Commentary and Analysis of Voltaire´s Candide - 536 Words

Candide Voltaire’s Candide is a satirical fiction that was meant as both an insult and a criticism to the wealthy nobility and the Catholic Church. Voltaire, major voice during the Enlightenment period, had a wide spread influence from England and France to Russia. Candide was massively circulated throughout Europe. Voltaire used Candide to offer his opinion of what was wrong with society: being that the wealthy were ungrateful, selfish people and the church was a ruthless, maniacal super power. The title character, Candide, is the illegitimate nephew of a German Baron (3). The Baron, throughout the book, always comes back to the fact that Candide has common blood, and refuses to let him marry his daughter (35). Voltaire uses this to show the pretentious, over inflated superior feeling that was common amongst the nobility of the time. The enlightenment was a period where people view point on the role of the kings changed drastically. The original theory of divine right, which stated that the kings were chosen and ordained by God to be the head of their states, was slowly replaced with the idea that the king was to serve the people and their needs. Enlightened despots such as Catherine the Great and Fredrick the Great enacted policies which were meant to lighten the burdens placed on the people. They built hospitals, decreased the amount of surfs and the harsh conditions, and even in some places built elementary schools. It was the enlightened despots whom Voltaire saw

Miracles Of Jesus Fact Or Faux - 853 Words

Miracles of Jesus: Fact or Faux Throughout the Gospels, we read about the good news of Jesus which entails His life, teachings, and resurrection. During Jesus’ time on earth, it is documented that he performed a vast amount of miracles that only one of a spiritual being could complete. Written is that he fed 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish, walked on water, and allowed the blind to see. These miracles are only the beginning. The question many philosophers and skeptics ask today is whether or not these miracles occurred, simply for the reason that they are outside the realm of science. Jesus was known and remembered as one who had extraordinary powers and if enough historical evidence is provided, one can see Jesus was a miracle worker and executed these miracles as they are documented in the Bible. During the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, rationalistic views of deism and materialism came about. The deism view reveals that God created the world and then left it to run by natural laws, as if on a clock schedule. The materialistic view holds that the world is just a ball of cause and effect with no outside intervention. As a philosophy, this means all of reality can be explained through the natural laws of matter and energy; making miracles appear outside the realm of scientific explanation (Strauss 456). David Hume, a well-known philosopher of the eighteenth century who agreed with these philosophies, argued that human

