Henri Bergson

HENRI BERGSON History of Ideas 2012 To: Sir Asad Shahzad 10/21/2012 GROUP MEMBERS: * AMMARAH MASROOR-12779 * ASFIA AZIZ-12718 * SYEDA AREEBA TARIQ-13055 SUBMITTED TO: SIR ASAD SHAHZAD DATE: 21/OCT/2012 TOPIC| PAGE| Henri Bergson – Introduction| 2| Bergson’s Intuition| 3| Intuition: Definition, Explanation, A small practice that led to Intuition| 4| Example, Sinking into Intuition, Explanation| 5| Another Example, Explanation, Intuition as Philosophical Method| 6| Intuition as Philosophical Method| 7|Bergson’s Time and Free Will| 8| TABLE OF CONTENTS: Time and Free Will: Space| 9| Time| 10| Past and Present| 11| Free Will and Determinism| 12| Bergson’s Creative Evolution| 15| Meaning of Evolution| 16| Creative Evolution: Definition, Essence of Life, Elan Vital, Book| 18| Comparison between Darwin’s Theory of Mechanical Evolution and Bergson’s Theory of Creative Evolution| 19| Critics| 22| References| 23| HENRI BERGSON:Introduction: Henri Bergs on (1859–1941) was one of the most famous and influential French philosophers of the late 19th century-early 20th century. Bergson was born in Paris on October 18, 1859; he was the second of seven children of a Polish Father and English mother; both of his parents were Jewish. Bergson was a notably exceptional pupil throughout his childhood. Like his German contemporary, Edmund Husserl, Bergson's original training was in mathematics.Although his international fame reached cult-like heights during his lifetime, his influence decreased notably after the Second World War While such French thinkers as Merleau-Ponty, Sartre, and Levinas explicitly acknowledged his influence on their thought, it is generally agreed that it was Gilles Deleuze's 1966  Bergsonism  that marked the reawakening of interest in Bergson's work. Deleuze realized that Bergson's most enduring contribution to philosophical thinking is his concept of multiplicity. Bergson's concept of multiplicity attempts t o unify in a consistent way two contradictory features: heterogeneity and continuity.Many philosophers today thinks that this concept of multiplicity, despite its difficulty, is revolutionary. It is revolutionary because it opens the way to a reconception of community. (www. plato. stanford. edu) BERGSON’S INTUITION BY: SYEDA AREEBA TARIQ HENRI BERGSON: He wrote a book ‘THE CREATIVE MIND’ in 1946. This book is an introduction to metaphysics which consist of collection of essays and lectures concerning the nature of intuition, explaining how intuition can be used as a philosophical method. Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy in which the nature of being and world is taken into context.Whereas, two important questions are answered 1. what is there? And 2. what is it like? I would be explaining what intuition according to Bergson is and why it is called philosophical method. INTUITION: DEFINITION OF INTUITION: * An immediate cognition of object not inferred or d etermined by a previous cognition of the same object. * Untaught pure knowledge. EXPLANATION: Philosophical definition of intuition says that it is an immediate process of knowing of some object not by reasoning or analyzing the previous knowing of the same object.It is therefore, said to be pure or untaught knowledge that one acquires at an instant. ACCORDING TO BERGSON: According to Henry Bergson intuition is described as a method of ‘thinking in duration' which reflects the continuous flow of reality. A SMALL PRACTICE THAT LED TO INTUITION: Once he was rolling and unrolling thread and said that this represent man’s sense of mortality and the continual gain of new memory; a spectrum of a thousand shades with a current of feeling running through them, collecting and retaining them, to represent how all the moments are heterogeneous.The human has tendency to build new memories and retain them. He said that human memory has stored thousand of new things different from th e one formed and the one that will form every time if they go through the process of knowing. EXAMPLE: Example that he gave was of a piece of elastic which is contracted than drawn out to its limit and we can observe that there is a flow. The elastic produces a line which grows long and long presents that something is pure indivisible mobile unit. SINKING INTO INTUITION: He says that this is duration which can’t be divided.It is the qualitative not quantitative it has multiplicity yet unity and is mobile and continuously penetrating itself. He even says that duration can’t be represented by concept. One cannot experience the feeling if just a concept is there. One can’t grasp duration with concept. But duration is grasped only by intuition. By which one is transported into an object to grasp what is unique and ineffable (can’t describe in word) within it. Intuition is a complete philosophical method that involves placing oneself within the Duration, and e xpanding it into a continuous heterogeneity.EXAMPLE: Take an example a person has captured lots of picture of CBM from different angles and a poet has composed a poem over life here but one cannot replicate the feeling of being in CBM itself whereas the poem can never give the dimensional value of walking in CBM. EXPLANATION: Thus any concept given cannot grasp duration flow of real time but intuition can grasp duration. One can sink into the other object by having intuition an instant knowledge which is unique can’t be explained is gain by person which forms a new memory.Thus intuition is a direct perception and experience of the continuous flow of reality, without the use of any concepts the flow of time as real duration can be experienced only by intuition. ANOTHER EXAMPLE: He uses the example of an artist who makes a series of sketches of Notre Dame in Paris. â€Å"Now at the bottom of all the sketches made in Paris, the stranger will probably write ‘Paris’ by way of reminder. And as he has really seen Paris, he will be able, by descending from the original intuition of the whole, to place his sketches in it and thus arrange them in relation to one another.But there is no way of performing the opposite operation; even with an infinity of sketches as exact as you like, even with the word ‘Paris’ to indicate that they must bear close connection, it is impossible to travel back to an intuition one