William Shakespeare s Hamlet - 1333 Words

A Man of Action versus A Man of a Thought Honore de Balzac once said â€Å"Most people of action are inclined to fatalism and most of thought believe in providence.† Men of fatalism believe they are powerless to do anything other than what they believe they are destined to do. These men are more likely to make rash decisions and leave the rest to fate. On the other hand, men of Providence believe in the guidance of God or nature when making important decisions rather than the guidance of man. In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, he portrays his characters as having both types of qualities. Characters like Claudius, Laertes and Hamlet represent the action of men and how audacious they behave. On the other hand, Shakespeare also uses Hamlet†¦show more content†¦Laertes also shows that he is a man of action who believes in fatalism when he is persistent on finding his father’smurderer. â€Å"That both the worlds I give to negligence, /Let come what comes; only I ll be revenged / Most thorough ly for my father† (4.5.131-133).He shows that he is ready to avenge his father’s death no matter what it takes, even going as far as taking his anger out on the King. Finally,Claudius and Laertes, using their belief in fatalism devise a plan to kill Hamlet.The king suggests that they convince Hamlet into entering a duel with Laertes.Laertes adds to the plan by offering to use a poisoned uncapped sword so that even if he only managed to scratch Hamlet, it would still kill him. Claudius also further develops the plan when he comes up with a backup plan of offering Hamlet a cup of poisoned wine if he wins the duel against Laertes, â€Å"And that he calls for a drink, I’ll have prepared him/ A chalice for the nonce; whereon but sipping, / if he by chance escape your venom’d stuck,† (4.7.160-163). Therefore, Claudius and Laertes show that the belief in fatalism results in negative consequences. Contrastingly, Hamlet has a belief in only providence. He does not progress in any of the plans he devises. When he is a man of thought, he over analyzes situations and lets opportunities pass him by. To

Media Course work The Times and The Daily Star’s Coverage of the Ian Huntley Conviction Free Essays