Othello 4 Essay Research Paper Othello isn free essay sample

Othello 4 Essay, Research Paper Othello International Relations and Security Network T a drama approximately racism every bit much as it is a drama about jealosy, conflicting values, and the power of suggestion. Some racism is displayed within the drama, but that is merely a contemplation of how most minorities were treated in the clip period when the population in Europe was preponderantly of white tegument colour. This racism was besides merely brought out by fury and choler in some of the characters of Othello, and was non displayed by hatred. Jealosy and the power of suggestion besides played a conducive function in the deceases of Othello and Desdemona, and the pre-meditated secret plan to kill Cassio. Iago s lies led Othello to believe his married woman Desdemona had been rip offing with Cassio, and Othello s jealosy led him to plot Cassio s slaying, and kill his ain married woman. The conflicting values of Othello and Iago were a major cause of Iago s lies. We will write a custom essay sample on Othello 4 Essay Research Paper Othello isn or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Iago had valued a occupation that was non given to him, but instead to Othello. This led Iago to cabal a manner to acquire retaliation on Othello. Iago knew that Othello valued honestness in Desdemona, and he tried to do him believe that she was merely the opposite, unfaithful. The drama Othello was really much about jealosy. Jealosy played a large function in the drama, and was the motivation for Iago to raise up a program to destroy Othello. Iago was resentful because of the fact the Othello had gotten the occupation he wanted, and because of this Iago seeks retaliation on Othello by destroying his life and calling. Iago can non accept that Othello meant no injury to him, and will non rest until he thinks he is even with him. Iago lies to Othello and makes him believe that Othello s married woman Desdemona has been unfaithful to him, and that she has been rip offing with Cassio. Iago states his purposes best when he says: Till I am even # 8217 ; d with him, married woman for married woman, Or neglecting so, yet that I put the Moor At least into a green-eyed monster so strong That judgement can non bring around ( Shakespeare, Act II, Scene I, Lines 291-294 ) Othello at foremost does non believe this, but when Iago brings him alleged cogent evidence this consumes Othello with jealosy and choler. These emotions lead Othello to plot Cassio s slaying and finally kill his married woman because of Iago s lies. The values of Iago and Othello were in a changeless struggle during the drama. Iago represented an evil force, because he used evil agencies to accomplish his ends and what he valued. Othello and Desdemona represented a good force, because they valued good things and were victims of Iago s evil behaviors. Iago valued himself and the occupation that Othello got alternatively of him above all. Othello valued honestness, committedness, and dedication in Desdemona. Iago knew this and hence used Othello s ain values against him. He lied to Othello about Desdemona rip offing with Cassio, and this was a struggle of values between Othello and Desdemona. Othello besides showed how he valued honestness when Iago told him that he had been lying about everything. Othello stabbed Iago, because of his dishonesty and because Othello had killed his married woman without ground. Conflicting values are present throughout the narrative, and are important for secret plan development and deepness of the drama. The power of suggestion was the major subscriber in the tragic deceases of all the characters in Othello. Specifically, the prevarications told by Iago to Othello were the cause of Othello s letdown, choler, and finally led Othello to plot the deceases of Cassio and Desdemona. Lies that were told by Iago to Othello about Desdemona s alleged infidelity were straight influenced by Iago s hankering for retaliation ( because Othello had gotten the occupation he wanted ) , and his desire to win by destructing Othello and his relationship with Desdemona. For illustration, Iago deceives Othello and state his that he sees a relationship developing between Desdemona and Cassio: Were they as premier as caprine animals, every bit hot as monkeys, Equally salt as wolves in pride, and saps as gross As ignorance made rummy. ( Shakespeare, Act III, Scene III, Lines 400-402 ) This and the hankie presented to Othello as grounds by Iago of Desdemona s infidelity falsely persuades Othello into believing that his married woman is truly rip offing with Cassio. Therefore, from the grounds presented here it is evident that the drama Othello is non a drama about racism, at least non rather every bit much as it is a drama about jealosy, conflicting values, and the power of suggestion. It is besides apparent that these three factors mentioned play an of import function in the drama, they make for a more interesting narrative line, and a secret plan with deepness.

