Las Meninas Essay Example for Free

Las Meninas Essay The aim of this paper is to analyze Diego Velazquez’s painting â€Å"Las Meninas†, one of the most impressive and controversial art pieces in history. The content and the message of the painting â€Å"Las Meninas† provides much food for thought. On the picture we can see the artist himself as he works at a canvas, but we can’t see what exactly he is painting; he is not alone in the studio. A group of seven is situated in the front part of the studio. Infanta Margarita is in the centre of the group. Infanta is accompanied by two maids of honour; one is serving her a refreshing drink. We also see Margarita’s playmates – a male and female dwarfs; one of them is teasing a sleepy dog. Two grave adults stand slightly farther than Infanta. The interior of the studio is also rendered with great attention and mastery. Velazquez is an unsurpassed master in light and shadow and delicate harmony of colours. There exists a variety of possible interpretations of this brilliant picture. The enigma of â€Å"Las Meninas† is connected with the following question: what painting is Velazquez working at? One of the possible interpretations suggests that the royal couple sits for the portrait, because we see them in the mirror on the opposite wall. But such an explanation contradicts some important facts. From history, King Philip IV and her second wife Marianna do not have any portrait where they would be portrayed together done by Velazquez. Therefore we may consider the hypothesis that Infanta Margarita herself sits for the painting. Velazquez caught the moment when the King and the Queen were entering the room as the mirror restores visibility to that which resides outside our view. Some personages have already noticed them – Infanta Margarita, the maid of honour standing to the right from Infanta and also the painter who interrupted his work to greet the royal couple. The symbolism of the painting is complex. The figures on the painting form a circle which is traditionally considered a symbol of the devotion and service. Scholars believe that a horoscope is concealed in â€Å"Las Meninas† (Vasilakis, 1997). French philosopher and historian Michel Foucault, one of the most influential public figures of the 20th century in European and American intellectual circles, has always been fascinated by the painting. His interest in Velazquez’s â€Å"Las Meninas† is associated with the painting’s preoccupation with exploring two philosophical concepts Foucault explored extensively in his works, namely the concept of the gaze and the concept of representation. The fact that the painter (a self-portrait of Velazquez) is looking at something that is supposed to be invisible to the spectator invites those regarding the painting to apprehend themselves. Thus, spectators are prescribed an active rather than passive role in observing the painting: â€Å"We are observing ourselves being observed by the painter, and made visible to his eyes by the same light that enables us to see him. And just as we are about to apprehend ourselves, transcribed by his hand as though in a mirror, we find that we can in fact apprehend nothing of that mirror but its lustreless back. Foucault’s exploration of the process of observation is based on the interactionist approach to knowledge creation. As OFarrell (2008) informs, â€Å"Foucault uses the word [gaze] to refer to the fact that it is not just the object of knowledge which is constructed but also the knower. † The painting represents spectacle-as-observation, given that the painter and other figures look at the painter’s models that should remain invisible to the spectator. Yet the spectator can see the painter’s models, King Philip IV and his wife, in the mirror that is placed at the wall in the back the room. While spectators can see the figures in the mirror, the painter himself or anyone of his posse are not looking at the mirror, so it remain invisible for them. Foucault (1994) notes that â€Å"[t]here are, it is true, some heads turned away from us in profile: but not one of them is turned far enough to see, at the back of the room, that solitary mirror, that tiny glowing rectangle which is nothing other than visibility, yet without any gaze able to grasp it, to render it actual, and to enjoy the suddenly ripe fruit of the spectacle it offers. † This phrase calls into the question the foundations of solipsism – whether objects actually exist if not regarded, observed, gazed at by a living being. Foucault’s statement that the mirror is not rendered actual by anyone looking at it suggests that the painting implicitly probes the concept of solipsism. The notion of gaze, central to the analysis of the painting, is linked to a variety of other, more substantial philosophical issues. For example, Foucault’s interest in the problem of representation stems from his conviction that representation is inherently linked to knowledge. Las Meninas,† by virtue of its spatial organization, allows application of deconstructive techniques to analyzing the painting itself and critically reflecting on concepts that are employed in this analysis. As Denzin (2007) notes, â€Å"a deconstructive reading engages four paired terms: (1) the real and its representations in a text; (2) text and author; (3) presence and lived experience; (4) subjects and their intentional meanings† (p. 69). The