And, it may take more than one viewing to get there. Then, lastly, by topping it all off with a snazzy soundtrack. That's how. Add all that stuff together and you get Pulp Fiction.  

Challenges for Immigrant Children and their Parents Research Paper

Challenges for Immigrant Children and their Parents - Research Paper Example There are several factors involved in the challenges that immigrant children and their families face. The influx of immigrants and their children are so great that the child welfare services are swamped by these sheer numbers on one side, and on the other side, there is the lack of ability in child welfare services to understand and meet the requirements of the immigrant children. Another factor in the well-being of the immigrant children and their families is the legal status of the immigrants, as different statuses carry with it the deriving of different levels of benefits and services. Another important challenge for immigrant children and their families is the lack of proficiency in the English language, as nearly all of the immigration come from countries, where there is limited exposure to the English language. This deficiency is likely to lead to the family falling in the low-income group, with the accompanying issue of the poor health status of the children. Understanding the challenges of immigrant children can be derived from the stages of migration framework, and the critical variables involved in it, and the factors that have an impact on each stage of migration. Factors that impinge on the different stages of migration include age, family background, urban or rural background, socioeconomic background, occupation, religion, and social support. The premature stage or the departure stage, transit or immediate stage, resettlement stage, and return to the country of origin stage make up the four stages in the stages of migration framework. This framework provides an understanding on the challenges that are faced by immigrant children and their families, which are important for child welfare social workers.

Interview with a group of adolescents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Interview with a group of adolescents - Essay Example They said they were glad they were young and didnt need to worry with things like that. They also agreed that being young was great because they didnt need to work a full time job. Some of them had casual jobs they did for their own spending money, but they realized that they didnt need to go to work every day like their parents. This line of discussion lead naturally into what they didnt like about being a teenager. They expressed frustration about the lack of freedom they had. They were forced to go to school, eat the food prepared for them at home and wear the clothes their parents bought for them. They didnt like the fact that they were required to go to school, but most of them agreed that school was more fun than it was work so they didnt mind being there. All of them agreed that not being able to drive a car yet was a pain. They all looked forward to getting their drivers licenses and seemed to think that being able to drive would solve most of their problems. Life would be so much better after age sixteen. I can commiserate with these kids as I remember being a teenager. There was a conflict that seemed to intensify each year until age sixteen. On the one hand I felt I deserved more freedom, but on the other hand, there was no real way for my parents to grant that freedom until I could drive a car. I remember feeling exactly like these kids. A car would change everything! I received lots of different answers about what was the best thing in life right now for these kids. Interesting enough, most of the answers for both best and worst aspect of life dealt with some sort of interpersonal contact within the family of the peer group. Some of the kids said the best thing in their life right now was their girlfriend or boyfriend. Three said that the worst thing was that they had just broken up with their boyfriend or girlfriend. One girl

Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 9

Education - Essay Example Indeed an education in STEM is critical for the population because this is the kind of education that will make a difference in the future. Without STEM education, engineers, programmers, architects and other technology oriented professionals will not be able to formulate the basic algorithm in creating technology nor will they be able to build any structure that will facilitate technology and it follows that a given country will not have anything to engage in trade to make itself progressive and prosperous if it lacks the aptitude in STEM. Indeed STEM is the necessary education in the future as it would become the primary enabler in industry not only on a national scale but also on a personal level. The world is getting technology oriented and we can even feel it today. Technology permeates and affects every dimension of our life and it is expected that this trend will not only continue in the future but will become more intensive. Virtually almost all product s will have a component of technology and engineering and as long as technology and engineering is involve, so does STEM because technology and engineering speaks the language of numbers and science which is the domain of STEM. Thus it can be inferred that a country’s competitiveness is directly correlated with its aptitude in STEM. A country which has strong score in STEM tends to have a strong technological base to create industry such as the case of Japan who is the leading country in manufacturing electronic products (section for interview) and thus will have a greater chance to prosper. STEM’s importance is not only limited to national scale but can be equally important on a personal level. An aptitude in STEM will tremendously boost an individual’s success in the workplace because he or she has the necessary solid skills (STEM) to get things done. In the new economy of globalization, this skill is indispensable because almost all aspect of

