American Beauty an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts Essay Example

American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts Paper Film: History and Form November 17, 2010 American Beauty: An Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts American Beauty, written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes, invites the viewer to do one thing: look closer. Look closer at life, look closer at your surroundings, look closer at your possessions, and finally look closer at your loved ones. What is integral about the subject matter of the film is how applicable it is to almost anyone who watches it. The film’s grotesque depiction of American middle-class society is immediately very attractive, and the different elements such as the main character’s mid-life crisis, the young girls’ coming-of-age experiences and general family dynamics are very relatable to almost any viewer. As the viewer, we are drawn into the families and are forced to â€Å"look closer† and investigate what is wrong and why they have become the way that they are. Throughout the film’s progression, Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts are portrayed as mirror-images of one another and that they indeed are quite similar in their struggles against their respective overbearing authorities, share similar feelings of imprisonment and desires for escape. Carolyn, Lester and Jane Fitts seem like the perfect nuclear family. With both parents working successful jobs in the real estate and advertising business, the Burnham household appears to be the ideal American, nuclear family. We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Their house is filled with ideal family photos and decorated with expensive furniture, while their front yard is perfectly gardened and lined with a white picket fence and an abundance of red roses. From the outside, it seems like a story of a perfect and happy family. What comes with the label of being a nuclear family are both financial and emotional security and an assumption of traditional gender roles. It is clear, however, that the character of Lester Burnham has grown alienated from within his own home and wants to escape. He is living a sedated life and has become numb to everything. The viewer, throughout the film, sees Lester portrayed in various shots of imprisonment illusions, notably the shot of him looking through the front window to his wife gives the illusion of prison bars as well as the shot of his reflection on his desk computer with the words on the monitor in a prison bar shape. It is evident to the viewer that Lester is beginning to feel the repercussions of living in confinement from his daily routine. On the surface, the character of Ricky Fitts seems the most peculiar and out of the ordinary. The viewer first sees him doing the odd act of filming Jane as she walks back to her house, but in reality the viewer comes to realize that he is actually the most real person in the film. Ricky is not like a typical American, male teenager. He is not rowdy, nor does he seem the type to party. He appears to be a very obedient son to his parents, the mom living her life day by day while the father excessively wears a hard exterior because of his past duties in the army. Ricky seems fine, but like the character of Lester, he too is suffering from the dynamics of his own home. Still, he is able to remain true to himself; he does not put on a facade, and he does not care what anyone thinks. Ricky is a quiet and reserved guy, but what he lacks in words he makes up for with his use of his video camera. What seems like a voyeuristic act of filming Jane throughout the film across his window is actually his own way of reaching out to her and offering his hand to free her from the imprisonment that Jane feels in her own home. He is the most rational and is able to see past the materialistic attitudes and shallowness that characterize many of the characters. Ricky Fitts appreciates the beauty in nature and the most mundane things that people would not give a second glance toward. Ricky’s video camera acts as his filter to his view of the world. He sees everything from an impartial point of view and therefore sees everyone’s true nature. He quickly senses Angela’s fake exterior and detects the true beauty that is resonant within plain Jane, despite how boring she may seem to most people. To Jane, he is not only her neighbor and lover but also her savior from the confines of her home. Ricky is the outsider who is able to observe what is truly going on inside the Burnham household. He sees the effects that the negative dynamics of the family have on Jane, and he knows that the happenings inside of the seemingly perfect household are anything but perfect. Both Lester and Ricky’s worlds are turned upside down once the two of them meet. When Ricky shows defiance toward his boss at the party he is working, Lester sees a hero in him. Lester, who seems to be undergoing a mid-life crisis idolizes young Ricky, because it reminds him of his glory days when he was carefree, had no real responsibility and could do whatever he wanted. Lester has a spiritual awakening and he is motivated to revive himself from the dormant and mundane life that he has been living. Here, the viewer begins to see the mirroring of the characters of Lester and Ricky. Ricky’s carefree attitude and willful spirit ignites a fire within Lester and makes him want to change. Soon after, Lester’s new mindset of change comes into play and subsequently affects his own interactions with his wife and daughter. The chemistry between Lester and Carolyn is an important aspect in defining their roles in the family. It is safe to conclude that Carolyn is the more authoritative figure. From the beginning, the viewer sees this especially with the way that she taunts Lester when he dropped his briefcase and how she drives the car for the family. In many scenes, Carolyn is always the dominant figure in each shot. For example during the business social scene, Lester is noticeably shorter because Carolyn is a ledge higher than him to symbolize who is dominant in their marriage. Lester further confirms this when he says amusingly to Carolyn, â€Å"I’ll be whatever you want me to be. As Lester begins his transformation and attempts to regain control of his life however, the viewer is exposed to signs of rebellion and defiance from Lester toward Carolyn. After his bath tub dream, Lester shows defiance by commenting on how their marriage is really no longer a marriage and that they are just going through their everyday routines. He acknowledges the new Lester by saying, â€Å"Well guess what, Iâ €™ve changed. And the new me whacks off when he feels horny, ‘cause you’re obviously not gonna do anything about it. Furthermore, in the confrontation scene between Lester and Carolyn about trading in the car Carolyn is, at first, noticeably the dominant figure as she stands in the hallway while Lester sits on the couch. But soon after, Lester takes control and he is the dominant figure as they get intimate on the sofa. But Lester’s attempts at rekindling their dying romance are interrupted by Carolyn’s obsessive-compulsiveness. While Lester realizes that there are better and more important aspects of life than being materialistic and reaffirming oneself with prized possessions, Carolyn doesn’t come to terms like Lester and is ashamed. We see that Lester has truly changed for the better while Carolyn remains stagnant in her ways of life. Lester exclaims to Carolyn, â€Å"IT’S JUST A COUCH. THIS ISN’T LIFE. THIS IS JUST STUFF. † Carolyn, as we see in this scene, is two-dimensional because she never really transforms like Lester. She is fixated on her career and has a tunnel vision toward ultimate success. While we see a brief glimpse of positive change in Lester through his interaction in this scene with Carolyn, it is evident that the damages in the marriage will never be fixed if Carolyn never changes. And as we see in the subsequent scenes, Carolyn further spirals downward because of her cheating and intense obsession with her career. Ricky Fitts becomes the source of enlightenment for Lester Burnham and it is evident that the only humanity present throughout a film, whose characters are devoid of any genuine feelings and instead are filled with materialistic tendencies and fake facades, is in the character of Ricky. As the viewer gets to