painting offers an opportunity to reflect on all these relationship in order to arrive at the correct judgment about the nature of representation. Foucault believes that Classical representation as defined in pre-Renaissance period based on equating thought and representation (i. e. the process of thinking was defined as using ideas to represent objects) was limited in its inability to explore the real meaning of representation. The problem of the relation between reality and its representations is solved differently under different epistemological regimes. Classical representation implies that the relation between reality and its representations is not the one of resemblance, since there are no characteristics of the idea that are themselves the representation of the object. Classical representation suggests that knowledge means having ideas that represent what a person knows. Descartes in his exploration of representation uses the concept of objective and formal reality for counterpositioning the object in the real world and the idea of that object in human thought. He discusses the sun as an example of interrelation between the two realities: the representation of the sun in human thought is a small two-dimensional circle in the sky, while the formal, or real sun is huge and spherical (Berreitter, 2000). Foucault poses a question of how can humans verify whether representations of objects are adequate. It is an impossible task since for the reason it will require comparing idea with the object independently of its representation. However, humans do not know object – only their representations. As Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2008) informs, â€Å"[t]he only possibility is that the idea itself must make it apparent that it is a representation. The idea represents the very fact that it is a representation. † This is precisely why Foucault (1994) believes in the exceptionality of â€Å"Las Meninas. † Due to the spatial organization of the painting, â€Å"the necessary disappearance of that which is its foundation of the person it resembles and the person in whose eyes it is only a resemblance. This very subject which is the same has been elided. And representation, freed finally from the relation that was im ¬peding it, can offer itself as representation in its pure form. † Therefore, â€Å"Las Meninas† is a unique painting that is able to provoke an in-depth exploration of core philosophical concepts. The fact that the painter is gazing at something that is visible to spectators in the mirror which the figures at the painting do not observe implies that the painting goes beyond the limits of Classical representation and calls for a deconstructive reading of the artwork.

Knowles Separate Peace Essays: Maturity in A Separate Peace

Maturity in A Separate Peace   In A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, the focus spotlight is quickly turned upon Gene Forrester and his maturity through the novel. He expresses his ideas about the many subjects through the book through his position as the novel's narrator. Also, as the book progresses, so does Gene's maturity.   Ã‚  Ã‚   The first chapter of A Separate Peace establishes the character Gene Forrester, who in actuality is a portrayal of John Knowles himself, according to a recent interview. In this establishment of the main character, Gene sets his place as a grown up and fully matured man, looking back on an incident when he was only sixteen years old. He vividly describes Devon High School as he currently saw, and as he remembered from the days of his past. The description provided in this chapter proves to the reader that in the events following this soliloquy, a young character will emerge, and will grow into the man they just read about.   Ã‚  Ã‚   In Chapter Two and Three, Gene develops a close bond with his roommate Finny. However, Gene, develops a sheer envy for Finny, and acknowledges it as the truth. He is extremely envious of the methods in which Finny uses to escape his unconventional actions and his popularity. He doctors himself in self-assurance, by repeatedly telling himself over and over again that having a best friend like Finny is a compliment and should be looked at as an achievement. However, this excuse is transparent of Gene's maturity at this point, portraying a very young, foolish, and selfish young man. It later leads to inner conflict within Gene. During this chapter, Finny and Gene brainstorm and create the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Se... ...orced him to grow up; it has forced him to realize his boyish selfishness and stupidity behind some of his actions. In the last two chapters, Gene depicts to the reader the thought process in which his mind goes through. Especially in Chapter Twelve, where the book draws to the climax of Gene finding meaning to the environment surrounding him.   Ã‚  Ã‚   A great deal of growing and heartfelt thoughts was brought forth by having Gene as the narrator. The reader was allowed to see inside the mind of another human, and see the thought process that went through the young man's head. The realization that the mind controls the mental growth is very strong throughout the whole book, considering the very immature outlook Gene took upon Finny and the events involving Finny, which evolve into carefully thought out remorse that grows into much needed maturity.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the Military