A Doll’s House Essay Example for Free

A Doll’s House Essay The play, A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, showcases a traditional marriage of a middle class couple in the Victorian Era. The marriages in the late nineteenth century were severely confining; the woman’s role was to be nurturing and submissive, while the man’s was to be powerful in both his work and domestic life. Similarly to these traditional matrimonies, the marriage of the protagonists, Nora and Torvald, emphasizes the implausibility of individuals to both meet the society’s expectations and achieve personal happiness. Hence, Ibsen exhibited this principle and inadvertently shocked society by exhibiting what most people believed to be â€Å" a kind of godless androgyny; women,† such as the rebellious Nora, â€Å"in refusing to be compliant, [a]re refusing to be women† (Templeton 13). Since men and women in the patriarchal society are conditioned to only accept women as daughters, wives, and mothers, both Nora and Torvald are submissive to society’s will; and so Torvald perpetuates this societal attitude without recognizing its injustice while Nora challenges it, thus reversing their traditional roles in society. Initially, the protagonist in A Doll’s House, Nora, is portrayed as an immature and pretentious woman. Meanwhile, her husband, Torvald, is characterized as an intelligent and generous man. However, as the plot unfolds, evidence suggests that their dispositions are actually in reverse, due to their preoccupation with fitting into the molds that society has created for them to fit into. In reality, not only are their personalities opposite, but their positions in the household are as well. Consequently, Nora plays the part of the childish wife and Torvald plays the part of the dominating husband, but ultimately, Nora is empowered whereas Torvald is desperate to regain control. Additionally, because society constantly reinforces the man’s supremacy and the woman’s subordinacy in a relationship, both Nora and Torvald uphold the pretense of having an ideal marriage; however, they are living an illusion. Initially, both Torvald and Nora seem to highly value appearances; however, obeying societal rules regarding appearance does not give either of them  powera reality that solely Nora is able to comprehend. Unaware that he is living in a household that is based on lies, Torvald treats his wife the way that society has taught him, because he seeks authority not only in his professional life, but in his personal life as well. He believes that women’s purposes only include housekeeping and amusement, so he wants his wife’s appearance, and thus his public front, to be immaculate. Accordingly, Torvald gives Nora money so that she can buy new clothes and presents for herself and their children, subsequently beautifying his family. Also, Torvald affectionately calls Nora his â€Å"skylark and â€Å"squirrel,† and is amused by her immaturity. He enjoys her inability to think for herself, so he doesn’t â€Å"wish [her] anything but just what [she] is, [his] sweet little lark† (Ibsen 46). In order for him to constantly feel powerful, Torvald does not want his child-wife to mature, but instead desires that Nora remains dependent on his guidance and wealth. Furthermore, by calling her by animal nicknames, he dehumanizes her and makes it easier for himself to not acknowledge her as an actual person who needs his emotional, rather than financial support. Even Nora realizes that â€Å"when [she is] no longer so attractive† Torvald will â€Å"love [h]e[r] less than now† and will â€Å"stop enjoying [her] dancing and dressing up and reciting for him† (Ibsen 55), illustrating that although Nora realizes that Torvald does not appreciate her intelligence, rather than speaking up ab out her objectification, she desires to ignore it for the time being. On the other hand, while Torvald is objectifying Nora in order to maintain his authority, he is being manipulated even more than she is. Because society has taught him that appearances are more important than emotional substance, â€Å"Torvald with his sensitivity has such sharp distaste for anything ugly† (Ibsen 81). However, he is unable to recognize impurities beneath the surface, such as his wife’s dishonesty. Contrarily, because Nora cares more about her family’s emotional wellbeing than Torvald does, she recognizes the lies that are present within her and Torvald’s marriage and chooses to block them out of her mind, while he is oblivious to them. In addition, Torvald understands that society views women as being incapable of dealing with important matters, so he chastises Nora for getting involved in financial and work related issues, since they put his authority at risk.  Although he enjoys invoking Nora’s excitement by giving her money to spend, he does not take responsibility for her frivolous spending habits. For instance, when Nora comes home with newly purchased items he asks her, â€Å"Has the little spendthrift been out throwing money around again?† (Ibsen 44) He then continues to patronize her by saying, â€Å" Nora, Nora, how like a woman!