Theory Of Civilization And The Caribbean History Essay

Theory Of Civilization And The Caribbean History Essay Oswald Spengler was a German historian and philosopher. He was born in 1880 in Blankenburg. His parents were Protestants. His father came from a family of mine engineers while his mothers family had a bias towards the arts. Spengler inherited both traits as was evident in his interest in both arts and sciences. He grew up in an emotionally reserved home, leading him to turn to books for solace (Spengler, Oswald). Spengler studied a wide range of subjects in school including Greek, Latin, mathematics, natural sciences, poetry, drama and music. He also studied a wide range of courses at the universities of Munich, Berlin, and Halle including history, philosophy, mathematics, natural science, literature, music, and fine art. His doctoral dissertation was on Heraclitus, the Greek Philosopher.(Spengler, Oswald) Spengler worked as a teacher in several schools around German. Scholars who have attempted to study this Germany Philosopher note that his life was relatively uneventful and punctuated by long spells of loneliness. He died in 1936(Spengler, Oswald) Oswald Spengler is best known for his controversial book The Decline of the West, published in 1918, coinciding with the collapse of German. This was the first of his two-volume work. It was subtitled Form and Actuality, while the second volume was subtitled Perspectives of World History. (Stimely, n. pag) The emergence of first volume of The Decline of the West was received with mixed reactions around Europe. The main critics of this book were professional scholars and historians who claimed that Spengler was an amateur, not a trained historian. In spite of this, the book was a great success. Spenglers approach to history was inspired by Goethe, a German writer and Nietzsche, a philosopher (Spengler, Oswald). His approach entailed taking a direct look at things as opposed to strictly scientifically. Spengler was of the view that science often masked the real meaning of things and that the so-called professional historians were victims of this kind of blindness. As a result, Spengler believed in his ability to not only unravel the mystery that is history but also to predetermine it. According to Spengler, history is not the study of a consistent progression of events, but a comparative study of cultures (Spengler, Oswald). He rejected the linear view of history in support of the cyclical, implying that history comprised of events and developments that generally repeated themselves in cycles. Spengler was strongly opposed to the traditional way of categorizing history in terms of ancient, medieval, and modern. Instead he majored on eight cultures, sometimes referred to as Spenglers cultures. These cultures are Egyptian, Indian, Babylonian, Chinese, Classical (Greek and Roman), Mexican, Arabian and Western. (Spengler, Oswald) Each one of these cultures has its own unique features. For example the Egyptian culture was symbolized by their preoccupation with religion, architecture, such as the pyramids and art. Each culture too, evolves through a cycle of stages more or less like a plant through the stages of youth, maturity and then death (decline). Each culture, according to Spengler goes through its stage of civilization which could be referred to as its declining phase. In other words, civilization, according to Spengler is what remains of a culture after its development phase fades. In his book, Spengler mainly centers on comparisons between the Classical and Western cul tures and civilizations. He noted that the civilization of the West since the late nineteenth century exhibited similar characteristics to ancient (Greek and Roman) civilization in its decline. He claims that in each of these cultures 1000 years of active life there existed a cycle of development and decline (Stimely, n. pag). In his book, Spengler described the then Western culture as doomed and headed for extinction just like all the other high cultures that had existed earlier. He faulted it as being based on the illusion that everything would always get better and better eternally, instead of understanding it as having a distinct and fixed life-span moving from birth to maturity and then onto death just like in a living organism. The West, according to him was in the heart of its civilization phase and its end was probably just decades away. During the civilization phase, in a high culture there exists severe social disorder, mass movements of people, persistent wars and unending crises. At the same time, emergence of great megalopolis is witnessed, causing the surrounding rural areas to be drained of their strength, brains and spirituality. The residents of these new urban centers soon grow into immoral and materialistic people. Soon the push for democracy and a free