Death of Marat Essay Example for Free

Death of Marat Essay I love the story of a conversation that took place at an English country house during a dinner party, where the host had just started up the discussion of death and asked the various guests what will happen to them after they die. Some thought about reincarnation and others though about different plains of being, and others thought that they were going to be annihilated. All of the guests had answered the question except for sir Roderick, who was a military type, a very devout man to the church of England where he was also the church warden, chief of the vestry, in the local county of Parish. The lady said â€Å"sir Roderick you haven’t said a word, what do you think is going to happen to you when you die? † oh he said â€Å"I am certain that I will go to heaven and enjoy everlasting bliss, but I wish you wouldn’t indulge I such a depressing conversation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  The polarity of death; It is talked about with such anguish and fright yet portrayed through art as something that represents relief or enlightenment that all together are emotionally wrenching idea’s that have been both subject for artists and served as an incentive for artistic production throughout history, perhaps as much as, perhaps more than, any other subject since artists have dealt with death, dying, the threat of death, escape from death, thoughts of death, and preparation for death through the centuries. For me, death in neo-classicism was the obvious choice because it so strongly reflects the change that was going through Europe at the time, where plagues, revolution and war scattered the common wasteland. Through the age of enlightenment death began to play a different role amongst artists and scientists where the interest in mortality and old age, the decayed body and the anatomical structure layered in lifelessness took new forms. With death came the peeling back of layers, skin, muscles, organs – embalming and mummification, posing the question on whether there is an immaterial soul or whether the body is only a complicated organ capable of immense things. This is something I felt is strongly expressed in the painting that I have chosen. The Death of Marat, painted by Jacques-Louis David in 1793 is a story that relates to the French Revolution, in which a radical journalist, Marat, is murdered in his bath by Charlotte Corday, who believed that his death would end the violence throughout the country. It has been described by T. J. Clark as the first modernist painting, for the way it took the stuff of politics as its material, and did not transmute it(1). However I believe that the painting also allows a portrayal of a philosophical confrontation on the subject of death. Through this essay I will argue how the painting demonstrates the struggle between the polarizations of death through a neo-classicistic point of view. Analysis The painting Death of Marat depicts the death of a murdered radical journalist during the French revolution. Charlotte Corday, the murderer, was a Girondin(2) from a minor aristocratic family and a political enemy of Marat who blamed him for the September Massacre. She gained entrance to Marats rooms with a note promising details of a counter-revolutionary ring in Caen. Marat suffered from a skin condition that caused him to work from his bath. Corday stabbed Marat, who died. She did not attempt to flee, and was later trailed and executed. While the painting is done in a realistic style, it has elements of being idealized, so that Marats death is almost graceful. His head is resting peacefully on the edge of the tub, and despite being stabbed in the chest he is still holding a quill in his right hand with which he was writing a letter, which he still holds in his left hand. This along with the dramatic lighting and overall calmness of the scene betrays the actually brutality of the stabbing. In fact, its a very peaceful painting. You could almost be forgiven for not thinking him dead. The Death of Marat is designed to commemorate a personable hero. David intended to record more than just the horror of martyrdom. In this sense, for realistic as it is in its details, the painting, as a whole, from its start, is a methodical construction focusing on the victim, a striking set up regarded today by several critics as an awful beautiful lie. (3)† To fully understand this artwork there are essentially two aspects to consider: first the style used by David, i. e. Neo-classicism, and secondly the artist’s purpose, i. e. turning Marat into a hero of high moral virtues according to the classical tradition. Neoclassicism as the name says was essentially a rediscovery of classical art from the Greek and Roman time. This style prescribed rigorous contours, sculptured forms, and polished surfaces and was based on ideals of harmony and austerity. By applying such technique, death is glorified and allows further depth for the beholder, which makes the message of the decisive clash of life and death stronger. Marat is dying: his eyelids droop, his head weighs heavily on his shoulder, his right arm slides to the ground. His body, as painted by David, is that of a healthy man, still young. The scene inevitably calls to mind a rendering of the Descent from the Cross. (4) The face is marked by suffering, but is also gentle and suffused by a growing peacefulness as the fangs of death loosen their grip. The significance of this is the inference that Marat sacrificed himself for the good of the people, just as Christ is said to have done. Other religious elements are also prominent, the halo like turban around Marat’s head, and the heavenly light shining upon Marat’s angelic face. The portrayal of Marat in this way contrasts with other accounts describing him. Marat up until the moments before his death was a violent man who totally supported the executions of all those who opposed the government. Marat was once known to have said, â€Å"In order to ensure public tranquility 200,000 heads must be cut off. †(5) It was David’s aim to â€Å"construct images of a secular saint. † David believed that Art must have a social mission (appeal to the beholders moral sense instead of merely giving him pleasure). Art must contribute forcefully to the education of the public. However in a time when violence was so prevalent â€Å"actuality† was replaced by inaccurate images resulting in historical misrepresentations. This was partly due to the fear people experienced, due to sympathies people held. David supported the Jacobins and so this representation is biased, giving only the Jacobins perspective, not at all representing the views of Corday or the Girondins who particularly hated Marat. All reflections in history are biased documents, but that’s another discussion. My interest with the Death of Marat lies within two philosophical notions, dualism and physicalism, Most religious views have a belief in the afterlife and the continuation of living in some other form after life has been completed. For Christians death leads to heaven, or hell to nonbelievers. For Buddhists death restarts the life cycle in reincarnation, the person becoming another living entity in another shape. Death in this piece of art has the power to confront the viewer with their own mortality, their own livingness, in ways that surpass normal emotions. In most modern countries, death is something that is hidden away from people, separated into cemeteries and funerals. Most would agree that death is an inherently bad thing, that living surpasses death in possible everyway. Death in culture has such wide ranging importance between nations and societies that one simple analysis does little justify the range of connotations. Conclusion The theme of death in art has been around for centuries. Death and the last living hours are present in the passion of the Christ, a subject matter that has been present strongly through art’s history. The dramatic use of neo-classicistic art techniques allowed David to capture not just a painting but also a symbolic gesture that death represents. By taking the fundamental pillars of neoclassicism and romanticizing them he was able to gain entrance to a certain presence. If theres ever a picture that would make you want to die for a cause, it is Death of Marat. But thats to separate it from the appalling moment of its creation, the French Revolution. For David, Marat wasn’t a monster, he was a saint. This was martyrdom, and part of David’s manifesto of the revolutionary virtue. When analyzing representations from the past we must recognize motivating factors behind representations. Subsequently we must question representations of the past, such as Davids â€Å"The Death of Marat† and the validity of opposing views. However death is far from being a radically new idea, it contains a wide range of philosophical concepts, depending and varying on cultural differences. The belief that human beings survive death in some form has profoundly influenced the thoughts, emotions, arts, scripts and actions of mankind. The belief occurs in all religions, past and present, and decisively condition the evaluations of man and his place in the universe.