has not had, and gain the impression of Paris if one has never seen Paris (201). † EXPLANATION: Here he says that if an artist has sketched a model of a city which he has actually seen and drew him would have knowing of the place which he has transferred to his sketches. He is descending from original intuition in order to place his sketches in it.But if a person who has never seen Paris he cannot enjoy Paris sketches as much as the one who saw in actual would transport himself to the sketches and intuit it as an object. The p erson never seen Paris can never feel like walking into the place rather he would make a new intuition of his one within the duration. A person can form an immediate knowing of object different from the knowing of the same object before by actually being in duration through intuition. Why intuition is called as philosophical method-of transporting into object to grasp what is ineffableIntuition is a method through which one cast off or throws his habits of mind that tries to break duration and thus convert the duration into space. To know anything as whole it’s necessary to intuit rather breaking into bits of pieces. Experience can only come from intuition. We hear melody; we hear the whole, not a series of notes one after another. When we  analyze the melody, we may indeed break it into a number of notes, but we are then analyzing the notes, not the melody. The melody, to be known, must be grasped as a whole. In other words, it must be intuited. Thus, the method of intuiti on is at essence the task of metaphysics.Metaphysics is not a synthesis of knowledge, a sort of piecing together of the notes to form a melody, nor is it analysis, the breaking down of a melody into its component notes. Metaphysics is the  experience of melody. Thus concludes Bergson in his â€Å"Introduction to Metaphysics†: â€Å"Metaphysics has nothing in common with a generalization of experience, and yet it could e defined as the whole of experience (l’experience integral). † BERGSON’S TIME AND FREE WILL BY: ASFIA AZIZ TIME AND FREE WILL (1889) – HENRI BERGSON Henri Bergson in his book has explained various different ideas amongst which the most studied are of * Time and Space The Idea of Pure Duration * Free Will and Determinism I will explain each point in detail. This book has influences Sartre towards Philosophy. This book is also considered to be an anti-thesis to Immanuel Kant. Kant proposed that Freedom is something beyond the circle of time and space. Time and space is considered as ‘same’ to Kant i. e. being homogenous. Bergson on the contrary, differentiates time and space and gives forward the concept of duration, a state in which freedom is experienced. (www. stanford. edu) The explanations have been extracted from his book â€Å"Time and Free will- An essay on the immediate data of consciousness† SPACE:Henri Bergson defines space as being homogenous. It is the same and identical to everyone perceiving it. He says that multiplicity exists in space. Multiplicity is the psychic state of being multiple at the same time. It has a connection with the human mind and reason, because reason enables a person to understand the state of multiplicity. Bergson demonstrates two kinds of multiplicity: 1. Quantitative Multiplicity: When we count physically existing materials and we localize them in space, it is called quantitative multiplicity.No symbolic representation and mental images are formed to p erceive this kind of state, because things exist physically in front of our eyes. (Key Writings, Bergson, continuum, p53) Example, when we count the number of sheep in a flock of sheep, we save images of the previous sheep in our minds as our counting progresses. These images are involuntarily fixed by us at a point in space. 2. Qualitative Multiplicity: This is the analysis of the states of consciousness being multiple when we perceive intangible materials or qualities. Here, formation of mental images and symbolic representation is important.Example, when we hear a noise of footsteps, our minds form a mental image of somebody walking and each of the successive sounds of the steps are localized in space; we count our sensations by localizing them into space and this leads to the demonstration of qualitative multiplicity. (Key Writings, Bergson, continuum p53) By defining the existence of multiplicity in space, Henri Bergson then defines space as: â€Å"Space is what enables us to distinguish a number of identical and simultaneous sensations from one another; it is thus a principle of differentiation† Some people say that simultaneous sensations are never identical.To support this point, Henri Bergson states that when we talk about homogenous medium we are talking about the simultaneity of terms which are identical in quality but are distinct from each other. Henri proposes that the higher the intelligence in a human, the more clear the understanding of homogenous space will be. Men have the special faculty of conceiving space without quality and hence we say that the medium where men localize simultaneous sensations and objects are the same for everyone. (Key Writings, Henri Bergson, continuum, pg 57) TIME:Usually many philosophers take time and space to be the same. But Henri Bergson, differentiates between time and space. For him, there are two kinds of time: * Mathematical time: Mathematical time is the time which is used in sciences by scientists. It is homogenous time which is the same for everyone. This is the time which many philosophers consider as space, as it is homogenous. (ibid, p63) Example, the time in hours, minutes and seconds used to calculate speed of a moving body is mathematical time. It can also be called the clock time. * Real Time or Real Duration:According to Bergson, real time is the time that we experience and it is continuous and flowing. It is heterogeneous as it is the qualitative representation of time that differs from person to person. It is also called the state of real duration defined by Bergson as: â€Å"Pure duration is the form which the succession of our conscious states assumes when ego lets itself live, when it refrains from separating its present state from its former states† To understand this, Bergson said that real duration is the state of mind where our ego dominates.Ego is the