† (Ibsen 44), demonstrating his belief that women are incapable of dealing with serious matters and that they are men’s burdens. Moreover, Torvald berates Nora about the importance of money when he tells her â€Å"No debts! Never borrow! Something of freedom’s lostand something of beauty, toofrom a home that’s founded on borrowing and de bt† (Ibsen 44), displaying the importance he places on not owing anything to others and thus, not being subservient. Through his controlling behavior towards Nora, such as appeasing Nora with money after she begs him for it, Torvald demonstrates his disbelief that these qualities should not pertain to women. Also, not only does he want to preserve his family’s appearance, but he also desires to preserve his own at work. Similarly to his domestic status, his professional one is based on the amount of power that he holds, which is demonstrated by his ability to command others. For this reason, Torvald feels threatened when Krogstad acts more friendly than professionally towards him. Also, when Nora later beseeches him to not terminate Krogstad’s job, Torvald is afraid about â€Å"it[being] rumored around that [he] [i]s vetoed by his wife† and inadvertently â€Å"make[ing him]self ridiculous in front of the whole office† (Ibsen 78), since being easily influenced by a woman, a supposedly inferior being, would cause Torvald to lose the respect of his coworkers. Therefore, â€Å"the necessity of moneyits crucial connection to respect figures importantly in A Doll’s House† (Templeton 7), since wealth is the foundation of the social hierarchy, which consists of domineering men at the top and submissive women, who are not even able to make purchases or take out loans without their husbands’ consents, at the bottom. Even though Nora subtly rebels against her husband and the patriarchal society as a whole, she still attempts to conserve her appearance as a submissive wife. In order to maintain a shred of dignity as a child-wife, Nora disobeys Torvald’s and society’s rules by taking on men’s attitudes and duties. For example, she asks â€Å"Dr. Rank† if he wants â€Å"a little macaroon,† because he â€Å"c[an]not possibly know that Torvald had forbidden them, and [she] also ha[s] one,† in an attempt to reject Torvald’s control over her. Next, â€Å"there [i]s just one last thing in the world that [she] ha[s] such a consuming desire to say so Torvald could hear.† This desire of hers is to say, â€Å" to hell and be damned!† (Ibsen 59), since cursing is considered an unladylike act. Later, another one of Nora’s secrets is revealed during her conversation with her childhood friend, Mrs. Linde. Firstly, Nora wants them to only discuss her happiness with Torvald, which displays that Nora acts self-centered at times; much like men who were solely focused on their own problems, not women’s in the Victorian Era. Plus, â€Å"[Mrs. Linde] think[s that] Nora is incapable of anything serious[;]† however, Nora’s â€Å" secret[,]† which is her â€Å"joy and pride† (Ibsen 55), affirms otherwise. Not wanting to humiliate Torvald, but also not wanting her power to be limited by him if he were to find out and stop her actions, Nora secretly saved his life when he was sick once, by borrowing money from Krogstad in order for Torvald to attain medical help, resulting in Nora needing to earn money in order to pay her debt to Krogstad. â€Å"Her criminality is thus both a result and a defiance of her exclusion.Nora, who as a married woman cannot borrow without her husband’s consent, is forced to go outside the law. To acquire money on her own is to reject her lowly status† as well as a sexist law, â€Å" for it means operating in the world† (Durbach 140), an activity that society only allows a woman to do with her husband’s guidance. Unfortunately, though, Nora had no choice but to forge her father’s signature in the process. Not only had Nora committed this crime in order to protect Torvald from feeling indebted to her, and consequently, to allow him to maintain his masculine pride, but she enjoyed the process of it because â€Å"it was wonderful fun, sitting and working like that, earning money. It was almost like being a man† (Ibsen 55). Although one may argue that her decision to break the law is an act of selflessness, in reality, her desire to attain the qualities that men are supposed to possess demonstrates that Nora’s main motivation to help her husband was not love, since she realizes that she is being oppressed, but the prospect of attaining more power, even if it is kept secret for the time being. In addition, her responsible actions showcase that people including Torvald and Nora’s friend, Mrs.  Linde, underestimate Nora’s maturity, since although Nora exhibits the stereotypical female qualities of being immature, as demonstrated by her inability to empathize with Mrs. Linde, she is also hardworking; a presumed quality of men exclusively. Moreover, because in the traditional Victorian society the oppression that she faces is seen as acceptable for women, Nora attempts to deny her restrictions for as long as possible. By buying â€Å"new clothes for Iver a sword [and] a horse and a trumpet for Bob[,] and a doll and a doll’s bed here for Emmy† (Ibsen 45), Nora is passing down the knowledge of gender stereotypes to her children. Also, Nora’s definition of freedom is â€Å"to know you’re carefree; to be able to play with the children, and to keep up a beautiful, charming home,† illustrating that Nora attempts to ignore the injustice of her only purpose in society being to take care of domestic duties