Different Styles of Imitation Essay Example for Free

Different Styles of Imitation Essay In The Transmission of Knowledge by Juan Luis Vives, Vives describes his idea of proper imitation. His basic theory is that people are not innately born with skills of art or rhetoric and therefore, these skills are obtained through the imitation of other skilled artists or rhetoricians. This idea is parallel to those of Petrarch and Alberti. Petrarch and Vives both say that proper imitation should be analogous to the way a son resembles his father. Vives says A son is said to be like his father, not so much in that he recalls his features, his face and form, but because shows to us his fathers manners, his disposition, his talk, his gait, his movements, and as it were his very life, which issues forth in his actions as he goes abroad, from the inner seat of the spirit, and shows his real self to us. (190) Petrarch says, similarly, As soon as we see the son, he recalls the father to us, although if we should measure every feature we should find them all different.(199) The father to son resemblance is the basis of imitation to both these authors. They both believe that a good writer should use imitation in a way where what they imitate resembles the original, but does it not duplicate it. For Petrarch and Vives, this can be achieved by properly integrating reading with writing. They both believe that by reading something and being able to digest it thoroughly, one can transport the overall idea and feeling of what he read onto his own writing. This creates a deep imitation, rather than copying what a writer says in different words. Both authors use the father to son metaphor to show that imitation should be meaningful and evocative. Petrarch supplements this idea by claiming that reading should be an alterative to experience. As one would in a sense experience the father through the son, one should similarly be able to experience the author a writer imitates. To illustrate this he referrers to wandering and transport throughout his works. Specifically, Petrarch interchanges writing with experience when he describes climbing Mont Ventroux. He says But nature is not overcome by a mans devices; a corporeal thing cannot reach the heights by descending and, further, there I leaped in my winged thought from things corporeal to what is incorporeal and addressed myself in words like these (39) The physical and spiritual are linked so closely together that they transport and overlap one another. According to Petrarch, characteristics like this are traits of a good imitator. Vives also relates to the kind of imitation which interchanges the bodily action with spiritual. He describes an oration, which links actions with rhetoric. He says But these modern imitators regard not so much the mind of the orator in his expression, as the outward appearance of his words and the external for of his style. (191) Both writers believe that by interchanging techne which psyche, one can properly imitate and transcend a deeper significance of what the writer is imitating. Although Petrarch and Vives share similar ideas, they also hold a contradictory belief: Petrarch only imitates Cicero, while Vives believes that one should imitate several models to create a single work. Although Vives clearly states that Cicero is the best model for writing in the conversational style: Caesar and Epistles of Cicero will come into the first rank of conversational style, (192) he also states that one should comprise writing by mimicking several writers: The more models we have and the less likeness there is between them, the greater is the progress of eloquence. (190) Foremost, Petrarch is not writing in the conversational style, instead he using the plain style. Therefore, he should mimic another writer from the list Vives has specified. Also, Petrarch is only interested in imitating one writer, Cicero. He defends the Ciceronian tradition by writing only in Ciceros style. For this reason, Petrarch does not read other writers, like Dante, because he is afraid that he will become the product of what he reads, ideas and style. Instead he immerses himself in Ciceros style by reading his work in such depth that he essentially writes in Ciceros style without knowing he is doing so. Vives respects Ciceros work, but he does not believe that Cicero is the best writer. Other than Vives belief that Petrarch should have imitated several conversationalists, Vives also states that imitation of Ciceros work is useful and safe, but not of his style; for if anyone cannot achieve success in the attempt he will degenerate into redundant, nerveless, vulgar and plebeian kind of writer. (191) Therefore, the difference between Vives and Petrarch is that Vives believes that one should imitate several writers and that Cicero is not the best writer. Further, he offers a list of writers which should be imitated