Frankenstein coursework Essay Example for Free

Frankenstein coursework Essay Frankenstein was written in 1816 by female novelist, Mary Shelley. She was only 18 at the time she had the idea for it. Her, her boyfriend Percy Shelley (whom she later married) and some of her friends were on holiday at the shore of lake Geneva in Switzerland, and at the time it was pouring down outside, so one of them decided that they should have a competition to see who could create the scariest horror story. Each person tried desperately to think of one, so much that they tried eating things that would give them nightmares. Mary had the idea of a creature being brought to life, which then lead to the birth of Frankenstein.  This book is often referred to as the modern Prometheus, named after a greek god who stole power from heaven to create life from lifeless materials. When this book was first published, it was done so under an anonymous name because in those days women were not supposed to do things like  Write horror stories and therefore would have been outcast.  Summary  This story is based upon an English man called Robert Walton who is writing to his sister back in England. He is seeking to find the North Pole. In doing this, he finds a man called Victor Frankenstein floating on a piece of ice. Walton drags the man aboard and revives him. When Frankenstein is recovered he starts to tell his story.  He begins to tell Walton about his father and how he came to life, and goes on to talk about his childhood. At this time everything seems fine as Frankenstein appears to have had a very happy time as a child with his family, but it is after this that things start to go wrong. Frankenstein tells of how he goes to university to study natural philosophy, otherwise known as chemistry. It is from this that he goes on to make the discovery he so dearly goes to regret the discovery of giving new life to dead material.  He goes on to say that with this discovery he begins to build a new being. He not only begins to build it, he becomes obsessed with creating new life and even though he becomes ill he continues with it until it is done. He explains how excited he is with what he is doing and how he cant wait to get it finished. However, when it does spring to life the last emotion Frankenstein feels is joy. He is horrified by his creation, and runs out of his room. He returns later to find, to his extreme delight, the monster to be gone. Frankenstein soon forgets about it and decides to return to Geneva to visit his family who he has not seen for 5 years. He returns to discover some grave news.  His younger brother, William, has been murdered and his adopted sister, Justine, has been accused of the crime. Frankenstein instantly knows who had really performed the act. He knew that it was the monster he created which had done this heinous deed. He knew, however, if he told the court that they would not believe him, so Justine was convicted and executed. This filled Frankenstein with great bitterness and hatred towards the monster. He decides to go for a walk in the Alps to take his mind off things. It is here where he confronts the monster for the second time.  When Frankenstein sees the monster his first instinct is to kill it, but the monster is a lot bigger than stronger than him. The monster then tells Frankenstein to listen to what he says and then judge him. This is where the monster tells his story.  He says that he came into the world with no understanding of anything around him, like a fully-grown baby. After his confrontation with Frankenstein, he walked out into a park, where he found berries to eat and a stream to drink from. He then moved out into the countryside where he had numerous encounters with humans hed rather forget about. Whenever humans saw him, they either ran away or attacked the monster. This upset him, because he did not wish to harm them. Eventually, he found a small hovel (small hut) on a farm. It was here he stayed for a long time. He learnt the names of the people who lived on the farm, and also their history, that they were sent out of France by the government because they were planning to free someone from prison. The monster slowly picked up their language of these people and also how to read from old books they threw out. He helped the family by cutting wood for them at night in the winter at night, and generally became quite attracted to the family. After a year and a bit, the monster decided he would confront the family. This went well at first because firstly he met the old man. This was an advantage to the monster because the old man was blind and couldnt judge him by his looks. However, when the rest of the family came home they were horrified by the monsters appearance and attacked him. The monster was very upset by this and ran out of the house.  He ran out into the forest, and returned the following morning to discover the family rushing to leave the place from the monster. He was so angered by this that he trashed the farm, destroying everything and burning it all. The monster then set his sights on returning to Geneva. He spent about half a year travelling but eventually got there.  When he got there he discovered Frankensteins younger brother, William. The monster grabbed the boy, and he started shouting so he tried to silence him by choking him and ended up killing him. The monster found a pendant round the boys neck, and out it round a girl who was sleeping nearby, and then ran. It is here the monster concludes his story.