self of a person and directs the person’s mind to amalgamate the past states with the present states in an organic whole. In this conscious state, all states of mind permeate into one another to form it as a whole. (ibid, p60) Example, when we hear successive rings of a bell, we perceive that sound to be in a continuous rhythm and do not distinguish each ting of the bell. This amalgamation and permeation of the successive rings of bell into one organic whole is what real duration is all about. Past and Present:When Bergson speaks of the past, he does not mean the past, but our present memory of the past. Present is the only moment in the whole history of the world. Past resides in the present and that also changes the aspirations for future. This permeation of former and present states demonstrates real duration. Example, a man has a best friend and he believes him to have all good characteristics. One day, if he sees his best friend lying to him, all his perceptions about the good characteristics would change.This shows that his present will change his past and future too. This is how real duration is experienced in real life. Quotations by Henri Bergson, â€Å"The present contains nothing more than the past, and what is found in the effect was already in the cause. † â€Å"The idea of future, pregnant with infinity of possibilities, is thus more fruitful than the future itself, and this is why we find more charm in hope than in possession, in dreams than in reality† FREE WILL AND DETERMINISM: Real Duration vindicates human freedom and disposes off the path of determinism.To understand this, we must first understand these two doctrines separately. Determinism: It is a doctrine that all human choices, events and actions have sufficient causes and are pre-determined by the states of mind. For a determinist, freedom of choice is an illusion. This illusion can be presented as, that if a person has to select one branch from a lot of branches; the branch that he selects is a choice that is fully predictable because somewhere at the back of his mind he has the idea of which branch to select. www. informationphilosopher. com) In response to this example, Bergson proposed the idea of free will and said that the above choice is a choice through the formation of a mental image localized in space, which is inadequate to symbolize a choice. Choice is a temporal act for Bergson as it is pertaining to the present and conscious state of mind. Free Will: It is a doctrine that the events and actions of human beings are expressed through personal choices and are not governed by other forces or states of mind.Henri Bergson proposes that through experiencing real duration we can be free. The freedom of choice is fully certified by direct experience says Bergson. He describes free will as, â€Å"A man is free when his act springs spontaneously from his total personality and it has evolved up to the moment of action. If this spontaneity is absent, his action will be stereotyped† When man experiences real duration, he gains possess ion of himself and once self possession is attained, the man acts freely and creatively.Freedom has a strong association with personality or character of an individual. Character and personality changes from different situations which in turn changes our self. To demonstrate this idea, Bergson uses the saying of an English writer Stuart Mill: â€Å"To be conscious of free will must mean to be conscious, before I have decided, that I am able to decide either way† Bergson and other defenders of free will would be of the opinion that, when we perform an action freely, some other action is ‘equally possible’ which we leave and make a choice willingly.When a determinist says that our motives determine our action, Bergson says that motives are conflicting. He says that common sense believes in free will, and motives are not a necessity for defining our actions (Time and Free Will, Bergson, p148). To prove that motives are conflicting, Henri Bergson presents the sayings of Stuart Mill as: â€Å"I could have abstained from murder if my aversion to the crime and my dread of its consequences had been weaker than the temptation which impelled me to commit it. † In response to this Henri Bergson said, His desire to do right and his aversion to doing wrong are strong enough to overcome†¦ any other desire or aversion which may conflict them†(TFW, p150) Through this, the only idea that Bergson intends to provide is that the motives of ‘desire’ and ‘aversion’ are conflicting. But when the man decides to select one of them, it demonstrates his free will and freedom of choice. BERGSON’S CREATIVE EVOLUTION BY: AMMARAH MASROOR Let us first start with the basic definition of evolution, MEANING OF EVOLUTION: A process of formation or growth, progressive change or development in the  inherited characteristics  of  biological  populations over successive  generations† Hence the term ‘Evolutio n’ means that certain characteristics or genes starts transforming in a population which then results in a complete transformation of that population’s characteristics which was once inherited by the preceding populations. So it is said that the growth or development which has been taking place as the generations passed has thus completed and now it can be said that this species has evolved.This process of evolution can take place in living organisms as well as in non-living organisms. Some general examples could be the evolution of the bottle of coke or the evolution of airplanes, what we once used to see in cartoons and documentaries and what we see now in reality and in which most of us have travelled is absolutely an evolution. The best example for the evolution in living organisms is the evolution of mankind, the theory that Darwin proposed and the idea that he gave that, ‘Man is the descendant of apes’ CREATIVE EVOLUTION: Henri Bergson proposed the i dea of evolution as ‘Creative Evolution’.He believed that human beings are primarily to be explained in terms of the evolutionary process and that the mechanical process of random selection is inadequate to explain what occurs. According to Bergson: â€Å"Creative evolution is a sort of inner drive which he calls as â€Å"elan vital†, translated as â€Å"life force† and this life force has a connection