1800’s message media Essay Example for Free

1800’s message media Essay Prior to photographys debut, only the wealthy and the powerful could afford the services of an artist to paint their portrait. Photography provided an affordable means for many to obtain likenesses. In an 1864 speech on pictures, Frederick Douglass discusses the impact that the early photographic formats made on society. First, Douglass views photography as the great equalizer of race and class in that a servant girl could now afford to have a likeness made of herself. Second, the observation illustrates the impact that images had on society more than 150 years ago. The access to such an affordable product encouraged many free blacks to have their portraits taken. Third, the speech is important because it represents an African American perspective on photography. The daguerreotype was the earliest commercial photographic format and was named for its inventor, Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre. It was popular from its invention in 1839 until around 1860. Daguerreotypes are unique and fragile and images of non-whites are somewhat rare. The daguerreotype of Frederick Douglass is one of the earliest known images of him and is unusual because of the profile pose said to symbolize nobility of character. The Douglass image represents the control that free blacks had over how they wished to be perceived by the public. In many of his early photographs, Douglass appears poised, cultured and sometimes defiant as in the engraving of Douglass taken from the frontispiece of his second autobiography My Bondage My Freedom. A comparison of the first two photographs of Douglass with a later drawing of him shows a startling difference, a difference which was noted by Douglass in a book review in the North Star. Douglass commented on this drawing of him by Wilson Armistead. Douglass comment is based on his on-going criticism of the portrayal of African Americans by white artists. Possibly, Douglass did not pose for the Armistead drawing but in the photographic portraits, he had much more control over how he wished to be portrayed. Douglass was one of the most photographed individuals of the 19th century. (Wells, 1996) Until the latter half of the nineteenth century, the portrayal of the Black image in American painting and in the larger context of art remained somewhat elusive and descriptively narrow. The problem of interpretation is seldom a simple one. Thus, with a subject as controversial as the depiction of race and how it should be rendered in the name of honest imagery, artists often were at the mercy of clients who were not objective in their description of race. The actual observations of subjects from within the Black race had little impact on the making of Black images in painting. Much of what emerged from white artists as a sympathetic statement about the Black race in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries came largely from the imagination of the artists. Often, they willfully stereotyped Black subjects by carrying out the wishes of clients who wanted a portrait of their favorite Black servant recorded along with themselves. The results of such a practice were Black images in the art of painting that covered a gamut of visual responses, from the more positive sophisticated imagery of John Singleton Copleys Watson and the Shark, in which a Black man is shown as an equal, awestruck spectator in the boat, to the tattered-torn destitute Black people in the paintings of William Aiken Walker in which field hands are seen picking cotton on southern plantations. By contrast, from 1700 to 1900, very few images of Blacks appeared in sculpture other than in folk items. Those which have survived were often made to show subjects with exaggerated features highlighting what most would describe as unfavorable stereotypic characterizations of the Black race. Some of these grotesque characterizations of Blacks have survived into the twentieth century. One could all but characterize the subjects which occur in the first four time periods listed by citing the recurring themes which white American artists chose to depict in which Blacks were the principal subjects. Blacks are depicted as servants and slaves, noble savages, or servant/war heroes; a few are seen as gentlemen of color. As early as 1838, Blacks were seen as entertainers of whites, serving as musicians and comic capers. Among the visual documentation found are slave sales and slave market scenes, field scenes depicting work experiences as well as those sharing the laziness of the race, and Blacks who serve to promote the sale of food. These are among the constant images that recur in the work of American artists from 1840 until the end of the Civil War. Artistry toward Articulating Personal Characteristics A cursory study of Blacks in American painting reveals that they were virtually ignored as primary figures. When depicted, they were presented more often as servants in the employ of wealthy householders or in scenic settings in which they provide music as entertainment and on occasion singing and dancing for self-entertainment ( Epstein 1). As time passed, such images have come to be looked upon as stereotypic and only partially accurate in showing the full range of the lifestyle and activities of Blacks in colonial and post-Revolutionary America. Dimension is not a term which can readily describe the treatment that Blacks received from the hands of artists of the majority culture prior to the latter half of the nineteenth century. In all ways of visual description, Blacks were depicted with contempt. What is seen today as an appreciable change among mainstream artists in their portrayal of the Black subject is a trend which began to change with the imagery of William Sidney Mount ( 1807-1868) and Winslow Homer ( 1836-1910), both of whom depicted Black subjects with reasonable likeness in their time in history. Of the two, Mount showed limited sensibilities to the plight of the race. Homer directed his artistry toward articulating personal characteristics of the race, painting distinct individuals who lived separate lives devoid of the stereotypic cast placed on previous Black sitters. Homer avoided placing Black figures into a cramped space devoid of compositional clarity. While one tends to look favorably on those images created by William Sidney Mount and on those still-unknown artists of the period that show Blacks as musicians, farmers, and members of their own households, in the main, those images were most often rendered in a manner that singled out Black Americans as being happy with their fate and destitute state in life. More often, they appeared untutored in the cultural ways of white society and visually represented a helpless people without civilized roots and a distinct ethnic history. (Smith, 1988).

