Imagination is the tool to dream. It may be the source of great joy, or the source of great despair and sorrow. It may grant an individual escape from undesired ills, or suffer the victim to the edge of sanity. To imagine inanimate objects as profound beings as the case in The Handsomest Drowned Man. The giant drowned man was a prop used for the village people’s imagination. Like a toy car for a child, the drowned man was a toy the people imagined whole stories about, and make believe scenarios, and even a name. Despite the drowned handsome man not speaking or interacting with the characters at all, they conceived such details about his life that made him a hero amongst the village.
In the Twilight Zone episode of The Lonely, the main character is deserted on an asteroid millions of miles from the earth by his lonesome. To aid him with his bitter loneliness, he was given a robotic woman who can feel, sense, reason, and capable of other human abilities. Despite being a mechanical system, the robot looked identical to a human woman. Quary, the main character, was immediately was cruel towards the replica, but as the robot began to cry he was suddenly moved by the tears. He soon welcomed the machine, and viewed her as a genuine human being. If one was unaware of the mechanical parts working beneath the flesh like exterior it would be almost impossible to detect its robotic nature. The main distinctions between a human and the robot lie in the imagination, and the spirit that is uniquely human. Albeit the mechanical woman could reason, calculate, sense, and feel, it lacked the human capabilities to believe and to imagine. To be able to pretend and make believe are exclusive to Quary and other humans, not included in the robot. Also the organic makeup of a human is foreign to that of a machine. For example, a human being is similar to a cigarette and a robot would be likened to an electric cigarette. They both serve the same function and one is modeled after the other, but only fire, a natural element of the earth, can ignite the cigarette. The electric cigarette relies on batteries, a synthetic element, for its energy source.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Understanding Research
This semester I've learned to utilize the LaGuardia online library database. This online database is a cornucopia of scholarly articles, and valuable information that may be used in assigned research papers. When writing my research paper for class this online amazement was crucial to the success of my work. The information one can find on the database is invaluable to any writing assignments a student can have. The class period my cluster spent in the library learning how to use the online research database was extremely useful to my development as an academic student. The instructor taught the class the most important information on the LaGuardia library homepage is the hours of operation for the campus library. The library at LaGuardia is one of the most valuable resources a student can use in writing any paper. During this semester my familiarity with the internet has soared, and my research skills have increased tremendously.
I am now comfortable walking into the on campus library and asking assistance of the employees for any help I may need. On the libraries website online, there exists several helpful resources aiding in citing sources for research papers. I have used this source multiple times this semester to guide me in my work. I have learned to navigate the online subscription database for cuny students. I now understand that by using key words or phrases they can either narrow or broaden the search depending on my need. This database is extremely useful, and I look forward to referring back to it throughout my college career.
I am now comfortable walking into the on campus library and asking assistance of the employees for any help I may need. On the libraries website online, there exists several helpful resources aiding in citing sources for research papers. I have used this source multiple times this semester to guide me in my work. I have learned to navigate the online subscription database for cuny students. I now understand that by using key words or phrases they can either narrow or broaden the search depending on my need. This database is extremely useful, and I look forward to referring back to it throughout my college career.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Theory of the Means of Production- Karl Marx
The theory of means of production is a Marxist invention and refers to physical inputs used in production models. The means of production are broken down into two categories: One being the instruments of labor, which include tools, factories, and infrastructure. The second category is called the subjects of labor, which consists of natural resources, raw materials, and also humans be classified in this category. An illustration of this is the plow and the soil. Humans must use the instruments of labor in order to produce wealth. Different societies of people, and economic classes use the means of production differently. For example in the capitalist model, there exists an ownership of the means of production, what Marx would call the bourgeoisie. An illustration of this would be a corporation, and the owners of the means of production would be the few people, such as c.e.o.s and c.f.o.s, who make the decisions what to do with the factors of production.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Dorian Gray Draft
When people disagree with the views and beliefs held by the majority of society, they often find themselves on the outside looking in. In the story “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, some of the characters identify with this outcast perspective, and instead of living in accordance with the common principles that mold the majority, they choose to escape to a life more in line with their exclusive interests and passions. To spend the days of one’s existence in the realm of imagination and fantasy is more appealing than to work with the viewed, inferior masses of society, for Dorian Gray and Lord Henry Wotton. Given their respective wealth and rank amongst the population, it allows them both to not have the common worries that most people share in a society. The disconnect from society the two characters have in common not only stems from their shared ideology, but also from the influence of a specific book, and their aforementioned wealth and status.
The principles of hedonism which guided both Dorian, and Lord Henry were on the opposite end of the spectrum from the ideology of the masses of the time. “Yes, there was to be, as Lord Henry had prophesied, a new hedonism that was to re-create life, and to save it from that harsh, uncomely puritanism that is having, in our own day, its curious revival.”(Wilde, 67) A tenet of hedonism is to maximize sensual pleasure, and limit suffering. This principle of limiting suffering guides Dorian to dismiss any painful experiences as unimportant, and he uses his own imagination as a tool to escape from these inconvenient memories. One such example of this is illustrated when Basil comes to see Dorian after hearing the news of Sybil Vane’s death. Dorian says to Basil,”A man who is master of himself can end a sorrow as easily as he can invent a pleasure. I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.”(Wilde, 53) To invent a pleasure one must use the imagination, and Dorian does this to not feel the suffering caused by the death of his first romance.
