Tragedy and the Common Man Essay Example For Students

Tragedy and the Common Man Essay In Arthur Millers 1949 essay, Tragedy and the Common Man, Miller began by saying, In this age few tragedies are written. This particular essay was published in the New York Times, was also the preface that was prepared for Death of a Salesman in 1949. Before Millers Death of a Salesman, there was only one type of tragedythat which fit Aristotles definition. For Aristotle, plays of tragedy had to revolve around kings, gods, or people of high class. In these classic tragedies, the diction must be elevated and fitting of the characters. Arthur Miller challenged just about every belief and convention that had previously been accepted about tragic plays, as in Shakespeares Hamletwhich could be considered the paragon of tragedies. In claiming, The tragic mode is archaic, Miller explains that the common man is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were. This very notion that regular people are just as fit to be main characters in a tragedy as royalty was also applied to the audiences understanding of a tragic play. If the play was supposed to be about upper-class people, and was spoken in a vernacular that was only known to the high-bred, how were the common people who saw these plays supposed to comprehend their meaning? The only way for this problem to be solved, according to Miller, was to present a character to whom the audience will readily relate. Miller did this by presenting Willy Loman, the main character of Death of a Salesman, who was a common workingman with a wife and two kids. We will write a custom essay on Tragedy and the Common Man specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The reason that there is such an absence of tragedies in this day and age, is that the turn which modern literature has taken toward the purely psychiatric view of life, or the purely sociological, has been one that creates skepticism. With so much thinking involved, and analyzing, no one can really enjoy a play for what it ispure entertainment. By constantly trying to figure out a reason for why something happened, the audience can no longer accept tragic action, let alone heroic action. This, along with the societal belief that in order for a protagonist to be recognized as a character he must be faultless, has made tragedy nearly impossible. Every person has his/her faults, even the great Hamlet had his downfall; his ambivalence and indecisiveness brought him down. Just as Willy Lomans lack of self-esteem and feelings of inadequacy are what destroyed him. Millers ideal tragic hero is one who is intent upon claiming his whole due as a personality, and when approached with a struggle, demonstrates the indestructible will of man to achieve his humanity. A tragic hero who is willing to take on challenges and who will fight a battle which he could not possibly have won, is what makes the audience accept him as a hero who by his own virtue is worthy of their attention and perhaps even respect. Hamlet, for example, stood up for his fathers memory, by fighting his uncle, King Claudius. Millers common man, Willy fought the battle of life, by trying to make the best of what he was given in life and continues to support his familyeven at the age of sixty. Without creating a bridge for the gap between the two parties involved (in this case, the audience and the plays characters), there is no play. With a character that is equal to, or very near the average audience, the audience will pay more attention. In one sense, Arthur Miller is correct in saying that there are no tragedies out there. That is, only if one defines tragedy by Aristotles description. As of today, there have been many movies, television shows, as well as plays and novels that portray a tragic herobut not necessarily in the Aristotelian sense. Take for example, Good Will Hunting, a movie about an almost regular guy who defies the pre-set mold of what a poor person with no formal education should become. Even though this guy was poor and did not come from an aristocratic family, the audience watched. Many who saw the movie, recommended it to their friends and even paid to see it again! Why? It was interesting

