Friday, January 24, 2020

The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn Essay -- Literary Analysis, Mark Twa

Often throughout a person’s life negative and positive influences are infused into one’s mind through friends, and family. In Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the lead character, grows up under the guidance of three different adult views on how a boy should behave. Huck, the lead character, learns helpful and damaging life lessons from the Widow Douglas, Miss Watson, Jim, and pap. To begin with, the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson are two wealthy sisters who adopt Huck. Thw two sister’s want to teach Huck the importance of religion, manners, and behaving. After staying in the house for a while, Huck realizes that â€Å"it [is] rough living in the house all the time†, because the Widow Douglas wants to â€Å"sivilize [him]†(Twain, 1). When dinner is ready the widow would call Huck to the table, but before they began eating the widow needs â€Å"to tuck down her head and grumble a little over the victuals† (1). Huck knew there was nothing was wrong with the food but because the widow was religious she was trying to instill in Huck that he needs to bless his food and give thanks to God for it. The widow is trying to make religion a part of Huck’s life, which seems to be a negative impact on his life considering the many times Twain portrays religious persons as being gullible. Miss Watson, the more forceful of the two sisters, i s adamant about getting huck to behave. To help mold Huck into a person that â€Å"go[es] to the good place† also known as heaven, Miss Watson constantly tells him things to do to help him behave such as â€Å"don’t put your feet up there† and â€Å"set up straight†(2). Besides adopting a religion, and behaving, Hucks appearance needed to be neat and respectable. Although the new clothes made Huck â€Å"sweat and sweat,... ...who has ever â€Å"kep’ his promise to ole Jim† (80). Another character quality that Huck learns from Jim is that African-Americans are people too that can feel the same about their family as Caucassians feel about theirs. Huck often hears Jim moaning in the night about being homesick and missing his family. This is when Huck understands that just because Jim is African-American does not mean that they are incapable of having the same feelings as Caucassians. In general Jim affects Huck positively because now Huck is humble, trustworthy, and not as influenced by society about African-Americans. Ultimately, Huck’s personality is shaped by three adults with different guidance styles. In general Miss Watson, Widow Douglas, and Jim put in beneficial character traits to help shape Huck Finn as a person, while pap only added worthless drivel such as not going to school.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói Essay

The Niterà ³i Contemporary Art Museum (Museu de Arte Contemporà ¢nea de Niterà ³i — MAC) is situated in the city of Niterà ³i, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and is one of the city’s main landmarks. It was completed in 1996. Designed by Oscar Niemeyer with the assistance of structural engineer Bruno Contarini, who had worked with Niemeyer on earlier projects, the MAC-Niterà ³i is 16 meters high; its cupola has a diameter of 50 metres with three floors. The museum projects itself over Boa Viagem (â€Å"Bon Voyage,† â€Å"Good Journey†), the 817 square metres (8,790 sq ft) reflecting pool that surrounds the cylindrical base â€Å"like a flower,† in the words of Niemeyer. A wide access slope leads to a Hall of Expositions, which has a capacity for sixty people. Two doors lead to the viewing gallery, through which can be seen theGuanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, and Sugarloaf Mountain. The saucer-shaped modernist structure, which has been likened to a UFO, is set on a cliffside, at the bottom of which is a beach. In the film Oscar Niemeyer, an architect committed to his century,[1] Niemeyer is seen flying over Rio de Janeiro in a UFO which then lands on the site, suggesting this to be the origin of the museum. The MAC Scandal was a political scandal that occurred when the mayor Joà £o Sampaio inaugurated the Niterà ³i Contemporary Art Museum. The MAC is located on a hill slope that had locked construction rights set by the city council. Therefore in December 1996, the new mayor, Jorge Roberto Silveira sent a project to the city council to obtain the rights to construction in that area. The project was accepted in only two days, giving permission to build buildings up to 40 metres (130 ft). The city council did not know that days before, Zeca Mocarzel, sub-mayor of the Niterà ³i’s Oceanic Region (of Jorge Roberto Silveira’s government) bought the lands at a very low price, claiming to the old owner that the region was locked and nothing could be done there. So he bought the area and, after the inauguration of the MAC which substantially increased the property values of the nearby areas, later sold the land for more than 5 million reals, approximately 1,250,000 US dollars at the time (2,720,000 dollars today). Because the scandal occurred just before Christmas, the people of Niterà ³i said that it was Jorge Roberto Silveira, Zeca Mocarzel and Joà £o Sampaio’s (long-time Niterà ³i’s politicians) â€Å"Christmas present†.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Table of Roman Equivalents of Greek Gods