The central cause that stirs the imagination of Lord Henry and Dorian Gray is a highly influential book they both read. One is led to believe that Lord Henry read this book when he was a youth indicated in the text,”He was amazed at the sudden impression that his words had produced, and, remembering a book that had read when he was sixteen, which had revealed to him much that he had not known before.”(Wilde, 15) Then Lord Henry passes this book on to Dorian as he reads it, and experiences a similar revelation, “Things that he had dimly dreamed of were suddenly made real to him. Things of which he had never dreamed were suddenly revealed.”(Wilde, 64) Dorian suddenly becomes obsessed with this novel, and goes to great lengths to acquire as many copies as he can. “He procured from Paris no less than five large-paper copies of the first edition, and had them bound in different colors, so that they might suit his various moods and the changing fancies of a nature over which he seemed, at times, to have almost entirely lost control.”(Wilde, 65) The influence of this book can not be emphasized enough, as it acts as a key factor in the transformation of Dorian Gray, along with Lord Henry, and the painting of himself. After constantly rereading this book Dorian begins to identify with the main character, “The hero, the wonderful young Parisian, in whom the romantic temperament and the scientific temperament were so strangely blended, became to him a kind of prefiguring type of himself.” (Wilde, 65) As Dorian’s identification grows with the main character of the book, his actions and way of life begin to mirror the young Parisian. Similarly, as the protagonist in the book escapes to an artistic realm of his imagination, so too does Dorian, and Lord Henry.
When one has the luxury of wealth and rank in society, the common stresses that act upon the working class are insignificant to those like Lord Henry, and Dorian Gray. Their inherited assets are the means that allow them to live in a life of decadence and self indulgence. Any desire or pleasure their imagination will create can be fulfilled with relative ease, and limited worry. When a simple person must work for money in order to obtain food and pay bills, the financial elite can leisurely spend their days discussing art, and saunter to the opera for entertainment.
A life of excess, and material desire is the reality of Dorian, and Lord Henry who seek to separate themselves from the rest of society, because the sufferings and hardships of the average person are too much for them to bear. As Dorian subscribes to Lord Henry’s doctrine they both believe that, “Conscience and cowardice are really the same things.”(Wilde, 7). This illusory world of leisure, material desire, and pleasure seeking principles is really a defense mechanism for their inability to deal with the world that confronts them. They have utilized their extravagant imagination, combined with their abundance of wealth to sustain their self indulgent lifestyle, but despite all this focus on pleasure, Dorian particularly is guilt ridden and extremely paranoid. Imagination is a powerful tool, but the story The Picture of Dorian Gray is a prime example of how a poisoned imagination can lead to a tragic ending.
The principles of hedonism which guided both Dorian, and Lord Henry were on the opposite end of the spectrum from the ideology of the masses of the time. “Yes, there was to be, as Lord Henry had prophesied, a new hedonism that was to re-create life, and to save it from that harsh, uncomely puritanism that is having, in our own day, its curious revival.”(Wilde, 67) A tenet of hedonism is to maximize sensual pleasure, and limit suffering. This principle of limiting suffering guides Dorian to dismiss any painful experiences as unimportant, and he uses his own imagination as a tool to escape from these inconvenient memories. One such example of this is illustrated when Basil comes to see Dorian after hearing the news of Sybil Vane’s death. Dorian says to Basil,”A man who is master of himself can end a sorrow as easily as he can invent a pleasure. I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.”(Wilde, 53) To invent a pleasure one must use the imagination, and Dorian does this to not feel the suffering caused by the death of his first romance.
The central cause that stirs the imagination of Lord Henry and Dorian Gray is a highly influential book they both read. One is led to believe that Lord Henry read this book when he was a youth indicated in the text,”He was amazed at the sudden impression that his words had produced, and, remembering a book that had read when he was sixteen, which had revealed to him much that he had not known before.”(Wilde, 15) Then Lord Henry passes this book on to Dorian as he reads it, and experiences a similar revelation, “Things that he had dimly dreamed of were suddenly made real to him. Things of which he had never dreamed were suddenly revealed.”(Wilde, 64) Dorian suddenly becomes obsessed with this novel, and goes to great lengths to acquire as many copies as he can. “He procured from Paris no less than five large-paper copies of the first edition, and had them bound in different colors, so that they might suit his various moods and the changing fancies of a nature over which he seemed, at times, to have almost entirely lost control.”(Wilde, 65) The influence of this book can not be emphasized enough, as it acts as a key factor in the transformation of Dorian Gray, along with Lord Henry, and the painting of himself. After constantly rereading this book Dorian begins to identify with the main character, “The hero, the wonderful young Parisian, in whom the romantic temperament and the scientific temperament were so strangely blended, became to him a kind of prefiguring type of himself.” (Wilde, 65) As Dorian’s identification grows with the main character of the book, his actions and way of life begin to mirror the young Parisian. Similarly, as the protagonist in the book escapes to an artistic realm of his imagination, so too does Dorian, and Lord Henry.
When one has the luxury of wealth and rank in society, the common stresses that act upon the working class are insignificant to those like Lord Henry, and Dorian Gray. Their inherited assets are the means that allow them to live in a life of decadence and self indulgence. Any desire or pleasure their imagination will create can be fulfilled with relative ease, and limited worry. When a simple person must work for money in order to obtain food and pay bills, the financial elite can leisurely spend their days discussing art, and saunter to the opera for entertainment.
A life of excess, and material desire is the reality of Dorian, and Lord Henry who seek to separate themselves from the rest of society, because the sufferings and hardships of the average person are too much for them to bear. As Dorian subscribes to Lord Henry’s doctrine they both believe that, “Conscience and cowardice are really the same things.”(Wilde, 7). This illusory world of leisure, material desire, and pleasure seeking principles is really a defense mechanism for their inability to deal with the world that confronts them. They have utilized their extravagant imagination, combined with their abundance of wealth to sustain their self indulgent lifestyle, but despite all this focus on pleasure, Dorian particularly is guilt ridden and extremely paranoid. Imagination is a powerful tool, but the story The Picture of Dorian Gray is a prime example of how a poisoned imagination can lead to a tragic ending.
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