Assagioli’s Theory of Psychosynthesis

Assagioli’s Theory of Psychosynthesis The I, the Self: Building the Bridge Only the development of his inner powers can offset the dangers inherent in man’s losing control of the tremendous natural forces at his disposal and becoming the victim of his own achievements. —Roberto Assagioli Introduction Therapists use Assagioli’s theory of psychosynthesis to help clients develop a complete and authentic identity that is fully able to access the true Self that pervades all levels of the conscious and unconscious mind. Because it is a common assumption that personality structures form by the time a child is five years old, transforming a fragmented consciousness into a whole identity is often a long and difficult process, especially in cases of severe trauma. This paper seeks to examine this process—in particular, how an individual can develop a new mental field that is freed from the past and oriented toward a hierarchy of values rather than specific affective events. The secondary purpose of this study is to examine which dynamics keep the individual locked into destructive personality patterns that no longer serve them and the solutions this method (psychosynthesis) offers to prospective clients. Soul Trauma More than two thousand years ago, Siddhartha Gautama famously declared that ‘life is suffering.’ Indeed, very few people get through it without suffering some kind of trauma in their formative years. Quite often, these early traumas cause a breach between the personal self (I) and the Self. When this connection is disrupted, the individual feels a palpable threat to his very existence.[1] When a child incurs the wrath of his caretakers, he feels the lack of connection more intensely. Because the caretakers are so instrumental to a child’s survival, the child perceives displeasure as a genuine threat that the caretaker will hurt him or stop fulfilling his needs. The child then becomes sensitized to external threats. This overwhelming sense of a threat is what psychosynthesis theorists refer to as the primal wound that is responsible for the individual’s fall from grace. Before this wound makes its indelible mark upon the soul, the individual has little sense of his own mortality—and the personal self is indistinguishable from the Self. Because this fracture is so painful to the psyche, people will create defence mechanisms to preserve the integrity of their being—even if it means splitting themselves into parts.[2] Shutting oneself off from the wound is tantamount to amputating a gangrene-infested leg—cutting off the poison in order to preserve the whole, even if it means causing it damage. Although this shutting off can contribute to maladaptive conditions later in life, these defence mechanisms help the individual cope in the present. However, when relationships begin to suffer or they are not accomplishing personal objectives, some people are aware that something is fundamentally wrong and seek professional help. The difference between psychosynthesis and traditional psychoanalytic therapy is a lessened emphasis on the past with more of a focus toward reorienting one’s core values; however, prior events a re not completely ignored because it can shed light on the fundamental assumptions governing the client’s life and turn them in a more healthy direction. Repression, Denial, and Splitting In most families, children conform to the rules and will of their parents, partially because it helps them survive and partially because these structures help them define themselves as individuals. However, some people will hold beliefs or thoughts that they know is not acceptable to their family of origin or culture and thus denying that part of themselves or part of the experience in order to retain that sense of belongingness. Causes and symptoms of this split include: a fundamentally weak sense of self, a fragmented consciousness where one’s conceptual map has very few connections, in a clinical setting the therapist can never be certain what the client is thinking or feeling, the client believes that he or she is fundamentally a bad person and that no one could possibly love him or her after personal revelation, etc.[3] These attitudes often originate in clients with a past history of abuse, neglect, or a need to protect family members by creating a persona that is more t o their liking.[4] This mechanism of repression is not without cause, as many people have been killed for deviating from cultural, social, and familial norms. However, in cultures that place great value on individual happiness and finding a purpose that is congruent with one’s gifts and talents, this is a liability, as the individual must discover the S(s)elf before finding his path. Interestingly, some theorists believe that what lies at the root of the problem is not the experience, but the repression of it. ‘Many people evidence the psychological symptom of denial, or psychic numbing. If denial has become a social norm, how can we use social norms to gauge a person’s health or to set appropriate goals in therapy?’[5] The Institute of Psychosynthesis encourages therapists to first build the strength of the ego and discover the personality while avoiding attacks on personal weaknesses, mirroring the client to encourage identification and connectedness, an d possibly integrate the disowned parts of the client.