know Ricky better, we see the different representations of what he deems to be signs of beauty. One example is during school when Jane and her friend Angela catch Ricky filming a dead bird because he finds beauty in it. In a momentous scene of the film, Ricky shows Jane the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen: a floating, white plastic bag. From our point of view, the camera is still and located right behind and in between Jane and Ricky’s heads to invite us to see what Ricky considers to be a representation of ultimate beauty. For the first time in the film, the viewer is exposed to an appreciation for life and a sense of clarity with one’s surroundings. Aforementioned, Ricky with his camera is the external, unbiased point of view in the film that helps the characters and the audience locate where real beauty can be found. The floating white bag represents what many of characters in the film want: freedom. They desire freedom from the expectations of society, freedom from traditional roles, freedom from family obligations, freedom from job responsibilities, etc. Ricky Fitts sees beauty in the plastic bag because it is able to do whatever it wants freely, as it dances with the leaves and goes wherever the wind takes it. It is this idea of liberation and desire for escape that   motivates many of the characters, particularly Lester and Ricky. In addition to the inspiration that Ricky gives to Lester, the character of Angela also becomes catalyst for the drastic changes that Lester undergoes throughout the film. Lester continuously reminisces about his past even stating at the beginning of the film, â€Å"It is never too late to regain your past. † With the help of technical elements, the first scene in which we see both Lester and Angela establishes the obsession that Lester has for Angela throughout the film. The film employs the male gaze throughout the film as both Lester and Ricky view their respective love interests in this manner, Lester more lustfully whereas Ricky incorporates real love. In this basketball scene, Angela is given an upward position in the frame to suggest that Lester is indeed noticing her. The camera then zooms in on both characters to intensify the fantasized connection between the two of them, and soon they are isolated from their respective sides to further emphasize this connection. The camera’s focus on Lester’s face creates the illusion of an animal drooling at the mouth over something that he desires. After all, he is lusting after Angela. Lester, in a way, acts with the mindset of a teenage boy because of his fixation on Angela. He begins to work out, drink and smoke pot and much like a teen, he abandons all responsibilities by quitting his job and therefore abandoning his traditional role as a father. Furthermore, he trades in the family Mercedes for a 1970s Trans Am sports car, his dream car as a young boy. All of these actions accumulate into a necessary sequence of events to achieve happiness and escape from the reality of his mundane family and work life. While Lester finds the fuel to his fire in Angela, Ricky finds a muse in Jane. As Ricky is able to see past the shallow exterior of Angela, this is why he is able to find beauty in the plain character of Jane. To most people, she’s plain Jane but Ricky sees her as a truly beautiful person over someone like Angela who seems conventionally attractive. Jane fills in the blank for a reason for Ricky to stand up against the overbearing rules of his father and finally run away and be happy. While it is evident that Lester reverts back into a mindset of a male teenager, the viewer finally sees Ricky fulfilling the same role as well; he is finally acting his own age. Ricky is the same as Lester in the beginning. He is the pushover in his relationship with his father. He is controlled by his father and is monitored very closely to the point that he is required to give urine samples. Near the end of the film, Ricky stands up to his father by egging him on to believe that he performed sexual favors for money. Like Lester’s defiance against Carolyn, he is tired of his father’s overbearing authority over him. Throughout the film, he obeys all of his father’s rules and even getting a catering job to look like a responsible adult. But eventually he breaks, and like Lester he defies the expectations that are put upon him by the greater powers. Near the end of the film Lester offers up a true example of humanity and sense of reawakening during his final scene with Angela, yet another piece of evidence to prove his mirroring of Ricky Fitts. Unbeknownst to him, Angela was all along a virgin. This can be inferred in the earlier basketball scene in which lighting was a key element. The light source cannot be seen and one can speculate that this light came from heaven shining down on her to show her innocence. Moreover, it can be inferred by her try-hard ways of showing off her supposed sexual experience to Jane that she, indeed, is a virgin. The omnipresence of the color white around Angela is also further indication that she indeed was a virgin. In the final scene for example, she is wearing a white button-down blouse and the couch on which she lays is also white. Traditionally, white in film represents cleanliness and purity. Finally, her name can be likened to the word â€Å"angel† as if to imply that despite her boastful ways, she is indeed an angel on the inside. Ironic it may be, but it took Angela to make Lester realize that he truly loved his family. Once Angela confessed that she was a virgin, it brought back Lester to a mature man once again who was able to handle responsibility. In this case, he was responsible and decided not to take Angela’s virginity. Instead, he hugs her and puts a blanket around her to comfort her. He shows humanity and compassion in this scene and realizes that Angela, like him, is suffering from the pressures of society. Lester takes after Ricky in that he, too, displays humanity by seeing through Angela’s fake exterior and realizing that she is beautiful on the inside whether or not she is sexually experienced. Lester finds clarity during his talk with Angela in the kitchen and understands that he has duties as a man and a father in his household. He looks on lovingly and meaningfully at a picture of his family and we, as the audience, sees his realization and his return to reality, only for it to be ended abruptly by a shot to his head by an anonymous person. At this final stage of the film, we have been given the tools and eye by Ricky to see what truly defines beauty. And as Ricky kneels down in front of Lester who is laying in a pool of his own blood, the viewer is invited to look on as well at Lester and realize that we, too, can find beauty in a graphic image like that. The film teaches us to look closer and to realize beauty in other things besides the obvious. Furthermore, it reaffirms that there is an everyday struggle for individuals to figure out their own identities and sometimes they find it necessary to mask their fears and insecurities with fake exteriors. Everything is not what it seems. Behind the perfectly painted red door and within the white picket fence, there is disillusionment and tension within the family structure. Behind the hard facade of the sexualized teenage girl, there is an innocent young woman who is insecure and wants attention. Behind the tough exterior of a former colonel, there is a conflicted man begging for answers. Behind the peculiar cold young man, there is the only sliver of humanity left in this materialistic world. The film teaches us that behind these fake exteriors, there exists an ounce of beauty being hidden. All we have to do is look closer. American Beauty an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts Essay Example American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts Essay Film: History and Form November 17, 2010 American Beauty: An Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts American Beauty, written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes, invites the viewer to do one thing: look closer. Look closer at life, look closer at your surroundings, look closer at your possessions, and finally look closer at your loved ones. What is integral about the subject matter of the film is how applicable it is to almost anyone who watches it. The film’s grotesque depiction of American middle-class society is