and making â€Å"everything just the way Torvald likes it† (Ibsen 56). Plus, this depicts that Nora does not even have the freedom to make her own decisions about how the house should be arranged. Also, Nora â€Å" transforms the tree fantastically until it begins to radiate an appal ling sense of false and misleading gaiety, becoming an emblem of the deceptive values generated in the doll’s house,† since she hides her intelligence and rebellions behind her girly vulnerability and pretty purchases (Durbach 54). Thus, her adornment of the tree showcases her â€Å"masquerade† and â€Å"duplicity,† since â€Å"the tinkering with the tree is clearly emblematic of Nora’s assumption of a disguise in a manic attempt to shore up a house on the verge of collapse† (Durbach 54). Plus, during her conversation with Mrs. Linde, Nora is shocked to discover that her old friend is happy without a husband, and accordingly learns that â€Å"some women indeed, do not love their husbands† (Durbach 102). As a result, Nora begins to understand that women are not obligated to constantly rely on men for support and that it is possible for women to achieve happiness for themselves, not solely for their husbands. â€Å"When [Nora] realize[s this],the truth needs cushioning from the awful implicationsthe instability of domestic values, the shattering of the roles that have given her status, purpose, and function in the doll’s house† (Durbach 102), because all of the former values that society has implemented into her mind  have suddenly become obliterated. â€Å"Her strategy, therefore, is to maintain appearances even if it means living a lie. But she will not go along with this subterfuge forever. Timing is all† (Durbach 102), suggesting that although Nora realizes that the society is deceiving her by instilling the belief that a woman’s only option in life is to adhere to her husband’s demands, Nora is betraying Torvald in the same way, since he does not question her honesty. Meanwhile, Nora also understands that her only means of attaining authority as a woman is by manipulating men with her sexuality; however, she comes to realize that her power hurts others as well as herself. In order to receive what she desires from men, such as Dr. Rank and Torvald, Nora seduces them and pretends to be a stereotypically helpless woman. Not only does Nora flirt with Dr. Rank in order to attain money to pay off her loan to Krogstad, but also to prove to herself and to society that she is able to have power over men. â€Å"She has learnt to coax her husband into giving her what she asks by playing all sorts of pretty tricks. Now she naturally takes the same line with her husband’s friend (Shaw 226). After Dr. Rank explains to Nora that he believes that a terrible occurrence is imminent and then continues to explain that he is sick and will die soon, Nora is visibly relieved because he is not referring to the likelihood of Krogstad revealing her crime to Torvald. Instead of being sympathetic towards Dr. Rank’s plight, Nora then flaunts her â€Å"flesh colored† stockings and asks Dr. Rank, â€Å"Aren’t they lovely?† (Ibsen 82) â€Å"She treat[s] Dr. Rank not as a dearly loved and respected friend, but as the cliche of her fantasiesa male doll,† whom she is able to control for her own benefit (Durbach 49). â€Å"Her illusion of the male doll is as humiliating as the doll role she has trained herself to play† (Durbach 49), and her manipulative behavior exhibits her inability to not do onto others what both society and Torvald have done onto her: treat her like a subordinate being. In addition, it is ironic that the only way for Nora to feel powerful within her marriage is to act childishly in front of Torvald and to use her feminine sexuality. For instance, while preparing to perform a dance, Nora attempts to distract Torvald with her helplessness, because she does not  want him to open a letter from Krogstad, which outlines her forgery. She then proclaims to Torvald, â€Å"I’ve forgotten the whole [dance] completely.Yes, take care of me, Torvald, please!† (Ibsen 91), demonstrating that Nora knowingly abuses her sexual power by promoting her vulnerabilitya quality of hers that she knows Torvald is infatuated by. Plus, she lets him dress her up in a â€Å" fancy dress from Capri† that he had bought for her. It â€Å"is all sex and sexuality, a device that transforms Nora into the kind of ethnic doll† (Durbach 45) that one can purchase and then use for his own enjoyment. â€Å"The costume represents her role as a living sexual fantasy in the bourgeois bedroom,† since she does not even dress herself, but instead dresses up in order to be a suitable plaything for Torvald (Durbach 45). Her marriage, thus far, has shown her that in order to get others to listen to her and do things for her, she needs to use her sexuality and female characteristic of fragility, so â€Å"Nora acts the sexual doll, even to the extent of allowing Torvald to choose the costume and the [tarantella] dance (Durbach 45), thus causing him to think that he has full control of her, while in actually, she is the schemer who has the greater control in their relationship. Because of her subservience to males, Nora faces consequences at the hands of both Dr. Rank and Torvald that eventually lead to her awakening to her lack of free will. Although Nora has succeeded in manipulating Dr. Rank, she realizes that what she has done is wrong and then decides against asking him for a favor. Dr. Rank tells Nora that â€Å"[Torvald i]s [not] the only one who [woul]d give up his life for [her]† (Ibsen 84),† suggesting that he loves