Language And Nonsense In Lewis Carrolls Alice Books English Literature Essay

Language And Nonsense In Lewis Carrolls Alice Books English Literature Essay Im very much afraid I didnt mean anything but nonsense. Still, you know, words mean more than we mean to express when we use them; so a whole book ought to mean a great deal more than the writer means. So, whatever good meanings are in the book, Im glad to accept as the meaning of the book.  [1]   Many people think Alices Adventures in Wonderland is an example of the limit-breaking book from the old tradition illuminating the new one. They also consider it being a tale. From the looks of it, the story about Alice falling through a rabbit-hole and finding herself in a silly and nonsense world is fairly guileless as a tale. The underlying story, the one about a girl maturing away from home in what seems to be a world ruled by chaos and nonsense, is quite a frightening one. Alice finds herself confronted in different situations involving various different and curious animals being all alone. She hasnt got any help at all from home or the world outside of Wonderland. The theme with Alice growing and shrinking into different sizes could reflect the ups and downs of adolescence with young people sometimes feeling adult and sometimes quite the opposite. One other example of maturing is Alice getting used to the new sizes she grows. She talks to her feet and learns some of the new ways her body works in. Her feelings are much shaken from her adventures and she cries quite often when its impossible to obey the rules of the Wonderland or is it adulthood? Everything is so out-of-the-way down here, as Alice often repeats to herself. Carroll is an expert at puns and irony. The part with the mad tea-party is one of the best examples of this. MAD TEA PARTY Theres a lot of humour in the first Alice book, but in the second the mood gets a bit darker and more melancholic. The quote Everyone in Wonderland is mad, otherwise they wouldnt be down here told by the Cheshire Cat can be given an existential meaning. Is it that everyone alive is mad being alive, or everyone dreaming him- or herself away is mad due to the escape from reality? Time is a very central theme in the story. The Hatters watch shows days because its always six o clock and tea-time. Time matters in growing up, I guess, but further interpretations are left unsaid. The first manuscript was called Alices Adventures Underground, and that some at least the Swedish translation of the title is a bit ambiguous, it becomes more apparent, that the world Alice enters isnt just any childrens playground, but a somewhat frightening and dangerous place for maturing. It becomes more interesting when Alice finally gets into the garden and finds a pack of cards ruling it, with a very evil queen at its head. It appears to be a way of saying that the garden isnt really what it appears to be. http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/explain/alice841.html Humpty Dumpty informs Alice that there are three hundred and sixty four days when you might get un-birthday presents. His statement is another augmentation to one of the oldest and rudimentary philosophical controversies: whether Non-Being, like Being, exists.  In the  Sophist  dialogue, Plato argues that what is not in some sense also is, refuting Parmenides concept of the impossibility of the Non-Being to exist. Non-Being is just a being characterised only by its difference from another being. Carroll was no stranger to Greek philosophy. Carroll is over and over again seen to be fascinated by the idea that Nothingness is more than what meets the eye: Take some more tea, the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.   Ive had nothing yet, Alice replied in an offended tone, so I cant take more. You mean you cant take LESS, said the Hatter: its very easy to take MORE than nothing.  [2]   The Hatter told Alice that he knew Time and that one cannot talk about wasting it because Time is him. Time, says the Hatter, is someone that if you only knew how to keep on good terms with him, hed do almost anything you liked with the clock, you could keep it to half-past one as long as you liked.  [3]   To Humpty Dumpty, as well as to the Hatter, Time is a real entity. Once we become aware of this reality, Platos concept presents no hindrance to the existence of either birthdays or un-birthdays. As with Time, Numbers too are portrayed by Carroll as real entities. Upon entering the garden Alice comes up to three card gardeners presented by Carroll as Two, Five and Seven. To Carroll, the Christ Church mathematician, Numbers, like Time, are more than just abstract figures they are real Beings. Carroll venerates here Pythagoras concept about Numbers. Aristotle records that the Pythagoreans held that Numbers were: the first things in the whole of nature and that the elements of numbers are the elements of all things   http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/school/alice1017.html Language plays many roles in Alices Adventures in the Wonderland. Carroll illustrates Alices powers of reason, gives her identity and explores rules of conversation. From the beginning of the book, Carroll portrays Alice as a remarkably intelligent little girl, demonstrating this through her verbal reasoning. After drinking the bottle and shrinking down to the proper size for entering the garden, she finds she has left the key to the garden on the table, now far above her head. Finding a cake that will likely produce another change in her size, she decides to eat it. If it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key; and if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door: so both way Ill get into the garden, and I dont care which happens.  [4]  Alice wisely recognizes that any change in size, whether it be smaller or larger, can suit her purpose.   Alices power of reasoning seem to be inadequate to a little girls character. One could certainly argue that Alices fearless reasoning as to the advantages of eating the cake is uncharacteristic of a child.   However, even while Carroll uses Alices reasoning to draw attention to her, he skillfully weaves Alices childish nature into her words, as when she announces: and I dont care which happens!  [5]  . Despite her intuitive reasoning, her speech is still childish. Indeed, Alices reasoning is always stated plainly, as a child might conceivably speak. At the mad tea party, when the Dormouse is telling his story, Alice keeps interrupting. Noting discrepancies in the story that the others seem to overlook, she says: But I dont understand. Where did they draw the treacle from?  [6]  Alice has observed that it is difficult to draw something out of a well if you are already in the well, yet the rest of the characters treat Alices questions with impatience. Despite the sense of her questions, they are phrased as a child asking, why? repeatedly, which keeps her in character for a little girl even as she displays her intelligence. In this manner her reasoning stands out from the complexiti es of the nonsensical Wonderland.   Another function of language in Alice in Wonderland is to explore Alices identity. According to Martin Heidegger  [7]  , human identity is dependents on language. Alice shows evidence of this identity through language. Having found her size so abruptly altered with eating the cake, she questions if she is still herself:   Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if Im not the same, the next question is Who in the world am I? Ah, thats the great puzzle!  [8]   And she began thinking over all the children she knew that were of the same age as her, to see if she could have been changed for any of them. Carroll also explores the rules or social conventions of language. Early in the story, Alice strikes up a conversation with a mouse. She only succeeds in offending it, however, by talking about cats:   Oh, I beg your pardon! cried Alice hastily, afraid that she had hurt the poor animals feelings. I quite forgot you didnt like cats. Not like cats! cried the Mouse in a shrill, passionate voice. Would you like cats, if you were me?  [9]  Ã‚   Throughout her time in Wonderland, Alice learns to adjust her conversation topics to her size, and not offend creatures with reminders of where they rank on the food chain. She demonstrates her new understanding of Wonderlands rules of etiquette during her visit with the Mock Turtle:   Oh, as to the whiting, said the Mock Turtle, they youve seen them, or course?   Yes, said Alice, Ive often seen them at dinn she checked herself hastily.  [10]  Ã‚   Alice has learned from her previous encounters with Wonderland creatures what is considered offensive by the rules of language, and stops herself just in time from mentioning that in her world, whiting are food, not friends.   If any one of them can explain it, said Alice, (she had grown so large in the last few minutes that she wasnt a bit afraid of interrupting him,) Ill give him sixpence. I dont believe theres an atom of meaning in it. If theres no meaning in it, said the King, that saves a world of trouble, you know, as we neednt try to find any. And yet I dont know, he went on, spreading out the verses on his knee, and looking at them with one eye; I seem to see some meaning in them, after all.  [11]   The King then proceeds to dissect the poem in order to find its meaning. He is, in fact, analyzing the poem with the interpretation already decided upon a fallacy that is all too easy for an overzealous scholar to commit. Alice, on the other hand, is willing to take the poem at face value as a poem and nothing more thereby displaying the innocence that Sontag so wistfully describes. Using the conflict between the King and Alice, Carroll makes a statement about the danger of trying to read too much into a work of art.   Lewis Carrolls Alice in Wonderland is a great exploration of language. Carroll uses language to set Alice apart as intelligent, even while he uses simplicity of diction to show that she is still a little girl. Using a mixture of introspection and conversation, Carroll explores the issue of identity, successfully demonstrating that Alices identity through her reasoning abilities, even though she herself doubts who she is. Carroll also plays with the rules of language and how they are learned, by putting Alice in unheard of situations and demonstrating how she learns the new laws of conversation etiquette. Finally, by showing the absurdity of using a poem as criminal evidence, Carroll berates his readers for trying to read too much into his own story. The many roles of language in Alice in Wonderland show Carrolls skill at manipulating words to make his points. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/13706/the_roles_of_language_in_alice_in_wonderland.html?cat=38 Carroll makes a contrast between the absurdity of the plot and the rationality behind the characters comprehension of Alices language and their literal manipulation of words, phrases, and names. Carroll toys with linguistic conventions in the Through the Looking Glass, making use of puns and playing on multiple meanings of words throughout the text. The author creates words and expressions and even invents new meanings for words. But even after a sense of the pattern is established, the perceptive use continues to surprise. This method pushes readers to examine the use of language and articulation. Anything is possible in Wonderland, and Carrolls manipulation of language reflects this sense of unlimited possibility. Written in nonsense verse, Jabberwocky is almost a satirical heroic ballad that embodies Lewis Carrolls imaginative language play. The poem creates an altered sense of meaning through invented words. These invented words have English attributes and are simple to read and say, they just do not have meaning outside the context of the poem. he lyrical arrangement, sound of the syllables, and placement in the syntax give many clues as to each words meaning, but no precise definition can be determined. Jabberwocky shows how words void of any meaning in and of themselves can have power, tone, and feeling. After reading it Alice is only sure of one thing, somebody  killed  something (Carroll 97).Later in the story, Carroll revisits the topic of names and the poem Jabberwocky when Alice meets Humpty Dumpty. Humpty Dumpty, who seems to be substituting words at will, tells Alice he can control of his words as well as their meanings. Shortly before meeting Humpty Dumpty, in chapter four, Alice meets a pair of twins who seem to be mysteriously under the control of language. Tweedledee and Tweedledum are twins who converse in a manner suggesting a difference of opinion as Tweedledee often remarks Contrariwise! However that which follows this expletive doesnt ever seem to be contrary as exhibited when Tweedledum tells Alice I know what youre thinking aboutà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦but it isnt so, nohow, the other follows adding Contrariwiseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isnt, it aint. Thats logic (Carroll 114). The recitation of a nursery rhyme about the two has predictive powers in Looking-glass world. Words seem to initiate their battle preparations, as if Tweedledum and Tweedledee are predestined by the rhymes she recites, similar to the White Queen telling Alice she remembers things that happen week after next (Carroll 126). The foretold actions and emotions of Tweedledee and Tweedledum illustrate that language can have real power and influence, a message reiterated by the battle of the Lion and the Unicorn. Lewis Carrolls seemingly absurd destabilization of language has the ability to comment on language in society in a unique and simplistic manner. This is exhibited with great ease and admirable form while seeing Carrolls hilarious characters and situations run a constant discourse on the nature and possibilities of language. He creates a duality in his treatment of language in Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. By splitting words from meanings and names from individuals, Carroll implies an emptiness of words and phrases. However, he also infuses language with the power to create real outcomes and words with power to have several meanings. Language, like life, can aggravate and confuse, but it also contains possibilities that goes unrecognized everyday. http://www.suite101.com/content/properties-of-language-alices-adventures-in-wonderland-a229304 In conclusion Carrolls wonderland charters (all adults) are complete mockeries of the adults that Victorian children had to obey.