with the real time that carries the process of evolution perpetually onward. † In order to understand this definition of creative evolution first one needs to understand the two concepts that he highlights in here: Essence of Life:For Bergson the essence of life is duration, the real time – time that is continuously flowing through which we have direct inner experience and is connected with life itself, with the life force that is the elan vital because of which goes on the everlasting process of evolution. Elan Vital: Bergson gives an explanat ion to this terminology as â€Å"an original common impulse which explains the creation of all living species†. The word’s literal meanings are ‘vital force’, ’life force’ or ‘vital impulse’. A combination of both real time and life force causes the process of creative evolution to begin. BOOK – CREATIVE EVOLUTION:In order to further explain his work and concept about creative evolution Henri Bergson wrote a book in 1907 which provided an explanation against Darwin’s Theory of Mechanism. He was also awarded a Nobel Prize for this work of his. COMPARISION BETWEEN DARWIN’S THEORY OF MECHANICAL EVOLUTION AND BERGSON’S THEORY OF CREATIVE EVOLUTION: In order to understand that why Bergson’s Theory is known as Creative Evolution and Darwin’s Theory as Mechanical Evolution let us have a comparison between the two theories. This comparison includes the 4 main points of both the theories and all t he points of each theory are interrelated with each other.The first and the foremost comparison between the two theories are about the approaches they follow. Bergson’s creative evolution follows the teleological approach of traditional finalism that is everything that starts comes to its natural place which ultimately makes the genuine creative creation. Now here the teleological approach comes from the word teleology which means that things should be explained by the appeal to their goal, purpose or functions. For example if you throw a rock it would go to its natural place – the ground, due to the gravitational pull that exists.Teleological whereas can be explained for the existence or presence of biological trait, structure or behavior by appeal to its function. In comparison to this Darwin’s mechanical evolution follows the mechanistic approach which precludes the possibility of any real change or creativity as the products of evolution is given in advance, in the form of pre-existent possibilities. This explains that this process deprives evolution of any inventiveness or creativity because this process is treated as pure mechanism which simply adds existence to something that already had been in the form of possible.Hence there is no difference left between the real and possible. Although both the approaches, to some extent are same because they provide us with the notion that â€Å"Whole is given†. Therefore, neither mechanism nor strict finalism can give a satisfying account of changes in life. The second comparison is about the Tendency Theory. Here Bergson talks about the â€Å"complexification† of life, that is, the phenomenon of its evolution from the simple original vital impulse into different species, individuals, and organs.Here he explains two concepts, firstly he explains that after evolution has occurred species are then differentiated into plants, animals and humans. Then he further explains that life is complex and in order to simplify itself it organizes itself into two great opposite tendencies, namely, instinct and intelligence. Here he then explains the second concept that these tendencies further provides a distinction between humans and animals, that humans have both these tendencies whereas animals only have one that is instinct.This is the reason why Bergson calls this evolution of mankind as ‘Creative Evolution’. In comparison to this Darwin speaks of the ‘Natural Selection’ – the primary mechanism of change over time which includes 4 components * Variation * Inheritance * High rate of population growth * Differential survival and reproduction This is very obvious from the four of its points that he believes that the more the specie is adaptable to change, the variance and tendency to inherit and the more it increases its population through reproduction it has more chances of evolution.The third comparison is that Bergson believes at the pe ripheral of intelligence a fringe of instinct survives which helps us to understand the essence of life. This means that at the boundaries of intelligence a border of instinct is present. His concept is that instinct is the primary factor whereas intelligence is the secondary factor. Instinct comes in first and then the intelligence, this is why instinct came first in all living organisms but then some of the organisms further evolved.Hence because of this evolution they can then be differentiated as animals – with instinct whereas humans – with instinct and then with intelligence (after evolution). Comparing this with Darwin’s theory it can be said that he had no concept of the two tendencies hence focused on the concept of â€Å"Survival of the Fittest†. According to him there exists no such tendencies which helps us to lead our lives, instead there is this concept of â€Å"Survival of the Fittest† where only those species survives that are open to changes, open to use available resources and can fit in the present environment whereas others are there to die.An example could be of the movie Ice Age where all the animals in that movie do not further exist instead they have evolved (the mammoth have now evolved as elephants). The point of Bergson in this comparison can be concluded as there is a little bit of instinct surviving within each intelligent being, making it to coincide with the life force. This partial coincidence is what found ‘Intuition’. The fourth comparison in actual is not a comparison because it is just a one sided difference.Here Bergson puts forward his view and connects it with his previous point of tendencies, that combined result of instinct and intellect is â€Å"intuition†. Through intuition, an individual understands the difference between ‘order’ and ‘disorder’. Intuition means gut feeling, sometimes known as the 6th sense. Bergson says that our way of p erceiving and knowing this world when based on