Nora. Because she â€Å" now ha[s] the knowledge that [his] body and soul are at [her] command† (Ibsen 84), as a result of her seduction of Dr. Rank, Nora feels guilty for giving him false hope of her reciprocating his feelings, especially because Nora is married and still feels loyal towards Torvald. Also, Nora finally abandons her plan of manipulation because she does not wish to hurt a man who, as a result of his affection for her, seems weaker than most men, such as Torvald. â€Å"Nora now becomes â€Å"aware of her own tendency to reduce living substance to the empty forms of perverse fantasy† (Durbach 49). Furthermore, the tarantella dance, which represents Nora and Torvald’s power struggle, between not only each other, but also each of them individually and society, causes Nora to visibly rebel against Torvald, rendering him desperate to gain back his control. Nora’s rampant dancing is a discernible rebellion against Torvald, thus rendering him desperate to gain back his control over her. As her dancing becomes increasingly crazed, Torvald yells to her, â€Å"Slow down.Not so violent, Nora! No, no, that won’t do it at all† (Ibsen 91-92). Her refusal to abide by his commands â€Å"reveal[s] the hoydenish mistress beneath the angel in the house† (Durbach 45), since for the first time, Nora is disobeying Torvald while he is aware of her defiance. Overall, the tarantella represents â€Å"the dance of the victim of the tarantella spider, and the delirious attempt of the body to rid itself of the poison. (Durbach 52). In this case, Nora and Torvald are both the victims and society is the metaphorical spider that spreads its venom through their marriage, causing them to fight for their freedoma concept that Nora grasps better than Torvald does. As a result, Nora fights with Torvald for the presumedly powerful role of the man in their relationship. Later, Torvald takes on Nora’s previous role of seduction, because he believes that he has the right to â€Å"look at [his] dearest possession† in an objectifying way, because â€Å"all [of her] loveliness [i]s [his] alone (Ibsen 100). Torvald sees that the freeness of the tarantella â€Å"is still in [Nora’s] blood and it makes [her] even more enticing. (Ibsen 100). Plus, he finds Nora’s trembling attractive because as a man, it gives him an opportunity to protect her from harm, and it also demonstrates her vulnerability, which society has taught men to be infatuated with† (Ibsen 100). However, when Nora tells Torvald that she does not want to see him at this moment, he is shocked. Torvald does not understand what â€Å"[Nora] mean[s,] and thinks that Nora [is] teasing [hi]m† (Ibsen 101) because as her husband he thinks that he is entitled to have control over her body. This â€Å"sexual attitude [is] conditioned by a determination to see Nora as a dancing, singing, and reciting doll, created for his leisure moments, the maintenance of his household economy, and the convenience of his bed† (Durbach 53). Nora’s encounters with Mrs. Linde, Krogstad, Dr. Rank, and finally withToravald all lead to her disillusionment, and incidentally, Torvald’s as well. Her encounter with Krogstad, a lawyer and Torvald’s coleague, because he is a window into Nora’s future, in which she is ostracized because of the crime that she has committed; Mrs. Linde because she helped Nora realize her potential to break female stereotypes, and Dr. Rank because he is an honest man whom Nora regretted hurting. In particular, the tarantella dance is the turning point in Nora and Torvald’s relationship. Once Torvald commands her to dance in a more proper manner, Nora more fully comprehends that her freedom of expression as well as her right to have control over her own body is being oppressed. For this reason, she decides to allow Torvald to read the letter from Krogstad about her crime, as she is no longer controlled by her fear of how society will view her. Although Nora realizes t hat the illusion of her utopian family will shatter after Torvald finds out about her secret, she does not expect him to react as angrily as he does. While Nora understands her oppression more clearly after revealing her forgery to her husband and later decides to abandon her family, Torvald has also been rendered powerless and is unable to comprehend his wife’s decision to leave their household. While Nora had earlier decided to act selflessly in order to save her husband’s reputation, Torvald responds to the revelation of her forgery by attempting to preserve his authority and reputation for societal reasons. Even though Nora is cunning at times, society has constantly reinforced the quality of selflessness to females, so she believes that because she is willing to sacrifice herself for her husband, Torvald should be willing to do the same. Since as a wife, Nora realizes that it is her duty to unconditionally love her husband, â€Å"if anything awful [were to] happen, then it just wouldn’t matter if [she] ha[s] debt or not† (Ibsen 44), because the wellbeing of her husband is more important to her than riches and societal status. Initially, Nora fools herself into believing that â€Å"Torvald loves [her] beyond words (Ibsen 75). She does not acknowledge the warning signs of his over-protectiveness, such as the fact that he is extremely jealous at times and â€Å" [woul]d like to keep [Nora] all to himself (Ibsen 75). Moreover, similarly to her relationship with her father, Nora’s marriage is characterized by a need to meet society’s standard of happiness, not her internal one. For instance,  Nora believes that â€Å" [she] loved Papa most (Ibsen 85). However, she does not believe that love leads to happiness, since â€Å" [she] always thought it was so much fun when [she] could sneak down to the maids’ quarters, because they never tried to improve me. [And w]ith Torvald it’s just the same as with Papa† (Ibsen 85), demonstrating that Nora and Torvald’s marriage is based on attaining necessities, like a beautiful family appearance, from one another, not true love o r friendship. However, Nora still expects that because she has saved Torvald’s life he would do the same for her; a belief that had earlier made her willing to sacrifice herself for his reputation. When Krogstad threatened to expose her criminality, â€Å" such a certainty filled [her]:[she] was utterly sure [that Torvald would] say to [Krogstad]: [‘]go on, tell your tale to the whole wide world.