Persian mythology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Persian mythology - Research Paper Example He was the favorite hero of King Kaykaus, a magnificent warrior and prominent character of Persian mythology stories. Perhaps the most famous amongst such stories was the story of Rostam and Sohrab (Firdawsi & Clinton, 1996). Apart from being one of the most well-loved and moving tales which history has passed on, it was also thematically mentioned in the best-seller â€Å"The Kite Runner† written by Khalid Hosenni (Ferdowsi, 2011). Summary This tale revolves around the main themes of family ties, betrayal, pride, and loss. It starts when Rostam, restless for an outing, takes his horse Raksh out for a game of hunting. Once his game ended, he decided to take a rest his eyes near a pasture. However, while he was asleep, seven knights of Turan, a nearby land, came across the horse and kidnapped it. It fought and resisted but was outnumbered and led away. Rostam, upon waking up and discovering his trusty steed gone, was dismayed and embarked upon a search to find his horse. Follow ing Raksh’s tracks on the ground, Rostam reached the land of Turan, where he met the King of Samengan and told him of his search. The king promised to help with the search and offered Rostam a place to stay meanwhile. During his stay at the king’s palace, Rostam met the king’s young daughter Tahmina during his stay, and married her. However, shortly after the marriage, his horse was found and he left for his own land. Before going, he gave his wife a clasp of his, to pass on his own child once he or she was born. Nine months later, Tahmina gave birth to Rostam’s son, whom she named Sohrab (Ferdowsi, 2011). This child proved to be like his father from a very young age, and soon grew up to be the finest warrior in the land. He soon figured that his origins were not purely of the land he lived in, and approached his mother to ask her about his father. She told him about Rostam and showed Sohrab the clasp that Rostam had left for him. After this, it became a large ambition for Sohrab to meet his father. Later on, Sohrab and Rostam met in battle. Neither of them knew who the other was, since they had not met before. However, Sohrab had a suspicion that this man, so equally matched in battle skills as Sohrab, could be his father (Ferdowsi, 2011). Thus, he enquired before starting the fight, whether his opponent for Rostam. Rostam, not wishing to daunt the young warrior, lied and said that he was not Rostam. This greatly disappointed Sohrab, who proceeded with the fight with all his might. Sohrab came close to defeating Rostam, but Rostam deceived him into thinking that it was a battle etiquette for the person almost winning to give his opponent another chance to win. This way, Rostam received another chance to battle, and this time came close to defeating Sohrab. When Sohrab realized that his death was near, he became saddened and revealed to his opponent that he was Sohrab, son of Rostam, and was now dying without having fulfilled his bi ggest wish of seeing his father’s face. Upon hearing this, Rostam was deeply heartbroken, as he realized that he had just taken his own son’s life. The rest of the tale consisted of failed attempts to save Sohrab’s life, and his mother finding out about his demise and eventually dying of grief after a year (Ferdowsi, 2011). Explanations of this Myth This myth may have several different symbolic meanings, expressed through the personalities of the characters, their decisions in life or the lives they chose to live. One possible explanation is that

Comparing The Yellow Wallpaper Story English Literature Essay

Comparing The Yellow Wallpaper Story English Literature Essay The work by Charlotte Perkins Gilman The Yellow Wallpaper and the work by Tillie Olsen both represent the genre of a short story. These stories are very much alike. Apart from the similarities they share, they have a lot of differences. Both works belong to the genre of a short story. However, they were written with an interval of sixty nine years. Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote her The Yellow Wallpaper in 1892. The work I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen was printed in 1961. Still, if to analyze the content of these stories it would be rather difficult to imagine this interval of almost seventy years. Both works deal with the same problem a females right for her personal happiness and self-realization regardless of her social duties of a wife and a mother. Both stories are told by women whose life went wrong because of their responsibilities towards their families. The narrator of the story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman The Yellow Wallpaper is an insane woman who has a husband and a child. Having suffered from a serious depression she takes a course of treatment. Though, it does not seem at all to have much effect on her. Doctors characterize her as a woman with slight hysterical tendency (Gilman). However her insanity aggravates. First she feels that there is something queer (Gilman) about her illness. She wants to relieve her mind (Gilman). She is tired of rings and things in her bedroom (Gilman). I Stand Here