the need for living is then an obstacle. To this obstacle he gives the name ‘Idea of Disorder’. This idea consists of three notions: 1.Order: things happening according to our needs and wants 2. Disorder: simply the order we are not looking for. Although this order may be correct for others but for us it is not happening according to what we want. 3. Nothingness: things that exist in space but we do not consider them to be as existing because it had never been our need. To this point of Bergson there is no comparing point of Darwin because he never came to the point of intuition. His theory stopped at the notions of ‘Natural Selection’ and ‘Survival of the Fittest’. LETTER TO HAROLD HOFFDING:Henri Bergson in one of his letter to Harold Hoff ding which was published in his book key writings said that â€Å"someone who gets a complete grasp on the creative evolution would never then believe on the p rocess of mechanism because in that time is useless†. CRITICS: Although Bergson made his ideas attractive with analogies and poetic metaphors he did not support them with rational arguments. He left them to the readers to understand it themselves on their level of intuition. Furthermore, his critics complained that his ideas did not stand up very well to logical analysis.His defenders replied by saying that he possessed all these characteristics in common with the best creative writers, and that this was because he was offering insights rather than logical arguments. REFERENCES: * www. google. com * www. googleimages. com * www. stanfordencyclopediaofphilosophy. com (plato. stanford. edu) * www. dictionary. references. com * Key Writings – Henri Bergson (continuum) * Modern Philosophy by Bertrand Russell * History of Western Philosophers * 20th Century Philosophy

Draculas first victim Essay Example

Draculas first victim Essay Example Draculas first victim Paper Draculas first victim Paper Essay Topic: Dracula This man was engaged to Lucy before she died and then ironically tries to kill her when she has become a vampire. He is good friends with Dr. Seward and Quincey Morris and the son of Lord Godalming who dies on the same day as Lucy, giving him that title.  Quincey Morris  He is an American originally from Texas who dies in the attempt to kill Dracula. His friends include Arthur Holmwood and Dr. Seward. In the past Quincey proposed to Lucy but was refused. This characters presence is like the human race in that our technology cannot defeat the evil that surrounds us as vampires. He thinks a gun can destroy Dracula but it cannot. This gives the reader a sense of helplessness in that nothing can be done if vampires are real. Renfield  This man lives in Dr. Sewards insane asylum and is in his fifties. He is driven mad by Dracula who promised him eternal life as one of his disciples. Renfield catches and eats small living creatures in his cell such as spiders, flies and birds. He yearns to serve Dracula and calls him master but eventually the vampire kills him. His presence in the novel shows vampires from a different angle and makes people wonder whether being one would be so bad. The Plot  At the start of the novel a young man by the name of Jonathan Harker travels from London to visit the castle of Count Dracula. Harker (an English layer) travels across into Eastern Europe in order to settle a deal with the Count about him buying an estate in England. The castle of Dracula is situated in Transylvania where there are many ancient folklores. On his journey he finally stops at Blistritz where there is much superstition and the local people are afraid of evil. The land and language is foreign and mysterious to Jonathan and a woman gives him a small crucifix to keep him safe. At this point Harker is unnerved by what he has seen and wonders why the locals are so afraid. On the way to the castle along the Carpathian Mountains Harker is on a coach and gets another chance to admire the landscape but gets some strong hints of the doom that surrounds the castle. After some time the coach stops and another one comes along to collect Jonathan Harker on his way to the castle. At this point the weather is very poor and stormy as this dark coach hurries away with Harker. He has an encounter with wolves on the journey that also makes Harker scared. The castle is huge but ruined and as Harker leaves the coach he makes his way to a large door where he goes in. Finally Count Dracula appears and welcomes him in making Harker feel at home. They both discuss the situation with the estate as Harker has some food but Dracula tells him that he has already eaten. As they talk Harker notices Draculas pointed ears, pale skin, and sharp teeth, which give Harker a sense of unease. Harker soon realizes that Dracula is a supernatural and evil being and sees him crawl down the walls of the battlements like a lizard. Harker becomes a prisoner in the castle and comes across three female vampires by whom he is held as the Count travels to England by boat. Harker ends his diary by planning to climb down the castle battlements to escape. Back in England, Harkers fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½e, Mina Murray meets with her friend Lucy Westenra who has been proposed to by three men by the names Dr. John Seward, Arthur Holmwood and an American named Quincey Morris. Lucy then is engaged to Arthur Holmwood. A ship is then found which contains fifty boxes of soil from Count Draculas castle. This strange vessel was found with no crew but a dead captain. A large wolf like creature was then seen getting ashore but then disappeared. Lucy begins to sleepwalk and one night Nina finds her in the cemetery with a dark creature bending over her close friend. As she sees this Nina notices that this creature has red eyes that are menacing. Later on Lucy becomes very ill but no one knows what is wrong with her. Dr. Seward tries to find out what is wrong but finds nothing except two small marks around the neck of the woman. He is unable to diagnose the cause. Mina goes to join Jonathan Harker who has ended up in Buda-Pest suffering from brain fever. Dr. Seward contacts Professor Van Helsing about Lucy and he covers her chambers with garlic (a charm against vampires) that works for some time. Seward and Van Helsing wrongfully take down their guard and Dracula uses an escaped wolf to break into the Westenra house which gives Lucys mother a heart attack. The garlic gets scattered so enabling Dracula to feed. Lucy eventually dies at the same time as her fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s father Lord Godalming. After Lucys death Van Helsing leads Arthur, Seward and Quincey to Lucys tomb where they kill her by plunging a stake into her heart and cutting off her head then stuffing it with garlic. Their next target is to eliminate Dracula who is more powerful. Jonathan and Mina get married and then return to England where they join forces with the others in a plot to kill the Count. They aim to find the fifty boxes of earth that the Count uses for sanctuary in the daylight.  