Analysis of A Perfect Ganesh :: Perfect Ganesh Essays

A Perfect Ganesh Analysis of the play elements. The author: Terrence Mcnally’s career began in the New York off-off-Broadway boom of the late 1960s. Most of his 60’s plays are not really relevant although some are funny. However, during the 70’s his plays began to get recognition. Nowadays, his plays are performed in off-Broadway theaters and he is known as the author of tragicomic plays, filled with breadth and depth. He still lives in New York and is one of the America best playwrights. He is the author of numerous plays, including Master Class and Love! Valour! Compassion! (both winners of the Tony Award for best play), The Ritz, and Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, which became a movie starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer, and the books for the musicals The Rink and Kiss of the Spider Woman, which won the Tony Award for the best book of musical. Other successes include Lips Together, Teeth Apart and The Lisbon Traviata. Other plays by Terrence McNally are: Andre’s Mother; Corpus Christi: a play; It’s only a Play;Â   !Cuba si! Bringing it all back home, last gasps; and Where has Tommy Flowers Gone. McNally has received two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, and a citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He also serves as vice president for the Dramatists Guild, the American organization of playwrights, composers, and lyricists. His plays have been adapted to many languages, and performed in different countries. The plot The play concerns a two-week travel to India by two rich middle-aged women, who seem to be empty and frivolous. They both have indifferent and painful memories of the deaths of their sons. Although being friends for many years, it is only in this trip that they get to know each other (and also themselves) by experiencing the humanity of India. Katharine Brynne, one of them, is a mother who lost a homosexual son, killed by homophobics, and is haunted by the fact she rejected him. Katharine is also a woman who must deal with her racism, fueled by the fact that the men who killed her son were black. She is also an exuberant and open-minded woman who is willing to take risks and to accept the reality she sees about herself. In contrast to Katharine, there is Margaret Civil, who is more reserved, conventional, and motherly.