Ironing is a story about a womans sacrifice that she made after becoming a wife and a mother. She is not insane, but her feelings are of the same nature. The difference from The Yellow Wallpaper is that the narrator feels guilty. The narrator feels that she is responsible for her failings as a wife and a mother. She realizes that her best efforts were frustrated by such circumstances as lack of social services and inadequate pay. As opposed to the character from The Yellow Paper not only does she blame other people and life circumstances for her hard life and lack of her daughters confidence. It is hard to admit but the narrator is aware of her fault. But the main character of The Yellow Wallpaper does not seem to demonstrate any sign of such awareness. She considers that her family murdered a person inside her, but does not think about the fact that her husband needs her as a wife and her child needs her as a mother. She is an egoist. Both stories The Yellow Wallpaper and I Stand Here Ironing contain a lot of autobiographical elements. The story by Tillie Olsen includes such narrators recollection as being a young mother whose opportunities are rather limited, or being a wife who was abandoned. This story is autobiographical. Like the main character of the story I Stand Here Ironing Olsen also met some challenges in life. She struggled to balance her family life with her political ambitions and activism. The story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman tells about the authors own severe depression and mental disorder. She confessed that the presence of her husband and child even worsened her terrible state. Both the character of The Yellow Wallpaper and the character in I Stand Here Ironing are unfortunate miserable women. However, the narrator of I Stand Here Ironing is not the only unhappy woman in the story. This is the other distinction from the story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The narrator confesses in a phone conversation that her daughter Emilys childhood was rather rocky. Though she was a beautiful baby (Olsen), she was a very unhappy child, that cannot be helped (Olsen). However, these unhappy characters are united by one common problem: they do not see themselves as valuable creations. The narrator of I Stand Here Ironing is oppressed by environmental and her personal circumstances. She feels sad that she did not succeed as a wife; she laments her unwise and desperate choices that she made as a mother. Emilys fractured portrait comes from her mothers memories from the past. When her mother tell about her poor life, it becomes clear, that Emilys life was not better than her m others. She was a forgotten child. She suffered a lot; her development was slow, her nature was silky and gloomy; her self-esteem was very low; and her life was not a joy, but a survival in the brutal world. The narrator of The Yellow Wall Paper also feels sorry about her unrealized dreams and wishes. In contrast to the main character of The Yellow Wallpaper who has a serious mental disorder and blames her husband for unhappy life, the narrator in I Stand Here Ironing has the ability to analyze her life and her mistakes and determine the best way to solve her problems. However, she did not have this luxury long ago when she was a young and inexperienced mother. The woman is literary weighed down with constant demands of her family and domestic duties. Of course, being a mother she understands her responsibility for not very successive role in her daughter Emilys unhappy life, her development. However, this responsibility is not full. The narrator also blames environment, social conditions that can make the life of a single mother terrible. Thus, she cannot estimate in full how unhappy her daughter is. Both stories contain very bright symbols that reflect the inner state of both characters. These symbols are named in the titles of the stories. The main character of I Stand Here Ironing tells about her life while ironing clothes. Ironing is a backdrop for her thoughts, her considerations as a mother. The narrator in the story by Ch. Gilman is totally obsessed with the yellow wallpapers that cover the walls of her bedroom. The narrator believes that there is woman trapped inside. Her intention is to help the woman, though the narrator is afraid to reveal her intentions as she realizes that no one would ever understand her. By the end of the story a reader comprehends that the character is completely insane as she believes that she herself is a woman from the wallpaper. These symbols mean that both women have found something to distract from their grief. One of them hides in ironing and another one hides in wallpapers. Written in different periods of time both short stories have much in common. They are both told by women who are not satisfied with their family life. The work by Charlotte Perkins Gilman The Yellow Wallpaper and the work by Tillie Olsen I Stand Here Ironing are both masterpieces that raise serious questions of duty, self-esteem, personal self-realization and female happiness. Still, they also bear a lot of differences. Once one woman blames people who surround her, another one comprehends that her own fault is also great.

