Roman Life In Julias Ceaser Essays - , Term Papers

Roman Life In Julias Ceaser Julius Caesar In the play of Julius Caesar, we see a brief picture of Roman life during the time of the First Triumvirate. In this snap shot, we see many unfortunate things. Shakespeare gives us the idea that many people try to circumvent what the future holds, such as unfortunate things, by being superstitious. Superstition seems to play a role in the basic daily life of most Roman citizens. For instance, the setting of the first scene is based upon superstition, the Feast of Lupercal. This feast is in honor of the god Pan, the queen of fertility. During this time, infertile females are supposed to be able to procreate, and fertile ones are supposed to be able to bear more. It is also a supposed time of sexual glorification and happiness. Other scenes depict how throughout Rome, roaming the streets are mysterious sooth-sayers, who are supposedly given the power to predict the future. Dictating what is to come through terse tidbits, these people may also be looked upon as superstitious. In the ope ning scene, one sooth-sayer, old in his years, warns Caesar to Beware the Ides of March, an admonition of Caesar's impending death. Although sooth-sayers are looked upon by many as insane out of touch lower classmen, a good deal of them, obviously including the sayer Caesar encountered, are indeed right on the mark. Since they lack any formal office or shop, and they predict forthcomings without fee, one can see quite easily why citizens would distrust their predictions. Superstition, in general elements such as the Feast of Lupercal, as well as on a personal level such as with the sooth-sayers, is an important factor in determining the events and the outcome of Julius Caesar, a significant force throughout the entire course of the play. Before the play fully unravels, we see a few of signs of Caesar's tragic end. Aside from the sooth-sayer's warning, we also see another sign during Caesar's visit with the Augerers, the latter day psychics. They find No heart in the beast, which they interpret as advice to Caesar that he should remain at home. Ceasar brushes it off and thinks of it as a rebuke from the gods, meaning that he is a coward if he does not go out, and so he dismisses the wise advice as hearsay. However, the next morning, his wife Calphurnia wakes up frightened due to a horrible nightmare. She tells Caesar of a battle breaking out in the heart of Rome, Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol, with Caesar painfully dying, such that ...The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes. Although Caesar realizes Calphurnia is truly concerned about his well-being, he seeks another interpretation, coming to the conclusion that the person who imagines the dream may not be the wisest one to interpret it's meani ng. Later Caesar tells his faithful companion Decius about it, and he interprets it quite the contrary, That it was a vision fair and fortunate, and indeed, today is an ideal day to go out, since this is the day To give a crown to mighty Caesar. Perhaps Decius is implying here that today is a day where much appreciation and appraisal will be given to Caesar, surely not the endangerment of his well-being as Calphurnia interprets it. Caesar predictably agrees with him, as most citizens enjoy believing the more positive of two interpretations. After Caesar's assasination at the hand of Brutus, Cassius, and the rest of the conspirators, Brutus and Cassius are chased into the country side, where we see a few superstitious signs of their forthcoming painful death in battle. In a dream, Brutus sees Caesar's ghost, interpreted as an omen of his defeat. He also looks upon the ensign, and instead of the usual stock of eagles, ravens and kites replace them, construed as another sign of their loss at Phillipi. Not surprisingly, Caesar's death is avenged in the end, with the two of the conspirators' double suicide. As superstition is inter-twined within the basis of the entire play, we can reasonably conclude that it is because of this irrational belief of why certain events occur and how to avoid them, that Caesar is retired and eventually