Mina goes to stay at the asylum where they say she will be safe. However, Renfield, who is in the asylum, lets the vampire in who then feeds on the young woman. As she slowly turns into a vampire Van Helsings group destroy most of the boxes with axes and try to cleanse them with holy water. However, Dracula flees back to Transylvania to his castle. The others pursue the Count but he continuously outsmarts them. They finally catch up with Dracula just as he is reaching the castle and give chase along the mountain roads, battling against the gypsies. Van Helsing brings Mina along to the castle where they try to cleanse Castle Dracula with communion wafers and some holy water in the daylight when vampires powers are not so strong. Jonathan and Quincey, who is mortally wounded and later dies, stab two silver knives into Count Dracula just as the sun is setting. This destroys him forever. How Dracula Was Written And What Influenced It  Dracula the book is written in epistolary form which means the story is recounted through diary entries, letters and from the occasional newspaper. This form gives the novel a larger sense of realism and creates a sense of suspense. The novel is structured so that it builds to the death of Lucy Westenra, at which point Draculas powers are at his peak. This is when all of the efforts of Van Helsing have been in vain. At that moment all of the main characters unite and their power grows until Dracula has to flee. The story begins in Transylvania but the main body of the book is concentrated in England. At the end Dracula flees back to his native land where he is appropriately killed. This Gothic work has a strong Christian element in that the only weapons against a vampire are a crucifix, holy water and communion wafers. These are strongly Christian symbols which most people would have connected to in England at the time this book was first released in 1897. The book emphasizes the role of Christianity in the struggle to destroy the vampires evil.  This book has a gothic genre in that it shows the wickedness of the aristocracy and the innocence of female characters, these were classic themes of Gothic fiction. Mina is depicted as being good against the evil of Dracula and through her suffering she becomes a martyr in the battle with the undead. The action also takes place in typical Gothic locations such as: a mysterious Transylvanian castle, a strange and haunted seaside town and a ruined English estate.  I personally really enjoyed reading this novel and think that the way the book is put together in epistolary form works well as you can relate to the characters even more.

Shah Jahan - Mughal Emperor of India

Shah Jahan - Mughal Emperor of India From the often chaotic and fratricidal court of Indias Mughal Empire sprang perhaps the worlds most beautiful and serene monument to love - the Taj Mahal.  Its designer was the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan himself, a complex man whose life ended in tragic circumstances. Early Life The child who would become Shah Jahan was born on March 4, 1592, in Lahore, now in Pakistan. His parents were Prince Jahangir and his wife Manmati, a Rajput princess who was called Bilquis Makani in the Mughal court. The baby was Jahangirs third son. He was named Ala Azad Abul Muzaffar Shahab ud-Din Muhammad Khurram, or Khurram for short. As a child, Khurram was a particular favorite of his grandfather, Emperor Akbar the Great, who personally oversaw the little princes education. Khurram studied warfare, the Koran, poetry, music, and other subjects suitable for a Mughal prince. In 1605, the 13-year-old prince refused to leave his grandfathers side as Akbar lay dying, despite the potential threat from his fathers rivals for the throne. Jahangir succeeded to the throne, after crushing an uprising led by one of his other sons, Khurrams half-brother. The incident brought Jahangir and Khurram closer; in 1607, the emperor awarded his third son the fiefdom of Hissar-Feroza, which court observers took to mean that 15-year-old Khurram was now the heir apparent. Also in 1607, Prince Khurram was engaged to marry Arjumand Banu Begum, the 14-year-old daughter of a Persian nobleman. Their wedding did not take place until five years later, and Khurram would marry two other women in the meantime, but Arjumand was his true love. She later became known as Mumtaz Mahal - The Chosen One of the Palace. Khurram dutifully sired a son by each of his other wives, and then neglected them almost entirely. He and Mumtaz Mahal had 14 children, seven of whom survived to adulthood. When descendants of the Lodi Empire rose up on the Deccan Plateau in 1617, Emperor Jahangir sent Prince Khurram to deal with the problem. The prince soon put down the rebellion, so his father granted him the name Shah Jahan, meaning Glory of the World. Their close relationship broke down, however, over court intrigues by Jahangirs Afghan wife, Nur Jahan, who wanted Shah Jahans youngest brother to be Jahangirs heir.   