[6] Another approach involves encouraging the client to move to the core of one of the sub-personalities in order to find something that is good—the root of its dysfunction is the non-allowance of the expression—i.e. a high achieving person needs love but cannot ask for it directly, nor can the critical person ask for the security of being in control.[7] In fact, this approach includes treating the sub-personality as one would a person, because distortions are most often found in this realm. ‘Compassion can become pity; love can become dependency; humour can become sarcasm; strength can become rigidity. But the converse is also true, for these qualities can be elevated to or transformed into their essential nature.’[8] Using guided imagery, the therapist can contact each aspect of the individual; help bring its most beneficial aspects to the surface in order to facilitate the re-integration process. The Personal ‘I’: The Story of the ‘Self’ Although the framework for transpersonal experience has existed for thousands of years, it is only within the past fifty years that it has become a respectable method of psychotherapy. Both the Eastern and Western religious traditions support the rediscovery of the Self—the part of the individual that is beyond the personal self even as it includes it. In the West, the Self (or the Soul) is the immortal part that is elevated above the dross of every day life. In the Eastern traditions, the Self is attempting to reintegrate with the Cosmos by having multiple experiences. Native Americans undergo rigorous purification rituals such as body piercing, hours in the sweat lodge, and the Sun Dance in order to induce a trance state and to make contact with the spirit world.[9] In both religion and psychosynthesis, the Self is the culmination of a person’s experiences and attributes. Until Assagioli had come up with the concept, this approach was unutilised by modern psychologist s, as the dominant therapeutic approach was psychoanalysis where therapists and clients will discuss the client’s past and analyse it in order to give the client a greater understanding of himself. While that is a good place to begin the journey of self-discovery, it does not take the client to the point of unification. Traditional psychoanalysis did not include an understanding of this higher Self, simply the tripartite ego structure and the basic drives that motivate humans. Assagioli makes use of Freud’s model as the lower and higher unconscious functions correspond with the id and superego respectively, while the middle unconscious corresponds with Freud’s conception of the ‘preconscious.’[10] He also borrows from Jung’s concepts by including the spiritual realms of the psyche. One practical application therapists may use in their practice is CEIS: Creative Exploration of Inner Space. It is a twelve-step application of Assagioli’s theories that was developed after twenty-seven years of practice.[11] The first step is solitude. The client creates a ‘sacred space’ or an inner sweat lodge to begin his journey inward. Brown argues that this dissociation from the personal identity will lead to objectivity about day-to-day activities and concerns.[12] Solitude is encouraged because individuals have great difficulty maintaining a strong sense of self with pervasive influences such as the media or when significant others (friends, family members, mates) have strong personalities and expect the individual to conform to their idea of what is correct. Next, the therapist will invite the client to relax for five minutes before progressing to the next step, which includes deep reflective thinking upon a subject for ten minutes (this is done in writing). This is followed by receptive thinking, visualization, mandala art, cognitive analysis, and inner dialogue. After this, the client arrives at step nine, the s ymbolic identification or psychodrama with which the Psychosynthesis School is concerned. ‘Clients are instructed to take one step forward and enter the image; to become the image physically; and to allow movements or gestures to occur or postures that might help them connect, identify with, and become the image completely†¦ Symbolic identification can lead to more expressive uses of the body, to new sensations, and to the development of empathy and compassion.’[13] Ideally, after the experience is complete, the client will integrate the experience in their homework, attain closure, and share the experience with someone close to them. Brown had great success with this method because the session was infused with a meaning that is specific to the client, as opposed to categorizing him or her as an obsessive-compulsive, depressive, etc. and drugging the client accordingly. Crises of Meaning Perhaps there was less mental confusion in the past because the ancients had rites governing each stage of life and people were more aware of what they were supposed to do. Today, there are so many choices and very few cultural traditions for the life cycle, especially in industrialised Western nations. This is where we observe the common crises at birth, adolescence and mid-life. When the individual is born, he leaves a warm environment where his every wish is granted to a place where he is cold, hungry, and separate.