Essays on Disgust

Dada: From Disgust to Spontaneity

“If all of a sudden your head begins to crackle with laughter, if you find all your ideas useless and ridiculous, know that it is Dada beginning to speak to you” (Hentea 161). We may define this passage to be rather symptomatic: it conveys a state of mind of people (mainly, related to art in a broad sense, and that means someone who reflects) before and during World War I. How could the massacre run up to such an extent? This acute feeling of absurd constituted the dadaist agenda. Switzerland was a neutral country at that time and many ...

I. Introduction

In 1960, Alfred Hitchcock released the iconic film, Psycho, to an unsuspecting audience.

The film broke with narrative and cinematographic techniques that had been the Hollywood standard for decades. Produced and directed on a shoestring budget, the film garnered few positive reviews. However, it still stands as the most powerful influence on the suspense, and even horror, genre. Because Psycho debuted in 1960 (when theaters were much more popular), the film is best analyzed through the lens of mass communication theory. In James Kendrick's "Psycho and the Priming of the Audience", it is argued that the mass communication model is most effective at informing an astute analysis of the film. ...

Introduction

Gender is one of the themes that Morrison explores in her novel Sula. Gender roles help to create unevenness in terms of the power balance between women and men. This unequal balance of power that is prevalent in the social environment of her characters in Sula ultimately becomes a part of them. The impact of this is that it becomes nestled in the psychological conflicts they encounter and experience. In this novel, these psychological conflicts play out on the sexuality platform. The sexuality of the characters results in the internalization of the unequal balance of power between women and ...

Introduction

Everyone feels emotions. We employ a lot of time interpreting emotions, defining how to react to them, observing others emotional responses and dealing with our emotions. Emotion presents itself in both nonverbal and verbal communication. Different cultures and countries express emotions differently. The varying differences in the expression of emotion means that people from different cultures will also interpret expression of emotion differently. Studies have shown that there are similarities in the way cultures express emotions despite the differences. The following essay focuses on expression of emotion in United States of America and Japanese and the differences in emotional expression.

Discussion

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The American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865, was fought between North and South United States. The main cause of the Civil War was the disagreement over slavery, which is evident through the analysis of multiple documents of the time. These documents display the ways that slavery divided the country at this time, drawing a very distinguished line through the country. The North supported abolitionism and wanted an end to the slave trade, and they participated in helping many slaves escape to freedom through the Underground Railroad. The South formed the Confederacy, a union of all of the states ...

‘Instructor’s name’

The theme of racism in ‘Harlem’ by Langston Hughes All literary works have various elements such as theme, imagery, setting, rhythm, metaphors and characters, each used in a specific way to express the views of the author/poet, about the society in which he/she is a part of. Using these elements, an author drives home his/her point of view on worldly affairs. According to Laurence Perrine, there are two primary purposes for any literature – to entertain and enlighten. While entertaining is the easier part, Perrine opines that a literature should do more than just entertain, if it is worth scholarly scrutiny. Harlem ...

Introduction

In the recent past, studies in the field of cognitive science have brought forth overwhelming evidence on the relationship between moral judgment and emotions. However, research on this topic a couple of decades old. For instance,StanleyMilgram, a social psychologist, carried a research on this topic in the 1970 where he instructed his students to approach strangers in New York subway and request for a sit. The research did not receive the kind of reception Milgram expected, he noticed that most of the students declined to participate. However, one student who offered to do the research aborted it prematurely. Left with no alternatives, ...

12. 3. 2014

Banning Mini-skirt in Kenya

Beginning in March 2014, there is a heated discussion on wearing mini-skirts in public has been questioned. Many Kenyans are claiming that aside from being a violation of a women’s right and curtailing their freedom to wear what they want, for many people, it was a direct discrimination. However, what drew people especially for women to even the greater disgust and fury was the public humiliation. The women who experienced the hands of some people after they have been stripped and assaulted for the clothing article of wearing. After the incident, women and human rights activists protested on the ...

Poetry Comparison – ““Million Man March” by Maya Angelou and “A Farewell to False Love”

Maya Angelou is a 20th century poet who was born in 1928 in the USA, and Sir Walter Raleigh, born in 1552 in England both wrote two poems which are significantly different yet similar in many respects. Maya Angelou speaks strongly about the oppression of a race because the color of their skin makes them from others. It ends on a note of forgetting and forgiving past hurts and to love. Sir Walter Raleigh wishes to forget or to say farewell to the poisonous wrong that was done. He wants to forget that love ever existed. Both poems though written in different ...

A young Prince is haunted by the spirit of his murdered father. The son has hardly slept or eaten since he heard the news. Stunned with grief he will not be counseled by his lover, family, friends or ministers of the military or the court. He prowls the castle nightly, a somnambulant lost in the coma of his will’s paralysis. At last the smoldering embers of revenge burst into flame and he wakes to restore justice and order to his world. His decision is swift and unequivocal: War on Denmark! This, of course, is Prince Fortinbras whose quest ...

