Is There Any Place for Everyman in the 21st Century - Literature Essay Samples

Everyman provides the perfect example of why allegory must be approached carefully in order to make an impact; a story with a powerful message is very often dependent upon timing. The timing of a play about a devastating plague sweeping across Europe would have had far more impact during the Middle Ages than it would now. Allegorical drama by definition should be less dependent upon timing than dramatic interpretations of specific events situated within a historical context. Stripped down to the very basics—the most elemental of fundamental character—and divorced from any precise historical context, Everyman should be expected to maintain a relatively stable and predictable impact on audiences regardless of whether performed for Medieval audiences, Renaissance audiences or 21st century audiences. What a 21st century introduction to Everyman reveals, however, is that allegory can become just as much a prisoner to context as more direct individualized subjects. Perhaps, the fault lies not with the creation, but the interpretation. Perhaps a more innovative and artistically daring production aesthetic would be enough to rip Everyman from its natural place in the order as a representative of fundamentalist Catholic theology to make it just as relevant to modern audiences as it would have been to audiences in its first few centuries of existence. This seems highly unlikely, however. The historical record is one that suggests Everyman is the only â€Å"morality play† to consistently find audiences even into the modern day. One imagines, of course, that the overwhelming bulk of these modern performances have taken place not inside traditional theaters, but inside churches. Even though Everyman is an allegorical work that could arguably be reinterpreted as one not specifically Christian, it hardly seems likely. Which brings about the question of the extent to which it should be considered allegorical. Consider more modern source: Invasion of the Body Snatchers is not merely symbolic, but allegorical because its plot can be interpreted from both ideological sides of its very definite historical context. One can watch the original black and white film and argue equally well that the body snatchers are allegorical symbols of communists or witch-hunting anti-communists. Everyman, by contrast, aggressively forwards a definite Christian—and a definite pre-Reformation Christian—message. If allegory is supposed to be by definition somewhat ambiguous by virtue of existing primarily within the realm of metaphor, then Everyman fails the test at least on that account. This fact is important because the basis by which it has been determined the experience of reading or watching a performance of Everyman today is a comprehensive failure in terms Aristotelian expectations for entertainment. Characters named for and personifying abstract concepts like Knowledge, Good Deed, Fellowship and the like are doomed to disappoint audiences raised on Aristotelian expectation of character growth, audience recognition of their own problems and a sense of catharsis. To be sure, these characters that are so one-dimensional and lacking in depth and recognition turn out to be surprisingly humorous. One cannot help but head into a â€Å"morality play† with expectations of the humorless tone of a church sermon. A morality play by definition exists solely for one purpose above all else: to teach audiences a lesson—not even to teach them a lesson, really, but to reinforce a lesson already drilled into audience members after years of hearing sermons on the same topic. Since these were not sermons of the modern churches, but medieval sermons from churches far less inclined toward injecting humor, the appearance of comedy in Everyman is somewhat jarring to modern audiences, but m ost assuredly welcome. Nevertheless, rare would be the modern audience member who isn’t desperately hoping for some sort of jump outside the constrictions of the characters who are handcuffed to the rigidity of allegorical construction. Emotional involvement in the story that unfolds in Everyman is difficult if not downright impossible. This presents an enormous problem for anyone raised on the heavy emotional engagement of stage drama and novels that have been produced since Everyman was written. Hollywood films have only reinforced this expectation of finding an emotional connection to characters to the point of becoming something of an addiction. The result of this conditioned response by audiences to require stories that allow emotional connections has been a noticeable reduction in the influence of avant-garde entertainment which places intellectual engagement above emotional engagement. One can well imagine that Everyman represented an example of emotional engagement in the first few centuries of its production history and the irony of its now belonging to the avant-garde requiring a more intellectual connection should not be lost. Regardless, that leap to enjoying Everyman as an exercise in intellectual drama also requires effort on the part of modern audiences because its actual intellectual content is just as lacking in the depth and the potential for multiple interpretations as the characters acting out its central intellectual proposition. Everyman has aged past its ability to provide the emotional engagement mainstream audiences require as a matter of course while also failing in its potential to be reinvented as a postmodernist avant-garde intellectual artistic experiment.