press set in following the desire to amass more wealth and money. This leads to conflicts and supremacy battles between the new culture and the original culture, marked by bloodshed and strangulation of democracy. Only blood is seen as strong enough to overturn the rule of money. Eventually, the cities start to depopulate, with the people going back to the countryside and re-inventing their old religious and artistic symbolisms. This results in the end of the culture and the civilization that came with it. According to Spengler these phases recur within a p eriod of time and at some point in future, these great cultures will experience phases similar to those that they went through years back. He predicted that there would be recurrence of such events as the world wars followed later by a nearly united Western civilization. Spenglers theories opened up inspiring and divergent social views in the western civilization. A number of scholars and analysts continue to ponder over whether or not Spenglers analyses are correct, in spite of some of his predictions having come true. Many critics viewed his work as outright pessimism, although he remained one of the most read authors in the early 20th century years. Even his critics acknowledge that his greatest strong point was the parallel comparisons he made between the classical and western cultures. His strength in the arts played to his advantage during his study and analysis of different cultures. He is considered by some to have paved the way for National Socialism (Spengler, Oswald). The history of the Caribbean dates back to around 4500 B.C. Before the voyage of Christopher Columbus to the Americas and the subsequent colonization, civilization in the Caribbean was clearly organized and operational. It is believed that the coming of the Europeans into the Caribbean introduced ethnocentric beliefs that ensured the collapse or disintegration of their civilization. With more and more European countries claiming territorial shares in the Caribbean, rivalries emerged among these European nations, making the Caribbean battleground for European wars for many years. In addition to the instability caused by these wars, diversification was introduced in the Caribbean region bringing in new religions, cultures, architectural designs among others. Caribbean civilization has evolved from an ethnically and racially plural society to a relatively inclusive society comprising almost entirely of migrants from Africa, Europe and Asia. These peoples share a common history of colonialism and slavery in a blend of great diversity, thus making it a one-of-a-kind civilization. In addition, the Caribbean has a unique physical environment that has further played to attract in more foreigners, thus further diversifying their culture. Despite their widely varied backgrounds, the people of the Caribbean managed to forge a unity that resulted in one culture characterized by shared political ideologies, a common language and corporation aimed at improving each others lives. Looking back at Spenglers theory of civilization, it can be argued that it fell short in addressing racial differences among different cultures as is the case in the Caribbean. Spengler preferred to look at race as a minor difference in the members of the same race. He viewed race as not being of significant implications on the unity or disunity among people of the same culture. In so doing, Spengler contradicts the science of biology and heredity. In the Caribbean case, the unique mixture of people from different racial backgrounds was a significant factor in the development of their civilization. Further, Spengler considers each culture and civilization as a closed and isolated unit, bound together only by a common strong idea or belief. Critics argue that such ideas cannot undergo organic evolution as purported by Spengler since they are a mere creation of the human mind, lacking any substance. If that were the case, the Caribbean civilization would have been long gone the way of the classical culture. By only studying a few cultures, Spengler was, according to critics, not better placed to generalize on the fate of all civilizations since he did not have accurate information. Finally, Spenglers theory claims that each of civilization came into being independently without borrowing from other cultures. The Classical cultures existed and became extinct in totality. On the other hand, the West viewed their modern civilization as a rebirth or continuation of the Classical civilization. The similarities in some of these cultures therefore clearly points to the fact that there exists an inter-relation between them that continues to survive the test of time. The Caribbean civilization borrows from a number of other cultures and civilizations from Europe, African and Asia shaping them into a single strong culture.