In 1622, with relations at their zenith, Shah Jahan went to war against his father. Jahangirs army defeated Shah Jahans after a four-year fight; the prince surrendered unconditionally. When Jahangir died just one year later, in 1627, Shah Jahan became the Emperor of Mughal India. Emperor Shah Jahan As soon as he took the throne, Shah Jahan ordered his stepmother Nur Jahan imprisoned and his half-brothers executed, in order to secure his seat. Shah Jahan faced challenges and uprisings all around the edges of his empire, as well. He proved equal to the challenges from Sikhs and Rajputs in the north and west, and from the Portuguese in Bengal. However, the death of his beloved Mumtaz Mahal in 1631 nearly shattered the emperor. Mumtaz died at the age of thirty-eight after giving birth to her 14th child, a girl named Gauhara Begum. At the time of her death, Mumtaz was in the Deccan with Shah Jahan on a military campaign, despite her condition. The distraught emperor reportedly went into seclusion for an entire year  and was only coaxed out of mourning by his and Mumtazs eldest daughter, Jahanara Begum. Legend says that when he emerged, the forty-year-old emperors hair had turned white. He was determined to build his empress the most magnificent tomb the world had ever known. It took the next twenty years of his reign, but Shah Jahan planned, designed, and oversaw the construction of the Taj Mahal, the worlds most famous and beautiful mausoleum. Made of white marble inlaid with Jasper and agates, the Taj is decorated with Koranic verses in lovely calligraphy. The building occupied 20,000 workers over the course of two decades, including craftsmen from far-off Baghdad and Bukhara, and cost 32 million rupees. In the meantime, Shah Jahan began to rely increasingly on his son Aurangzeb, who proved an effective military leader and an Islamic fundamentalist from a young age. In 1636, Shah Jahan appointed him viceroy of the troublesome Deccan; Aurangzeb was just 18. Two years later, Shah Jahan and his sons took the city of Kandahar, now in Afghanistan, from the Safavid Empire. This sparked on-going strife with the Persians, who recaptured the city in 1649. Shah Jahan fell ill in 1658  and appointed his and Mumtaz Mahals eldest son Dara Shikoh as his regent. Daras three younger brothers immediately rose up against him and marched on the capital at Agra.  Aurangzeb defeated Dara and his other brothers  and took the throne. Shah Jahan then recovered from his illness, but Aurangzeb declared him unfit to rule and had him locked up in the Agra Fort for the rest of his life. Shah Jahan spent his last eight years gazing out the window at the Taj Mahal, attended by his daughter Jahanara Begum. On January 22, 1666, Shah Jahan died at the age of 74. He was interred in the Taj Mahal, beside his beloved Mumtaz Mahal.

5 Most Helpful Self-Discipline Books

5 Most Helpful Self-Discipline Books Up through high school, you had parents or guardians to keep you on track when self-discipline failed you. Now that youre in college, it really is all about you (when it comes to getting things done, anyway). Your RA, hall maintenance staff, and even your roommates arent going to tell you to get out of bed and go to class or to quit looking at Tinder and start studying. We recommend that you check out at least one of these helpful self-discipline books. Theyll get you into action in no time. 1. Self-Discipline in 10 Days: How to Go From Thinking to Doing Theodore Bryants book is targeted toward dreamers: people who have great ideas and intentions but often fail to act on them. If you often think about doing amazing things but arent great with the follow-through, this book is for you. This book addresses fears and limiting beliefs that may be holding you back in life. There are also exercises to work through to beat your habit of procrastination. With Self-Discipline in 10 Days, youll be getting out of bed, studying, exercising, and succeeding in no time. 2. The Skinny on Willpower: How to Develop Self-Discipline Have you settled for a mediocre life? Bust through that wall to the extraordinary with this book by Jim Randel. The author uses examples and faux case studies to illustrate how to develop willpower and how to use that willpower to transform your results in any endeavor. Randel teaches you how to see the big picture and change your mindset so that youll come to appreciate how doing things you dont like in the present is good for your future. Youll also see how breaking down large goals into more specific ones encourages you to take action now instead of later. 3. The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It Author Kelly McGonigal has a Ph.D. from Stanford, and it shows in this well-researched book. Youll learn that willpower can be controlled - and not just with your mind. McGonigal tells you how the company you keep can have an effect on your self-discipline. (So if you know youre drifting toward the wrong crowd, you might want to think twice about it.) She also shows you how to reach goals by working through exercises and addressing uncomfortable emotions like guilt and shame. This book is perfect for you regardless of what youre hoping to achieve: weight loss, straight As, or anything else. Youll go through 10 chapters in which the author bashes any ideas you had about what willpower is and tells you the scientific truth. 4. No Excuses! The Power of Self-Discipline Brian Tracy is a successful businessman and consultant, a renowned motivator, and the author of this very helpful book. Tracy reminds you that self-discipline is not a natural talent, a holy virtue, or a matter of luck. Each of the 21 chapters is power-packed with tips for a specific area of life. Exercises at the end of each chapter help you put the ideas into practice and stop making excuses for a less-than-stellar existence. Whether you feel like it or not, youll learn how to take those steps toward turning your life around and making it something extraordinary. 5. The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life This book by Thomas M. Sterner is highly rated and widely read, and with good reason. Sterner reminds us of how persistent we were to learn new skills in our early years and explains why that willpower drops off later in life. He then teaches us how to apply the principles of effort and practice to adult challenges. Along the way, the author reminds you to enjoy the journey instead of focusing solely on the destination. The book stresses the importance of mindfulness and rejects todays notion of multitasking, which is actually an impediment to real progress and mastery. Dont head off to college without an excellent self-discipline book tucked into your bag. After your textbooks, one of these personal growth books is the most helpful book a university student can read.