[’] And when he’d done that.[Torvald woul]d step forward and say: I am the guilty one† (Ibsen 112). Nora had solely desired that Torvald would offer to sacrifice his reputation for hers, since she even â€Å"ha[d] the courage† (Ibsen 87) to commit suicide in order to free Torvald from the responsibility that she presumed he would take for her forgery. Nora believed that she â€Å"must die† because â€Å"her death w[ould have] be[en] conclusive proof of her blame, conclusive evidence in the face of Torvald’s ‘miraculous’ assumption of resp onsibility of her moral delinquency.† (Shaw 226), illustrating that she would do anything that is necessary in order to ensure that her husband’s reputation is conserved. In reality, after finding out about Nora’s crime, Torvald wants to protect the family’s appearance as well as protect his children from the criminal, whom he perceives his wife to be. Although Torvald wants Nora to be his helpless wife, when her life is truly in danger, he is unwilling to give up his pride to protect her. For example, before finding out about Nora’s crime he tells her that â€Å"time and again [he has] wished [that she was] in some terrible danger, just so [he] could stake [his] life and soul, for [he]r sake† (Ibsen 104). However, once that terrible danger occurs, he is unwilling to protect his wife if a consequence of aiding her is losing his reputation as a powerful man. Thus, he wants â€Å" everything between [them to be] just as it wasto the outside world, that is† (Ibsen 106). He wants  Nora to â€Å"go right on living in th[ei] house, (Ibsen 106) since he does not wish to approbate his personal misfortunes to become public knowledge, since society’s perception of himself and his family is more important than the family members’ relations with each other. â€Å"From now on[,] happiness does n[o]t matter [to him]; all that matters is saving the bits and pieces, the appearance† (Ibsen 106), because society has instilled the necessity of materialistic items, not feelings of love in most men. In addition to wanting to keep up appearances, Torvald wants to protect his children from the criminal whom he believes Nora to be, since he has been taught by society that parents’ flaws are passed down to their children. For this reason, he believes that Nora â€Å" can[no]t be allowed to bring up the children; [he] do[es no]t dare trust [her] with them† (Ibsen 106). Like many people during the Victorian period, he believes that moral attributes as well as disabilities or illnesses are hereditary. For instance, Torvald believes that the reason that â€Å" Dr. Rank suffer[s] from tuberculosis† is that â€Å"his father was a disgusting thing who kept mistresses† (Ibsen 74). Hence, because Torvald thinks lowly of Nora’s father, he believes that Nora broke the law because â€Å" [he]r father’s flimsy values have come out in [her]† (Ibsen 105). Also, since he thinks that â€Å"It [i]s usually the mother’s influence that [i]s domin ant† (Ibsen 70) in the household, he does not want Nora’s criminality to influence their children’s morality and health in the future. However, once he learns that his family’s reputation is no longer in danger, Torvald wants Nora to continue to be his doll-wife, but she decides to leave him; thus abruptly shattering his illusion of having a perfect marriage. Because Torvald has never truly understood Nora, he is initially unable to comprehend Nora’s decision to leave their seemingly happy doll-house, which is why Nora has decided to leave him in the first place. Similarly to how Nora earlier attempted to deny her oppression, Torvald wants to pretend that his marriage is not in ruins. Firstly, Torvald proclaims that â€Å"this ugliness all has to go[, and he] want[s] the whole thing to fade like a dream† (Ibsen 107), showcasing that he does not understand the negative consequences, such as a furthering of Nora’s disillusionment, that his  inability to protect her in her time of need has had on their marriage. Next, he tells Nora, â€Å"You don’t seem to realizeit’s over† (Ibsen 107), yet while he believes that a tremendous hardship has terminated, in Nora’s point of view, an end to their marriage is imminent. When Nora gives him a â€Å"frozen look,† Torvald thinks that â€Å"[she] can[no]t believe [that he has] forgiven [her]† and that she should â€Å"just lean on [hi]m† (Ibsen 107); however, Nora has learned to not expect him to aid her when she is in trouble. Contrarily, Torvald believes that forgiving Nora for a crime that she committed primarily for his benefit is a noble act. Additionally, her seemingly â€Å" feminine helplessness make[s her] twice as attractive to [hi]m† because he can now â€Å"keep [her] like a hunted dove [that he has] rescued out of a hawk’s claws† (Ibsen 108), thus again comparing