(Hayes, 2) They show the ignorance and absurdity of their time. Yet Carroll does show a note of hope. At the end of the first book Alice stands up and expresses her feelings that the whole trial is nonsense and that the soldiers were just a pack of cards. In the second book Alice, sick of the chaos and confusion, summons the courage to challenge the Red Queen. With these two achievements Alice breaks the spell of the domineering, repressive authority figures(Makinen, 2) and gives hope that in reality this could also be possible. http://www.echeat.com/essay.php?t=25907 Meaning, according to Humpty Dumpty: Weve had enough of that subject, and it would be just as well if you mention what you mean to do next, as I suppose you dont mean to stop here all the rest of your life.  [12]  

Improving Our Ability to Make Decisions Essay -- Decision Making Proce

Decision-Making Process: Improving Our Ability to Make Decision Facing a situation, you have to decide. For example, the fire surrounds you: What do you do? Jump through the windows and risk to kill yourself or to wait the firemen and risk to be burned to death if they come to late? Every decision that we make or don’t make shapes our future. Everyone tries to make good decisions. However, it is easy to overlook an important factor, miss a desirable option, or base the decision on unreliable information. In addition, fear of making a wrong choice can cause someone to postpone decisions, leading to miss opportunities. A businessperson must have the ability to make decisions under the pressure of time and circumstances. This ability needs a good knowledge of the decision making process. From a practical point-of-view, of the most important human skills is decision-making. Both at a personal level and in context of organizations, decision-making skill strongly affects the quality of life and success. Decision-making is the process by which a person or group recognizes a choice, gathers information, analyzes the data, and determines the best option to choose. The decision-making process employs high levels of critical thinking skills and problem-solving techniques. Decisions are guided by several factors, primarily the significance of the issue, the impact the decision may have, and the person's or group's morals and cultural norms. For less significant decisions that have little impact, people might not invoke the higher thinking skills that theorists expect (Decision-Making 2015). Flipping a coin, hoping for a miraculous sign, following the crowd, or by passing the responsibility to someone else are all means of making decisions. For more important decisions with gr eater impact, people often employ more advanced thought processes like those demonstrated in decision-making models by social psychologists and behaviorists. Most theories accept the idea that decision-making consists of a number of steps or stages such as improving creativity, critical thinking skills, and problem solving techniques. It is well recognized that routine cognitive processes such as memory, reasoning, and concept formation play a primary role in decision-making (Decision-Making 2015). Leaders know in their gut that creativity and innovation are the life blood of their o... ...d are seldom subject to critical review. As a result, managers frequently have a difficult time improving their decision-making capacity. Good business decisions are the heart of a successful organization. Without a process decisions may be made by the most powerful or influential person in the group or not made at all. Good decision-making is a balance between getting the most of what we want with as little risk as possible. It means that we include the right people and use a process that encourages participation while keeping or focus clearly on the decision at hand. This allows people to make the decision with a high degree of confidence and efficiency. Works Cited:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Critical Thinking Skills. (2015). Web. March 7, 2015 http://www.everesttraining.com Decision-Making. (2015). Web. March 7, 2015 http://tip.psychology.org/decision Problem Solving and Decision Making. (2015). Web. March 8, 2015 http://www.cob.tamucc.edu/rallen/ Tubbs, S.L. (2004) A Systems Approach to Small Group Interaction. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Corporation. Welch, D. (2001). Decisions, Decisions: The Art of Effective Decision Making New York State. Prometheus Books.