[14] The infant is distressed because it intuitively knows that separation is dangerous, and even the most attentive parents cannot provide the security the child is missing from the womb environment. As the infant grows, the psychological structures such as the Superego and Ego begin to gain strength, and this is where a child learns how romantic relationships work by observing the parental imagos. When relations between the parents (as well as the parent-child relatio nship) are dysfunctional, the child often grows up to project these issues onto a romantic partner. In ancient society, the onset of puberty signalled to the group that there was a new full participant in the social order. There was a ceremony where the individual would shed his status as a child and be welcomed into the group as an adult. There is no such phenomenon today because childhood is legally extended years past biological maturity, which would make the final transition to adulthood more difficult. At this point, the individual becomes emotionally separated from childhood and parents to embrace a new identity independent of childhood structures†¦this is a time of self-definition. In the mid-life crisis, the individual comes to face his own mortality and experiences the mental/personality separation. This is the time when people are most likely to seek therapy to resolve past issues as many are afflicted with severe depression out of a feeling of wasting their life and looking toward a future where death looms larger than safety. In sum, psychosynthesis proposes to unite the various and sundry portions of ourselves in order that we may be better equipped to confront the crises that will ultimately affect everyone. Bibliography Brown, Michael. ‘A Psychosynthesis Twelve Step Program for Transforming Consciousness: Creative Explorations of Inner Space, Counselling and Values, Vol. 45, No. 2, (2001), pp. 103-17 Brown, Molly Young. Unfolding Self: The Practice of Psychosynthesis, New York: Allworth Press, 2004 Evans, Joan. Institute of Psychosynthesis Manual. (1990) Firman, John Ann Gila. The Primal Wound: A Transpersonal View of Trauma, Addiction, and Growth, New York: SUNY Press, 1997 Grof, Stanislav. Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transcendence in Psychotherapy. New York: SUNY Press, 1985 Whitmore, Diana. Psychosynthesis Counselling in Action. London: SAGE Publications, 2004 Footnotes [1] John Firman Ann Gila. The Primal Wound: A Transpersonal View of Trauma, Addiction, and Growth, (New York: SUNY Press, 1997) 89 [2] Firman and Gila, 90 [3] Joan Evans. Institute of Psychosynthesis Manual, 1990, 64 [4]Evans, 65 [5] Molly Young Brown. Unfolding Self: The Practice of Psychosynthesis, (New York: Allworth Press, 2004) 10 [6] Evans, 65 [7] Diana Whitmore. Psychosynthesis Counselling in Action. (London: SAGE Publications, 2004) 93 [8] Ibid. [9]Michael Brown. ‘A Psychosynthesis Twelve Step Program for Transforming Consciousness: Creative Explorations of Inner Space, Counselling and Values, Vol. 45, No. 2, (2001) 103 [10] Stanislav Grof. Beyond the Brain: Birth, Death, and Transcendence in Psychotherapy. (New York: SUNY Press, 1985) 193 [11] Michael Brown. ‘A Psychosynthesis Twelve Step Program for Transforming Consciousness: Creative Explorations of Inner Space, Counselling and Values, Vol. 45, No. 2, (2001) 113 [12] Brown, 114 [13] Brown, 115 [14] Evans, 210

Government and Politics - We Need Election Reform in America Essay

"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both." -- James Madison ("Focus" 1) The United States has strived to be a true democracy, a place in which the citizens are free to govern themselves, since its inception. For a democracy to work, the citizens must remain knowledgeable and elections must remain unbiased. Our current system of electing presidents fails in both of these regards: citizens are only given two choices that stand any chance of winning and their decisions between those two candidates are influenced not by knowledge, but instead by what they have seen on thirty second television commercials. In order to break up the complete political monopoly the Democrat and Republican Parties have on the United States, we as Americans need to reform our presidential elections so that third party and independent candidates have a legitimate chance of holding offices and so that citizens are able to vote on the candidates based on their political beliefs rather than on their ability to fundraise and advertise. Similar reforms should be made to the elections fo r other offices as well at the federal, state and local levels. The ideas and arguments presented in this paper can be applied to American elections in general although, because of the small scope of this paper, they only speak of the presidential elections. A candidate cannot legitimately compete in modern American elections without being able to finance a huge television advertising campaign. Commercials have become an integral part of our... ...Democrats and Republicans hold in this country would allow candidates with fresh ideas and new ways of dealing with old problems to take office. Through these new representatives, our government will become healthier and better able to adapt to today's changing political environment. Sources Cited Basham, Patrick. "The Illiberal Reality of European-Style Campaign Reform." http://www.cato.org/dailys/03-13-02.html. Donnis, Ian. "In Whose Interest?" http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/multi-page/documents/02552297.htm. Targonski, Rosalie. http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/archive/elect00/primer.htm. "Focus - Freedom of Press and Information." http://usembassy.state.gov/islamabad/wwwhircalert0702.html Associated Press. http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/e1598.htm. CNN. http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/results/.