immediately very attractive, and the different elements such as the main character’s mid-life crisis, the young girls’ coming-of-age experiences and general family dynamics are very relatable to almost any viewer. As the viewer, we are drawn into the families and are forced to â€Å"look closer† and investigate what is wrong and why they have become the way that they are. Throughout the film’s progression, Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts are portrayed as mirror-images of one another and that they indeed are quite similar in their struggles against their respective overbearing authorities, share similar feelings of imprisonment and desires for escape. Carolyn, Lester and Jane Fitts seem like the perfect nuclear family. With both parents working successful jobs in the real estate and advertising business, the Burnham household appears to be the ideal American, nuclear family. We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Their house is filled with ideal family photos and decorated with expensive furniture, while their front yard is perfectly gardened and lined with a white picket fence and an abundance of red roses. From the outside, it seems like a story of a perfect and happy family. What comes with the label of being a nuclear family are both financial and emotional security and an assumption of traditional gender roles. It is clear, however, that the character of Lester Burnham has grown alienated from within his own home and wants to escape. He is living a sedated life and has become numb to everything. The viewer, throughout the film, sees Lester portrayed in various shots of imprisonment illusions, notably the shot of him looking through the front window to his wife gives the illusion of prison bars as well as the shot of his reflection on his desk computer with the words on the monitor in a prison bar shape. It is evident to the viewer that Lester is beginning to feel the repercussions of living in confinement from his daily routine. On the surface, the character of Ricky Fitts seems the most peculiar and out of the ordinary. The viewer first sees him doing the odd act of filming Jane as she walks back to her house, but in reality the viewer comes to realize that he is actually the most real person in the film. Ricky is not like a typical American, male teenager. He is not rowdy, nor does he seem the type to party. He appears to be a very obedient son to his parents, the mom living her life day by day while the father excessively wears a hard exterior because of his past duties in the army. Ricky seems fine, but like the character of Lester, he too is suffering from the dynamics of his own home. Still, he is able to remain true to himself; he does not put on a facade, and he does not care what anyone thinks. Ricky is a quiet and reserved guy, but what he lacks in words he makes up for with his use of his video camera. What seems like a voyeuristic act of filming Jane throughout the film across his window is actually his own way of reaching out to her and offering his hand to free her from the imprisonment that Jane feels in her own home. He is the most rational and is able to see past the materialistic attitudes and shallowness that characterize many of the characters. Ricky Fitts appreciates the beauty in nature and the most mundane things that people would not give a second glance toward. Ricky’s video camera acts as his filter to his view of the world. He sees everything from an impartial point of view and therefore sees everyone’s true nature. He quickly senses Angela’s fake exterior and detects the true beauty that is resonant within plain Jane, despite how boring she may seem to most people. To Jane, he is not only her neighbor and lover but also her savior from the confines of her home. Ricky is the outsider who is able to observe what is truly going on inside the Burnham household. He sees the effects that the negative dynamics of the family have on Jane, and he knows that the happenings inside of the seemingly perfect household are anything but perfect. Both Lester and Ricky’s worlds are turned upside down once the two of them meet. When Ricky shows defiance toward his boss at the party he is working, Lester sees a hero in him. Lester, who seems to be undergoing a mid-life crisis idolizes young Ricky, because it reminds him of his glory days when he was carefree, had no real responsibility and could do whatever he wanted. Lester has a spiritual awakening and he is motivated to revive himself from the dormant and mundane life that he has been living. Here, the viewer begins to see the mirroring of the characters of Lester and Ricky. Ricky’s carefree attitude and willful spirit ignites a fire within Lester and makes him want to change. Soon after, Lester’s new mindset of change comes into play and subsequently affects his own interactions with his wife and daughter. The chemistry between Lester and Carolyn is an important aspect in defining their roles in the family. It is safe to conclude that Carolyn is the more authoritative figure. From the beginning, the viewer sees this especially with the way that she taunts Lester when he dropped his briefcase and how she drives the car for the family. In many scenes, Carolyn is always the dominant figure in each shot. For example during the business social scene, Lester is noticeably shorter because Carolyn is a ledge higher than him to symbolize who is dominant in their marriage. Lester further confirms this when he says amusingly to Carolyn, â€Å"I’ll be whatever you want me to be. As Lester begins his transformation and attempts to regain control of his life however, the viewer is exposed to signs of rebellion and defiance from Lester toward Carolyn. After his bath tub dream, Lester shows defiance by commenting on how their marriage is really no longer a marriage and that they are just going through their everyday routines. He acknowledges the new Lester by saying, â€Å"Well guess what, Iâ €™ve changed. And the new me whacks off when he feels horny, ‘cause you’re obviously not gonna do anything about it. Furthermore, in the confrontation scene between Lester and Carolyn about trading in the car Carolyn is, at first, noticeably the dominant figure as she stands in the hallway while Lester sits on the couch. But soon after, Lester takes control and he is the dominant figure as they get intimate on the sofa. But Lester’s attempts at rekindling their dying romance are interrupted by Carolyn’s obsessive-compulsiveness. While Lester realizes that there are better and more important aspects of life than being materialistic and reaffirming oneself with prized possessions, Carolyn doesn’t come to terms like Lester and is ashamed. We see that Lester has truly changed for the better while Carolyn remains stagnant in her ways of life. Lester exclaims to Carolyn, â€Å"IT’S JUST A COUCH. THIS ISN’T LIFE. THIS IS JUST STUFF. † Carolyn, as we see in this scene, is two-dimensional because she never really transforms like Lester. She is fixated on her career and has a tunnel vision toward ultimate success. While we see a brief glimpse of positive change in Lester through his interaction in this scene with Carolyn, it is evident that the damages in the marriage will never be fixed if Carolyn never changes. And as we see in the subsequent scenes, Carolyn further spirals downward because of her cheating and intense obsession with her career. Ricky Fitts becomes the source of enlightenment for Lester Burnham and it is evident that the only humanity present throughout a film, whose characters are devoid of any genuine feelings and instead are filled with materialistic tendencies and fake facades, is in the character of Ricky. As the viewer gets to know Ricky better, we see the different representations of what he deems to be signs of beauty. One example is during school when Jane and her friend Angela catch Ricky filming a dead bird because he finds beauty in it. In a momentous scene of the film, Ricky shows Jane the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen: a floating, white plastic bag. From our point of view, the camera is still and located right behind and in between Jane and Ricky’s heads to invite us to see what Ricky considers to be a representation of ultimate beauty. For the first time in the film, the viewer is exposed to an appreciation for life and a sense of clarity with one’s surroundings. Aforementioned, Ricky with his camera