Spatial Cognition and Navigation :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Spatial Cognition and Navigation In the complex dissection of the human brain evolving in our course, great strides have been made on the path to comprehension of thought and action. Evidence concerning the true relationship of mind, body, and behavior has been elucidated through discoveries of the neural pathways enabling active translation of input to output. We have suggested the origins of action, discussed stimuli both internal and external, as well as concepts of self, agency, and personality interwoven with a more accessible comprehension of physical functionality. However, I remain unable to superimpose upon the current construct of brain and behavior a compatible notion of awareness of self. What are the cognitive and neural mechanisms involved in understanding the spatial relationships between oneself and other objects in the world? How do we even become aware of space and the environment in which we live? What element of the nervous system governs those processes, which enable human beings to navigat e through space? The term "spatial cognition" is used to describe those processes controlling behavior that must be directed at particular location, as well as those responses that depend on location or spatial arrangement of stimuli (1). Navigation refers to the process of strategic route planning and way finding, where way finding is defined as a dynamic step-by-step decision-making process required to negotiate a path to a destination (2). As a spatial behavior, negotiation demands a spatial representation; a neural code that distinguishes one place or spatial arrangement of stimuli from another (1). What, though, serves as such a representation in navigation and from where are these representations derived? The processes occurring within the hippocampus provide such representations. The hippocampal mode of processing is concerned primarily with large distances and long spaces of time. These processes demand a very specific form of spatial representation, which relate locations to one another as well as to landmarks in an environment, rather than simply to the agent of action. Spatial attention and action, which result from encoded sensory information, are controlled by the parietal neocortex (1). Information relating to the location and stimuli derived from that location is encoded in sensory cortices. Informed by this egocentric information, allocentric representations provide a basis from which one's current location and orientation can be computed from one's relationship to sensory cues in the environment. This particular set of locations is referred to as a cognitive map.

Creative Response: Clueless

I could tell Tai’s grieving period would be considerable, unless I found someone to take Elton’s place right away. The next day in class a new guy named Christian came into my class and he was hot. Okay, okay I know I said I would find a guy for Tai, but I suppose there’s no harm in finding one for myself also. During the next few weeks I did what any normal girl would do. I sent myself love letters, flowers and candy. Just so he’d see how desired I was. Just in case he didn't already know. You also have to show a little skin.This makes them think of you naked which makes them think of sex. I invited Christian to a party and we danced all night long. Maybe too long. I could tell he was falling in love with me you know, like he even ignored every other girl that night. Diary Entry 2 Christian and I spend all of our time together. We even went shopping together, which was a plus because I wouldn’t have to find Tai or Dionne every time I had a fashion emergency. I would never be caught alone shopping. I mean could you imagine me, shopping alone? How embarrassing would that be right?Diary Entry 3 Even though I never pay that much attention to those beneath me, Travis the skateboarding pothead had been coming up in many conversations around me. I decided I would investigate the matter. So I asked Tai what everyone was doing. I mean they were talking about baloney head Travis! Tai told me that Travis won like some massive skateboarding competition and has like five sponsors now. She said that he is practically famous. What is wrong with people these days? Thinking that skateboarding is a great enough skill to make a person become famous.Please, I could do better things in my sleep. Diary Entry 4 It’s been four weeks since I found out about Travis and his new found fame and to be perfectly honest I thought it was going to be his fifteen minutes of fame but that’s not how it has turned out. Everyone has been talking abou t him and almost all the attention has gone from me and onto to him. What is so great about him anyway? He does a few tricks on a plank of wood