Blood Buffer Essay

Objectives: After completing this exercise and reading the corresponding material in your text, you should be able to 1. Prepare a wet mount slide 2. Identify structures described in this lab on slides 3. Cite examples of the wide diversity of cell types 4. Relate differences in structure among cells to functional differences Introduction Structurally and functionally, all living things share one common feature: all living organisms are composed of cells. The development of this concept began with Robert Hooke’s seventeenth-century observation that slices of cork were made up of small units he called â€Å"cells.† Over the next 100 years, the cell theory emerged. It was formally (and independently) presented by Schleiden and Schwann in 1839, and clarified by Virchow a few years later. This theory has three principles: (1) All organisms are composed of one or more cells. (2) All life processes derive from the activities of cells. (3) All cells arise from preexisting cells. Living organisms are composed of one or many cells, and every activity that occurs in a living organism is ultimately related to metabolic processes in cells. Understanding the processes of life requires an understanding of the structure and function of the cell. Although cells vary in organization, size, and function, all share certain structural features. All are enclosed within a plasma membrane, defining the boundary of the living material. All contain a region of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), which forms the genetic code. Inside of the plasma membrane is watery cytoplasm, and the chemical processes inside the cell occur within this watery medium. Upon microscopic examination, we see there are two basic types of cells, prokaryotic and eukaryotic, see the table below to see a comparison of the two cell types. For these following exercise you should use the highest magnification possible, because you will be able to see more detail, and you should record your observations at this magnification. Always begin with the lower magnifications, once you have found your specimen center it and focus it before increasing the magnification. We will not be using the 100X objective because it requires special handling and immersion oil, so you should use the 40X objective for most observations. What is the total magnification of a sample view with the 40X objective? Remember there is a lens in the ocular that magnifies the image 10x, so the total magnification will be 40 x 10 = 400X. Exercise 1: Examining Prokaryotic cells 1. What types of organisms are prokaryotic? 2. What structures are found in a Eukaryotic cell that will not be visible in a Prokayotic cell? 3. Examine the specimens available at the back of the classroom. Locate a prokaryotic cell and bring it back to your microscope. Name of specimen: ____________________ 4. Examine your specimen under the microscope. Sketch your specimen under 40x magnification below. Be sure to label any internal or external structures visible. Exercise 2: Examining Eukaryotic cells The cells on which we focus most of our attention are relatively large and complex, although many details of their structure are only evident with electron microscopy. The word eukaryote derives from the visible nucleus found in most of these cells. No one cell will show all of the features that a cell might have, so you will be observing a variety of eukaryotic cells. Protist cells: The protist kingdom includes eukaryotic unicellular forms (e.g., protozoans, algae, slime molds) as well as some simple multicellular forms. Many are mobile; some are photosynthetic; others are animal-like, ingesting food particles, or fungi-like, secreting digestive chemicals into the environment. Protists are diverse, often having complex cells. 1. What structures do you expect to see in these cells that was not evident in the prokaryotes you saw? Cultures of mixed protists and/or pond water are available in lab. Many different forms may be found in these cultures, including amoebas, flagellates and ciliates. (Many classifications of protists are based on how they move – with flagella, or cilia, or neither of these.) 2. Examine the specimens available at the back of the classroom. Locate the cultures of protist cells. You will examine two separate cultures. One of the cultures you’ll examine is the â€Å"Mixed Pond Protists,† you can pick which specimen you’ll examine for your second sample from the other cultures present in class. Make a wet mount of each culture, drawing material from the debris at the bottom of the culture jar. Name of specimen #1: Mixed Pond Protists Name of specimen #2: ____________________ 3. Observe first with scanning power (4X objective), looking for movement. If you don’t see anything, wash the material back into the jar and get another drop. Once you have located organisms, observe on higher power (40X objective). If the protists are moving very rapidly, they may swim out of the field of view. In this case, remove the coverslip and add a small drop of Detain. Detain is a thick solution that will help slow down the protists. REMEMBER THAT THE MICROSCOPE LIGHT IS HOT. Turn it off when you are not looking at the slide. 4. Examine your specimen under the microscope. Sketch each specimen under 40x magnification below. Be sure to label any internal or external structures visible. 5. What evidence do you see that protists are eukaryotes? 