Music Masters and Rhythm Kings Essay

It is a rare opportunity to witness masters of the old tradition relishing in their element: sweat on their foreheads as beats and strings pulsate the story of a past almost forgotten. It is a gift if one is fortunate enough to see them live, but seeing them and hearing their music on the limited capacity of film is still a treasure, much like watching some of the best keepers of old time Southern music in Peggy Bulger and Melissa Shepard Sykes’ film Music Masters and Rhythm Kings. We review musicians Eddie Kirkland, Neal Pattman, Homer â€Å"Pappy† Sherill and the Hired Hands, and Florencio Baro as they recount the origins of their music and how they have come to imbibe it. Southern music is essentially an amalgam of two musical cultures combined despite a clash of ideals and beliefs, and despite centuries of oppression and dispute. As Charles Joyner, a Southern Culture historian mentions in the film, it is impossible for the Southern peoples not to be influenced by the culture of another race, especially if they are so ingrained in their society. Though these people might argue against these relations, there is no denying the immense influence of African culture in the language, the mannerisms, and especially, the music of the South. History dictates that traditional South American music finds its roots in the harsh working fields. Pappy Sherill phrases this perfectly when he says that these farmers do â€Å"as a way of putting joy to themselves [sic] while they’re working. † At the same time, Southern music also represented the subversive culture of the African slaves. Their music became their way of expression because they knew that the â€Å"white man can have no control†. Bringing their own kind of musical tradition from their homeland, they created a new one that came to represent and signal the changing dynamics of the American South. In the film, we see Pappy Sherill and the Hired Hands, one of the few old-time string bands that play actively in the South. Their music embodies the respite that Southern farmers crave after a day of toiling under the hot sun. It is a fast-paced jig that consists of music from a fiddle, a guitar, a banjo, and a cello, all coming together in an energetic symphony of strings. Pulling it all together is Sherill, who at a very ripe age still remains as one of the best fiddle players in the country. Folklorist Glenn Hinson defines his playing as propelled by advanced technique that harkens back to the days when fiddlers made their instruments cry and sing. Playing professionally since he was thirteen years old, Sherill was a prodigy who created music despite financial setbacks. He only owned a proper wooden fiddle when he managed to save money from a side job, and only after using a tin fiddle for some time. In 1976, Sherill won the award for Best Old-Time Fiddler in the National Fiddlers Championship, opening doors for him to play in many road show and concerts. But, when Pappy sang and played out of joy, Eddie Kirkland and Neal Pattman sang the sonorous, highly emotional tunes of the blues. Eddie Kirkland grew up harvesting cotton, and during the production of the film had once again stepped foot in the cotton fields. Drawing back to memories of those hardships, Eddie remembers doing this grinding, back-breaking work as a child. It was only the â€Å"field hollers, work songs†¦ and spirituals† of the African-American people that pushed them to go on. Arising from this work songs were the Blues, a uniquely Southern music that Kirkland loves so dear. As we can hear from the film, Kirkland’s music is derived from years of toil and work, echoing a time of inequality and hardship. He describes it as â€Å"heart-wrenching Blues. † And so it is, with the soft, poignant, yet irregular riffs of his guitar accompanied by his soulful voice, we feel sadness and desperation. But, he goes beyond this by also singing songs of love following the Blues format. It is a rare opportunity to hear the Blues as it could’ve been played at the beginning of the 19th century, in the backwaters of the rural South. Also reminiscent of Kirkland is Neal Pattman, a maestro of the blues harp, who also rose from the working fields. His music, as any Blues music would be, touches the heart and with his harp he creates an even more wrenching elegy. We follow the flow of his music as it rises and stops, as he accompanies it with his voice. We listen and we are transplanted back into the days of old when the whiteness of the cotton fields is an unwanted sight. Hailing from further South is Cuban musician Florencio Baro. A singer and percussionist, his music remains a pure representation of his African heritage. His songs are sung in his ancestors’ native African language that as a child he has learned to understand and to appreciate. Much like South American music, his music as a combination of two cultures brought together despite odds. Historically, his music arises from the spiritual cult of Santoria, a religion established by African slaves brought to Cuba. What started out as spiritual hymns as a way to once again reconnect with their distant land, is now heard as Afro-Cuban music. It is played with an energetic combination of African percussions and Cuban guitars. In Baro’s hands, the music achieves a life of its own. The beats throb as Baro’s voice sing of the woes of the African slave, weaving itself in and out of the notes, all in a way that is dramatically hypnotic. And entranced the audience were as they glimpse at this fragment of the past that, unfortunately, seldom reaches the majority’s ears. These men represent a bygone era of music that is formed when culture clash and are forced to combine. But, in retrospect, what we are singing of now and what our music is today, all boils down to the undying pursuit of expression that these men have achieved.

The Importance of the Role That the Chorus Plays in...