with wheels on it, big deal. I don’t know why everyone is so hyped up about him. I mean today I saw a freshman with a picture of him in her locker!I was all like get real he is just the same old pothead he was a month ago. ? Anyway back to me. It’s been a month and Christian still hasn't made a move on me. I'm not ugly, I've been checked by a doctor for that. There must be something wrong with him because I know it’s not me. I would talk to Tai about it but she seems angry at me for some reason. I suspect it’s because I promised to find her a guy and I still haven’t, but I mean it’s really hard. I have to pay attention to my love life first right, and I can’t talk to Dionne about it, she has her own relationship problems.Plus I think she has been dragged into the Travis fandom anyway, and who wants to hear about Travis all day? Not me! Diary Entry 5 I am seriously concerned that this whole Travis thing is not a phase. I heard someone say in gym class that he doesn’t even come to school anymore. He just gets paid to skate all day and the teachers are fine with it. How can all the teachers just let something like this happen to me? Especially Miss Geist and Mr Hall. After all I have done for them they should be letting me do whatever I want, not Travis. What has he ever done for them?I’m sick of my school not paying attention to me, and let alone my supposed friends Tai and Dionne. Like I pretty much created Tai’s popularity she should show a little gratitude. I am the only one at this school that hasn't completely lost my mind over Travis. Diary Entry 6 I’ve broken things off with Christian. We had been practically been dating for almost two months. I mean we went shopping together, had sleepovers and made fun of everyone’s love for Trav is together but he never made a move. I tried to kiss him once but he turned his head and I kissed his cheek instead, I was not happy.So now I have no one. Christian hangs out with some new French guy, Tai hates me and I am pretty sure she’s has her eye on Josh, ew I don’t know what she sees in him. Dionne is now the leader of the Travis fan club and has no time for me anymore. So it’s just me and my dad. I don’t understand how or why this has happened to me. Diary Entry 7 I’ve decided that I have let this Travis thing go on for far too long, and I am putting an end to it all. By the Travis thing I mean me being less popular and losing all my friends and Travis not being a good citizen and helping me, a girl in need of his help.He has only been thinking about himself while I am having the biggest crisis of me life! He should really be less selfish. Diary Entry 8 I spoke to Travis about my situation and because he now knows how selfish he was being he has decided to help me, on the condition that I think less about helping myself and think more about other people. To be less selfish myself I’ve decided I will give Tai tips about what Josh is interested in, I will take her on a shopping spree, and I’ll help Dionne with the Travis merchandise, like making posters and t-shirts.I also bought Christian and his French buddy new tuxes to wear to the winter prom. So now it’s Travis’ turn to help me. Diary Entry 9 Travis told me that he had already helped me by showing me that I wasn’t the only one who always needed help. Travis is smarter than I thought. He is a nice person and I am grateful for his help. I may have misjudged him before. I have my friends back at my side. Tai is dating Josh. Dionne has her fan club running smoothly and she is still happily dating Murray. Christian announced that he has fallen in love with his French guy, and I found out how much I really like Travis.We have been goin g out for two months now and life is great. I wouldn’t change it in anyway. Rationale The text is Cher’s diary. It starts when Cher, Tai and Dionne are sitting and talking about Elton and Tai feels rejected. Cher says that she will find Tai a guy but she never does. Then Cher falls for the new guy, Christian. She forgets about her friends and while she is distracted by Christian, Cher loses all her popularity to the newly famous pro skater Travis. After a while Cher loses interest in Christian and realises she has lost her friends and her high status.She asks Travis to help her win her popularity back. Travis helps her become less selfish and Cher’s friends forgive her and take her back. Cher then falls for Travis. In Clueless Cher does not learn any lessons and does not realise that the way she acts is selfish and unkind. Cher gets her own way and never learns that there are consequences for her actions. The alternate ending I have written teaches Cher not to j udge a book by its cover and that everyone does not always like the way she treats them. Travis teaches her to be less selfish and Cher discovers how much she actually likes him.