when trying to achieve a certain style. Petrarch, on the other hand, writes in Ciceros style and believes that Cicero should be imitated while engaging in every kind of writing. Alberti was an author who was more like Vives in this sense. He also believed that one should embrace all the things which would make something beautiful into one. For example, he says that all arts are linked to painting somehow, and that all arts take from incorporate the skills associated with painting into their works: The architect, if I am not mistaken, takes from the painter architraves, bases, capitals, columns, faà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ades and other similar things. All the smiths, sculptors, shops and guilds are governed by the rules and art of the painter. It is scarcely possible to find any superior art which is not concerned with painting. so that whatever beauty is found can be said to be born of painting .(Book II) Furthermore, it was important to Alberti to imitate the laws of nature, rather than nature itself. He pointed out that an architect should mimic the structure of reality and the geometry hidden in reality. Like Vives and Petrarch, Alberti joined the bodily with the spi ritual to create the perfect art. But, he resembles Vives, in the sense that he believes that one should imitate several things to create one thing. One difference between Alberti and Vives is that Vives believes that one should start out imitating a person who is not the best at what he does, but someone who is better than the imitator. Eventually, according to Vives, one should be able to move up in rank and imitate the best. He says it is a wise precept of M. Fabius Quintilian that boys should not at first attempt to rise to emulation of their master, lest their strength fail them. An easier and quicker method will be to let them imitate someone more learned than themselves among their fellows, and contending with him let them gradually rise to copying their master himself. (189) Alberti does not mention this method of imitation. Instead he says that when it comes to art, on must have the favors of nature. (Book I) In other words, Alberti strongly believes that one should have a natural talent for what he is doing, and that the gradual chain of improvement is not necessarily an established method, as Vives indicates. Also, Alberti uses a style that is short and to the point. He says I beg that I may be pardoned if, where I above all wish to be understood, I have given more care to making my words clear than ornate. I believe that which follows will be less tedious to the reader. (Book I) This type of frankness is a distinguished style of writing. He uses simple rhetoric so that his audience can grasp the idea quickly. This kind of style corresponds to the type of art he is writing about. He says that he writing about a new type of art: We are, however, building anew an art of painting about which nothing, as I see it, has been written since this age.(Book II) His new style is imitating his concept of having a different type of manual towards art. Also, his main is to gear away from the Ancients and more towards the Florentine. By changing his style of writing he is achieving this, not only through what he saying about graduating art from mechanical to liberal, but also through his style and techne. Both Alberti and Vives spend time discussing subject matter. Vives splits up who should be imitated based on the subject of the piece being writer. Similarly, Alberti pays attention to the subject matter of the painting. He says that an image can only bring pleasure of the subject matter of the painting brings pleasure. Alberti believes that one must imitate the feeling he wants the viewer to have in the subject of his painting for the artwork to be successful. This is what Vives is saying when he illustrates that one must pick the best writer in the subject that he wants to write about and imitate that style to be successful. Both Petrarch and Alberti can be compared with Vives and his ideas on imitation. To all three writers imitation plays a huge role on how to present written and artistic works. All three of them believe that imitation of others will lead to success. Further, they believe that imitation is the only way to learn how to write properly. Alberti adds another assumption: he says that to be the best, one must imitate, but before the imitation process takes place, one must have a natural talent for art. Petrarch and Alberti both believe that one must mimic what they believe is the right tradition through their styles. Petrarch believes in the Ciceronian tradition and follows in Ciceros footsteps by imitating his style. Alberti is more concerned with understanding than the use of eloquent language. Overall, to all three writers imitation plays a huge role in their understanding of how written works influence their audiences.

