Italy embraces Welsh Literature Essay Example for Free

Italy embraces Welsh Literature Essay The Italians have fallen for Welsh literature, if the trend of publication (18 books in 9 years with more to follow) has anything to go by. However, its not exactly a sudden connoisseurship that this country, an inveterate contributor of Arts and literature, is bent on to prove. It has more to do with the bond that developed through the migration of a chunk of Italians to Wales in the 20th Century, besides having somewhat similar appetite for Romantic art and culture. The latest from the Welsh stable are, The Canals of Mars (poetry collection) by Patrick McGuinness, Minhinnick (anthology of contemporary Welsh poetry), The Prince of Wales (a novel on modern Cardiff) by John Williams and Y Pla (The Plague, a novel) by William Owen Roberts. Thus, translations are doing fine with experts in zone like Andrea Bianchi and Silvana Siviero, who are translating their 11th book from Wales. Bianchis own poetic prowess joined with Ms Sivieros 13 years of on the soil experience. High on success, they have branded their works as Parole dal Galles (Geiriau O Gymru). Close on the heels are six other publishers. The literary magazine from the University of Venice through its ‘Welsh Literature Section’, also provides encouragement. With three volumes of poetry by Robert in the pipe line, along with publishing prospect of the books by poets Gillian Clarke and John Barnie or the novelist Caradog Prichard, both the market and its producers are upbeat about the future. The poet, Gwyneth Lewis or Sioned Puw Rowlands, the director of Welsh Literature Abroad – all attribute this enthusiasm to the orchestrated effort produced by the parties from both the sides, save the Italian readers interest, which they have already proved by their rousing reception to the novelist Trezza Azzopardi.

Class Distinction in Pygmalion Essay -- essays research papers

The play Pygmalion offers the readers a view on the theme of class distinction, and the problem of the barriers separating classes and people. Shaw reveals to us the truth about the artificiality of classes and how anybody can overcome them, He also shows us that society puts up high standards and that people are distinguished by their way of speaking, and their appearance alone and of course that's wrong. In the first act of Pygmalion, Shaw chooses a setting that really helped shedding light on this theme, for he chose the st. portico square between the church and the theatre, a setting that embraced everybody from different classes and made them all clash under one place for shelter. The gathering of all those different characters, and the way Shaw introduced everybody not by their real names, but by other names, show us that society puts artificial barriers for the differentiation between the rich and the poor. But as the play progresses each character's point of view about the classes is presented in different situations. Henry Higgins the phonetician sees the difference between the rich and the poor through their outside appearance, how they talk, walk, dress and eat. Professor Higgins sees that the barriers between classes could be over come in six months, and that changing somebody's looks and their way of pronouncing words means upgrading them to a higher social class, but in spite of this, he treats people equally, and his behavior is absolute rudeness to all. Professor Higgins' rudeness is an embarrassment to his mother Mrs. Higgins, who knows how to treat everybody with respect, and who isn?t fooled by Eliza's good looks and ways of talking. Mrs. Higgins can stil... ... first act they are seen dressed in elegant clothes and waiting for a taxi just like any rich person would do. When they meet Eliza in Mrs. Higgins' house, they are fooled by her appearance and they mistake her for a lady, Clara gets very impressed by Eliza's "new small talk" and Freddy falls for her. So its true, looks can be deceiving, but looks shouldn?t be the one thing that separates classes. Shaw wanted to show people how artificial the barriers are and he succeeded in that, Eliza the poor cockney girl goes to the ambassador's party and is mistaken for a duchess, and her father Alfred Doolittle, he is seen in the last act all well dressed and was considered by people as a middle class man. All that leads us to the conclusion that barriers can be crossed and that society is truly a fool.