The Importance of the Role That the Chorus Plays in Euripedes’ Medea The Chorus is very much an important part of Euripedes’ Medea, and indeed many other works written in the ancient Greek style. In this play, it follows the journey Medea makes, and not only narrates, but commentates on what is happening. Euripedes uses the Chorus as a literary device to raise certain issues, and to influence where the sympathies of the audience lie. In the list of characters at the beginning of the play, the Chorus is stated to be a chorus of Corinthian Women. This draws the first link between them and Medea. The Chorus follows Medea on her journey through this play. They act as narrators on important occurrences in the play; however, they also act†¦show more content†¦Obviously one can’t know this for sure, but one can deduce it from what we know of that era. Although some wouldn’t have condoned Jason’s actions, many would have seen it as normal because it would have been a much more common occurrence then than today. Nonetheless, in presenting these sort of issues in a moralistic play to the audience of the day was a brave and controversial thing to do. Obviously, the views on the these issues have come along way since the time when this play was written, so today’s audience adapts the messages in this play to their own morality. The treatment of women, and of Medea, and the circumstances t hat Medea is faced with, help the audience to, not condone, but understand the reasons for Medea’s actions at the end of the play. The opinion of the audience on characters other than Medea is also influenced by the Chorus. After the audience hears what Jason has done to Medea in the way of marrying another woman, the Chorus says: ‘To punish Jason would be just.’ If this is not already the audience’s opinion, then Euripedes enforces it so that it is. Apart from narrating, and commentating, the Chorus also takes on the role of advising Medea. Throughout the play they are on the side of Medea, but even they do not agree with the course of action that Medea wishes to take. Where their sympathies lie has changed, and this is indicative of theShow MoreRelatedMedea: Discuss the Role of the Chorus Essay1210 Words   |  5 PagesDiscuss the importance of the role that the Chorus plays in Euripedes Medea. br brThe Chorus is very much an important part of Euripedes Medea, and indeed many other works written in the ancient Greek style. In this play, it follows the journey Medea makes, and not only narrates, but commentates on what is happening. Euripedes uses the Chorus as a literary device to raise certain issues, and to influence where the sympathies of the audience lie. br brIn the list of characters at theRead More Medea, by Euripides - Constructing Medea’s Compelling Persona1194 Words   |  5 PagesMedea, by Euripides - Cons tructing Medea’s Compelling Persona In the play Medea, by Euripides, many techniques are incorporated to augment the compelling persona of the protagonist, Medea. She has an overpowering presence, which is fashioned through the use of imagery, offstage action and language. Dramatic suspense, employment of the chorus and Deus Ex Machina also serve to enhance the intense persona assumed by Medea. Medea is frequently associated with images of violence and rage. â€Å"She’sRead MoreAncient Greek Theatre and Drama1648 Words   |  7 PagesAncient Greece, the birthplace of theatre, continues to greatly influence theatre today. Drama is a form of poetry, because dialogue was spoken or sung in verses. Many Greek plays are still relevant today. Some plays survived on their merits, while others were preserved from academic interest or by accident (Peter Arnott). The Great Dionysia was an important yearly religious celebration and festival, honoring Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and fertility. The Great Dionysia is where theatre firstRead MoreGreek vs. Roman Theatre Essay3174 Words   |  13 PagesNevertheless, as with a majority of playwrights throughout history, most fodder for their plays have been adaptations of previous plays written by their predecessors or based off mythological events. Unfortunately, this had lead to many speculative accusations and criticisms, as is the case with Senecan tragedies versus their Greek counterparts. Senecan and Greek interpretations of the plays Oedipus, Agamemnon, and Medea bear similar themes, being the inescapability of fate and dikà ª, and the lack of clarityRead MoreHumanities Test4641 Words   |  19 Pagesessay on comedy pg 236 12.   ( T or F ) Satire is always serious. It criticizes ideas and behaviors that are dangerous to society. False 13.   Shakespeares five great tragedies include: Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and: Romeo and Juliet. 14.   The plays of Chekhov feature: Naturalism pg 247-249 15.   Which of the following conventions is seldom found in Elizabethan theaters: Soliloquy or Elizabeth’s Sonnet 16. Know the plot summary of Oedipus Rex. Antigone: Creon condemns both Antigone and Ismene