Mental Health Panopticon Essay -- prison systems

Prisons act as a total institution where inmates are put on a strict schedule and fall under one of the most gruesome forms of social control. Because of this, many inmates rebel resulting in prisons having to increase security and impose stricter punishments. As a result of this, less effort has been put into helping mentally ill inmates. The term panopticon, coined by Bentham illustrates the concept that the prison design would allow guards to see into cells but not allowing prisoners to see out. Thus, this would allow guards to have omniscient power over the inmates. Fortunately, this never worked as a prison, however prison has created a type of mental health panopticon. This allows for mentally ill parents to feel like they are always being observed; similarly to that of an experiment. Despite prisons best attempt to equally serve all inmates to the best of their ability, prioritizing security and punishment has lead to a mental health panopticon. As a result, prisons environm ents have exacerbated negative behaviours, created an inhumane environment for prisoners and lack the means to aid in mental health. First, the prison system exacerbates negative behaviour such as drug use, self-harming behaviour and suicidal thoughts and actions. One of the most significant ways that the prison community worsens drug use, self-harming behaviour and suicidal thought is providing minimal amount of harm reduction. Accordingly, Lines makes note that higher instance of HIV/HVD and other transmitted disease are a cause on mental health issues within prison, this harm reduction measures would improve the overall health of individuals in prison (Lines at Al. 2005). Thus, the prion systems all intersects: much like society, the happier the i... ...t work. Instilling fear into people works to conform behavior to a degree but it ultimately creates prisons with exacerbated negative behaviours inhume and unfit environments. Works Cited Brown, Michelle. (2012). Empathy and Punishment. Punishment & Society 14(4): 383-401. Lamb, H. Richard., Weinberger, Linda E., & Gross, Bruce H. (2004). Mentally ill persons in the criminal justice system: Some Perspectives. Psychiatric Quarterly 75(2): 107-126. Lines, Rick., Jurgens, Ralf., Betteridge, Glenn., & Stover, Heino. (2005). Taking action to reduce injecting drug-related harms in prisons: The evidence of effectiveness of Out of control [Television series episode]. (2010). In The fift estate. CBC. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/2009-2010/out-of-control Sapers, H. (2008). A Preventable Death. Available at: http://www.oci-bec.gc.ca/rpt/index-eng.aspx

Research Critique of Study on Newborn Temperature Regulation Essay

Abstract   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The authors (Chiu, Anderson, & Burkhammer, 2005) of the article present all the essential components of the research study. There will be a decrease in temperature in the newborn if having difficulties breastfeeding while having skin-to-skin contact with the mother. That was the inferred hypothesis. The method used to gather the information was a pretest-test-posttest study design and the sample consisted of 48 full-term infants. The key findings showed most infants reached and maintained temperatures between 36.5 and 37.6 degrees Celsius, the thermo neutral range, with only rare exceptions. Problem Statement   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The research problem is thermoregulation in newborn infants. The purpose of the research study is to find out if Kangaroo, or skin-to-skin contact, facilitates safe temperatures in newborn infants during the first few minutes and hours after birth, specifically during breastfeeding. In this article the problem statement is written clearly and it expresses a relationship between two or more variables, specifically temperature and skin-to-skin contact. In this study the problem statement is testable and states a specific population being studied (full-term newborns). The significance to nursing is apparent in the problem statement. It is important for newborns to maintain a body temperature within a normal range so that â€Å"caloric expenditure and oxygen consumption are minimal. If excessive effort is needed to produce heat when cold stress persists, newborn infants may experience adverse metabolic events such as hypoxemia, acidosis, and hypoglycemia† (Chiu et al., 2005. p. 115 as cited in Kenner, 2003). Literature Review   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The literature review is comprehensive and makes explicit the relationship among the variables and discusses the relevant concepts. All sources are relevant to the study topic and are critically appraised. Both classic and current sources are included ranging in date from 1977 to 2004. Most sources are primary sources but only supporting research is presented. Chiu et al states that one gap in knowledge about the problem identified is that â€Å"temperature has not been reported in studies of skin-to-skin contact with a focus on the breastfeeding process.