Moral Development

The elementary years can be considered as a crucial point when it comes to the character formation of a person. This is where he faces new things; knowledge and information that could greatly affect his life in the future. This is the time in the child’s life where he or she develops a concept about what’s good or bad. Because of this, adult intervention is necessary; parents as well as teachers should do their best in supervising every step of development their children undergoes. In Kohlberg’s theory, the time when children enter elementary school is his second in three broad levels of moral development (Boeree, 2003). This is the conventional morality level, wherein the definition of right and wrong would usually depend on â€Å"what the people would say† (Colman, 2001). This part is what requires most adult attention, since they are the ones the children look up to, being the basis of what they would follow in the future. This stage is further divided into two sub-stages. The first stage is the good boy/good girl stage, wherein children try to live up to what others expect them to be, as well as seek their approval in everything they do. It is important for adults to show them the â€Å"right things† because everything they do becomes a basis of the children’s actions. Another sub-stage is the law and order stage, where children now takes a perspective that involves the social system as well, taking into consideration the rules and laws of the society they are living in, as well as the authorities they have to follow. At these elementary years, we can address the teaching of moral development in schools by devising or structuring out what should be taught to these children (Nucci, 2002). At this stage, they should be already provided with the basic laws and regulations that they should follow as a â€Å"good citizen†. These could start by introducing the school laws and regulations and relating it to the laws of the society. Another concern also would be about their teacher. These children’s teacher should be a model they could look up to as a person, so that their concept of conventional morality would depend on what their teachers show them. References: Boeree, C. G. (2003). Moral Development.  Ã‚   Retrieved November 10, 2007, from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/genpsymoraldev.html Colman, A. M. (2001). Conventional Morality. In A Dictionary of Psychology: Oxford University Press. Nucci, L. (2002). Moral Development and Moral Education: An Overview.  Ã‚   Retrieved November 10, 2007, from http://tigger.uic.edu/~lnucci/MoralEd/overview.html       Moral development According to the Social Learning Theory, our moral behavior is shaped by the reinforcement and punishment stimuli through the process of learning. It means that if a child was punished in the past for a certain behavior and is faced with such a situation again, he/she will avoid this behavior. As a social being, a person lives within a group or a community and â€Å"tends to perform actions and behave in a manner conducive to community approval†. The greatest criticism of this theory is that â€Å"it does not provide a proper overall personality assessment†. â€Å"It focuses more on the factors perceived as negative by the learner – it does not account for what may be considered positive.† (Social Learning Theory) According to Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, â€Å"there are six identifiable stages of moral development† which could be classified into three levels. (Kohlberg’s stages of moral development) The pre-conventional level. In stage 1, â€Å"people behave according to socially acceptable norms because they are told to do so by some authority figure†. â€Å"This obedience is compelled by the threat or application of punishment.† Stage 2 â€Å"is characterized by a view that right behavior means acting in one’s own best interests†. (Barger, Robert N. A Summary Of Lawrence Kohlberg’s Stages Of Moral Development) The conventional level. In stage 3 individuals â€Å"seek approval from other people’. Stage 4 is â€Å"oriented to abiding by the law and responding to the obligations of duty†. (Barger, Robert N. A) The post-conventional level. Stage 5 is â€Å"an understanding of social mutuality and a genuine interest in the welfare of others.† Stage 6 is â€Å"based on respect for universal principles and the demands of individual conscience.† (Barger, Robert N. A) It appears that people rarely reach stage 6 of this model and Kohlberg â€Å"had difficulty finding participants who use it†. (Kohlberg’s stages of moral development) â€Å"One criticism of Kohlberg’s theory is that it emphasizes justice to the exclusion of other values† and â€Å"may not adequately address the arguments of people who value other moral aspects of actions.