The Himba of Southwestern Africa and the Implications of the Nation State :: Essays Papers

The Himba of Southwestern Africa and the Implications of the Nation State For over five centuries, the Himba people have breathed the â€Å"hot and filmy† air of the Earth’s oldest desert, raising fat, prosperous herds of livestock in a shrewd network of grazing lands, and honoring their ancestors through ancient sacred fires and venerated grave sites (Crandall). Anthropologists suppose â€Å"the Himba's [ancestral] firelight has been flickering . . . since the 1600s, when they arrived as part of the great Bantu migrations from the north† (Salopek). Unbeknownst to them, the arid and volatile beauty of Southwestern Africa has provided the Himba the world’s best cultural haven from violent confrontation and influence of foreign power (Salopek). However, this desert haven is no longer a refuge from racial discrimination and environmental destruction: in an ironic twist of history, the Himba are now threatened, not by European colonists, but by their own Independent nation state governments. In the past, foreign wars and encroaching Western colonists left the Himba relatively untouched. However, globalization has wrought a new government mind in Namibia and Angola: progress is profit at all cost, which translates to extensive tourism and unquestioned governmental river and land exploitation through hasty damming projects. As both independent governments now urgently move towards Western ideals of ruthless progress, the international community must respond to Southwest Afrcia’s government proposals for Angola’s Iona National Park and Namibia’s Epupa Falls Dam. 25,000 semi-nomadic Himba â€Å"peasants†, divided between Southern Angola and Northern Namibia boarders, now fight for their rights to choose the way of their future. In the struggle for Himba sovereignty, these two cases stand out as blaring war cries of Himba cultural and political rights under attack. Smeared with otjize, a blend of butterfat and powered iron ochre for protection against the arid climate and blistering sun, the Himba are physically distinguishable as the â€Å"Red People† on the gold and brown landscape of Southwestern Africa ( Crandall). â€Å" In scattered encampments [or homesteads] of 20 to 30 people† the Himba â€Å"drift with the seasons to new [settlements] in search of water and grazing lands† (Bensman). Tending to semi-permanent gardens of maize, pumpkins, and melons, the Himba primarily live off the yogurt and butter fat of their livestock (Ezzell). As animals are sacred to the Himba, the passing of an elder is the only momentous occasion for cattle to be slaughtered. By transferring ancestral fire to the exact place of burial, community life is physically and internally centered on the fire.

Kyoto protocol 1997

The United Nations framework convention on climate change, devised the international agreement termed as Kyoto Protocol, in order to work towards preserving the environment. The protocol was aimed at diminuating the intensity of six major greenhouse gases namely carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, hydro fluorocarbons, and perfluorocarbons. What is this International Agreement? Global warming intimidates the very existence of all life forms on earth. The emanations of the aforementioned six gases contribute considerable to the thinning of the ozone layer, the consequences of which can be summed up in the rising of the sea levels, melting of snow caps, floods and droughts. By 1990 the ratio of these emissions had risen by a considerable amount, as substantiated in the report published by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). The report called for urgent actions to curb the threat of climatic alteration. Thus, at the United Nations Conference of Environment and Development, the birth of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change took place. The decisive objective of the meeting was: â€Å"Stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. † (UNFCCC, Article 2, 2008). Furthermore, the agreement also encouraged achieving the change in a limited time span, so as to avoid an economic standstill by allowing the eco-system to align with the change in the atmosphere. The concurrence focused primarily on the industrialized nations, termed under Annex 1 as the major producers of the greenhouse gas emanations and thus the prime participators of the protocol. It is mentioned in the protocol that the achievement of the reduction in emissions is to be performed principally through nationwide procedures. However, in order to counter the criticisms with regards to the economic melt down that might result through the adherence to this protocol, the agreement also mentions three souk based methods: (a)Emissions trading; (b)Clean development mechanism; (c)Joint implementation. The protocol also asserts that the countries establish a monitoring body responsible to formulating reports regarding the greenhouse gas emanations and the trade carried out. This is achieved through: (a) Registry system; (b) Compliance system; (c) Reporting system. Another objective of the protocol is to help countries adapt to the changing climatic conditions and its adverse effects. Therefore, an Adaption Fund was also formulated under this protocol to sponsor adaption schemes and programmes to the developing countries that are signatories to the protocol. The protocol encourages countries to align their policies to the targets of the Kyoto Protocol, in order to curb the looming threat. The IPCC has forecasted an overall augment in global temperature to 5. Degree Celsius (UNEP, 2001). Therefore, developing countries are required under this protocol to device measures for absorption of the greenhouse gases. The protocol has been approved by 183 parties, including Japan, China, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Russia, a country accounting for 17% of the greenhouse gas emanations (Kyoto Protocol: Status of Ratification, 2008) The fulfill ment of the agreement is considered crucial, for the changing climatic conditions are causing more harm than good for the eco-system. Why this Agreement is Important: Keeping in view the drastic change in the climatic condition and its consequences, it was vital for the global community to advance towards such a step intended at diminishing the greenhouse gas emanation. Inter governmental panel on climate change has forecasted an average increase of global temperature from 1. 