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the Military Proposal for MSA 685 Project Ronnie Heare Dr. Robert E. Weltzer Jr. Table of Contents Abstract3 Problem Statement4 Purpose of Study4 Literature Review5 Methodology8 References9 Literature Review Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is becoming an ever increasing problem in today’s military. This disorder is nothing new and has affected veterans from World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and Desert Shield/Desert Storm.There are particularly good descriptions of posttraumatic stress symptoms in the medical literature on combat veterans of World War II and on Holocaust survivors. (Veterans Affairs Fact Sheet, 2006). But with the many deployments in the past several years to Iraq and Afghanistan, with many soldiers going over for the third or fourth deployments, the pressures mounting on today’s military has become too much for some to handle. The main difference between past wand present wars is the ever in creasing number of women who are seeing combat on the front lines.Women are being tasked to fill more and more lethal combat roles as the war on terror continues and women appear to be more susceptible to PTSD than their male counterparts. Studies indicate that many of these women suffer from more pronounced and debilitating forms of PTSD than men, a worrisome finding in a nation that remembers how many traumatized troops got back from Vietnam and turned to drugs and violence, alcohol and suicide. (Scharnberg, 2005).The government is extremely concerned about this and has begun doing studies on how to combat the lingering effects of this disorder. Half of the women will be treated to long term therapy in which they will relive the traumatic events that led up to PTSD in hopes that their emotional distress will decrease over time and that their memory of the event is no longer traumatic. The other half of the women will be treated with a therapy that will focus on their life now and how to deal with the traumatic event in the present rather than the past.Although the goal of the study is to determine which therapies work best for women suffering from PTSD, experts agree that if the study is conclusive it eventually may be applied to tens of thousands of Iraq war veterans, male and female alike. (Scharnberg, 2005). While many soldiers are receiving help with their disorder, for some, the help comes too late and they are unable to cope or continue with their life. Since combat operations began in March 2003, 45 soldiers have killed themselves in Iraq, and an additional two dozen have committed suicide after returning home, the Army has confirmed. Mclemore, 2005). While these numbers are staggering some experts feel that the worst is yet to come. The problem for some is that they either do not know there is a problem or do not want anyone to know that they have a problem. The Army has recently begun screening of personnel that have recently returned from a deploym ent but that still does not help the thousands who have returned in previous years. According to Veterans Affairs (VA) data, 9. 600 of the 360,000 soldiers discharged after fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan have received a provisional diagnosis of PTSD. Mclemore, 2005). As the military continues to struggle with helping veterans with PTSD, there is another problem that also lingers. Many soldiers are returning to Iraq and Afghanistan with mental illness and given anti-depressants to help with their problems. A 2004 Army report found that up to 17 percent of combat-seasoned infantrymen experienced major depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder after one combat tour to Iraq. Less than 40 percent of them had sought mental-health care. (Rogers, 2006).One problem lies in that many soldiers want to return to combat with their units and as long as they are medically cleared to go then they are permitted to go. The second problem is the medical professional basically being able to predict the future and how the deployment will affect the soldier returning to combat. Had these soldiers been drafted and put on medication and sent back to combat there would have been many questions asked. Since this is an all volunteer Army it is too often assumed that these soldiers will do whatever is asked of them.Think of the ethical questions that would arise from sending draftees back to war on medications. (Rogers, 2006). It is clear that the amount and rate of deployments is not going to slow down in the near future. Until the military, not just the Army, can come up with a way to screen soldiers before and after deployments, there will be a continuous rise in the amount of soldiers suffering from PTSD. Methodology In the research paper I will provide historical as well as statistical data from the previous wars the United States Military has been involved in.I will show how the military has failed to cope with this ever increasing problem and the impact it has had an d will have on the future our military force. It has become obvious that men and women are becoming increasingly wary of entering our Armed Forces today because of the thought of deploying to Iraq, Afghanistan or some other country. I will use data that has already been collected from many sources, Veterans