† Carol Gilligan has argued that the theory is â€Å"male-centric† and â€Å"did not adequately describe the concerns of women†. (Kohlberg’s stages of moral development) Kohlberg claimed his  six stages are cultural-universal. Simpson (1974) argues that â€Å"Kohlberg’s interview employs analytic and theoretical modes of thought and language such as â€Å"justice, equality and reciprocity at a high level of abstraction† which are not valued by many cultures†. According to Bergling (1981), Kohlberg’s stages 1 – 4 are â€Å"empirically supported in western industrialized countries but findings from the Bahamas and British Honduras fail to support even a stage 4†. (Ma, King Keung Problems In The Cro ss-Cultural Study Of Moral Judgment Development) BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. Barger, Robert N. A Summary Of Lawrence Kohlberg’s Stages Of Moral Development, (August, 23 2005) 2. Kohlberg’s stages of moral development,   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_development (August, 23 2005) 3. Ma, King Keung Problems In The Cross-Cultural Study Of Moral Judgment Development, http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:LAHMEA0UqdAJ:sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/hkjo/view/33/3300251.pdf+weak+points+in+Kohlberg%60s+moral+development+theory+&hl=uk (August, 23 2005) 4. Social Learning Theory, http://www.termpapergenie.com/SocialLearningTheory.html (August, 24 2005)                Moral development According to the Social Learning Theory, our moral behavior is shaped by the reinforcement and punishment stimuli through the process of learning. It means that if a child was punished in the past for a certain behavior and is faced with such a situation again, he/she will avoid this behavior. As a social being, a person lives within a group or a community and â€Å"tends to perform actions and behave in a manner conducive to community approval†. The greatest criticism of this theory is that â€Å"it does not provide a proper overall personality assessment†. â€Å"It focuses more on the factors perceived as negative by the learner – it does not account for what may be considered positive.† (Social Learning Theory) According to Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, â€Å"there are six identifiable stages of moral development† which could be classified into three levels. (Kohlberg’s stages of moral development) The pre-conventional level. In stage 1, â€Å"people behave according to socially acceptable norms because they are told to do so by some authority figure†. â€Å"This obedience is compelled by the threat or application of punishment.† Stage 2 â€Å"is characterized by a view that right behavior means acting in one’s own best interests†. (Barger, Robert N. A Summary Of Lawrence Kohlberg’s Stages Of Moral Development) The conventional level. In stage 3 individuals â€Å"seek approval from other people’. Stage 4 is â€Å"oriented to abiding by the law and responding to the obligations of duty†. (Barger, Robert N. A) The post-conventional level. Stage 5 is â€Å"an understanding of social mutuality and a genuine interest in the welfare of others.† Stage 6 is â€Å"based on respect for universal principles and the demands of individual conscience.† (Barger, Robert N. A) It appears that people rarely reach stage 6 of this model and Kohlberg â€Å"had difficulty finding participants who use it†. (Kohlberg’s stages of moral development) â€Å"One criticism of Kohlberg’s theory is that it emphasizes justice to the exclusion of other values† and â€Å"may not adequately address the arguments of people who value other moral aspects of actions.† Carol Gilligan has argued that the theory is â€Å"male-centric† and â€Å"did not adequately describe the concerns of women†. (Kohlberg’s stages of moral development) Kohlberg claimed his  six stages are cultural-universal. Simpson (1974) argues that â€Å"Kohlberg’s interview employs analytic and theoretical modes of thought and language such as â€Å"justice, equality and reciprocity at a high level of abstraction† which are not valued by many cultures†. According to Bergling (1981), Kohlberg’s stages 1 – 4 are â€Å"empirically supported in western industrialized countries but findings from the Bahamas and British Honduras fail to support even a stage 4†. (Ma, King Keung Problems In The Cro ss-Cultural Study Of Moral Judgment Development) BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. Barger, Robert N. A Summary Of Lawrence Kohlberg’s Stages Of Moral Development, (August, 23 2005) 2. Kohlberg’s stages of moral development,   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_development (August, 23 2005) 3. Ma, King Keung Problems In The Cross-Cultural Study Of Moral Judgment Development, http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:LAHMEA0UqdAJ:sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/hkjo/view/33/3300251.pdf+weak+points+in+Kohlberg%60s+moral+development+theory+&hl=uk (August, 23 2005) 4. Social Learning Theory, http://www.termpapergenie.com/SocialLearningTheory.html (August, 24 2005)               