Explore the significance of the character Mercutio in the play Romeo and Juliet

Although Shakespeare's play ‘Romeo and Juliet' does not focus on Mercutio, he is one of the most unique characters of the play. He manages to manipulate other characters of the play through his imaginative and powerful language. He usually takes the lead in conversations and his friends generally go by what he says. Mercutio is neither Capulet nor Montague but his strong bond with Romeo associates him with the Montagues. In the play, Mercutio tends to stand out compared to the other characters; this is mainly because of his energetic and outrageous personality. His comical character lightens the mood of the tragic love story and helps to increase the sympathy of the audience when he later dies. Mercutio is a catalyst, meaning that he has the ability to change what people think or do. An example of this is in Act 1 Scene 4, where Romeo is sad and doesn't want to go to the Capulet's ball but Mercutio lightens the mood with puns and word play; â€Å"You are a lover; borrow Cupid's wings† An Elizabethan audience would have found this funny because cupid was and still is very well known as being the god of love. Mercutio is comedian, always making jokes at every chance he gets. He lives life on the edge and is always looking for something new and exiting to do. This could also make him an antagonist and troublemaker, especially when the Capulet's are involved. His inevitable death and the death of several others are caused by Mercutio living life on the edge. Read this – Puns in the Importance Mercutio puts on a front which tells the audience that he does not respect women, such as the way he often uses animal features to describe women, â€Å"spiders†¦gallops†¦pig's tail† perhaps suggesting that women are less superior to men. However, when you look closer into his language you can see that his feelings go deeper, for example, in Act 1 Scene 4, Mercutio speaks about women being like Queen Mab; â€Å"Her wagon-spokes made of long spiders' legs, The cover of the wings of grasshoppers† During the queen Mab speech in particular, he uses sibilance, sibilance it the repetition of the ‘S' sound which makes this speech sound soft and I think that it shows his true passion for women. In contrast, when he is talking to Romeo and giving him advice, he says to Romeo; â€Å"Be rough with love; Prick love for pricking, And you beat love down.† This could show that he may have had a past relationship that may not have turned out so well. He may also be telling this to Romeo because he doesn't want the same thing to happen to him. In Act 1 Scene 4, Mercutio's imagination runs wild as he is describing women as Queen Mab. This will begin to show the audience Mercutio's true feelings for women. He uses passionate language such as; â€Å"Tickling a parson's nose as a' lies asleep, Then dreams, he of another benefice† On the other hand, Romeo has a different view to that of Mercutio's towards women. Romeo, who is quite naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve towards love, shows the audience how much he loves everyone and everything. He is always talking about how fabulous love is and that it is the only thing that matters in the world. â€Å"O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art As glorious to this night, being o'er my head† This can show that Romeo may not have been in a real relationship, but only fantasising about it. Mercutio and Romeo have a strong friendship; they are both extremely loyal to each other and tend to help each other out; â€Å"Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance.† They both have a strong influence on each other, which from Mercutio's side tends to be positive but can sometimes turn out negative but this does not happen all the time. In the death scene of Mercutio he blames Romeo for his death even though Romeo was only tried to stop it. In Act 2, Scene 1, after the ball Mercutio and Benvolio are looking for Romeo; they still believe that he is in love with Rosaline. Mercutio then begins to shout out for Romeo, by way of chanting a spell; â€Å"Nay, I'll conjure too. Romeo! Humours! Madman! Passion! Lover! Appear thou in the likeness of a sigh† The shortness of his sentences and the use of exclamation marks emphasises his humour in his speech, suggesting a light hearted tone, this would have created a more amusing scene for an Elizabethan audience. During this scene the actor playing Mercutio would probably be dancing around with imaginary props, pretending to brew up a potion. He then continues to talk about Rosaline; he speaks about her in a manor that is rude and obnoxious, he mocks Romeo as he believes he is superficial and that he is only in love with Rosaline's beauty; â€Å"By her high forehead and her scarlet lip, By her fine foot, straight leg and quivering thigh† Here Mercutio is saying that Rosaline is a prostitute and Benvolio believes that this would anger Romeo. Mercutio replies; â€Å"This cannot anger him ‘twould anger him To raise a spirit in his mistress' circle† In this sentence Mercutio begins to use sexual references; he says it would only anger Romeo if someone else was to sleep with Rosaline. During this scene Mercutio is loud and energetic. A modern audience would think this funny and witty but an Elizabethan audience may have been more shocked at what he was saying. During Act 2 Scene 4, Mercutio and the Nurse meet. In much the same way as with Rosaline, Mercutio is again vulgar about the nurse; â€Å"Good Peter, to hide her face; for her fan's the fairer face.† The repetition of the letter ‘F' emphasizes a harsh tone and suggests to the audience a feeling of disgust towards the nurse. Mercutio is saying that the nurse is unattractive, but she does not let this pass as she is aggressive and says; â€Å"Out upon you! What a man are you!† This shows the Nurses mutual disliking for Mercutio as well. In Act 2, Scene 4, Mercutio compliments Tybalt's skills as a fighter; he calls him â€Å"Prince of Cats†. This is because Mercutio thinks that Tybalt is quick on his feet and a fast swordsman, Tybalt wins all of his duels, Mercutio says that he has â€Å"nine lives† for this reason. â€Å"Don't think he's just the Prince of Cats! Oh no – he's way more than that.† Although Mercutio is saying how much of a good swordsman Tybalt is, he still ends up fighting him and ironically Mercutio loses, he does this because he is a show off and he thinks he is best. When Mercutio challenges Tybalt to a duel, Tybalt asks â€Å"What wouldst thou have with me?† Mercutio replies; â€Å"Good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine lives† This shows that Mercutio is still using references to Tybalt being â€Å"the Prince of Cats†. Also even when he has been stabbed by Tybalt, Mercutio says that the wound is only; â€Å"A scratch, a scratch† In Act 3, Scene 1, where Mercutio is nearing his death, he suddenly becomes a lot more serious, but because of his ego he still manages to make witty remarks and keeping the comedy going; â€Å"Ask for me to-morrow, and you shall find me a grave man.† I believe that because of Mercutio's personality, and always making things worse, he brought upon his own death even though in his mind he would have thought it was a good thing to do. Shakespeare probably killed Mercutio off here because it builds up a climax and creates a dramatic effect. In my opinion Mercutio has brought his death on himself by his antagonistic personality, and always provoking others. He finally meets his match, Tybalt. Although, I don't think the play would be what it is without Mercutio, as a comic character is needed, for example; to help lighten moods of scenes when needed. Without Mercutio in the play, Romeo and other characters would have died a lot sooner, suggesting to the audience that Mercutio is a hero in some way. On the other hand, everyone may have survived as it was generally Mercutio that pushed things on, often making things worse.