is the external, unbiased point of view in the film that helps the characters and the audience locate where real beauty can be found. The floating white bag represents what many of characters in the film want: freedom. They desire freedom from the expectations of society, freedom from traditional roles, freedom from family obligations, freedom from job responsibilities, etc. Ricky Fitts sees beauty in the plastic bag because it is able to do whatever it wants freely, as it dances with the leaves and goes wherever the wind takes it. It is this idea of liberation and desire for escape that   motivates many of the characters, particularly Lester and Ricky. In addition to the inspiration that Ricky gives to Lester, the character of Angela also becomes catalyst for the drastic changes that Lester undergoes throughout the film. Lester continuously reminisces about his past even stating at the beginning of the film, â€Å"It is never too late to regain your past. † With the help of technical elements, the first scene in which we see both Lester and Angela establishes the obsession that Lester has for Angela throughout the film. The film employs the male gaze throughout the film as both Lester and Ricky view their respective love interests in this manner, Lester more lustfully whereas Ricky incorporates real love. In this basketball scene, Angela is given an upward position in the frame to suggest that Lester is indeed noticing her. The camera then zooms in on both characters to intensify the fantasized connection between the two of them, and soon they are isolated from their respective sides to further emphasize this connection. The camera’s focus on Lester’s face creates the illusion of an animal drooling at the mouth over something that he desires. After all, he is lusting after Angela. Lester, in a way, acts with the mindset of a teenage boy because of his fixation on Angela. He begins to work out, drink and smoke pot and much like a teen, he abandons all responsibilities by quitting his job and therefore abandoning his traditional role as a father. Furthermore, he trades in the family Mercedes for a 1970s Trans Am sports car, his dream car as a young boy. All of these actions accumulate into a necessary sequence of events to achieve happiness and escape from the reality of his mundane family and work life. While Lester finds the fuel to his fire in Angela, Ricky finds a muse in Jane. As Ricky is able to see past the shallow exterior of Angela, this is why he is able to find beauty in the plain character of Jane. To most people, she’s plain Jane but Ricky sees her as a truly beautiful person over someone like Angela who seems conventionally attractive. Jane fills in the blank for a reason for Ricky to stand up against the overbearing rules of his father and finally run away and be happy. While it is evident that Lester reverts back into a mindset of a male teenager, the viewer finally sees Ricky fulfilling the same role as well; he is finally acting his own age. Ricky is the same as Lester in the beginning. He is the pushover in his relationship with his father. He is controlled by his father and is monitored very closely to the point that he is required to give urine samples. Near the end of the film, Ricky stands up to his father by egging him on to believe that he performed sexual favors for money. Like Lester’s defiance against Carolyn, he is tired of his father’s overbearing authority over him. Throughout the film, he obeys all of his father’s rules and even getting a catering job to look like a responsible adult. But eventually he breaks, and like Lester he defies the expectations that are put upon him by the greater powers. Near the end of the film Lester offers up a true example of humanity and sense of reawakening during his final scene with Angela, yet another piece of evidence to prove his mirroring of Ricky Fitts. Unbeknownst to him, Angela was all along a virgin. This can be inferred in the earlier basketball scene in which lighting was a key element. The light source cannot be seen and one can speculate that this light came from heaven shining down on her to show her innocence. Moreover, it can be inferred by her try-hard ways of showing off her supposed sexual experience to Jane that she, indeed, is a virgin. The omnipresence of the color white around Angela is also further indication that she indeed was a virgin. In the final scene for example, she is wearing a white button-down blouse and the couch on which she lays is also white. Traditionally, white in film represents cleanliness and purity. Finally, her name can be likened to the word â€Å"angel† as if to imply that despite her boastful ways, she is indeed an angel on the inside. Ironic it may be, but it took Angela to make Lester realize that he truly loved his family. Once Angela confessed that she was a virgin, it brought back Lester to a mature man once again who was able to handle responsibility. In this case, he was responsible and decided not to take Angela’s virginity. Instead, he hugs her and puts a blanket around her to comfort her. He shows humanity and compassion in this scene and realizes that Angela, like him, is suffering from the pressures of society. Lester takes after Ricky in that he, too, displays humanity by seeing through Angela’s fake exterior and realizing that she is beautiful on the inside whether or not she is sexually experienced. Lester finds clarity during his talk with Angela in the kitchen and understands that he has duties as a man and a father in his household. He looks on lovingly and meaningfully at a picture of his family and we, as the audience, sees his realization and his return to reality, only for it to be ended abruptly by a shot to his head by an anonymous person. At this final stage of the film, we have been given the tools and eye by Ricky to see what truly defines beauty. And as Ricky kneels down in front of Lester who is laying in a pool of his own blood, the viewer is invited to look on as well at Lester and realize that we, too, can find beauty in a graphic image like that. The film teaches us to look closer and to realize beauty in other things besides the obvious. Furthermore, it reaffirms that there is an everyday struggle for individuals to figure out their own identities and sometimes they find it necessary to mask their fears and insecurities with fake exteriors. Everything is not what it seems. Behind the perfectly painted red door and within the white picket fence, there is disillusionment and tension within the family structure. Behind the hard facade of the sexualized teenage girl, there is an innocent young woman who is insecure and wants attention. Behind the tough exterior of a former colonel, there is a conflicted man begging for answers. Behind the peculiar cold young man, there is the only sliver of humanity left in this materialistic world. The film teaches us that behind these fake exteriors, there exists an ounce of beauty being hidden. All we have to do is look closer. American Beauty an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts Essay Example American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts Paper Film: History and Form November 17, 2010 American Beauty: An Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts American Beauty, written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes, invites the viewer to do one thing: look closer. Look closer at life, look closer at your surroundings, look closer at your possessions, and finally look closer at your loved ones. What is integral about the subject matter of the film is how applicable it is to almost anyone who watches it. The film’s grotesque depiction of American middle-class society is immediately very attractive, and the different elements such as the main character’s mid-life crisis, the young girls’ coming-of-age experiences and general family dynamics are very relatable to almost any viewer. As the viewer, we are drawn into the families and are forced to â€Å"look closer† and investigate what is wrong and why they have become the way that they are. Throughout the film’s progression, Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts are portrayed as mirror-images of one another and that they indeed are quite similar in their struggles against their respective overbearing authorities, share similar feelings of imprisonment and desires for escape. Carolyn, Lester and Jane Fitts seem like the