Should Marijuana Be Legalized - 1219 Words

Should Marijuana be legalized in the UK? Marijuana can be viewed in two ways: an addictive illegal high or a medical treatment drug. Marijuana first and foremost is an illegal drug, and can land you up to 7 years in prison just for possession or up to 14 years in prison for the supplying and production of the drug. However, marijuana is not all bad. It can be used for medical purposes (shown in certain states of the USA). Many people are unaware of this, so this leads us to the question: Marijuana; legislation or a continued ban? Marijuana has been found to aid certain medical conditions and in the US, 23 states have legalized the use of the medical extracts from the plant. For example, ‘cannabis oil’. Glaucoma is a disease which can harm†¦show more content†¦The recreational use of marijuana worries many people. Dating back thousands of years, to the first recorded use of marijuana it was used as an anaesthetic to numb the pain of surgeries. However progressively throughout the centuries people have found to take advantages of the initial purpose of the drug. Many methods can be used to reap the high benefits of the drug, these can be through smoking of the drug, either through cigarette like called ‘joints’ or through a ‘bong’ or ‘pipe’, which are glass-based objects. Also, marijuana is edible. Many recipes can involve marijuana to be used as a drug, which can include ‘hash brownies’, ‘marijuana gum’ and other forms. Acco rding to FRANK, marijuana is a short term high and allows the user to feel calm and chilled out. However, according to them marijuana in the long term can mess with your body. For example, it can reduce and deteriorate the growth hormones in the body. Also, in the short term can leave the user in a state of paranoia. This is what many people worry about if marijuana was to be legalized. However, it can be argued that sedatives, e.g. Nitrous oxide ‘laughing gas’, used for medical purposes i.e. removal of wisdom teeth are also similar to the short term effects of marijuana. Both users experience relaxation and in a state of euphoria. Nonetheless, these

Nickel and Dimed Book Review - 1182 Words

Can someone really live and prosper in American receiving minimal income? Can someone create a good lifestyle for themselves on just six to seven dollars an hour? In Nickel and Dimed Barbara Ehrenreich goes undercover to find out if it is indeed possible. Giving herself only $1,000 she leaves the lifestyle that she has come accustomed too and goes to join all the people living the low class way of life. Before setting out, she gave herself a list of rules she had to follow so that her experience would be as real as it could be. Her first rule was when looking for a job she couldn t mention the skills she had learned from her education. Second, she had to take the highest paying job that was being offered to her. Third, she had to live†¦show more content†¦Days go by and she s getting tired form the physical labor that comes with the house cleaning service. She explains what she was doing with her co-workers at the cleaning service and calls in sick after her last day at the nursing home. In Chapter 3 she starts over again in Minnesota. She finds herself lucky here because she gets to stay at a friends while there out of town, saving her the trouble of finding housing right away. Although, after her friends return, here she ends up having the most trouble finding a place to live. She lives in a hotel throughout her experience in Minnesota. This really messes up her money situation. Ehrenreich applies for many different jobs and ends up choosing between Wal-Mart and Menards. She picks Wal-Mart and find herself working in the women s department organizing and hanging up clothes. She realizes that she must became friendly with the dressing room attendants in order to make her job easier. Again her supervisors constantly get on her about wasting time. 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Forecasting Notes free essay sample