For my Media coursework I have chosen to study and compare The Times and The Daily Star. I purchased these papers on Thursday December 18th 2003. The story is covered on both front pages and then continues into the inside. We will write a custom essay sample on Media Course work: The Times and The Daily Star’s Coverage of the Ian Huntley Conviction or any similar topic only for you Order Now It is about Ian Huntley being found guilty of murdering Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells. Both newspapers have articles on how the parents felt, what happened in the trial and how the people of Soham feel. The Times is a broadsheet newspaper and is aimed at social groups A, B and C1. These social groups include Lawyers, doctors, accountants, teachers, nurses, police officers, clerical workers and people in other skilled jobs. The Times has a more extensive coverage and longer articles than the Daily Star. The Daily Star aims at social groups C2, D and E. these are plumbers, mechanics, lorry drivers, postal workers, the unemployed and casual workers. It has a bolder layout and the articles are shorter than the Times. In the Daily Star it calls Ian Huntley † Evil child sex fiend†, â€Å"sex beast† and â€Å"killer is caged at last†. This shows open disgust about Ian Huntley and they are comparing his actions to that of a monster. The Daily Star reports on gossip, sex and what the celebrities are up to. The paper does not have a fixed political view and this comes across in the paper. The Times on the other hand is centrist and tries to be neutral and does not have a political side. It calls Ian Huntley â€Å"Huntley† instead of using vocabulary such as monster. On the front cover of the Daily Star it has a photograph of Maxine Carr kissing a seventeen-year-old boy the same night the girls were murdered. This is a human-interest story and is vaguely linked to the trial that found Ian Huntley guilty. The picture takes up nearly the whole of the first page and aims at grabbing the readers’ attention, as it is shocking to cheat on your partner in public. The idea behind this it that 100% of readers read the headline and see the photograph so if the paper can hold the readers’ attention then the paper might be purchased. In contrast The Times although it has a large colour photograph on the front there is still quite a bit of text surrounding it. The photograph is a picture of Ian Huntley that has been enlarged greatly to allow you to look into his eyes. The Times aims to make the front page instantly recognizable as that particular newspaper. The Times’ headline â€Å"No Mercy, No Regret† is taken from a speech made by the judge to summarise the trial. It is a restrained headline and is more serious than the Daily Star’s that is â€Å"Kiss Of Death†. The editor uses the headline â€Å"Kiss of death† as it is far more dramatic and has a more ‘down market’ approach to the main story that happened that day. † Kiss of Death† is more dramatic and provokes shock and disgust among the readership. The Times’ headline is using someone else’s opinion on Ian Huntley and is not as emotive as the Daily Star’s headline. The Times uses only four photographs on the story where as the Daily Star uses nineteen photographs. This is because broadsheet newspapers like The Times are more serious, plainer and have a more restrained layout than tabloid newspapers like the Daily Star, which try to have a bolder layout. By having more photographs the Daily Star can capture the readers attention and make it visually exciting. The Times has additional coverage of the story so photographs are not so vital as it is all explained in the text. The Daily Star has pictures of the evidence and of Huntley’s bedroom. This shows the reader how Ian Huntley tried to hide the evidence and what he was doing in police custody. The Times has pictures of floral tributes and just a few of Ian Huntley, Maxine Carr and the family. The Times has a menu on the first page this is called a â€Å"puff† or â€Å"blurb†. It advertises the content in the paper that might interest the reader. The Daily Star has a small puff but unlike the Times it does not summarise the content of the articles. The Daily Star uses quotations, for example; â€Å"Jess’s Dad: I want Huntley in coffin†. This is dramatic and would appeal to the readers of the Daily Star who are after human feeling and not the facts of the trial. The Times has article involving â€Å"New money-laundering regulations† and â€Å"More awards for The Times†. So the articles inside are about political and financial matters. The Daily Star uses a fair amount of bold type for example on page two under the heading of â€Å"Huntley killed girls in frustrated frenzy† that whole article is in bold type. In the article it uses language that will turn the reader into hating Ian Huntley. Here are some examples of this in the same article, † they rejected his twisted advances† and â€Å"Ian Huntley murdered Holly and Jessica out of sexual frustration†. The Times describes Ian Huntley as † a violent sexual predator†. The Times only uses bold