perfect nuclear family. With both parents working successful jobs in the real estate and advertising business, the Burnham household appears to be the ideal American, nuclear family. We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty: an Analysis of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitts specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Their house is filled with ideal family photos and decorated with expensive furniture, while their front yard is perfectly gardened and lined with a white picket fence and an abundance of red roses. From the outside, it seems like a story of a perfect and happy family. What comes with the label of being a nuclear family are both financial and emotional security and an assumption of traditional gender roles. It is clear, however, that the character of Lester Burnham has grown alienated from within his own home and wants to escape. He is living a sedated life and has become numb to everything. The viewer, throughout the film, sees Lester portrayed in various shots of imprisonment illusions, notably the shot of him looking through the front window to his wife gives the illusion of prison bars as well as the shot of his reflection on his desk computer with the words on the monitor in a prison bar shape. It is evident to the viewer that Lester is beginning to feel the repercussions of living in confinement from his daily routine. On the surface, the character of Ricky Fitts seems the most peculiar and out of the ordinary. The viewer first sees him doing the odd act of filming Jane as she walks back to her house, but in reality the viewer comes to realize that he is actually the most real person in the film. Ricky is not like a typical American, male teenager. He is not rowdy, nor does he seem the type to party. He appears to be a very obedient son to his parents, the mom living her life day by day while the father excessively wears a hard exterior because of his past duties in the army. Ricky seems fine, but like the character of Lester, he too is suffering from the dynamics of his own home. Still, he is able to remain true to himself; he does not put on a facade, and he does not care what anyone thinks. Ricky is a quiet and reserved guy, but what he lacks in words he makes up for with his use of his video camera. What seems like a voyeuristic act of filming Jane throughout the film across his window is actually his own way of reaching out to her and offering his hand to free her from the imprisonment that Jane feels in her own home. He is the most rational and is able to see past the materialistic attitudes and shallowness that characterize many of the characters. Ricky Fitts appreciates the beauty in nature and the most mundane things that people would not give a second glance toward. Ricky’s video camera acts as his filter to his view of the world. He sees everything from an impartial point of view and therefore sees everyone’s true nature. He quickly senses Angela’s fake exterior and detects the true beauty that is resonant within plain Jane, despite how boring she may seem to most people. To Jane, he is not only her neighbor and lover but also her savior from the confines of her home. Ricky is the outsider who is able to observe what is truly going on inside the Burnham household. He sees the effects that the negative dynamics of the family have on Jane, and he knows that the happenings inside of the seemingly perfect household are anything but perfect. Both Lester and Ricky’s worlds are turned upside down once the two of them meet. When Ricky shows defiance toward his boss at the party he is working, Lester sees a hero in him. Lester, who seems to be undergoing a mid-life crisis idolizes young Ricky, because it reminds him of his glory days when he was carefree, had no real responsibility and could do whatever he wanted. Lester has a spiritual awakening and he is motivated to revive himself from the dormant and mundane life that he has been living. Here, the viewer begins to see the mirroring of the characters of Lester and Ricky. Ricky’s carefree attitude and willful spirit ignites a fire within Lester and makes him want to change. Soon after, Lester’s new mindset of change comes into play and subsequently affects his own interactions with his wife and daughter. The chemistry between Lester and Carolyn is an important aspect in defining their roles in the family. It is safe to conclude that Carolyn is the more authoritative figure. From the beginning, the viewer sees this especially with the way that she taunts Lester when he dropped his briefcase and how she drives the car for the family. In many scenes, Carolyn is always the dominant figure in each shot. For example during the business social scene, Lester is noticeably shorter because Carolyn is a ledge higher than him to symbolize who is dominant in their marriage. Lester further confirms this when he says amusingly to Carolyn, â€Å"I’ll be whatever you want me to be. As Lester begins his transformation and attempts to regain control of his life however, the viewer is exposed to signs of rebellion and defiance from Lester toward Carolyn. After his bath tub dream, Lester shows defiance by commenting on how their marriage is really no longer a marriage and that they are just going through their everyday routines. He acknowledges the new Lester by saying, â€Å"Well guess what, Iâ €™ve changed. And the new me whacks off when he feels horny, ‘cause you’re obviously not gonna do anything about it. Furthermore, in the confrontation scene between Lester and Carolyn about trading in the car Carolyn is, at first, noticeably the dominant figure as she stands in the hallway while Lester sits on the couch. But soon after, Lester takes control and he is the dominant figure as they get intimate on the sofa. But Lester’s attempts at rekindling their dying romance are interrupted by Carolyn’s obsessive-compulsiveness. While Lester realizes that there are better and more important aspects of life than being materialistic and reaffirming oneself with prized possessions, Carolyn doesn’t come to terms like Lester and is ashamed. We see that Lester has truly changed for the better while Carolyn remains stagnant in her ways of life. Lester exclaims to Carolyn, â€Å"IT’S JUST A COUCH. THIS ISN’T LIFE. THIS IS JUST STUFF. † Carolyn, as we see in this scene, is two-dimensional because she never really transforms like Lester. She is fixated on her career and has a tunnel vision toward ultimate success. While we see a brief glimpse of positive change in Lester through his interaction in this scene with Carolyn, it is evident that the damages in the marriage will never be fixed if Carolyn never changes. And as we see in the subsequent scenes, Carolyn further spirals downward because of her cheating and intense obsession with her career. Ricky Fitts becomes the source of enlightenment for Lester Burnham and it is evident that the only humanity present throughout a film, whose characters are devoid of any genuine feelings and instead are filled with materialistic tendencies and fake facades, is in the character of Ricky. As the viewer gets to know Ricky better, we see the different representations of what he deems to be signs of beauty. One example is during school when Jane and her friend Angela catch Ricky filming a dead bird because he finds beauty in it. In a momentous scene of the film, Ricky shows Jane the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen: a floating, white plastic bag. From our point of view, the camera is still and located right behind and in between Jane and Ricky’s heads to invite us to see what Ricky considers to be a representation of ultimate beauty. For the first time in the film, the viewer is exposed to an appreciation for life and a sense of clarity with one’s surroundings. Aforementioned, Ricky with his camera is the external, unbiased point of view in the film that helps the characters and the audience locate where real beauty can be found. The floating white bag represents what many of characters in the film want: freedom. They desire freedom from the expectations of society, freedom from traditional roles, freedom from family obligations, freedom from job responsibilities, etc. Ricky Fitts sees beauty in the plastic bag because it is able to do whatever it wants freely, as it dances with the leaves and goes wherever the wind takes it. It is this idea of liberation and desire for escape