Gospel

Gospel Gospel Gospel By Maeve Maddox The word gospel entered Old English as a translation of a Latin phrase meaning â€Å"good tidings† or â€Å"good news†: god (good) + spell (speech, message). â€Å"The Gospel† (capitalized) is the â€Å"good news† that Jesus Christ redeemed mankind from sin and death. â€Å"A gospel† is one of the four books in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) that record the life and teachings of Jesus. By extension, gospel may refer to the entire body of religious doctrine taught by Jesus Christ and the apostles. The word is also used to refer to all the books of the New Testament, or even to all 66 books in both testaments, from Genesis to Revelation. In a broader sense, any heavenly revelation may be called a gospel: God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars. –Martin Luther. A gospel may be any secular philosophy that serves as a guide to human conduct. A doctrine or opinion that is strongly held and preached with a religious fervor is also referred to as a gospel. For example: I wouldnt really advocate going to other sites and preaching the gospel of feminism to those that didnt ask for it. When they hear someone like me preaching the Gospel of firearms, they assume that I’m some kind of radical who wants everyone to be armed. The phrase â€Å"The Gospel According to† is an extremely popular title opener: The Gospel According to Coco Chanel The Gospel According to Disney The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy The Gospel According to Dr. Seuss The Gospel According to Yoda The psychologist William James wrote an essay called, â€Å"The Gospel of Relaxation,† and Atlantic journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates has written an article with the title â€Å"The Gospel of Rudy Giuliani.† Finally, there are some idioms that employ the word gospel: the social gospel The application of Christian ethics to social problems like poverty and crime. the gospel of wealth The belief that the accumulation of vast wealth by a few is beneficial to all of society. the gospel side The north side of a Christian church, to the left of the main altar. The person reading the day’s gospel selection stands there. hot gospeller A revivalist preacher who has a lively delivery. gospel music A music genre that combines dominant vocals and strong harmony with Christian lyrics. the gospel truth Unimpeachable truth. For example, â€Å"I didn’t steal your lunch, and that’s the gospel truth!† While not an idiom, the phrase â€Å"the synoptic gospels† is frequently seen or heard in discussions of the Christian New Testament. Of the four gospels that focus on the life and teachings of Jesus, three contain such similar content–in almost the same order– that they can be studied in parallel editions. The synoptic gospels are the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:25 Subordinating ConjunctionsProbable vs. PossibleShow, Don't Tell

An argumentive research paper of how the use of cellphones negatively

An argumentive of how the use of cellphones negatively affect teenagers - Research Paper Example They cover wide geographic range, making their use easier, and definitely more convenient for us. They rule a large part of the world trade market. The competition between cell phone companies like Nokia, Apple and Samsung has already reached epic proportions. There is a constant struggle to achieve the position of the top seller in the world market. While Nokia reigned as king in the beginning of the cell phone era, it has lost its initial significance with all the new and efficient competition. With the increase in the rate of globalization in the last three decades, it only makes sense that the use of cellular phones has reached a phenomenal rate in these thirty years. Cell phones, while initially used only for telephoning purposes, now have a wide range of features incorporated. They have everything from camera, games, and music to GPS, email, internet, etc. However, with all these beneficial and advantageous factors in the world, cellular phones have proved to be more of a hazar d than a blessing, harming the teenagers and society more than can be accounted for. The purpose of this paper is to prove that cell phones have been more hazardous than beneficial. NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES: For a device so small, cell phones are proving to be very dangerous. One of the major problems caused by cell phones is that it endangers the lives of people. Conversation on cell phones while driving is being banned in most countries because of the number of accidents it causes. These conversations cause what Strayer and Drews term as Inattention Blindness in the driver. Their research proved that, â€Å"Cell-phone conversations impair driving by inducing a form of inattention blindness in which drivers fail to see objects in their driving environment when they are talking on a cell phone† (Strayer 128-131). Many people find it hard to multitask. The problem here is however, quite different. It is not about being unable or finding it hard to multi task but to drive a motor vehicle efficiently while conversing on the phone. These two elements are imperative. Strayer and Drews specifically researched with these two elements as their focal points. When a person is carrying a verbal discussion or simply conversing with members in the car, they found that the inanimate objects on the road do not fly out of the driver’s focus. Compared to this, on cell-phone conversations prove a strong distraction, causing the driver to be blind (mostly) to objects on the road. The drivers, in fact, failed to recall the objects they had encountered on the road when driving whilst talking on the phone. Cell phone conversations not only distract us, but they do so to the extent where our memory fails to retain data where it would have, had there been no cell phone in the equation. It is due to this reason that road accidents caused by people talking on cell phones are reaching a higher number day by day, endangering innocent lives. Cellular phones, while convenient fo r adults, carry a different sort of attraction for teenagers, music being one of the more popular features amongst them. The use of earphones when listening to music or when on the phone is especially detrimental for teenagers. â€Å"Earphones or headsets can diminish environmental perception because they cover (part of) the ears. Good environmental localization of environmental sounds is based on a calculation of distance...wavelength between the two