type on headlines, sub-heads and for the journalist’s names. Both papers use Journalese register. In The Times it uses words like â€Å"blunders† and â€Å"booming voice of justice†. The Daily Star use it more frequently like â€Å"fiend† â€Å"cops† and â€Å"frenzy† The Daily Star uses â€Å"blunders† just like The Times. These examples help the audience to understand the article more easily, because it is familiar language. The Times uses Journalese register that has a stronger degree of formality but it still uses words like â€Å"blunder† to exaggerate the story. The Daily Star uses repetition and alliteration quite often. For example â€Å"Frustrated Frenzy† and it has a rectangle with â€Å"justice† written in it along with a photograph of the two girls the day they went missing. The Times uses only a bit of repetition and that is in the main headline â€Å"No Mercy, No Regret†. This is probably because the editor of The Times does not feel that the readership of it’s paper needs to be told something twice as they have had a better education than the readers of The Daily Star. The Times demands a reading age six years older than the Daily Star. The Times uses a more sophisticated range of vocabulary for example â€Å"persistent cruelty†, â€Å"undisguised loathing†, â€Å"demonstrate some slither of humanity† and â€Å"allegations†. This offers more description to the reader and makes the article more intriguing. The Daily Star uses vocabulary like â€Å"groped†, â€Å"ruled out† and â€Å"Monsters Lair† this makes a powerful impression on the reader and facts are often exaggerated from the truth to sell papers. The Daily Star uses lots more quotations that involve peoples opinions for example † Our girls were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t think there is anymore to be said about him† this is an extract from what the parents of the girls said to the press. The Times uses Experts views on the trial and that is mainly the judge. For example â€Å"it was not just for those two families you have sought to destroy, your crimes are those for which the community suffer†. The Times gives an unbiased view but cleverly uses quotations that show what the paper thinks on the matter it is addressing. The Daily Star has a paragraph devoted to what the paper itself thinks on the verdict. The Times ends the article about the parents of the murdered school girls, Holly and Jessica, by using a final quotation, † Mr. Wells said that his family would now be going on holiday. † We are going to take a short holiday break and gather our thoughts and focus on our son.† Using this quotation here concludes the report by looking to the future and helps link the reader more closely to the story. The Daily Star uses single-sentenced paragraphs, which are highly characteristic for tabloid papers, simplify the argument and allow the reader to follow it with ease. For example â€Å"He used to live with a girl of 15- and fathered her child†. The Times on the other hand uses complex sentences in comparison. For example, â€Å"But in searching the Police National Computer, Cambridgeshire police looked only for information about an Ian Nixon. Cambridgeshire also made inquiries with their counterparts in Humberside, but admit that they â€Å"probably† asked only two names.† The Times puts probably in inverted commas to show that this is somebody else’s term, and the journalist does not necessarily approve. Both newspapers convey as much information as they possibly can in the first paragraph. This is because it is estimated that around 70% of readers may read until the end of the first paragraph. Here is an example from the front page of The Times, â€Å"Ian Huntley is today revealed as a violent sexual predator who should never have been given the job that brought him into contact with Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells.† This first paragraph tells the reader who is involved and what happened. In the Daily Star ‘And’ is a sentence conjunction and it is frequently used as paragraph connectives. Here is an example, † And as he was led t o the cells the full horror of his perverted life was revealed for the first time.† I conclude that although there are many differences between The Times and The daily Star, The Times are moving towards including some of the tabloid papers features as it has more human-interest stories in it than ever before. The Times still has a plainer and more restrained layout than the Daily Star that uses colour and photographs to make it visually exciting and hold the readers attention. The editors of both papers try to cram as much information into the first paragraph and headline and few readers carry on reading until the end of the article. The Daily Star uses shorter paragraphs and lengths of articles to hold onto the reader’s attention and to make it simple enough for the reader to understand. The Times gives a neutral approach to what is an emotive story that most people have very strong feeling about. How to cite Media Course work: The Times and The Daily Star’s Coverage of the Ian Huntley Conviction, Essays