that   motivates many of the characters, particularly Lester and Ricky. In addition to the inspiration that Ricky gives to Lester, the character of Angela also becomes catalyst for the drastic changes that Lester undergoes throughout the film. Lester continuously reminisces about his past even stating at the beginning of the film, â€Å"It is never too late to regain your past. † With the help of technical elements, the first scene in which we see both Lester and Angela establishes the obsession that Lester has for Angela throughout the film. The film employs the male gaze throughout the film as both Lester and Ricky view their respective love interests in this manner, Lester more lustfully whereas Ricky incorporates real love. In this basketball scene, Angela is given an upward position in the frame to suggest that Lester is indeed noticing her. The camera then zooms in on both characters to intensify the fantasized connection between the two of them, and soon they are isolated from their respective sides to further emphasize this connection. The camera’s focus on Lester’s face creates the illusion of an animal drooling at the mouth over something that he desires. After all, he is lusting after Angela. Lester, in a way, acts with the mindset of a teenage boy because of his fixation on Angela. He begins to work out, drink and smoke pot and much like a teen, he abandons all responsibilities by quitting his job and therefore abandoning his traditional role as a father. Furthermore, he trades in the family Mercedes for a 1970s Trans Am sports car, his dream car as a young boy. All of these actions accumulate into a necessary sequence of events to achieve happiness and escape from the reality of his mundane family and work life. While Lester finds the fuel to his fire in Angela, Ricky finds a muse in Jane. As Ricky is able to see past the shallow exterior of Angela, this is why he is able to find beauty in the plain character of Jane. To most people, she’s plain Jane but Ricky sees her as a truly beautiful person over someone like Angela who seems conventionally attractive. Jane fills in the blank for a reason for Ricky to stand up against the overbearing rules of his father and finally run away and be happy. While it is evident that Lester reverts back into a mindset of a male teenager, the viewer finally sees Ricky fulfilling the same role as well; he is finally acting his own age. Ricky is the same as Lester in the beginning. He is the pushover in his relationship with his father. He is controlled by his father and is monitored very closely to the point that he is required to give urine samples. Near the end of the film, Ricky stands up to his father by egging him on to believe that he performed sexual favors for money. Like Lester’s defiance against Carolyn, he is tired of his father’s overbearing authority over him. Throughout the film, he obeys all of his father’s rules and even getting a catering job to look like a responsible adult. But eventually he breaks, and like Lester he defies the expectations that are put upon him by the greater powers. Near the end of the film Lester offers up a true example of humanity and sense of reawakening during his final scene with Angela, yet another piece of evidence to prove his mirroring of Ricky Fitts. Unbeknownst to him, Angela was all along a virgin. This can be inferred in the earlier basketball scene in which lighting was a key element. The light source cannot be seen and one can speculate that this light came from heaven shining down on her to show her innocence. Moreover, it can be inferred by her try-hard ways of showing off her supposed sexual experience to Jane that she, indeed, is a virgin. The omnipresence of the color white around Angela is also further indication that she indeed was a virgin. In the final scene for example, she is wearing a white button-down blouse and the couch on which she lays is also white. Traditionally, white in film represents cleanliness and purity. Finally, her name can be likened to the word â€Å"angel† as if to imply that despite her boastful ways, she is indeed an angel on the inside. Ironic it may be, but it took Angela to make Lester realize that he truly loved his family. Once Angela confessed that she was a virgin, it brought back Lester to a mature man once again who was able to handle responsibility. In this case, he was responsible and decided not to take Angela’s virginity. Instead, he hugs her and puts a blanket around her to comfort her. He shows humanity and compassion in this scene and realizes that Angela, like him, is suffering from the pressures of society. Lester takes after Ricky in that he, too, displays humanity by seeing through Angela’s fake exterior and realizing that she is beautiful on the inside whether or not she is sexually experienced. Lester finds clarity during his talk with Angela in the kitchen and understands that he has duties as a man and a father in his household. He looks on lovingly and meaningfully at a picture of his family and we, as the audience, sees his realization and his return to reality, only for it to be ended abruptly by a shot to his head by an anonymous person. At this final stage of the film, we have been given the tools and eye by Ricky to see what truly defines beauty. And as Ricky kneels down in front of Lester who is laying in a pool of his own blood, the viewer is invited to look on as well at Lester and realize that we, too, can find beauty in a graphic image like that. The film teaches us to look closer and to realize beauty in other things besides the obvious. Furthermore, it reaffirms that there is an everyday struggle for individuals to figure out their own identities and sometimes they find it necessary to mask their fears and insecurities with fake exteriors. Everything is not what it seems. Behind the perfectly painted red door and within the white picket fence, there is disillusionment and tension within the family structure. Behind the hard facade of the sexualized teenage girl, there is an innocent young woman who is insecure and wants attention. Behind the tough exterior of a former colonel, there is a conflicted man begging for answers. Behind the peculiar cold young man, there is the only sliver of humanity left in this materialistic world. The film teaches us that behind these fake exteriors, there exists an ounce of beauty being hidden. All we have to do is look closer.

Sumerian Civilization essays

Sumerian Civilization essays After hearing about many different ancient civilizations I feel that the Sumerians were the most advanced and the best civilization of their time. Not only did they come up with their own system of writing but they also became advanced in fields such as astronomy and math. All of their achievements come together to prove their wisdom and advanced thinking skills of their time. Out of all of their achievements the Sumerians biggest accomplishment was their system of writing. Their unique system called cuneiform consisted of arrangements of wedge-like strokes generally impressed with a stylus on wet clay tablets. This system was later adapted by other civilizations such as the Babylonians and the Persians. Because the Sumerians were predominantly agricultural they also became skilled at building canals and at developing effective systems of irrigation. Some of their other contributions came from objects such as pottery, jewelry, and weapons. These show that they were also skilled in the use of metals such as copper, gold, and silver and had developed by 3000 B.C. fine artistry as well as considerable technological knowledge. There are many reasons why the Sumerian civilization can be considered better than the many other ancient civilizations. One reason is that they were able to come up with their own system of writing rather than adapting it from another preexisting civilization like the Persians and Babylonians did. Another thing that made the Sumerians better than some of the other civilizations was their use of the calendar which they divided into twelve months based on the cycle of the moon. Since a year consisting of twelve lunar months is considerably shorter than a solar year, the Sumerians added a "leap month" every three years in order to catch up with the sun. This interest in measuring long periods of time also led the Sumerians to develop a complicated knowledge of astronomy and the first human invention of the zodiac ...