4 degree Celsius to 5. 8 degree Celsius (UNEP, 2001). While this increase may appear trivial, yet it contributes greatly to the rising of sea levels, melting of snow caps and these drastic changes themselves affect the production of food and leads to droughts and famines as well as floods. Under such circumstances it was vital to put forth an agreement that was legally binding on the countries that were the greatest benefactors of the greenhouse gasses. This global warming is a result of 150 years of rigorous industrial development. Smoldering of fossil fuels has penetrated the ozone layer, which was acting as a filter for the living creatures from the damaging consequences of sunlight. The excessive access given to the ultra violent radiations is harming the eco-system, which is not just confined to the melting of the ice caps in Atlanta but also the extinction of animal and plant species, due to the destruction of their habitat. While the melting of ice caps is causing floods, the extinction of animals is resulting in direly affecting the food cycle; the results of which are not just felt by the wild life but also the human beings. The extinction can also lead to the extinction of human beings, if the situation is not controlled. Therefore, it was vital for the international community to join hands and take steps for the conservation of the atmosphere. In this regards, the Kyoto protocol serves as a plausible tool. Industrial growth will be useless if people can not benefit from it; if people can not live enough to take its benefits. Increase in pollution etc has direly affected the living conditions of people. While the developed nations are enjoying the benefits of a strong economy, the developing countries are undergoing the effects which are resulting in deteriorating the state of those countries. Third world countries already having been victimized by poverty, unemployment, civil disobedience also have to suffer the influence of the changing climatic conditions. Mostly third world countries have agro-based economies. The phenomenon of global warming has become an enemy to their crops, those crops that constitute their largest amount of export. As a result, third world countries have to import more than they can export leaving them under a heavy financial burden. Michael Grubb et al 1999) This shows that the affects of global warming, that took birth due to the extensive industrial growth of 150 years have aided greatly in crippling the already crippled economy of third world countries and in fact has produced more problems for them than they can handle. Even for the developed countries, the climatic changes have posed big problems. Thus, under such circumstances, it was pivotal for the United Nations to come up with a solution to curb these problems. The Kyoto protocol is binding on all its members and such a legally binding agreement that fathomed the harmful affects of global warming marks one of the very important agreements produced. Through this agreement, countries, by law, are supposed to work on towards reducing their greenhouse gas emanations, working for the global good. Important parties of the Agreement: Even though the protocol has a total of 183 parties to date, the most important ones include United Kingdom and European Union. Russia and U. S. A are the largest creators of greenhouse gas emissions. Out of the 2, Russia has ratified the treaty while the U. S. A has not. Back when the protocol had to be approved around 55% of the votes were required (Kyoto Protocol: Article 25), out of which a vote of either U. S. A or Russia was crucial. Russia thus ratified the agreement and helped put it in to effect. The United States had ratified the agreement, yet U. S. A declined, refusing to adhere to the Annex 1 and Annex 2 countries, by putting forth the argument that India and China are also potential greenhouse gas producers. Furthermore, it is stated that the agreement poses a threat to their economy. U. S. A has neither accepted nor rejected the agreement even though it is a signatory. However, on state level a program has been initiated entitled, â€Å"Regional greenhouse gas initiative† (Regional greenhouse gas initiative, 2006). The following states are participants Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, representing around 46 million people. Around 80 cities from 50 states are working towards ratifying the Kyoto Protocol (Mayor’s Climate protection centre, 2008). Attempts at convincing the government are also being carried out at student level, as students have initiated a movement as well termed as Kyoto Now. One of the major supporters of the protocol is the European Union. The EU produces around 22% of the worldwide greenhouse gas production and is now committed to reducing the greenhouse gas production (Energy policy of the European Union, 2002). Denmark, for example, is alone working towards decreasing 21% of its greenhouse gas emanations. In fact, the European commissions back in 2007 announced the formation of a European Union Energy Policy which incorporated a 20% cutback in greenhouse gas emissions. By 2020 The EU has also placed fine on countries failing to adhere to the reduction target. The European Union has been an ardent supporter of the Kyoto Protocol and is working towards negotiating with other hard-to-convince nations. (Michael Grubb et al 1999) The United Kingdom is also a strong supporter of the Kyoto Protocol. Its energy policy fully supports descend in carbon dioxide production. While the United Kingdom has reduced a considerable amount of greenhouse gas reduction yet it needs to work on towards cutting back on the increase in the net carbon dioxide emanations. A draft by the name of Climate Change Bill was in print, which advocated the reduction of 60%, with a beginner’s target of 26% to 32%, of the carbon dioxide levels (Department for environment, food and rural affairs, 2007). If this bill is approved, the United Kingdom will emerge as the first country to integrate such a strong target in to the energy policy, rather the law. Result of the Agreement: The Kyoto protocol has earned both positive and negative comments. While its advocates consider the agreement to be a historical step towards curbing the threat of global warming caused due to human activities. Critics argue that the protocol would just result in a 5% decrease in global greenhouse gas production and that this is not a considerable amount of reduction. As quoted by inter governmental panel on climate change, a decrease of 50-60% is required otherwise the world will face a global increase of 3 degree Celsius in its temperature. Thus, critics argue that the targets set by the UNFCCC are inadequate. (Michael Grubb et al 1999) Another argument put forth by the opposition of the agreement is that, not all countries are participating in this agreement. For example, U. S. A one of the worlds largest creator of greenhouse gas emanation, has not ratified the treaty. Furthermore, china is termed under Annex 2 of developing countries even though it is the second biggest producer of these emissions. India is also included in the same list while the production of the greenhouse gases exceeds even those of the industrialized nations. Therefore, critics argue that with such a limited participation from countries, the Kyoto protocol can not be counted up on to achieve the reduction in greenhouse gases to curb the threats of global warming. While the protocol might be considered a first step towards addressing this problem, it does not according to the opposition present a clear cut and effective framework that can be counted up on to curb the problem. Economic constraints have also been addressed by both the proposition and the opposition of the agreement. Critics argue that the protocol would do more harm than good. The argument put forth is that countries would have a negative impact on their economy for different companies would be required to come up with new, climate-friendly technologies and solutions and the cost of these technologies might force some companies to shut down. Another argument brought in to the limelight is that due to the protocol the tax payers and customers would have to pay a higher amount of tax in order to aid the government in working towards the reduction of greenhouse gases for example the assertion of strict rules. Furthermore, it is argued that the nationals of the developed countries might be forced to spend more and might be forced to practice a superior standard of living. However, it must be noticed that the protocol does provide cures for short-term economic problems. The instruments of Emissions trading, Joint implementation, and clean development advocate the cause of the protocol yet also allow countries not to experience a considerable amount of change in their economy abruptly. Countries can take up their time revolutionizing their existing sector while working for the benefit of the global community by reducing emissions alongside. Furthermore, those markets that work with collaboration and work towards producing environment friendly products and services will adjust quickly to the new economic environment and in the long run would be a lot more successful. However, besides all these arguments no one can refute the important step taken back in 1997 in Brazil with regards to the imminent threat of global warming. While the Kyoto protocol may not be right on path to assemble the targets of diminishing greenhouse gas emanation, it is still on track. The fulfillment of this protocol, specifically by the developed countries mentioned in Annex 1 would advocate other such steps to be taken under stricter conditions. Also, nations by proving themselves capable of having reduced their greenhouse gas emissions can work towards conferring with developing countries to lend a helping hand in curbing this global threat. By commencing the journey with achievable and small goals, the global community can work towards achieving larger targets. Even if the countries that have ratified the agreement staunchly follow the route to reducing the greenhouse gases, change can be achieved. Efforts at national level will act as a catalyst for change. Thus, it would be highly unfair to deny the significance of the Kyoto protocol, for it is a bold first step taken towards preserving the environment. What can serve as another plausible technique for reducing those harmful emissions is by