† This study intends to fill the gaps by studying mothers and newborns that are having tro... ...sing Practice   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The temperature results provide solid evidence that this study is valid. According to Chiu et al (2005), â€Å"When mother-infant couples breastfeed skin-to-skin using a safe technique, concern for hypothermia is unfounded† (p. 120). Patients benefit from the research findings because, â€Å"healthy full-term infants, with or without breastfeeding difficulties, could safely breastfeed in skin-to-skin contact with their mothers† (Chiu et al., 2005. p.120). Direct application of the research findings is feasible in terms of time, money, and legal/ethical risks. These findings indicate that nurses no longer need to worry that infants will become cold during skin-to-skin contact especially during breastfeeding. The results of this study should be applied to nursing practice because skin-to-skin contact facilitates a bond between mother and baby and because it helps regulate baby’s temperature. References Chiu, S., Anderson, G.C., & Burkhammer, M.D. (2005). Newborn Temperature During   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Skin-to-Skin Breastfeeding in Couples Having Breastfeeding Difficulties. BIRTH,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  32(2), p 115-121.

The Hunters: Phantom Chapter 1

Elena Gilbert stepped onto a smooth expanse of grass, the spongy blades col apsing beneath her feet. Clusters of scarlet roses and violet delphiniums pushed up from the ground, while a giant canopy hung above her, twinkling with glowing lanterns. On the terrace in front of her stood two curving white marble fountains that shot sprays of water high into the air. Everything was beautiful, elegant, and somehow familiar. This is Bloddeuwedd's palace, a voice in her head said. But when she had been here last, the field had been crowded with laughing, dancing partygoers. They were gone now, although signs of their presence remained: empty glasses littered the tables set around the edges of the lawn; a silken shawl was tossed over a chair; a lone high-heeled shoe perched on the edge of a fountain. Something else was odd, too. Before, the scene had been lit by the hel ish red light that il uminated everything in the Dark Dimension, turning blues to purples, whites to pinks, and pinks to the velvety color of blood. Now a clear light shone over everything, and a ful white moon sailed calmly overhead. A whisper of movement came from behind her, and Elena realized with a start that she wasn't alone after al . A dark figure was suddenly there, approaching her. Damon. Of course it was Damon, Elena thought with a smile. If anyone was going to appear unexpectedly before her here, at what felt like the end of the world – or at least the hour after a good party had ended – it would be Damon. God, he was so beautiful. Black on black: soft black hair, eyes black as midnight, black jeans, and a smooth leather jacket. As their eyes met, she was so glad to see him that she could hardly breathe. She threw herself into his embrace, clasping him around the neck, feeling the lithe, hard muscles in his arms and chest. â€Å"Damon,† she said, her voice trembling for some reason. Her body was trembling, too, and Damon stroked her arms and shoulders, calming her. â€Å"What is it, princess? Don't tel me you're afraid.† He smirked lazily at her, his hands strong and steady. â€Å"I am afraid,† she answered. â€Å"But what are you afraid of?† That left her puzzled for a moment. Then, slowly, putting her cheek against his, she said, â€Å"I'm afraid that this is just a dream.† â€Å"I'l tel you a secret, princess,† he said into her ear. â€Å"You and I are the only real things here. It's everything else that's the dream.† â€Å"Just you and me?† Elena echoed, an uneasy thought nagging at her, as though she were forgetting something – or someone. A fleck of ash landed on her dress, and she absently brushed it away. â€Å"It's just the two of us, Elena,† Damon said sharply. â€Å"You're mine. I'm yours. We've loved each other since the beginning of time.† Of course. That must be why she was trembling – it was joy. He was hers. She was his. They belonged together. She whispered one word: â€Å"Yes.