The Notebook Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Notebook - Movie Review Example t just relationships between Allie and Noah, but also between Allie and Lon—Lon is the more suitable husband for her, according to the dictates of conventional wisdom and society. â€Å"Interactionists focus on the subjective aspects of social life, rather than on objective, macro-structural aspects of social systems. One reason for this focus is that interactionists base their theoretical perspective on their image of humans, rather than on their image of society (as the functionalists do)† (Symbolic, 2010). Allie struggles against society, represented by her parents, who are constantly giving the symbolic message that Noah is not good enough for her. It can be also argued that Noah’s romantic preoccupation with Allie over the years (the hundreds of letters, the obsession with fixing up the house for her even when she’s gone, etc.) is also representative of symbolic interactionism, in terms of the symbols and roles given to men in order to express their l ove. The house which Noah restores and builds also acts as a literal symbol in the movie: it stands for his struggle in role fulfillment, going from working class to the propertied class. Differences exist between Noah and Allie in class, as well in their background and upbringing. They do fall in love. Despite this, differences do still also exist in the general roles and communication styles expected of them. Of course, every family is unique, so to form the impression of sameness and difference in a general overall national or cultural pattern, this review can easily use a symbolic interaction point of view to examine Noah and Allie’s relationship. â€Å"Symbolic interactionism refers to giving meaning to the apparent language-based (or symbolic) interactions that occur between individuals. According to symbolic interactionism, social roles, such as being a father, are linked to societal expectations that influence the behaviors† (Symbolic, 2005). From this view, family structures are not stable

Assingment 8 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assingment 8 - Assignment Example They should, therefore, be given a second chance. Additionally, just as we cannot treat juveniles as adults when matters such as voting and employment are concerned, there is no reason to treat them as adults when it comes to more delicate issues such as violation of the law. An ostensible fact is that juveniles are immature and no reasoning can justify the aspect of treating them as adults in a court or prison (LawyerShop, 2008). Treating them as adults only ruins a potentially beneficial youth and expose them to unwarranted health risks such as sexual harassment. Proving my answer: The current population strives so much to attain equality. No matter the age, a minor is capable of differentiating good from bad. The juvenile is not insane and hence should be treated like an adult when it comes to criminal cases. Equality is the air that we are breathing. Regardless of who does the offense, justice must prevail and the juvenile offender should not prevaricate punishment. Anybody who commits crime is a criminal; the mere fact that they are juveniles does not diminish the effect of the delinquency on the victim. Criminals are all over our neighborhood living happy and peaceful bliss while their victims and families of the victims are left in unfathomable suffering forever (Flowers, 2002). There is, therefore, no reason to exercise some degree of mercy when convicting juveniles since that will not help in reducing the crime rate. Refuting other possible answers: I strongly believe that with the current advent of technology, people are brighter than you can expect and very smart intellectually. Juveniles engage in crime knowingly a fact that can be supported by the 12 % social recidivism rate among juvenile offenders (Steinberget al., 2015). What’s more, some juveniles simply enjoy engaging in crimes such as rape and murder. Rapists, murderers and other convicts are being released from jail

Compare and contrast plato and decsartes Essay Example for Free

Compare and contrast plato and decsartes Essay Descartes and Plato are two of the most influential thinkers within philosophy. The allegory of the cave and systematic doubt are also two of the most famous concepts within philosophy. Plato at the time of writing the cave allegory was trying to resist the growing influence of the Sophist philosophers who prioritised semantics and rhetoric over truth. 1 Descartes by introducing radical scepticism to philosophy was challenging traditional scholastic philosophy which had dominated the philosophy for many centuries. While both pieces of writing are separated by different ages of time and space, they share many  similarities as well as fundamental differences. This essay will attempt to compare and contrast these two bodies of work by firstly explaining what is Descartes’ systematic doubt and Plato’s Allegory of the cave before finally examining the similarities and differences between them in the final paragraph of analysis. Descartes in his first meditation introduces the concept of Radical doubt which similarly places suspicion on the senses and the appearance of things. This involves stripping away all one’s beliefs and preconceived notions in order to find the foundational bedrock of  knowledge in which all sciences could then grow2. Descartes begins his first meditation by casting doubt on all his beliefs, if a belief can be even slightly doubted it must be discarded. He wants to ‘reject as absolutely false anything in which I could imagine the least amount of doubt3’ this is called radical scepticism where all beliefs must be challenged. Through this experiment Descartes conceded that the physical senses are not to be trusted as they have deceived him before, this is known as sensory deception and this revelation forces him to  doubt any beliefs about the external world and knowledge that is gathered by the five senses. His examination also reveals that dreams states can be difficult to distinguish between waking life, this has happened before where he thought he was in bed but wasn’t. Henceforth one cannot truly know if they are awake observing reality or asleep enjoying a dream, this is known as the dream hypothesis. Descartes also uncovers the evil demon hypothesis whereby all external reality observed may be just an illusion that is perpetrated by an evil demon  seeking to deceive him, also there is the problem that all previous memories about oneself could simply just be imagination and not grounded in any reality. The system of radical doubt leads Descartes into murky territory where he cannot believe in the existence of anything at 1 JULIAS, ANNAS: INTRODUCTION TO PLATO’S REPUBLIC(NEW YORK, 1998)P. 252 2 JOHN, COTTINGHAM, DESCARTES: THE PHILOSOPHY OF MIND(LONDON, 1997) P. 21 3 JOHN CORRINGHAM, DESCARTES: MEDITATIONS ON FIRST PHILOSOPHY (NEW YORK, 2013) P. 33 all. This thankfully is changed when he discovers the cogito’ I think therefore I am’, his  starting point which saves him from uncertainty, allowing him to prove that he exists. In Plato’s allegory of the cave, there are prisoners who are locked up within the depths of a cave. All day long, they are situated in front of a wall and behind them is a fire which reflects shadows on the wall. Unbeknownst to the prisoners, there are puppeteers who use the firelight to reflect shadows of their puppets upon the wall while making noises ‘the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows’4. The prisoners are unaware of this illusion and mistakenly believe these shadows are real images. One day, a prisoner is released from his chains and allowed to walk freely about the cave. Although it is confusing for him to see the puppets and fire, he is forced to accept this clearer version of reality and eventually ascents through the cave, spending a day and night under the sun and the stars. As he becomes familiar with the world above, he realises the sun is the giver of light, how it casts shadows and how his prior life in the cave was an entire illusion. This newfound enlightenment Plato remarks will prevent him from ever returning to the life in cave, nor will his old inmates  believe him if he tried to free him, instead ‘they would put him to death5’ This intellectual awakening will cause the inmate to grasp the idea of good, the eternal form which will urge him to act ‘rationally in public or private life6’. Ultimately Plato suggests the inmate should return to his old friends and seek to help them. The cave analogy is concerned with the human condition and its’ lack of enlightenment7, for Plato the prisoners represent ordinary citizens who hold false beliefs (shadows), reality is dictated to them by their senses (appearance of things) allowing them to be easily manipulated8. Ignorance is then symbolised by darkness and the intellect and reason is symbolised by the light. The journey of the inmate from darkness to light is a metaphor for education which allows one to progress from the ignorance in the depths of the cave to the intellectual plains of the enlightened one in the outside world. The outer world symbolises true knowledge, the realisation of eternal forms while the cave again illustrates the world of appearance and false beliefs, Woozley writes ‘most men without knowing it live in this shadow world’9 4 PLATO. ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE. P. 74 5 IBID. P. 75 6 IBID. P. 75. 7 ANTHONY, WOOZLEY: PLATO’S REPUBLIC: A PHILOSOPHICAL COMMENTARY(LONDON, 1989)P206 8 JULIAS, ANNAS: INTRODUCTION TO PLATO’S REPUBLIC(NEW YORK, 1998)P254 The cave analogy and Descartes systematic doubt have much in common. Both are concerned with the illusory nature of the senses and external reality, for Plato people place too much emphasis on the senses, on the appearance of things as illustrated in by the shadows on the wall, this leads them to hold false beliefs and to be easily misled, only by entering the realm of thought can people free themselves by gaining knowledge and becoming enlightened. Descartes through the systematic doubt also maintains that external reality cannot be truly known; the sensory deception and evil demon hypothesis cast doubt on the authenticity of the outside world. Indeed the evil demon hypothesis is an almost identical scenario to that of the prisoners whose sensory perception is distorted by the shadow wielding puppeteers. Only through the mind or intellect can an individual overcome the illusory nature of the senses, it allows the prisoner to access the outside world to gain enlightenment and help his fellow inmates while for Descartes the mind by way of the cogito is the one thing  that cannot be doubted which through it allows him prove the existence of the outside world in his later meditations. The cave is an analogy which illustrates how people can possess false consciousness and how through reason and knowledge one can overcome this while systematic doubt is an instruction on how to discard false beliefs, the ascent through the cave into the intellectual world is the finishing point for Plato while the cogito for Descartes is a starting point for further investigation. The two authors also differ on the type of philosophy employed in their argument. Plato insists that after the ascent , the prisoner will experience the idea of the good ‘ the lord of light in the visible world, and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual’10 the good then is the highest point of knowledge and represents Plato’s philosophy of perfect types or forms known as idealism, Descartes through highlighting the sensory, dream and demon hypothesis illustrates how the external world cannot be relied upon as a basis for true knowledge, but the cogito is a starting point, the attempt to find secure beliefs that allow a foundation for further knowledge to be rested upon  is known as Foundationalism which is credited to Descartes. In conclusion, both Descartes and Plato in their attempts to challenge the prevailing doctrine of their respective times introduced two of the most influential concepts in the world of Philosophy. Descartes through his examination of systematic doubt uncovers the limitations of the physical senses in acquiring knowledge and introduces further challenges to understanding external reality with the dream, memory and evil demon hypothesis. Only 9 ANTHONY, WOOZLEY: PLATO’S REPUBLIC: A PHILOSOPHICAL COMMENTARY(LONDON, 1989)P. 223 10 PLATO. ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE. P. 77  through the mind alone can one grasp the nature of reality starting with the cogito. Likewise Plato is concerned with the appearance of things, how the senses can deceive us and humanity like the inmates in the cave can live in a state of ignorance or darkness if they don’t use the power of the mind to acquire knowledge and reason. Only through using the intellect can humanity gather true knowledge and escape the darkness in the cave. For both the intellect is the only means for gathering true knowledge, the senses are illusory. Descartes systematic doubt and cogito provide the foundational starting point for the sciences while the  cave allegory offers advocates a way of life for humanity to feign the world of ignorance and seek true knowledge so that those who acquire it will return to the cave and help their fellow man. Works Cited: Annas, Julias. An Introduction to Plato’s’ Republic. New York: Oxford University Press Cottingham, John. Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013 Cottingham, John. Ed. Ray Monk. Descartes’ Philosophy of Mind. London: Phoenix Publishers, 1997 Plato. The Allegory of the cave. Week 5 Handout Woozley, Anthony. Plato’s Republic: A philosophical commentary. London: MacMillan Publishers, 1989.

Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases Essays -- Climate Change Environme

Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases The concentration of the atmosphere's main greenhouse gases specifically, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor, have increased significantly during the industrial age. These high concentrations are predicted to continue in the atmosphere for thousands of years to come. This increase in specially carbon dioxide, increases the infrared energy taken in by the atmosphere, and warming the earth's surface. The Global mean temperature over the past 150 years has risen between 0.3 degrees C and 0.6 degrees C. Climate changes that have been predicted are based on the continual rise in Green House Gases. These changes include changes in: increase in mean surface air temperature, increase in global mean rates of precipitation and evaporation, rising sea level, and changes in the biosphere. There are many causes to the rise in Green House Gases in the atmosphere. The rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is largely related to the combustion of fossil fuels and cement production (Hansen). The increase in methane is do to rice cultivation, animal husbandry, biomass burning, and landfills (Kattenberg). Nitrous oxide is on the rise because of industrial sources like adipic acid and nitric acid production (Kattenberg). Other gases not mentioned above that have a small impact on the Green House Gas proposed problem, is CFC-11 and CFC-12, these Gases are know to the public as being a big source of warming, although catalyzing decomposition of stratospheric ozone, they do not pose a great threat. Since the public was notified of these compounds in refrigerants, spray propellants, and foam blowing; the atmospheric concentrations have decreased greatly (Prather). .. ...the past 160,000 years." Nature, 345, 1990. Charlson, R. J. "Climate forcing by anthropogenic aerosols." Science 255, 1992. Douglas B. C. Global sea level rise, J. geophys. Res., 96 (C4), 6981-6992, 1991. Hansen, J. E. (1998). Climate forcings in the industrial era. Livermore: Willams Press. Kattenberg, A. (1996). Climate Change 1995: The Science of Climate Change.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Krabill. W. "Rapid thinning of parts of the southern Greenland ice sheet." Science 283, 1999. Peixoto, J. P., and A. H. Oort (1992). Physics of Climate. New York: American Institute of Physics. Prather, M. P. "The ozone layer: The road not taken." Nature 381, 1996. Wang, W. C. "Inadequacy of affective CO2 as a proxy in simulating the greenhouse effect of other radiatively active gases." Nature 350, 1991.

Personal Challenge Essay

There's plenty Of things I'll have to do in order to get through high school and have the grades to get into college. Participating in class and asking questions will help me to bet term understand what we're learning. Also, studying for exams and quizzes will lead to better g reads, which will look good to colleges. Doing all work and getting it all turned in on time will h elf to improve my grades. A high school diploma is a must have for getting accepted into a good college. No college, no job in the future. Basically have to go to college in order to AC hive my Laos of being an athletic trainer.Finding the right college is going to take some e time and research. A college I would really like to go to is Duquesne University. Would I eke to go there because that's where my sister went. I would first want to see if this specific c allege would provide the education need to be an athletic trainer. I would also want to fin d out what the guidelines and requirements are for getting int o that school. I could research the school and see what I can find, or I could talk to the guidance counselor here at Keystone. I co old also talk to y sister about the layout of the school and where certain classes and places are.Playing basketball in college would also motivate me to stick with it. Playing basketball I could also get me a scholarship for college, so then my tuition wont be quite so much for m I've played basketball all my life and been around many athletes. I've seen ho w and why many injuries happen, and have had many injuries myself that required physic cal therapy with an athletic trainer. Being around this environment so much has really gotten me interested in being an athletic trainer. Eave always thought that it seemed like a fun career to ha eve.I'm going to have to work very hard to achieve this goal of mine. Its not goanna be easy beck cause there's a lot of things to learns, but I know I can do it. Everyone has something they would love to accomplish in their life. My goal I s to take up a career of being an athletic trainer. In order to achieve this I will have to work hard at everything do at school. I'll also have to get through both high school and cool leg with good grades. With that being said, achieving my goal of being an athletic trainer is g Anna be hard, but I can definitely do it.