Compare and Contrast Helena and Hermia in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

â€Å"Two lovely berries moulded on to one stem/ so with two seeming bodies but one heart†¦..† In William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream Helena confronts Hermia to remind her once again of their relationship. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play about the two Athenian couples who constantly run through the course of true love. In this play Helena and Hermia are the two characters that have found their true lovers but are running through obstacles that prevent them to be with their loves.Hermia who is in love with Lysander has to go against the will of her Father Eugeus, while Helena has yet to make her love that is Demetrius fall in love with her. The whole play twists around the lovers and the way they approach to love and courtship. Although Hermia and Helena are both willing to risk honour for true love; in truth Hermia is confident in her approach to courtship while Helena lacks self-esteem.Hermia and Helena are both willing to risk their honour for their true loves. For example Hermia is risking her honour by running away with her true love Lysander:My good Lysander, I swear to thee by Cupid’s strongest bow, By his best arrow with the golden head, By the simplicity of Venus’ doves†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. By all vows that ever men have broke (In number more than ever women spoke), In that same place thou hast appointed me, Tomorrow truly will I meet thee. (1.1.169-178)Hermia vows upon the strongest symbols of love such as Cupid’s strongest bow, and Venus’ doves as her promise to meet Lysander at the place where they’ll elope. Hermia is risking her reputation by running away with Lysander, because she leaves the city with a person who she loves and trusts but is not married to, so therefore the society may consider her act as a disappointing example for other civilians. While Hermia is willing to risk her honour for Lysander, Helena is willing to risk her repute for the sake of her true love Demetrius. This is best illustrated by Demetrius who states: You do impeach your modesty too much,To leave the city and commit yourself Into the hands of one that loves you not, To trust the opportunity of night And the ill counsel of a desert place With the rich worth of your virginity. (2.1. 199-204)This passage from Demetrius depicts that Helena is risking her reputation by being alone with him at night in a deserted forest. As stated by Demetrius, Helena is committing herself to someone who does not love her and therefore she cannot trust Demetrius with the rich worth of her virginity. â€Å"Your virtue is my privilege†¦..†(2.1.205).Helena’s reply to Demetrius’s statement is that Demetrius will protect her with his virtue so therefore leaving the city and being alone with him does not seem to Helena as risking her honour. In conclusion Hermia and Helena are both connected in terms of risking their honour for Lysander and Demetrius. Helena and Hermia ar e both willing to risk their honour for true love, yet they both are also different in their approach to get to their lovers to be with them. For example the passage below shows Hermia’s confidence at her approach with Lysander. †¦.But, gentle friend, for love and courtesyLie further off in human modesty. Such separation as may well be said Becomes a virtuous bachelor and a maid. So far be distant. And, good night, sweet friend. Thy love ne’er alter till thy sweet life end! (2.2. 45-50)Hermia is confident in her approach to courtship because knows how to say no to Lysander on something that may not seem right to her such as sleeping with him. Separation before marriage is a right thing for Hermia to do and she has the confidence to express herself to Lysander. When Hermia tells Lysander to lie further off in human modesty she says it without hesitation. In this case Helena lacks the confidence that Hermia has in her approach to love. Helena is insecure about her i dentity and often compares her body image to Hermia’s as she does in the following passage. Call you me â€Å"fair†? That â€Å"fair† again unsay.Demetrius loves your fair. O happy fair! Your eyes are lodestars, and your tongue’s sweet air More tunable than lark to shepherd’s ear When wheat is green, when hawthorn buds appear. Sickness is catching. Oh, were favor so, Yours would I catch, fair Hermia, ere I go. My ear should catch your voice. My eye, your eye. My tongue should catch your tongue’s sweet melody†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ (1.1. 181-189)This passage describes that Helena is insecure about her body image as well as her personality. Helena thinks that Demetrius loves Hermia because of her beauty which makes Helena think that she is inferior to Hermia. Even though both Helena and Hermia are both known to have the same beauty; Helena finds herself uglier because she doesn’t have the love of Demetrius. Helena’s approach to her love i s weaker than that of Hermia’s because of her insecurity and a low self-esteem. Helena wants Hermia’s beauty to be a sickness that she can contract.Hermia’s sweet strain, her lodestar eyes, and Hermia’s overall beauty is what Helena wishes and her insecurity about herself. As a result Hermia’s approach to courtship is stronger because of the high level of confidence she has, whereas Helena lacks that confidence because of her insecurity about herself. To conclude, although Hermia and Helena are both willing to risk their honour for true love, Hermia is stronger at her approach to love and courtship, and Helena lacks self-esteem  because of the insecurity about herself.Hermia is willing to risk her reputation by running away with Lysander, while Helena is willing to risk her reputation by being alone with Demetrius at night. With this connection also comes an alteration, when Hermia proves her confidence that Helena is not bound to have. Hermia kn ows how to say no to something that may not seem right to her. â€Å"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind/ therefore is wing’d Cupid painted blind†¦..† (1.1. 234-235). Helena’s statement that love is blind and looks with the eyes depicts that she approaches to love thoughtlessly; do you think this approach makes her successful in winning the heart of Demetrius?