† Then he kissed her. His lips were soft as silk, and when the kiss deepened, she tilted her head back, exposing her throat, anticipating the double wasp sting he'd delivered so many times. When it didn't come, she opened her eyes questioningly. The moon was as bright as ever, and the scent of roses hung heavy in the air. But Damon's chiseled features were pale under his dark hair, and more ash had landed on the shoulders of his jacket. Al at once, the little doubts that had been niggling at her came together. Oh, no. Oh, no. â€Å"Damon.† She gasped, looking into his eyes despairingly as tears fil ed her own. â€Å"You can't be here, Damon. You're†¦ dead.† â€Å"For more than five hundred years, princess.† Damon flashed his blinding smile at her. More ash was fal ing around them, like a fine gray rain, the same gray ash Damon's body was buried beneath, worlds and dimensions away. â€Å"Damon, you're†¦ dead now. Not undead, but†¦ gone.† â€Å"No, Elena†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He began to flicker and fade, like a dying lightbulb. â€Å"Yes. Yes! I held you as you died†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena was sobbing helplessly. She couldn't feel Damon's arms at al now. He was disappearing into shimmering light. â€Å"Listen to me, Elena†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She was holding moonlight. Anguish caught at her heart. â€Å"Al you need to do is cal for me,† Damon's voice said. â€Å"Al you need†¦Ã¢â‚¬  His voice faded into the sound of wind rustling through the trees. Elena's eyes snapped open. Through a fog she registered that she was in a room fil ed with sunlight, and a huge crow was perched on the sil of an open window. The bird tilted its head to one side and gave a croak, watching her with bright eyes. A cold chil ran down her spine. â€Å"Damon?† she whispered. But the crow just spread its wings and flew away.

Hitchcock Film Comparison

Although they all are their own independent films, there are undoubtedly several similarities between many of Alfred Hitchcock’s workings. Despite that they all may have different plot, the differences between the films are not very significant. There are three different types of Hitchcockian films that were watched in class; a psychological thriller (i. e. : Rope, Rear Window), the unexpected action filled plot (i. e. North By Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much), and the mix of the two (i. e. : Thirty Nine Steps, Family Plot). The majority of Hitchcock’s action films consist of an unexpecting citizen who ends up on the run for his life and meets an attractive blonde along the way that he becomes romantically involved in. The other type of plot is a more slow paced psychological thriller that takes place in a very confined area. Of course there are chases, illegal activities done by the â€Å"bad guys†, and complications with the romantic pair that keep the first type of film moving at a quick pace, and in the psychological thrillers there is generally a simplistic background given towards the beginning of the film while there is a monumental action that takes place that is followed by a slow but steady plot that builds up to it’s climax at the end of the film. From Rope to Family Plot the Hitchcockian directory style persists throughout the duration of the film grasping the attention ever so tightly of the audience and keeping them uncertain of what is to come until it actually arrives. After becoming a well renown director in the United Kingdom starting in 1921 with silent films and later moving up to â€Å"early talkies†, Alfred Hitchcock moved to Hollywood and became a United States citizen in 1956 in order to further his career. Even after becoming an American citizen, Hitchcock kept a â€Å"British subject† in his work whether or not it was intentional. With an active career that lasted over half of a century, Hitchcock wrote twenty-two titles, stared in thirty-six films, and directed sixty-six films. Because of all of his unique techniques and styles that allowed him to manipulate his audiences into feeling anything from anxiety, fear, empathy, and so on, Hitchcock made quite the name for himself and thus gained the nickname â€Å"The Master of Suspense† while his unique directorial style became known as â€Å"Hitchcockian†. Hitchcock is now considered one of Britain’s greatest directors of all time and came in first in a 2007 poll of film critics in Britain’s Daily Telegraph which referred to him as â€Å"Unquestionably the greatest filmmaker to emerge from these island, Hitchcock did more than any director to shape modern cinema, which would be utterly different without him. His flair was for narrative, cruelly withholding crucial information (from his characters and