Biography of John Napier, Scottish Mathematician

Biography of John Napier, Scottish Mathematician John Napier (1550-April 4, 1617) was a Scottish mathematician and theological writer who developed the concept of  logarithms and the decimal point as a mathematical calculation method. He also had an influence in the world of physics and astronomy. Fast Facts: John Napier Known For: Developing and introducing the concept of logarithms, Napiers Bones and the decimal point.Born: 1550 at Merchiston Castle, near  Edinburgh, ScotlandDied: April 4, 1617, at Merchiston CastleSpouse(s): Elizabeth Stirling (m. 1572-1579), Agnes ChisholmChildren: 12 (2 with Stirling, 10 with Chisholm)Notable Quote: Seeing there is nothing that is so troublesome to mathematical practice.... than the multiplications, divisions, square and cubical extractions of great numbers, which besides the tedious expense of time are... subject to many slippery errors, I began, therefore, to consider [how] I might remove those hindrances. Early Life Napier was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, into the Scottish nobility. Since his father was Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston Castle, and his mother, Janet Bothwell, was the daughter of a member of Parliament, John Napier became the laird (property owner) of Merchiston. Napiers father was only 16 when his son, John, was born. As was the practice for members of the nobility, Napier did not enter school until he was 13. He did not stay in school very long, however. It is believed that he dropped out and traveled in  Europe to continue his studies. Little is known about these years, where or when he may have studied. In 1571, Napier turned 21 and returned to Scotland. The following year he married Elizabeth Stirling, daughter of Scottish mathematician James Stirling (1692-1770), and bat a castle at Gartnes in 1574. The couple had two children before Elizabeth died in 1579. Napier later married Agnes Chisholm, with whom he had ten children. On the death of his father in 1608, Napier and his family moved into Merchiston Castle, where he lived the rest of his life. Napiers father had been deeply interested and involved in religious matters, and Napier himself was no different. Because of his inherited wealth, he needed no professional position. He kept himself very busy by being involved with the political and religious controversies of his time. For the most part, religion and politics in Scotland at this time pitted Catholics against Protestants. Napier was anti-Catholic, as evidenced by his 1593 book against Catholicism and the papacy (office of the pope) entitled A Plaine Discovery of the Whole Revelation of St. John. This attack was so popular that it was translated into several languages and saw many editions. Napier always felt that if he attained any fame at all in his life, it would be because of that book. Becoming an Inventor As a person of high energy and curiosity, Napier paid much attention to his landholdings and tried to improve the workings of his estate. Around the Edinburgh area, he became widely known as Marvellous Merchiston for the many ingenious mechanisms he built to improve his crops and cattle. He experimented with fertilizers to enrich his land, invented an apparatus to remove water from flooded coal pits, and bat devices to better survey and measure land. He also wrote about plans to bad elaborate devices that would deflect any Spanish invasion of the British Isles. In addition, he described military devices that were similar to todays submarine, machine gun, and army tank. He never attempted to build any of the military instruments, however. Napier had a great interest in astronomy. which led to his contribution to mathematics. John was not just a stargazer; he was involved in research that required lengthy and time-consuming calculations of very large numbers. Once the idea came to him that there might be a better and simpler way to perform large number calculations, Napier focused on the issue and spent twenty years perfecting his idea. The result of this work is what we now call  logarithms. The Father of Logarithms and the Decimal Point Napier realized that all numbers can be expressed in what is now called exponential form, meaning 8 can be written as 23, 16 as 24  and so on. What makes logarithms so useful is the fact that the operations of multiplication and division are reduced to simple addition and subtraction. When very large numbers are expressed as a logarithm, multiplication becomes the addition of  exponents. Example: 102  times 105  can be calculated as 10  25  or 107. This is easier than 100 times 100,000. Napier first made this discovery known in 1614 in his book called A Description of the Wonderful Canon of Logarithms. The author briefly described and explained his inventions, but more importantly, he included his first set of logarithmic tables. These tables were a stroke of genius and a big hit with astronomers and scientists. It is said that English mathematician Henry Briggs was so influenced by the tables that he traveled to Scotland just to meet the inventor. This lead to a cooperative improvement including the development of  Base 10. Napier was also responsible for advancing the notion of the decimal fraction by introducing the use of the decimal point. His suggestion that a simple point could be used to separate the whole number and fractional parts of a number soon became accepted practice throughout Great Britain. Edited by Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.

Listening Strategies Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Listening Strategies - Literature review Example Language learners were normally expected to develop their listening skills without any assistance, while the other three skills of reading, writing and speaking are given the necessary attention (Mendelsohn 1984; Oxford 1993). Second language learners were expected to listen to the target language all day and then expected to improvements in their ability to comprehend. This approach was described as the osmosis approach (Mendelson 1984) The arguments in relation to the importance of listening were initially voiced in the middle of the 1960’s. Rivers (1966) indicated that speaking can only be described as communication when it is understood by someone else and so teaching learners how to comprehend spoken words is paramount in importance if the aim of communicating is to be achieved. Thus, Hedge (2000) indicates that the literature relating to ELT has emphasised the point that listening skill has been taken for granted over the years. In fact, a number of second language teach ers have refused to pay attention to the significance of listening in facilitating the acquisition of a second language (Luchini and Arguello 2009). However, Nunan (1999) points out that listening has been treated as relatively important as it is the means by which the skill of speaking is attained. The incorporation of listening into a more modern set of guidelines, including functional language and approaches to communication was the main focus of the 1980’s (Morley 2001). This attention increased significantly in the 1990’s and this has continued into the decade of the 2000’s. Even though listening is now regarded as a critical aspect of language learning, it continues to be the least understood of all the processes (Osada 2004). Thus, Luchini and Arguello (2009) states that allowing students to answer questions after listening to tape-recorded material is not a means of teaching them to listen. In this regard, Hedge (2000) points out that the aim of answerin g questions after listening to recorded material is only for administering tests and not teaching second language learners to listen. This practice was found to have a negative impact on the ability of second language learners to communicate well in the target language. In relation to the neglect of listening comprehension in both research and practice, Osada (2004) indicates that even up to recently there has been insufficient research in this area. In fact, Nunan (1997) referred to listening as a Cinderella skill because it has been ignored in preference for other skills such as speaking. Listening is important in order to facilitate language learning as it facilitates a better understanding of the inputs. Osada (2004) also emphasised the complexity of the listening comprehension process. Anything that is said has to be understood at the same time as it is heard and so knowledge and skills necessary for doing so has to he used at the same time. In order to process the speech the c omprehension of the text has to take place at the same as the listening. Additionally, it has to be retained in order to have a better understanding of the speech that follows. Furthermore, it requires continuous adjustment based on previous knowledge and incoming information. This poses a problem for listeners as the space available to process the information is limited. Osada