Qualitative models incorporate subjective factors into the forecasting model. Qualitative models are useful when subjective factors are important. When quantitative data are difficult to obtain, qualitative models may be appropriate. 2.? Approaches are qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative is relatively subjective; quantitative uses numeric models. 3.? Short-range (under 3 months), medium-range (3 months to 3 years), and long-range (over 3 years). 4.? The steps that should be used to develop a forecasting system are: (a)? Determine the purpose and use of the forecast (b)? Select the item or quantities that are to be forecasted (c)? Determine the time horizon of the forecast (d)? Select the type of forecasting model to be used (e)? Gather the necessary data (f)? Validate the forecasting model (g)? Make the forecast (h)? Implement and evaluate the results 5.? Any three of: sales planning, production planning and budgeting, cash budgeting, analyzing various operating plans. There is no mechanism for growth in these models; they are built exclusively from historical demand values. We will write a custom essay sample on Forecasting Notes or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Such methods will always lag trends. .? Exponential smoothing is a weighted moving average where all previous values are weighted with a set of weights that decline exponentially. 8.? MAD, MSE, and MAPE are common measures of forecast accuracy. To find the more accurate forecasting model, forecast with each tool for several periods where the demand outcome is known, and calculate MSE, MAPE, or MAD for each. The smaller error indicates the better forecast. 9.? The Delphi technique involves: (a)? Assembling a group of experts in such a manner as to preclude direct communication between identifiable members of the group (b)? Assembling the responses of each expert to the questions or problems of interest (c)? Summarizing these responses (d)? Providing each expert with the summary of all responses (e)? Asking each expert to study the summary of the responses and respond again to the questions or problems of interest. (f)? Repeating steps (b) through (e) several times as necessary to obtain convergence in responses. If convergence has not been obtained by the end of the fourth cycle, the responses at that time should probably be accepted and the process terminated—little additional convergence is likely if the process is continued. 0.? A time series model predicts on the basis of the assumption that the future is a function of the past, whereas an associative model incorporates into the model the variables of factors that might influence the quantity being forecast. 11.? A time series is a sequence of evenly spaced data points with the four components of trend, seasonality, cyclical, and random vari ation. 12.? When the smoothing constant, (, is large (close to 1. 0), more weight is given to recent data; when ( is low (close to 0. 0), more weight is given to past data. 13.? Seasonal patterns are of fixed duration and repeat regularly. Cycles vary in length and regularity. Seasonal indices allow â€Å"generic† forecasts to be made specific to the month, week, etc. , of the application. 14.? Exponential smoothing weighs all previous values with a set of weights that decline exponentially. It can place a full weight on the most recent period (with an alpha of 1. 0). This, in effect, is the naive approach, which places all its emphasis on last period’s actual demand. 15.? Adaptive forecasting refers to computer monitoring of tracking signals and self-adjustment if a signal passes its present limit. 16.? Tracking signals alert the user of a forecasting tool to periods in which the forecast was in significant error. 17.? The correlation coefficient measures the degree to which the independent and dependent variables move together. A negative value would mean that as X increases, Y tends to fall. The variables move together, but move in opposite directions. 18.? Independent variable (x) is said to explain variations in the dependent variable (y). 19.? Nearly every industry has seasonality. The seasonality must be filtered out for good medium-range planning (of production and inventory) and performance evaluation. 20.? There are many examples. Demand for raw materials and component parts such as steel or tires is a function of demand for goods such as automobiles. 21.? Obviously, as we go farther into the future, it becomes more difficult to make forecasts, and we must diminish our reliance on the forecasts. Ethical Dilemma This exercise, derived from an actual situation, deals as much with ethics as with forecasting. Here are a few points to consider:  ¦ No one likes a system they don’t understand, and most college presidents would feel uncomfortable with this one. It does offer the advantage of depoliticizing the funds al- location if used wisely and fairly. But to do so means all parties must have input to the process (such as smoothing constants) and all data need to be open to everyone.  ¦ The smoothing constants could be selected by an agreed-upon criteria (such as lowest MAD) or could be based on input from experts on the board as well as the college.  ¦ Abuse of the system is tied to assigning alphas based on what results they yield, rather than what alphas make the most sense.  ¦ Regression is open to abuse as well. Models can use many years of data yielding one result or few years yielding a totally different forecast.