Ancient Civilization free essay sample

A brief history of the ancient civilizations of the Near East, India and China. This paper presents a brief overview of ancient Egyptian culture, including a look at the role of the Pharoah and the writing system developed at that time. The development of ancient Indian culture over 3,500 years is outlined, and a discussion of ancient Chinese culture discussed, including the influence of Confucius on Chinese society. The civilizations of the Near East, especially that of Egypt, has captured reasonable attention of the scholars. The Egyptian civilization is considered as a mystery as the scholars are still making new discoveries about the religion, the colossal architecture of the region and the educational developments of that time. The Ancient Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, the Upper Egypt (also known as the Nile Valley) and the Lower Egypt (Nile Delta) However, Egypt was unified in 3000 B.C., when Menes established his kingdom and developed Memphis as his capital. We will write a custom essay sample on Ancient Civilization or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page At this time, the central power was in the hands of the king and he was considered as the only individual who had direct contact with God. According to Egyptians beliefs, their king was divine and was even considered superior to the priests. The economic affairs of the whole kingdom were in the hands of the king and he was the owner of the state. Under the King, there was a well-established hierarchy of Royal family members, officials, governors and mayors. The rest of the community consisted of slaves, peasants and artisans.

Jacksonian Era Essays - Second Party System, Andrew Jackson

Jacksonian Era Jacksonian Era The Jackson democrats attempted to amplify the strength of lower classes' poor, while decreasing the influence of the rich and powerful. Economically, they benefited from governing during a time of leading advances in transportation, which boosted commerce and helped the common man. Politically, they invested power into an overwhelmingly powerful executive branch. The Jacksonian democrats portrayed themselves as saviors of the common people and ruled via a powerful executive who attempted to destroy aristocracy in America. However, they were atypically wealthy, supported equality between white men only, enacted disastrous economic policies and disregarded the capability of the federal government. Further, they did not introduce democracy in America, rather merely used it and benefited from it. During the first half of the 19th century numerous advancements enhanced the growth of the United States. A market revolution occurred as a yeoman and cash crop agriculture and capitalist manufacturing replaced artisan economy. Despite the prosperity, a split was emerging between the industrializing urban north, rural South, and the expanding West. The Jacksonians passed the Tariff of 1828, which opened opportunity for western agriculture and New England manufacturing, but was detrimental to the South. Andrew Jackson and Jacksonian democrats believed that the US bank placed too much control into the hands of a wealthy few. Due to this fact, Jackson vetoed the bank's recharter in 1832. In attempt to benefit the lower, working classes, he placed the federal money in "pet" state banks. This attempt destabilized the national currency, decreased currency in markets, and displayed favoritism in Jacksonian policies. Like most Jacksonian economic policies it failed and the reduction in currency spread inflation which the Treasury Act of 1840 could not stop. Jacksonians tried to assist whites through economic policies but failed. Foreign observers viewed that in America, every man is free and independent, but there was great division in American attitude. Disturbances and insurrections broke out across the country by minorities, because they were not helped by egalitarian efforts which were focused on white males. Jackson's hypocrisy and cruelty in his Indian removal practices (after his decisive victory at Horseshoe Bend, Alabama, March 1814) showed the non-universal principles held by the democrats. Fearful of angering Southern voters, Jacksonians veered away from extending egalitarian policies to slaves. Women received little improvement. Although viewed as defenders of all common men, Jacksonian democrats shunned minorities and only assisted white men. Andrew Jackson was the first president to fully utilize the powers of the executive branch and establish it as an equal, if not superior branch. Henry Clay viewed Jackson as dictatorial and unconstitutional and persuaded the Congress to discipline him in 1834, but Jacksonian propaganda continued to portray Jackson as a common man. Jacksonian democrats did not sustain three separate and equal branches of government, as Constitutionally required. Jacksonians were strict constitutionalists, vetoing the Maysville Road Bill because it did not benefit the whole country and it eliminated the bank. However, they also participated in the passionate nationalism prevailing at the time. Contrary to Calhoun and South Carolina's reassertion of the confederation principles of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, Jacksonians believed in a firm union. In the compromise Tariff of 1832, they reduced the previous tariffs, but also included a Force Bill, which authorized the President to use arms to collect dues in South Carolina. Jacksonians were tough nationalists in foreign affairs too, almost going to war with France in 1835 upon failure to pay its debt. They also were instrumental in dramatically increasing the electorate and encouraging participation in the political process. Jacksonian democrats were above all outstanding propagandists. They were able to portray themselves as defenders of the common man, while they usually tended to be wealthy and 'common man' appointees were often inefficient and corrupt. They also tried to further reform movements but ended up decreasing economic opportunity. Although often supporters of states' rights and individuality (i.e. the bank issue), they also were strong nationalists (i.e. South Carolina nullification). Jacksonians strived to preserve the unifying principles that the Constitution contained, but acted in contempt of it when they asserted the overwhelming power of the executive branch. Jacksonian democracy did allow more people to vote than ever before and made government more directly responsible to the people. Finally, they established a strong executive, directly responsible to the people, and increased faith in government. Overall, Jacksonians honestly attempted to help common Americans.