Nora’s vulnerability to that of an animal. Also, â€Å"it [i]s as if she belongs to him in two ways no w: in a sense he’s given her fresh into the world again, and she [ha]s become his wife and his child as well† (Ibsen 108), thus allowing Torvald to hold even more power in their relationship. On the other hand, Nora is finally willing to admit that Torvald has never truly loved her, so she is able to leave the doll house. Because Torvald wants their marriage to continue as it has previously, except with her in an increasingly subservient role, Nora realizes that â€Å"[Torvald] do[es no]t understand [her] and [she] never understood [him] eitheruntil tonight. (Ibsen 109), demonstrating that they have never taken the time to talk about anything â€Å"serious† and that both of their lives have been governed by decisions that they made in order to fit the set characteristics of their genders. Overall, â€Å"[Nora has] been wronged greatly,first by [her father], and then by [Torvald, who] thought it fun to be in love with [her] (Ibsen 109), yet did not care enough about her to take care of her, since she mainly cared for them. Essentially, â€Å"[Nora] sees that [her and Torvald’s] whole family life [is] a fictiontheir home a mere doll’s house in which they have been playing at ideal husband and father, wife and mother† (Shaw 225), and not discovering who they truly are as individuals. Plus, although some may think that â€Å" the woman with her children, her presents, her nicknames, her extravagance, her pleasure in the thought of ‘heaps of money’can be a suitable candidate for liberation†Ã‚  (Hardwick 240), since Nora possesses all of the luxuries that many women desire. However, although Nora has been able to achieve many of the qualities that women are expected to have, she is yet to discover the characteristics that she wants to acquire for her own wellbeing. Further, in addition to never truly knowing Torvald, Nora has yet to understand who she is as well, thus leaving her children and embarking on a journey to mature and become an independent woman, but not without hurting Torvald in the process. In a society in which happiness relies on outward appearances, Torvald is unable to comprehend why Nora is willing to sacrifice her seemingly perfect family life. Primarily, he thinks that â€Å"there [i]s no one who gives up honor for love† (Ibsen 113), so he is confused as to how Nora could have expected him to take the blame for her crime. However, Nora’s self sacrifices assert that â€Å"millions of women have done just that† (Ibsen 113). Also, Torvald thinks that by desiring to leave his household, Nora is acting â€Å" unfair and ungrateful† (Ibsen 109-110). Because â€Å" [their] home [ha]s been nothing but a playpen† (Ibsen 109-110), Torvald expects Nora to be contented. Most importantly, he does not understand how Nora’s Conscience permits her to â€Å" run out on [he]r most sacred duties[,]† which are â€Å"to [he]r husband and children[,]† since â€Å"before all else, [she is] a wife and a mother† (Ibsen 111). While Torvald severely oppresses Nora, he is unaware of alternative actions to take. Thus, unlike Nora’s gradual awakening to the problems of the society, Torvald is given no time to process them, nor his wife’s unhappiness, which renders him a powerless doll as well. Next, in order not to pass on the belief of female stereotypes to her children and to educate herself, Nora fearlessly leaves the doll house, thus taking on the male role of protecting her family, while Torvald desperately wants her to stay. â€Å"She begins to perceive that the happy way in which she plays with the children and the care she takes to dress them nicely, are not sufficient to constitute her a fit person to train them† (Shaw 226), so Nora figures that abandoning her household is advantageous for both her own wellbeing, as well as her children’s. Most importantly, Noraâ€Å" ha[s] other duties equally as sacred† as being a wife and a mother: â€Å"duties to  [her]self.Before all else, [she i]s a human being, no less than [Torvald]† (Ibsen 111). As a human being, â€Å"[she] ha[s] to try to understand† (Ibsen 111) more about society and decide for herself which conditioned morals she wants to implement into her future journey. Thus, â€Å"Nora famously slams the door as she leaves the home. [This] action caused shock waves throughout the world, for it challenged firmly held ideas, such as the sanctity of marriage and the absolute authority of the man in the home† (Saether). Torvald attempts to convince Nora to stay, even proposing that they engage in a brother-and-sister-like relationship, revealing his desperation and ultimately, his lack of complete control over Nora’s decisions, which has been constantly prevalent within their marriage. In the end, Nora and Torvald’s illusions of each other collapse, along with their metaphorical dollhouse. Therefore, their positions in society are in reverse: Nora is free to discover who she is while Torvald is abandoned and assumes the responsibility of raising his and Nora’s children. In addition, Nora has a better knowledge about the causes of their separation, while Torvald still needs time to completely understand why Nora has left his household. Moreover, Nora believes that a â€Å"miracle† needs to occur for them to ever reunite. Mainly, Nora means that Torvald would need to be less objectifying and more understanding towards her. However, Nora does not recognize that the larger and far more unlikely miracle that would have to occur would be society loosening its control over the positions of both genders.