6. Attempt to identify the protists you have observed. There are several keys to protists available. Your instructor can help you use the keys if you’re not familiar with how they work. Write the name of your protists and your rationale for identification based on the characteristics in the key into your notes. When you have finished looking at your slide, place the slide in the bleach water. Plant cells: Plant cells are different from animal cells in many ways. 1. Name three ways plant cells differ from animal cells below. As in animals, cells of plants are organized into tissues, aggregations of similar cells performing a common function in a multicellular organism. In this part of the lab, you will look at several types of plant cells. Onion epidermal cells: 1. Make a wet mount of a colorless scale of an onion bulb by peeling the thin, membranous layer from the inside of one of the bulb scales and placing it on a slide in a drop of water. This usually works best if you partially slice through a ring, allowing the thin layer of tissue on the inner surface of the leaf to be pulled off. Use forceps to arrange the tissue in a drop of Iodine on a slide and cover with a cover slip. 2. Observe your preparation with the microscope, focusing first with the scanning power objective. Continue your study, switching to the low power (10 X) and finally the high power objective (40 X). 3. What shape do most of these cells have? What structure maintains this shape? 4. What structure is stained by the iodine? 5. Examine your specimen under the microscope. Sketch each specimen under 40x magnification below. Be sure to label any internal or external structures visible. 6. Which cellular components present in most leaf cells are absent from onion leaf cells? Elodea leaf cells: 1. Remove a single young leaf and prepare a wet mount. Examine the leaf first on scanning power, then on low power. 2. Examine your specimen under the microscope. Sketch each specimen under 40x magnification below. Be sure to label any internal or external structures visible. 3. After the cells have warmed a bit from the light of the microscope, you may see cytoplasmic streaming. Microfilaments in the cytoplasm are thought to be responsible for this intracellular movement. What cellular structure do you see moving around the cytoplasm? Animal cells: Human epithelial (cheek) cells: 1. Using the broad end of a clean toothpick, gently scrape the inside of your cheek. Stir the scrapings into a drop of saline and a drop of Methylene Blue on a clean microscope slide and add a cover slip. Do not reuse your toothpick. DO NOT PUT IT BACK WITH THE CLEAN TOOTHPICKS AND DON’T LAY IT ON THE TABLE. Discard it in the BIOHAZARD bag. 2. Because the cells are almost transparent, decrease the amount of light entering the objective lens to increase the contrast. Find the cells using the low power objective of your microscope, then switch to the high power objective for detailed study. Find the nucleus of a cell. Many of the cells will be folded or wrinkled due to their thin, flexible nature. 3. Examine your specimen under the microscope. Sketch each specimen under 40x magnification below. Be sure to label any internal or external structures visible. 4. Dark specs on the cells are bacteria, similar to the E. coli you looked at earlier. How big are these bacterial cells relative to your cheek cells? Discard this slide into the bowl containing the bleach water. Sheep’s blood (wet mount): Blood consists of two parts – a liquid portion (water + proteins) called plasma, and a cellular portion, containing many different cell types, including erythrocytes or red blood cells (RBCs), and leukocytes or white blood cells (WBCs). Red blood cells are red because they contain a lot of the oxygen-carrying molecule hemoglobin. The blood sample we have has been treated chemically to prevent clotting. 1. Prepare a wet mount by placing a drop of saline and a small drop of blood on the slide. Add a cover slip. Examine a portion of the slide in which the blood is diluted. 2. Examine your specimen under the microscope. Sketch each specimen under 40x magnification below. Be sure to label any internal or external structures visible. 3. What is missing from these cells that is found in eukaryotic cells? 4. How do the red blood cells compare to your cheek cells in size? What shapes are the cells? Discard this slide into the bowl containing the bleach water. Cells Review Questions Your answers should be specific and to the level of the lecture, book and lab manual. You may need to use outside sources. 1. What characteristics do all cells have in common? 2. What characteristics are common to all eukaryotic cells but not found in prokaryotic cells? 3. Would you expect that all the living cells you saw in lab contain mitochondria? Explain. 4. Did all living plant cells you observed contain chloroplasts? Explain. 5. Describe as many differences as you can between plant and animal cells at a cellular level. Do any of these differences relate to the organismic differences we see between plants and animals? Explain. 6. How do prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells compare in size? 7. How would you compare a protist cell to a cell from your body, a cheek cell for example, in terms of complexity at the cellular level?

Rwanda s Current Government And Foreign Policy - 878 Words

Rwandans experienced periods of exile, internal displacement and refugee status since the closing years of Rwanda’s colonial rule under Belgium. Starting in 1959 and up until what could still be argued as on-going is a section of the Rwandan population not being able to living in their ancestral homeland. There are two significant period of Rwandan exile in terms of Rwanda’s current government and foreign policy. The first was the period of 1959 to 1962 when an estimated one million, mostly Tutsi, Rwandans were forced to become refugees throughout the Great Lakes region. Starting from 1959 and continued until 1994, Rwandans living abroad experienced the stigmatism that the international community was not going to solve their exiled status. Some of the children of these exiles in Uganda would later form in 1987, the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF). It was this rebel group which initiated the Civil War, ended the 1994 genocide and afterward rule over Rwanda. 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