Brave New World vs. Gattaca

Brave New World vs.. Cataract BY Killing We all expect the near future to have advance technology and flying cars. Well, genetic engineering Is Indeed advance technology but there are negative effects that come along with it. In both â€Å"Brave New World† by Allots Huxley (1932) and Cataract (1997) is based on how genetic engineering is taken over the world. Everyone was created by science instead of being born and having both parents' genes. Intelligence an personality are very minor In these societies, but the Important thing that matters is where you belong in life.However, the film Cataract is in the future but has a dated style to it. From the clothing and hairstyles to the cars and buildings, it all reminds you of the style in the ass's or ass's. The director intended it to be that way just to view how our style could go back to how It used to be In the past. The setting of the movie sets the mood to be somewhat serious and thriller like. The mood of professional busine ss would be a good example of this film. The theme of the novel is generally saying are we all headed to where our genetic code defines what we do and owe we live.Although the film does not have a futuristic feel to It, the plot still shows you that the future is not that distance. The mall character, Vincent Freeman, wanted to fulfill his dreams and travel into space. The initial problem that occurred was that his gene was not genetic superior to accomplish his goal. Vincent had a heart problem that prevented him from doing big Jobs. He came up with an idea to become a valid person. He decided to use someone else's Identity and DNA to be able to travel in the stars. Vincent uses an athlete, Jerome Marrow, who was paraplegic from a car crash.Freeman changed his looks, style, and even had surgery to become the same height as Jerome. He made sure that people would discover whom he really Is. Later on In the movie, Vincent brother tries to find the murderer of an Important person but w as really trying to find Vincent. They didn't know they were brother because a while back when they were younger, Vincent brother was lost at sea and he haven't seen him ever since. They reunite and realize on how different they were from each other. In a way, this film has a genre of mystery and thriller that is served.On the other hand, the book â€Å"Brave New World† also does not really have that futuristic feel, but you can tell it is based on the future when you read it. The book is older, so when it was written, it did not have the modern day style that we use. The year is actually in 802540, which is way past the year future. The mood of this book Is satirical and bitter. At some points. It was funny but had a serious meaning to It as well. As you read the book, you could notice that there would be more than one thing owing at once where the point of view turns from first person to third person omniscient.The theme of this book Isn't anything compared to Cataract, but it's saying that the community Is sterilized and we are headed for the end if the community we live in continue. In addition to, the movie Cataract is similar to â€Å"Brave New World†. Humans predict other humans lifestyle by making tests and observations to determine where they are placed. This world seeks stability in each society but it most likely doesn't work on everyone. Having a family Is not allowed to be applied In he future.Therefore, the people are separated on what defines them Like being a Delta or an upsilon. In which why the character Bernard is not happy with the order 1 OFF such as having a family. Bernard tries to find the meaning of life but everyone thinks he is crazy from exploring his curiosity. I believe that the both the writers of the film and the book intended on including such an intense view of the future. These views of the future are actually believable and actually could be where we are all headed at to the near future.All though we all imagin e the future being a new and high tech setting, in Cataract we can actually see the style of the ass's and unlike â€Å"Brave New World† we can only read what it could be and visualize it. All in all, both of the Cataract and â€Å"Brave New World† are engaging and interesting. I would recommend reading â€Å"Brave New World† first and then watching Cataract because you can get an older point of view of the future and a more modern point of view. Genetic engineering could be our future if technology becomes bigger than it already is.

The War Of The Vietnam War - 2031 Words

During the 20th century there have been a number amount of incidents that resulted in a change in a countries government. Radical change in government was what started infamous wars such, World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. But, probably one of the most influential events that changed the United States was the Vietnam War that lasted roughly twenty years (1955-1975). The Vietnam War, also known in Vietnam as Resistance War Against America (Vietnamese: Khà ¡ng chiá º ¿n chá »â€˜ng Má » ¹) or simply the American War, was a Cold War-era proxy war that occurred in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The Cold War’s communist influence was what led Vietnam’s government to a communist government on its own. At first the America had no involvement in the†¦show more content†¦Another objective was to establish a government for workers, peasants, and soldiers and the organization of a workers militia. Other objectives were cancellation of public debts and confisca tion of means of production and their transfer to the government. There would be distribution of French-owned lands to peasants, a suppression of taxes for the people and establishment of an eight-hour work day. A development of crafts and agriculture and the institution of freedom of organization will be issued through the charter. Finally, an establishment of education for all citizens will be issued. (1) This was the beginning of the radical change in Vietnam; these new objectives will be the starting points of what will be a brand new government completely separate from French control. In 1945 Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnamese Independence, and conflict between the French and the Vietnamese people officially began. The Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam states: All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; among these are Liberty, Life and the pursuit of Happiness. â€Å"This immortal statement appeare d in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776. In a broader sense, it means: all the peoples on the earth are equal from birth; all the peoples have a right to live and to be happy and free. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, made at the time of