Photography Essays History of Photography

Photography Essays History of Photography History of Photography When you look at a photograph from your favorite photographer what do you see? Does it remind you of your past or make you think of the future? What if there was a photographer that made you think of not only the past but also the future as well? Well that is exactly what Abelardo Morell did with his Camera Obscura photographs. Abelardo Morell took Camera Obscura out of the past and brought it into the future. This paper plans to discuss who Abelardo Morell is, the history of Camera Obscura, and also discuss and analyze three or more photographs by Abelardo himself. It will also discuss Abelardo’s career and how Camera Obscura falls into his career as well as any statements from him about the process. Also any writings or responses by art critics and/or philosophers about Abelardo Morell’s work will be included. This paper hopes to bring across to the reader an understanding of Abelardo Morell and Camera Obscura. â€Å"Abelardo Morell was born in Havana. As a child he felt a sense of alienation and isolation in Cuba, feelings that remained when he moved as a teenager with his family to New York City. Although he later studied comparative religion at Bowdoin College, he eventually took up photography as a way to express his feelings as an immigrant to the United States during the turbulent 1960s† (Yorba). Photography took his mind away from all of the busyness the world had. â€Å"After earning an MFA from Yale University in 1981, he began teaching at Massachusetts College of Art in 1983, where he still teaches today† (â€Å"Site Lines,† Abelardo). Many students are extremely luck to have a mentor such as Morell. He went far and beyond what any other teacher would do for their students. â€Å"When I began teaching photography at the Massachusetts College of Art in the mid 1980s, one of the strategies I used to get beginners excited about photography was to convert our cla ssroom into a camera obscura† (Morell). Camera Obscura might sound like a complicated technique but it really is very simple. One would be surprised how easily it can be done. Even though it can be done very easily and may seem like a new technique, the process has been around for many centuries. â€Å"In 1490, Leonardo da Vinci wrote the earliest surviving description of the camera obscura (dark chamber), a device designed to reproduce linear perspective. The camera obscura, the prototype of the photographic camera, was a large dark room that an artist physically entered. Light entered through a small hole in one of the walls and projected a distinct, but inverted, color image onto the opposite wall that could be then traced† (Hirsh). â€Å"The Camera Obscura seems little short of miraculous, even after the optical rationale has been explained. That one pinhole of light can carry all the visual information of a landscape into a darkened room is still, after many centuries, unknown to the great majority of humans and surprising when they learn of it† (Morell). To understand it better the camera obscura was a darkened room or chamber that allowed only a pinhole of light to enter into a light tight area through which is called an aperture. Diffraction is what allows camera obscura to work. Diffraction in this sense is the bending of light waves that enter the chamber or room and to appear on the wall opposite of the aperture. This image can be produced with exceptional quality if accomplished in the right way. When viewing the camera obscura while it is taking place, one will notice that the image presented on the wall is inverted due to diffraction. Leonardo da Vinci is said to have developed this technique for drawing but was not credited for it. Later on people began to use it more to render drawings to be perspectively correct. Artists at the same time had a hard time with perspective, so the camera obscura helped advance their skills in drawing with becoming perspectively correct. This device is important to the history of photography b ecause it was one of the first forms of photography and cameras. It showed that, at the same time, advances could be made in photography, something with the means of time and knowledge. The discovery of the â€Å"new† technique brought about a need and desire of photography to this day, especially for Abelardo Morell. When deciding to create a camera obscura there are a few things one should consider before jumping into the mind-boggling technique. The first thing you need to consider is the room that you will be photographing in. This room needs to have at least one window and one entry way. The second factor to consider is the time of day you will be photographing in. The time of day where the light is the brightest is the best time to pull off this magnificent method. Also, look at what is outside of the anticipating room. Is the landscape dull or is it astounding? Depending on how amazing you want your photograph to come out depends on the photographer and the landscape that will be captured.