Affairs, military, etc, to substantiate these findings. Until the deployments slow down and we tart taking better care of our veterans this reluctance to join the Armed Forces is not going to get any better. Couple this with the ever decreasing benefits and the unwillingness of the people in charge to ensure that money is made available to care for the traumas of war people will continue to stay away from the military. I will also discuss the differences with PTSD in men and women and the types to therapies being used on both. Finally, the paper will discuss ways that the military can assist and support, not only soldiers with PTSD, but the family members that suffer along with t hem.References Department of Veterans Affairs Homepage. What is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder? [online]. Available: http://www. ncptsd. va. gov/topics/war. html (2006, February 22). Mclemore, David. (2005, Dec 8). For troops, stress a lingering hazard. The Dallas Morning News. Nadelson, Theodore. Damage: War's Awful Aftermath. In Trained to Kill: Soldiers at War, 89-103. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. 191pp. (U21. 5 . N33 2005) Rogers, Rick. (2006, March 19).Some troops headed back to Iraq are mentally ill. The San Diego Union Tribune. Scharnberg, Kirsten. (2005, March 28). Women GIs and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Chicago Tribune. U. S. Government Accountability Office. VA Health: VA Should Expedite the Implementation of Recommendations Needed to Improve Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Services. Washington, D. C. : U. S. Government Accountability Office, February 2005. 58pp. Available from http://www. gao. gov/new. items/d05287. pdf. Internet. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the Military Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the Military Proposal for MSA 685 Project Ronnie Heare Dr. Robert E. Weltzer Jr. Table of Contents Abstract3 Problem Statement4 Purpose of Study4 Literature Review5 Methodology8 References9 Literature Review Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is becoming an ever increasing problem in today’s military. This disorder is nothing new and has affected veterans from World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and Desert Shield/Desert Storm.There are particularly good descriptions of posttraumatic stress symptoms in the medical literature on combat veterans of World War II and on Holocaust survivors. (Veterans Affairs Fact Sheet, 2006). But with the many deployments in the past several years to Iraq and Afghanistan, with many soldiers going over for the third or fourth deployments, the pressures mounting on today’s military has become too much for some to handle. The main difference between past wand present wars is the ever in creasing number of women who are seeing combat on the front lines.Women are being tasked to fill more and more lethal combat roles as the war on terror continues and women appear to be more susceptible to PTSD than their male counterparts. Studies indicate that many of these women suffer from more pronounced and debilitating forms of PTSD than men, a worrisome finding in a nation that remembers how many traumatized troops got back from Vietnam and turned to drugs and violence, alcohol and suicide. (Scharnberg, 2005).The government is extremely concerned about this and has begun doing studies on how to combat the lingering effects of this disorder. Half of the women will be treated to long term therapy in which they will relive the traumatic events that led up to PTSD in hopes that their emotional distress will decrease over time and that their memory of the event is no longer traumatic. The other half of the women will be treated with a therapy that will focus on their life now and how to deal with the traumatic event in the present rather than the past.Although the goal of the study is to determine which therapies work best for women suffering from PTSD, experts agree that if the study is conclusive it eventually may be applied to tens of thousands of Iraq war veterans, male and female alike. (Scharnberg, 2005). While many soldiers are receiving help with their disorder, for some, the help comes too late and they are unable to cope or continue with their life. Since combat operations began in March 2003, 45 soldiers have killed themselves in Iraq, and an additional two dozen have committed suicide after returning home, the Army has confirmed. Mclemore, 2005). While these numbers are staggering some experts feel that the worst is yet to come. The problem for some is that they either do not know there is a problem or do not want anyone to know that they have a problem. The Army has recently begun screening of personnel that have recently returned from a deploym ent but that still does not help the thousands who have returned in previous years. According to Veterans Affairs (VA) data, 9. 