Film Viewer Opinion Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Film Viewer Opinion Paper - Essay Example I watched movies which listed great performers but the movie itself was a disappointment and I also watched not well-known actors on unpopular movies but was more satisfied at the end of the film compared to some well-advertized movies. Just because well-known artists are performing does not always guarantee a satisfactory movie experience. It is also important to take a look at other works of the director, if there have been good reviews constantly given, the film might be worth watching, though it is not also a guarantee because directors are also artists who may make a masterpiece and one that is not satisfactory. If the three aforementioned features are met, watch the film. I love humor in stories but of course when the entire film portrays humorous events, it would not be realistic anymore. I think the most important things to consider, to ensure an enjoyable movie, are humor and facts. I guess we basically experience the same emotions and that is what most would look in a movie. It is the thread that undeniably binds actors, directors and viewers. Twists make a film interesting also because it stirs up a viewer’s curiosity and mathematical abilities to be put at work. When unexpected turns unfold, viewers are satisfied that they have not guessed the possibilities before the scenes were shown and they are left to be amazed at how the story was presented. I think that makes a movie interesting. On the other hand, when viewers can tell what would come next in the story, they feel they can almost tell the story even without finishing the film. This makes them feel bored and might regret even giving the movie a thought. Lessons learned also make a film enjoyable. When a movie offers insights that viewers could adopt for practical living, it can spark their interest and hold their attention until the finish. That is why movies

Football speech Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Football speech - Coursework Example This will enable them to comprehend how the professional sport is actually played, as well as apprise them of the global nuances, changes and aspirations that are shaping up with the passage of time. I am sure that the England team can rise way above my expectations if the young ones of today are given a chance to showcase their true talents as the country is filled with immense talent, skills and abilities. Why not tap the same? I ask you, why? Let’s go ahead with it and achieve success at full throttle. This is indeed possible, my dear ladies and gentlemen! The professional coaching in schools will allow us to succeed as and when we wish to have it within our ranks. I am certain that this professional football education would pave the way for talented stars to come up in the near future. The forming up of training academies would be a better initiative that the English football authorities can undertake because this will resolve quite a few issues. There is a dire need to se t things right and that too within the shortest time frame possible, so that success can be attained quickly. The youth training academies should be such that these inculcate pure value more than anything else. There is this shortfall of professional players coming on the English horizon and this can only be met with adequate levels of coaching and professionalism, and I am sure if steps are taken in the right direction, positive results will arrive sooner rather than later. I am sure that the academies must be given the resources that are required by them. If these academies are given the resources, they will come up with solid and long-lasting results. These results would win immense happiness for all of us, who want to see the sport of football thrive and our crowds roar whenever our team is playing well. My dear ladies and gentlemen, I may add here again that the professional coaching domains could only be harnessed upon if the right mix of coaches are employed, so that they can make sure that the players who are the most talented amongst the lot get selected and represent the different clubs so that they can make it to the top echelon, i.e. the England football team. Many stars within the England team represent pure talent and variety in the sheerest form and I am sure if given a proper chance to the up and coming players, there is no reason why they cannot be hailed as the very best, in fact even the greatest, in the times to come. Only thing lacking is an understanding that commitment and professionalism are inter-linked, and both of these tangents need to be touched upon deeply so as to extract maximum value. The football starting line-up within the clubs must have at least three English youth players so that their essence has a long-lasting value on building up the other players who are there within the clubs. These players will feel that they are playing on the big stage and are thus a part of something big (Sutherland, 1996, 45). They will even be g rateful if the English youth players take the time out to represent them, so that success for the sake of these clubs is manifested at the end of the day. This is such an important proposition that one can only wish for this to happen. And happen for the right reasons too, without any doubt let me tell you. I believe that the English youth players would bring with them the much required experience and

Learner's profile Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Learner's profile - Essay Example to Min for improving his language proficiency shall include verb and subject agreement, verb tenses, correct pronunciation of words, and a wider vocabulary. This can be done by reading activities which will enable him to learn new words, correct his pronunciation and intonation, and check his comprehension. I believe that Min’s English skills can be further improved by exposing him to other English native speakers. Thus, activities should be complemented with daily interaction with other Australians. On the basis of the tests carried out on him covering various aspects of his language learning efficiency it could safely be ascertained that the learner possesses satisfactory skills of elementary level which includes reading, writing, speaking as well as listening skills. Some words still required to be repeated over and over again. Often times, choosing simpler and more familiar words aid him to understand and respond more quickly during interviews. However he does understand the overall meaning of the conversation. (I do not have any source to find out how Min fared in the other tests. I only have his reading and writing test samples, but writing on something that I do not know is apparently difficult. I haven’t even heard how he speaks nor have any idea about his listening skills. However I have tried to incorporate some of the findings in the task.) For non English speakers, listening is a relatively tough job, which is mainly because of the variation in intonations and word stress which is quite different compared to other languages. Also the individual skill levels count, like a good vocabulary, and frequent contacts with the native English speakers. Such factors help in adapting to the sounds, intonations, stress and pronunciations of the English language. Some English words are pronounced differently in Korean language which sometimes makes it difficult for the non native speakers, like Min, to grasp specific information from conversations, often