Biography of Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico

Maximilian I  (July 6, 1832–June 19, 1867) was a European nobleman invited to Mexico in the aftermath of the disastrous wars and conflicts of the mid-19th century. It was thought that the establishment of a monarchy, with a leader possessing a tried-and-true European bloodline, could bring some much-needed stability to the strife-torn nation. Maximilian arrived in 1864 and was accepted by the people as Emperor of Mexico. His rule did not last very long, however, as liberal forces under the command of Benito Juarez destabilized Maximilian’s rule. Captured by Juarez’ men, he was executed in 1867. Fast Facts: Maximilian I Known For: Emperor of MexicoAlso Known As: Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph Maria, Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph von Hapsburg-LorraineBorn: July 6, 1832 in Vienna,  AustriaParents: Archduke Franz Karl of Austria, Princess Sophie of BavariaDied: June 19, 1867 in Santiago de Querà ©taro, MexicoSpouse: Charlotte of BelgiumNotable Quote: Oh, God, I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams. Early Years Maximilian of Austria was born in Vienna on July 6, 1832, the grandson of Francis II, Emperor of Austria. Maximilian and his elder brother Franz Joseph grew up as proper young princes: a classical education, riding, travel. Maximilian distinguished himself as a bright, inquisitive young man, and a good rider, but he was sickly and often unwell. Aimless Years In 1848, a series of events in Austria conspired to place Maximilian’s elder brother Franz Joseph on the throne at the young age of 18. Maximilian spent a lot of time away from court, mostly on Austrian naval vessels. He had money but no responsibilities, so he traveled a great deal, including a visit to Spain, and had affairs with actresses and dancers. He fell in love twice, once to a German countess who was deemed beneath him by his family, and a second time to a Portuguese noblewoman who was also a distant relation. Although Marà ­a Amalia of Braganza was considered acceptable, she died before they could become engaged. Admiral and Viceroy In 1855, Maximilian was named rear-admiral of the Austrian navy. In spite of his inexperience, he won over the career naval officers with open-mindedness, honesty, and zeal for the job. By 1857, he had modernized and improved the navy greatly and had founded a hydrographical institute. He was appointed viceroy of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, where he lived with his new wife, Charlotte of Belgium. In 1859, he was dismissed from his post by his brother, and the young couple went to live in their castle near Trieste. Overtures from Mexico Maximilian was first approached in 1859 with an offer to be made Emperor of Mexico: He initially refused, preferring to travel some more, including a botanical mission to Brazil. Mexico was still in shambles from the Reform War and had defaulted on its international debts. In 1862, France invaded Mexico, seeking payment for these debts. By 1863, French forces were firmly in command of Mexico and Maximilian was approached again. This time he accepted. Emperor Maximilian and Charlotte arrived in Mexico in May 1864 and set up their official residence at Chapultepec Castle. Maximilian inherited a very unstable nation. The conflict between conservatives and liberals, which had caused the Reform War, still simmered and Maximilian was unable to unite the two factions. He angered his conservative supporters by adopting some liberal reforms, and his overtures to liberal leaders were spurned. Benito Juarez and his liberal followers grew in strength, and there was little Maximilian could do about it. Downfall When France withdrew its forces back to Europe, Maximilian was on his own. His position grew ever more precarious, and Charlotte returned to Europe to ask (in vain) for aid from France, Austria, and Rome. Charlotte never returned to Mexico: Driven mad by the loss of her husband, she spent the rest of her life in seclusion before passing away in 1927. By 1866, the writing was on the wall for Maximilian: His armies were in disarray and he had no allies. He stuck it out nevertheless, apparently due to a genuine desire to be a good ruler of his new nation. Death and Repatriation Mexico City fell to liberal forces in early 1867, and Maximilian retreated to Querà ©taro, where he and his men withstood a siege for several weeks before surrendering. Captured, Maximilian was executed along with two of his generals on June 19, 1867. He was 34 years old. His body was returned to Austria the next year, where it currently resides in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna. Legacy Today Maximilian is considered somewhat of a quixotic figure by Mexicans. He had no business being Emperor of Mexico—he apparently didn’t even speak Spanish—but he put forth a solid effort to rule the country, and most modern Mexicans today think of him not as a hero or villain so much as a man who tried to unite a country that did not want to be united. The most lasting effect of his brief rule is Avenida Reforma, an important street in Mexico City that he had ordered built. Sources MadMonarchist. â€Å"Monarch Profile: Emperor Maximilian of Mexico.†Ã‚  The Mad Monarchist, 1 Jan. 1970.Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. â€Å"Maximilian.†Ã‚  Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, Inc., 8 Feb. 2019.â€Å"MAXIMILIAN I, Emperor of Mexico.†Ã‚  MexicoOnline.com.