us) and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else. † Despite how well his work is thought of and remembered, Hitchcock’s career actually came to a painstakingly slow halt after the release of Family Plot. After over six decades of directing Hitchcock became unmotivated to direct due to how poorly people received his film Family Plot. Despite his despair, towards the end of his life, Hitchcock had been working on a script for another movie, The Short Night, a projected spy thriller, however it was never filmed due to his lack of motivation, his failing health, and his concern involving his wife’s health. Much after his death, the script was published in a book concerning the final years of Alfred Hitchcock. When thinking back to any one of Hitchcock’s films, many seem to light up and immediately begin discussing which one of them was their favorites, why, and once they find out that someone that they’re talking to hasn’t seen it, they begin to ever so anxiously describe it’s plot and just what makes it as good as it is. Whether or not Hitchcock’s films were as amazing as many consider them, there are undoubtedly many similarities between all of them. However, just because there may be some similarities, this doesn’t make any one of the films bad, it simply makes them similar. Many viewers seemed to like the consistency of being able to go out to the movie theater and watch whatever Hitchcock’s new film may have been without any concern of it being bad; without even being told about the plot, and simply knowing that it will be a quality film undoubtedly worked in Hitch’s favor. Going out and seeing any one of Hitchcock’s movies became like a game in a sense; everyone went in with certain expectations and things that they were both looking for and hoping for. Many found joy in trying to spot Alfred himself somewhere in the film towards the beginning of it whether it be amongst a crowd, walking away from the camera, or whatever it may be. In many ways being a fan of Alfred Hitchcock and seeing his films became more so of a social thing than anything; it gave people something to do and then later talk about with their friends and family. Whether or not this was Hitchcock’s intention, it worked and earned him the respect that he has to this day. As previously stated, one of the reasons that many liked the Hitchcockian films was because of their consistency, however from a critic’s standpoint decades after the hype of Hitchcock, this gives some room for negative assessments of his career and films as a whole. Just because some may have liked the consistency from film to film, certainly doesn’t mean that everyone does, others may consider it repetitive or even predictable if they’ve seen some of his other work. For example, although many of Hitchcock’s films are considered to be quality films, when compared to his others, those same films may be less appreciated because their uniqueness is taken away due to their numerous similarities. North By Northwest is undoubtedly an amazing film that is filled with suspense, love, action, and hope for our hero, many would consider The Man Who Knew Too Much to be predictably similar. In both cases an innocent middle aged white U. S. itizen finds himself in the middle of a dangerous, complex, and legally taboo situation through no fault of his own. Both films are very similar in the roller-coaster of emotions that they put the audience through and leave them with the same feelings and emotions by the end of the film. The same is true for Rope and Rear Window however instead of an action packed romantic feature film, the audience is brought through the more dark and scary course of events that follow one or two main characters. With the psychological thrillers there is much more of a realistic and closer to home feeling rather than with the action films. The same is true for Psycho, so much so that most of those who watched it were left terrified, disturbed, and with an erie feeling about hotels for some time after. Just like Rope and Rear Window, Psycho takes place primarily in one location and is paced slowly but with a deep and dark plot that strikes fear and concern into the hearts of most who watch it. Despite the fact that most of his films fall into one of the two previously mentioned categories, there is of course the shade of grey in Hitchcock’s other films; they are the ones that have more of a mix of action and romance but also consist of psychological torment and suspense. There will always be comparisons between certain things, especially so if there is something as similar as the same director to begin with, however there are always exceptions and middle grounds that end up surprising those who think that they know exactly what to expect.