600 of the 360,000 soldiers discharged after fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan have received a provisional diagnosis of PTSD. Mclemore, 2005). As the military continues to struggle with helping veterans with PTSD, there is another problem that also lingers. Many soldiers are returning to Iraq and Afghanistan with mental illness and given anti-depressants to help with their problems. A 2004 Army report found that up to 17 percent of combat-seasoned infantrymen experienced major depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder after one combat tour to Iraq. Less than 40 percent of them had sought mental-health care. (Rogers, 2006).One problem lies in that many soldiers want to return to combat with their units and as long as they are medically cleared to go then they are permitted to go. The second problem is the medical professional basically being able to predict the future and how the deployment will affect the soldier returning to combat. Had these soldiers been drafted and put on medication and sent back to combat there would have been many questions asked. Since this is an all volunteer Army it is too often assumed that these soldiers will do whatever is asked of them.Think of the ethical questions that would arise from sending draftees back to war on medications. (Rogers, 2006). It is clear that the amount and rate of deployments is not going to slow down in the near future. Until the military, not just the Army, can come up with a way to screen soldiers before and after deployments, there will be a continuous rise in the amount of soldiers suffering from PTSD. Methodology In the research paper I will provide historical as well as statistical data from the previous wars the United States Military has been involved in.I will show how the military has failed to cope with this ever increasing problem and the impact it has had an d will have on the future our military force. It has become obvious that men and women are becoming increasingly wary of entering our Armed Forces today because of the thought of deploying to Iraq, Afghanistan or some other country. I will use data that has already been collected from many sources, Veterans Affairs, military, etc, to substantiate these findings. Until the deployments slow down and we tart taking better care of our veterans this reluctance to join the Armed Forces is not going to get any better. Couple this with the ever decreasing benefits and the unwillingness of the people in charge to ensure that money is made available to care for the traumas of war people will continue to stay away from the military. I will also discuss the differences with PTSD in men and women and the types to therapies being used on both. Finally, the paper will discuss ways that the military can assist and support, not only soldiers with PTSD, but the family members that suffer along with t hem.References Department of Veterans Affairs Homepage. What is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder? [online]. Available: http://www. ncptsd. va. gov/topics/war. html (2006, February 22). Mclemore, David. (2005, Dec 8). For troops, stress a lingering hazard. The Dallas Morning News. Nadelson, Theodore. Damage: War's Awful Aftermath. In Trained to Kill: Soldiers at War, 89-103. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. 191pp. (U21. 5 . N33 2005) Rogers, Rick. (2006, March 19).Some troops headed back to Iraq are mentally ill. The San Diego Union Tribune. Scharnberg, Kirsten. (2005, March 28). Women GIs and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Chicago Tribune. U. S. Government Accountability Office. VA Health: VA Should Expedite the Implementation of Recommendations Needed to Improve Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Services. Washington, D. C. : U. S. Government Accountability Office, February 2005. 58pp. Available from http://www. gao. gov/new. items/d05287. pdf. Internet.

The Importance Of A High School Teacher - 2850 Words

All families have been touched by divorce either within the nuclear family or extended family. Unfortunately, within the nuclear family separation and divorce have become an all too common experience for many American children. When divorce happens in a family the ones affected most are the parents and their children. Teachers are also affected by the divorce of their student’s parents as they themselves have a front-seat to the crisis in the family and how it affects their students. As a high school teacher I will be primarily focusing on the adolescent student whose parents are going through a divorce, as this is directly applies to my current position. Working in a high school setting, I unfortunately have limited time getting to know my students over an hour a day as my students have 8 classes a day. However, I do make a point to get to know my students as much as possible. In the case of students going through a traumatic experience like divorce, teachers are seen as the â€Å"first responders† in a situation where a student is exhibiting signs of distress such as the following behavior changes at school: Decreased concentration, lashing out, impaired academic performance, distrust of adults, trying to be the â€Å"perfect† student, neediness, withdrawal, impaired peer relationships, decreased enthusiasm and mood fluctuations. (Surviving the Break Up Chapter 15 and CD The Effects of the Divorce on Children) Depending on the response from the student when the teacher addressesShow MoreRelatedGrade Students With Low Reading Comprehension Level860 Words   |  4 Pagescarry a heavy burden with them as they enter high school. McCallumore and Sparapani (2010) point out that these students are coming from middle school with low reading comprehension level; therefore, they are behind before they begin. 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