switching over to renewable resources and minimizing the usage of fossil fuels. The smoldering of fossil fuels produces harmful pollutants in to the atmosphere. These by products can stay mortal in to the atmosphere and along with affecting the ozone also affect the respiratory organs of the human beings, resulting in causing fatal asthma attacks. From land mining to burning of coal in a coal mine to oil spills, the impact on the atmosphere have proved to be fatal in the past. Thus, in order to combat climate change the first step countries should take is the substitution of fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy. Also, by increasing the green belts in the world, we can work towards saving the environment. Deforestation has a highly negative impact on the environment as well as the climate. The effects of deforestation include soil erosion, temperature extremes, increase in deserts; all contributing greatly to the observable fact of global warming. Therefore it is crucial that deforestation be stopped. Of course ceasing deforestation is not the only solution. Reforestation should be encouraged. This is an act that can be carried out at individual level as well thus governments should try and engrave the importance of a substantial green belt in helping limit the phenomenon of global warming and working towards a safe environment. â€Å"We must no longer think of human progress as a matter of imposing ourselves on the natural environment. The world–the climate and all living things– is a closed system; what we do has consequences that eventually will come back to affect us. † (Woods Hole Research Center, 2008)

Rivers West by Louis L´Amour Essay - 1489 Words

Louis L’Amour was born Louis Dearborn LaMoore on March 22, 1908 as the last of seven children. His father and mother are Dr. Louis Charles LaMoore and Emily Dearborn LaMoore, for the first fifteen years of his life Louis lived in Jamestown, North Dakota; a medium sized farming community in the valley where Pipestem Creek flows into the James River. His grandfather, Abraham Truman Dearborn, told Louis stories of battles in history and his own personal experiences as a soldier. As a child Louis spent a great deal of time in a nearby library where his eldest sister, Edna, was a librarian, he was interested in the study of History and always went beyond the scope that was taught in the schools. In addition to the study of History and Natural†¦show more content†¦In the years after leaving Jamestown Louis spent some time as a professional boxer. He was taught well by his father and older brothers and ended up making some extra money from the occasional prizefight. Though h e left school at an early grade Louis had a thirst for knowledge. Throughout his life Louis went to libraries and bookstores all over the world, anywhere he could find. Louis always wanted to write but in his earlier days he thought his writing would take the form of poetry. He struggled for years to craft writings without much teaching except his own knowledge. Eventually, he broke out into a number of little magazines and began placing poems regularly, Poetry, however did not pay very well so he started writing short stories that drew on his life experience, finally, he sold a short story called â€Å"Anything for a Pal† to a pulp magazine called True Gang Life. He made less than eight dollars but he took that as a sign and devoted his time to writing for the pulps. In 1937 he sold a short story called â€Å"Gloves for a Tiger† to Thrilling Adventures Magazine and after this other sales followed quickly. Although he wrote in several genres, Louis’ most financi ally successful stories were the adventure tales he wrote about the captain of a tramp freighter and his crew. Late in the summer of 1942 Louis was inducted into the US army, after his discharge he returned to the US to find that the marketShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Rivers West By Louis L Amour2483 Words   |  10 PagesLouis L’Amour, author of â€Å"Rivers West† and many other famous books and short stories, was born in Jamestown North Dakota March 22, 1908. L’Amour was an indifferent student and dropped out of school at the age of 15. The next two decades L’Amour traveled the world and held many different jobs, he was a lumberjack, an elephant trainer, a miner, and during World War 2 he served as an officer in the tanks corps in Europe. It was not till he came back from World War 2 that he decided to be a writer andRead MoreSwiss Chocolate19949 Words   |  80 Pages1519 and he immediately establishes in the name of Spain a cocoa plantation wher e, henceforth, money will be cultivated. He was the first to introduce cocoa and the utensils in Europe. Then in 1615, The Spanish princess Anna of Austria marries Louis XIII and introduces, amongst other Spanish customs, the drinking of chocolate at the French court. London s first chocolate shop is opened by a Frenchman in 1657. In 1671 A clumsy kitchen-boys drops a bowlful of almonds on the floor. The angry chefRead MoreMetz Film Language a Semiotics of the Cinema PDF100902 Words   |  316 Pagesdifference from the other term of the dichotomy, signifier. A NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY xv tinet prefers to call it, lexeme) work and the grammatical moneme -ing (Chapter I, Section 9). Commutation, a concept the author borrows from the Danish linguist Louis Hjelmslev (Prolegomena to a Theory of Language, translated by Francis J. Whitfield. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1961, pp. 73-75), is a relation between a correlation in one plane . . . and a correlation in the other plane of language