WHY DID THE AMERICANS TRIUMPH essays

WHY DID THE AMERICANS TRIUMPH essays The Americans triumphed in the war for Independence due to a number of reasons, which when combined, could only lead to one solution, that of victory for the Americans. As Hugh Brogan says, There was no middle ground for the Americans: for them it was either victory or total submission. The reasons are far and wide reaching and include a number of failures by the British. The British failed to use the loyalist Americans who numbered up to a third of the population, they withheld some of their best troops from the conflict and suffered major communication problems. The role of George Washington as commander-in-chief was an important factor in the success of the Continental Army and the final reason for American success lies in the support it received from other nations and in particular from France. The American Revolution divided the American people in three ways. There were those who wanted a new political order and wanted to be free from the British, there were those who were loyal to Britain and those who had not decided who to side with or did not care which way the conflict went. The revolutionaries called those loyal to Britain Tories, royalists or the Kings men. The British did not make enough use of what could have been up to a third of the American population who supported them. A large number of these loyalists could be found close to the East Coast and they were from different backgrounds including shopkeepers, farmers and professional people. The British failed to make enough use of these loyalists from the very start of the conflict and they waited until the war was well under way before organising them for military service. One of the main reasons for this was that Britain expected the war to be a short one and did not see the point in organising and training people who would not be needed. Many other possible loyalists were lost to the British cause due to the actions and behaviour o...

Public Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Public Law - Essay Example Between the 19th and 21st centuries, various changes have taken place and have ended up reducing the powers and rights bestowed on the House of Commons for one reason or another. Their mandates and membership have in the past been disrupted, and rearranged to meet the changing needs of the government operations in the constitution, and for the benefit of the general society. So far, the trend in changes being campaigned for and implemented on the House of Lords seems to be very thorough, and with a driven motive, especially from the running government and House of commons, which could not only affect their powers, but injure the public affairs and general society, when the operations of the common house are left with minimal control. Roles of the House of Lords Legislative responsibilities: As a constituent body of the parliament, it plays a major role in the law making process. Actually, of all the roles the chamber is entitled to, law making that entails amending, revising, and eve n initiating legislatures remain a critical role, which the house spends most of its time in (Parliamentary Education Service, 2007). This is usually a shared responsibility with the House of Commons, allowing each house to bring in their opinion and contribute their ideologies in the development of the law. The end product of the proposed law after having been evaluated by both houses, stands a better chance of been effective once passed through for the crowns approval. This is because the potential problems and voids in the proposed law or bills would be exposed and catered for. Initially, the House of Lords exercised more powers in the legislature, but the passage of the Parliament Act of 1911limited its power, over the ordinary legislature (kkhsou.in, 2011). Like the House of Commons, it can also initiate bills, especially those concerned with the government operation and non money bills, though at a lower rate than the laws drafted from the other House. Similarly, it revises an d examines bills passed from the House of Commons, checking the proposals, making changes and improving bills through debates on amendments, which is not time limited, making them workable once approved. In its legislative function, the House of Lords power to veto a bill are not available, but they can reject it to cause delay, allow room for review by the Common House and government, or offer alternative amendments (The Great Britain Parliament et al, 2012). However, in the third time reject by the House of Lords, the Common House can push it ahead for the crowns approval, even without the consent of the House of Lords. Scrutinising government and its executives: It is a valuable role that helps keep the government executives and operations in the right track. Most of the government activities and decisions are challenged by the House of Lords, which probes into a wide range of policies and regulations. As an executive body, it has the powers to question ministers and elicit infor mation from the administration by submitting written questions, or asking them orally during the question time sessions in the House, raise issues of concern through debates about government activities and policies, and provide responses to the government statements (The Great Britain Parliament et al, s2012). The House has established committees that assist in scrutinising and monitoring the delegated powers to the executives and government. They

Story Response #3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Story Response #3 - Assignment Example He fell in love with her reasons beyond her schoolwork and the fact that he thought she knew much despite her tender age of thirteen. At first, the story seemed confusing. Why was it that Hannah chose on this boy and not any other in the class? It is not clear that they are close friends in as much as he was willing to bend down rules so as to please Hannah who had caught his attention. It would be best preferred if the central character explain to him what the makeup kit entailed and to whom he was to take to. It was shocking when he later came to realize the Mick guy in the B-building was Hannah’s boyfriend. He realized he is an innocent culprit whom the teachers would not suspect quickly. Next time, if the boy would fall in love with a woman, I find it useful to lay down the intentions first and let the lady decide. These could best come out if only he told Hannah the real feelings, she would not have taken him for a friend been used to do dirty business in the name of a boyfriend who got arrested