Semantic Memory and Language Production

The nature and function of semantic memory Complex cerebral mechanisms guide the process of abstracting meanings from various utterances consisting of sentences, words, clauses, or phrases, which are communicated between individuals (speakers and listeners) in different contexts. Accordingly, studies note that different meanings to utterances are stored in semantic memory.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Semantic Memory and Language Production specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Therefore, semantic memory is a mental glossary consisting of an individual’s organized knowledge regarding verbal symbols and words on one hand, and their referents and meanings on the other hand. Moreover, semantic memory encompasses various relations and rules that inform the process of manipulating the verbal symbols, meanings, and concepts (Gonzalez, 1984, pp. 1-6). On the other hand, the nature and function of semantic memory has been widely studied over the years. For instance, different researchers have reviewed the process of retrieving information among adult subjects, and in the long run, they have documented that the process of storing and retrieving semantic lexicons requires two elements, which include lexical nodes and arcs that encode the relations linking various lexical nodes (Gonzalez, 1984, p. 6). Here, the researchers noted that individual words possess specific groups of lexical nodes, which are connected through relational arcs. As a result, the development of the lexical-semantic system requires that an individual possesses the ability to link suitable lexical items to the target word using relational arcs. This process underlies the development of the lexical and syntactic aspects of semantic memory. The lexical and syntactic semantic memory provides both the contextual and structural frames for storing lexical items. Conversely, studies regarding the relationship between word m eanings and memory note that semantic memory plays a major role in terms of actively recovering stored information. The process of recovering stored information recruits various selective mental processes, which determine the amount and type of data required to generate a response.Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In most cases, the interaction between local rules and various lexical and syntactic rules plays a role in imposing limitations on the process of interpreting utterances (Gonzalez, 1984, p. 10). Overall, semantic memory is very flexible and therefore, it allows a person to recognize active and passive utterances. The basic functions of language From the foregoing discussions, it can be deduced that the nature and function of semantic memory is closely related to the process of language comprehension. On the other hand, language comprehension follows through various steps, which recruit the morphological, semantic, phonological, and syntactic frames of information in interpreting various utterances. Therefore, language comprehension is the first step toward ensuring that any language performs its intended functions. In studies involving children learning their first language, it is documented that the language performs various functions categorized as instrumental, regulatory, interactional, personal, heuristic, imaginative, and representational. These language functions permit children to perform various tasks in that the instrumental function allows them to obtain things, the regulatory function helps them to control behavior in others, the interactional function enables the children to create relationships with others, and the personal function guides them in expressing feelings and meanings (Witruk, 2002, pp. 1-9). Moreover, the heuristic function of language enables children to learn and discover new ideas in their surroundings, the imagin ative function permits creation of the world through imagination, and the representational function allows the children to communicate information. As the children enter adulthood, the language functions are narrowed down to three, which include informing, expressing, and directing. Here, the informative function of language enables a person to confirm or deny any proposition and explaining different phenomena in the real world. Conversely, the expressive function of language involves expressing feelings and attitudes by the speakers and evoking emotions among the listeners. Finally, the directive function of language enables the speaker to cause or prevent overt actions among the listeners. This function is widely employed in giving commands and requests (Witruk, 2002, pp. 11-15).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Semantic Memory and Language Production specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The Stages of Lang uage Production Language production is the process through which various word meanings are constructed and expressed. This process follows a series of steps including construction, transformation, and execution. In the stage of construction, communication goals related to word meanings are selected using selective mental processes followed by the identification of suitable meanings. Subsequently, the transformation phase of language production entails the application of various local rules and lexical/syntactical rules in transforming the identified word meanings into messages. These messages are then expressed in form of audible or observable actions in the execution phase of language production (O’Malley Chamot, 1990, p. 37). Relative to language comprehension, the stages of language production are also subject to the influence of mental processes. For instance, the construction phase of language production begins with the speaker or writer setting communication goals, whi ch are in turn converted into facts on the basis of an existing body of knowledge incorporating the semantic memory. Consequently, the next step after setting goals and facts entails restructuring the facts using various knowledge discourses and sociolinguistic rules. In the transformation phase, the restructured facts are converted into meaningful expressions or sentences (O’Malley Chamot, 1990, p. 40). Here, the incoming information or facts are subdivided into various meaningful units, which can only be expressed in the presence of certain limiting conditions. For instance, writing occurs after the writer has converted the plans and intentions into meaningful mental representations (sentences or sentence fragments). Conversely, the execution phase is the final step in language production considering that it entails the work of the hand and mouth. For example, various mental representations of information or facts can be communicated through writings or speeches (O’ Malley Chamot, 1990, p. 45). Semantic Memory and Language Production The relationship between semantic memory and language production has been a subject of interest for many researchers over the years. This follows the proposition that when a person produces a word, the underlying process entails selection of suitable lexical concepts from a variety of other concepts, which are also active in the mental lexicon (semantic memory).Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The proposition arises from studies regarding speech errors conducted in the 1970s and 1980s. The current studies regarding the nature of language production and processing systems employ various paradigms to investigate the process of semantic retrieval during language production. The most widely used model entails the picture-word interference (PWI) in which participants are expected to name pictures in the presence of superimposed words on the pictures. The printed words on the pictures serve as distractors, which cannot be ignored by the participants during the naming process. As a result, studies document that the semantic relationship between the picture and word influences the naming latencies. For example if the word and picture fall into the same semantic relationship, the participants will take a longer time to name the picture than otherwise. Here, researchers note that the word increases the semantic competition, and thus, prolonging the reaction time. Similar studies ha ve been conducted relative to word access, semantic activation, and activation of phonological codes with the results showing that lexical retrieval embeds the process of language production, and that, lexical retrieval particularly from the frontal and temporal cortices is subject to various influences including distractors. Moreover, lexical retrieval of the semantic memory and phonological facilitation are imperatives in language production (Spalek Thompson-Schill, 2008, pp. 1-9). References Gonzalez, J. (1984). Semantic theory, comprehension, and bilingualism. Education Resources Information Center. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED244514.pdf O’Malley, J.M., Chamot, A.U. (1990). Learning strategies in second language acquisition. New York: Cambridge University Press. Spalek, K., Thompson-Schill, S.L. (2008). Task-dependent semantic interference in language production: An fMRI study. Brain and Language, xxx (xx), 1-9. doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2008.05.005 W itruk, E. (2002). Neuropsychology and cognition: Basic functions of language, reading, and reading disability. Norwell, Massachusetts: Kluwer Academic Publishers. This research paper on Semantic Memory and Language Production was written and submitted by user MaryJaneWatson to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.