The Romans had many gods and personifications. When they came into contact with other people with their own collection of deities, the Romans often found what they considered equivalents to their gods. The correspondence between the Greek and Roman gods is closer than that of, say, the Romans and the Britons, because the Romans adopted many of the myths of the Greeks, but there are cases where Roman and Greek versions are only approximations. With that proviso in mind, here are the names of the Greek gods and goddesses, paired with the Roman equivalent, where there is a difference. Major Gods of the Greek and Roman Pantheons Greek Name Roman Name Description Aphrodite Venus The famous, beautiful love goddess, the one awarded the apple of Discord that was instrumental in the start of the Trojan War and for the Romans, the mother of the Trojan hero Aeneas. Apollo Apollo Brother of Artemis/Diana, shared by Romans and Greeks alike. Ares Mars The god of war for both Romans and Greeks, but so destructive he was not much loved by the Greeks, even though Aphrodite loved him. On the other hand, he was admired by the Romans, where he was associated with fertility as well as the military, and a very important deity. Artemis Diana The sister of Apollo, she was a hunting goddess. Like her brother, she is often combined with the deity in charge of a celestial body. In her case, the moon; in her brother's, the sun. Although a virgin goddess, she assisted in childbirth. Although she hunted, she could also be the animals' protector. In general, she is full of contradictions. Athena Minerva She was a virgin goddess of wisdom and crafts, associated with warfare as her wisdom led to strategic planning. Athena was the patron goddess of Athens. She helped many of the great heroes. Demeter Ceres A fertility and mother goddess associated with cultivation of grain. Demeter is associated with an important religious cult, the Eleusian mysteries. She is also the law-bringer. Hades Pluto While he was the king of the Underworld, he was not the god of death. That was left to Thanatos. He is married to Demeter's daughter, whom he abducted. Pluto is the conventional Roman name and you might use it for a trivia question, but really Pluto, a god of wealth, is the equivalent of a Greek god of wealth called Dis. Hephaistos Vulcan The Roman version of this god's name was lent to a geological phenomenon and he required frequent pacification. He is a fire and blacksmith god for both. Stories about Hephaestus show him as the lame, cuckolded husband of Aphrodite. Hera Juno A marriage goddess and the wife of the king of the gods, Zeus. Hermes Mercury A many-talented messenger of the gods and sometimes a trickster god and god of commerce. Hestia Vesta It was important to keep the hearth fires burning and the hearth was the domain of this stay-at-home goddess. Her Roman virgin priestesses, the Vestals, were vital to the fortunes of Rome. Kronos Saturn A very ancient god, the father of many of the others. Cronus or Kronos is known for having swallowed his children, until his youngest child, Zeus, forced him to regurgitate. The Roman version is far more benign. The Saturnalia festival celebrates his pleasant rule. This god is sometimes conflated with Chronos (time). Persephone Proserpina The daughter of Demeter, the wife of Hades, and another goddess important in religious mystery cults. Poseidon Neptune The sea and fresh water springs god, brother of Zeus and Hades. He is also associated with horses. Zeus Jupiter Sky and thunder god, the head honcho and one of the most promiscuous of the gods.   Minor Gods of the Greeks and Romans Greek Name Roman Name Description​ Erinyes Furiae The Furies were three sisters who at the behest of the gods, sought vengeance for wrongs. Eris Discordia The goddess of discord, who caused trouble, especially if you were foolish enough to ignore her. Eros Cupid The god of love and desire. Moirae Parcae The goddesses of fate. Charites Gratiae The goddesses of charm and beauty. Helios Sol The sun, titan and great-uncle or cousin of Apollo and Artemis. Horai Horae The goddesses of the seasons. Pan Faunus Pan was the goat-footed shepherd, the bringer of music and the god of pastures and woods. Selene Luna The moon, titan and great-aunt or cousin of Apollo and Artemis. Tyche Fortuna The goddess of chance and good fortune. Ancient Sources of Greek and Roman Gods The great Greek epics, Hesiods Theogony and Homers Iliad and Odyssey, provide much of the basic information on the Greek gods and goddesses. The playwrights add to this and give more substance to the myths alluded to in the epics and other Greek poetry. Greek pottery gives us visual clues about the myths and their popularity. The ancient Roman writers Vergil, in his epic Aeneid, and Ovid, in his Metamorphoses and Fasti, weave the Greek myths into the Roman world. Sources and Further Reading Gantz, Timothy. Early Greek Myth. Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. 1996.  Greek and Roman Materials. Perseus Collection. Medford MA: Tufts University.  Hard, Robin. The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology. London: Routledge, 2003.  Hornblower, Simon, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, eds. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.  Smith, William, and G.E. Marindon, eds. A Classical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, Mythology, and Geography. London: John Murray, 1904.