Beginning in March 2014, a heated discussion on wearing mini-skirts in public has been questioned. Many Kenyan’s were, in fact, outraged by the said proposal, claiming that aside from being a violation of a woman’s right and curtailing their freedom to wear what they, please. For many, it was a direct discrimination. However, what drew people especially women to even greater disgust and fury was the public humiliation that some women experienced from the hands of some people after they have been stripped and assaulted for wearing the said clothing article. Kenyans had long battled gender discrimination that prevails in ...

In the movie "Gladiator," Maximus goes through many different roles. Through it all, he remains a leader, although in different incarnations. At the time of this quote, Maximus is ascending the ranks of gladiator fame. Still in the Zanzibar province, he slaughters his way through four other gladiators in casual fashion. To a man of Maximus' martial skill, honed in the Legions, the vaudevillian fight style of the gladiator is no challenge to his compact, efficient technique. At the end of the fight, in a show of disgust, Maximus hurls his gladius at the VIP box of the arena, and then ...

About five years ago, I had an unpleasant experience while driving with my friends. We got in a car and drove all over the city. At one point, while I was sitting in the back seat, a friend who was driving caused an accident. Fortunately, nobody was injured. However, I got very scared and couldn’t calm down for a while. Soon after that a friend offered to drive me home and I had to sit in the back. When I entered the car, I felt enormous fear. This can be explained by classical conditioning. In fact, this is a special type of classical ...

Having reviewed the two articles; Big Boy Leaves Home by Richard Wrights and A Party Down at the Square by Ralph Ellison, it is evident that members of the black community went through a lot of difficulties during the early American times. This is made clear in the way the black community is treated in the stories being elaborated and the challenges they encountered as being part of the black community race which was considered to be an inferior race compared to other races and particularly the American race. This is attributed to the harsh treatment they are subjected to ...

For my own part, I must confess that my interest in the book is entirely on the side of the monster. His eloquence and persuasion, of which Frankenstein complains, are so because they are truth. The justice is indisputably on his side, and his sufferings are, to me, touching to the last degree. (199) Frankenstein is full of terrible murders, and passionately-expressed emotions of enmity and hatred between Frankenstein and his creation. But who is most to blame for the series of murders which continue right to the very end of the novel when Victor dies on Robert ...

Female Genital Mutilation

Female Genital Mutation is a known taboo and has no health benefits whatsoever. Despite it being outlawed in most countries, certain groups and communities still practice it. Girls as young as a few weeks old undergo FGM, with or without any anaesthesia. Although FGM is a topic that is rarely spoken about, it is still one of the most prominent forms of sexual inequality which is seen in many countries throughout Africa and the Middle East. Not only is this a painful experience for the young girls, but severe complications can also take place. These complications vary from urinary infections, fatal bleeding and ...

‘Instructor’s Name’

Langston Hugh's poem "Harlem" In 1951, the year in which Hughes’ ‘Harlem’ was published, the mood of the American Blacks was one of frustration and disappointment. To fully decipher the meaning of this poem it is important to understand the context in which it was written. Though slavery was outlawed after the civil war and many rights, like right to vote and own a property, were granted to the African Americans, racial prejudice that existed in the then society had relegated them to an inferior position than the Whites. The World War II was over and America had opposed ...

Introduction

Munera was an ancient repetitive Rome game which involved gladiators. Rome was a known ancient entertainment city in the world engaging in many forms of entertainment and games, which included Munera. The significance of manure was that of brutal entertainment of the emperors and the crowd's thirst of blood. The games had social significance and were a means of communication and sacrificial rituals. The paper seeks to approach Munera games as a text and bring to light clear implications of the games. Focusing on the way Munera was used as sacrificial rituals, funeral and also as a representation of masculinity in Rome. The ...

Time of Class:

Marinetti F. T., Reading Response The futurist manifesto highlights the key ideas behind the futurist movement which Filippo Marinetti the writer is the initiator. In his manifesto he describes old versus new and personifies various places and machines. He portrays his disgust for old places and methods of doing things by leading a revolution to be guided by the futurist manifesto. He inspires the young to quit old methods and employ a futuristic approach as described in the manifesto. Thesis statement: “For the dying, for invalids and for prisoners it may be all right. It is, perhaps, some sort ...

Communication

- Classification of television programs Currently, there are many TV programs that one can virtually not miss one that they can watch. This has largely been brought about by the stiff competition in the industry that has led to diversification. As far as content is considered, TV programs can be classified into 3. These are news, entertainment and educative programs. Most people find the news programs to be very boring. People rarely reveal any appeal at these programs. However, a few people and especially parents find the programs to be very beneficial. In the category of news programs, ...

Trifles

1. Setting The play Trifles takes place during a cold weather in the early 20th century .It takes place in a deserted farmhouse in the American Midwest. Glaspell in this play utilizes simple but effective setting elements to generate suspense in a bid to understand or resolve the mysterious murder that has happened on Minnie Wright farm. The choice of place, time and weather does a good job in attaining a mood characteristic to the mystery surrounding the murder. An important emotion evoked by the setting is disgust and disturbance. Moreover, the choice of characters plays an equally important role in evoking this ...

Since the invention of television, scholars and policymakers have debate the need to regulate certain kinds of content on television. Many worried that depictions of violence and sexuality on television might influence the attitudes and behavior of individuals, especially children, who watched the programs. Others argued that the fundamental right of freedom of speech required the government to stay out of the business of regulating television. Today, the majority of evidence suggests that violent media content does, in fact, contribute to violent behavior. The effects are small and difficult to detect, but many studies have provided evidence to support ...

Bronzeville Woman in a Red Hat is a poem written by Gwendolyn Brooks and published in her famous collection of poems known as The Bean Eaters in 1960. Set in Bronzeville, where the poet is believed to have grown up, the poem narrates of the experiences of a black woman looking for a job as a housecleaner. The Bronzeville lady undergoes humiliation at the hands of a white family, and this is what the poem is all about; exposing some misconceptions the society might have on some of its members. On the other hand, Telephone Conversation is a poem written by Wole Soyinka, and it depicts a ...

Abstract

Hamlet and Lawrence of Arabia portray morally conflicted characters plagued with feelings of doubt and self-disgust over their inability to resolve for themselves the ambiguities endemic to a world seemingly bereft of a moral center. Both are caught up in the violent cycle of revenge and the torments of conscience. Hamlet’s moral dilemma leaves him irresolute and impotent, while Lawrence’s impulsiveness leaves him vulnerable to the psychological costs of his own past and the part he played in the duplicitous, imperialistic political power-play that underlay the war in the Middle East.

Keywords: Hamlet, Lawrence of Arabia, revenge, conscience, Middle ...

Fiesta 1980 by Junot Diaz is a story that is told in the first person by a young Latino boy. It presents the records of a family unit of immigrants from the Dominican state driving to a celebration in Bronx which is in New York City and the events that took place during the celebration (Junot, 2012). The narrations of the events that took place during the party are interspersed with various family memories as presented by the narrator, Junior. This family is made up of parents Mami and Papi and their two sons and one daughter. As the story begins, this family ...

"Swaddling Clothes" by Yukio Mishima Yukio Mishima is recognized as a prolific Japanese literature figure of the 20th century, preoccupied with political subjects and with criticizing the Western societies, which he considers the reason for the Japanese society depravation. In fact, this is the theme of the “Swaddling Clothes”, published in Japan in 1955.1 Toshiko is the main character of the novel and in her world there are soft, fluffy blankets meant to protect and to caress the human beings and to offer them the needed comfort for a proper social development. The “Swaddling Clothes” is a symbolic representation of ...

While pretending to challenge the ideology of white patriarchal capitalism, this film actually conforms to white patriarchal capitalism. The primary two characters, whom we are supposed to sympathize with, are white, very heterosexual, and lower to middle-class, the quintessential “normal” inhabitants of white patriarchal America. The behavior of characters in this film furthers the white patriarchal “thinking of lesbian and gay subordination as a separate axis of oppression that intersects with gender, race and class axes of oppression” (Calhoun, 2002). Chuck and Larry encounter a great deal of discrimination from a very patriarchal, macho culture – it is not helped by the fact ...

Now in the early twenty-first century we tend to associate racist attitudes with out-moded and old-fashioned beliefs. The Merchant of Venice and Othello can, therefore, present challenges to modern readers and audiences because, to a certain extent, Shakespeare presents relations between the different ethnic groups in a negative way: both plays contain characters with extremely racist attitudes which modern audiences are likely to find objectionable and highly offensive. The burning issue for readers and audiences is how far Shakespeare endorses the racist attitudes of the societies he portrays. This essay will show that, although both plays contain characters with racist attitudes, ...

The tragic story of Hamlet

Hamlet is one of the most popular yet defining plays written by Shakespeare. This masterpiece is a tragedy that makes the human mind contemplate about the problems life throws at us .Hamlet makes one question the nature of man and the good versus evil. (Willbern 8)The play focuses of how the characters deal with different dilemmas that they are faced with; it reveals the various character traits of the human nature. These traits bring out different emotions such love hatred, anger grief and despair.

Characters in the play

Hamlet

Hamlet, who is the main character in the play, is the prince of Denmark. ...

Fast food is a real scourge of the contemporary world. Not only does it lead to obesity, but it also causes a number of illnesses, indigestion, and self-destruction. Dieticians, nutritionists, and doctors have been screaming and shouting about the problem world is facing nowadays, let alone the United States of America. Fast food industry has literally bulked into the contemporary society, making people first and foremost addicted to it. Fast food is ruthless to everyone, irrespective of his/ her age, nationality, social status, profession, etc. The world has turned into a huge fast food customer, where the only ones who benefit are ...