We Need More Animal Research, Testing, and Experimentation Essay

We Need More Animal Research, Testing, and Experimentation    A life can be taken or created in a matter of seconds and with that has come the miracles of modern medicine. People have come to expect science to save lives, prevent illness, relieve suffering and improve the quality of life. The means of curing, treating and preventing diseases are not achieved by magic or accident. Medical advances are gained through years of intensive research -- research in which laboratory animals have played, and continue to play, a critical role. Opponents of animal testing are wrongfully determined that this process is completely unethical. Animals have been used for experimentation for around 2,000 years. In the third century BC in Alexandria, Egypt, the philosopher and scientist Erisistratus used animals to study the human body. Five centuries later, the Roman scientist Galen used apes and pigs to prove a theory about veins being full of blood and not air ("Animal Experimentation . . ." 74). Since then several experiments have educated man in many ways that wouldn't have been possible without the use of animals. The debate about animal testing started well over 130 years ago ("The Ethical . . ."). There is no doubt that the animal experimentation performed 100 years ago was cruel and unjust, but since then many changes have taken place. A century ago animals were experimented on without the benefit of modern anesthetics and painkillers, and since then several laws have been passed to prohibit inhumane treatment of animals. Virtually every major medical advance of the last century has depended upon research with animals. Since the early 1900's, 90 Nobel Prizes for medicine have been awarded. At least 60 of these were for disc... ...ts: Animal Rights. California: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1996. pp. 73-81. "Animal Research Helping Kids." Foundation for Biomedical Research. [online], Available: http://www.fbresearch.org/helpingkids.html, December 11,2000. "Animal Rights Myths FAQ." Animal Rights Myths FAQ. [online], Available: http://www.cix.co.uk/~embra/armyths.html, December 7,2000. Murrary, Joseph. "Animals Hold the Key to Saving Human Lives." Americans for Medical Progress Educational Foundation. [online], Available: http://www.ampef.org/research.htm, December 8,2000. "The Humane Care and Treatment of Laboratory Animals." National Associationfor Biomedical Research. [online], Available: http://www.nabr.org/pdfs/orange.pdf, December 6, 2000. "The Ethical Debate." Research Defense Society. [online], Available: http://www.rds-online.org.uk/ethics/index.html, December 11, 2000.

Cosi hsc practice essay Essay

Discuss how Nowra’s perspective on personal relationships is conveyed in Cosi. The play Cosi by Louis Nowra is an emotional portrayal of personal relationships in a Melbourne mental institution ostracised by society. Throughout the play Nowra’s perspective on personal relationships develops and changes through character relationships and development, especially the development of the main protagonist Lewis. Nowra conveys his perspective on personal relationships through themes such as the importance of love and fidelity, the empowerment of women and learning and self-development. Techniques such as symbolism, intertextuality and contrast are also used to further highlight Nowra’s perspective. Nowra’s perspective on personal relationships is primarily shown through the character Lewis and his personal relationships with other characters in the play, especially in his relationship with his girlfriend Lucy. Act Two, Scene Two which features a confrontation between Lewis and Lucy on their relationship is significant in showing this. In this scene, Lucy comes to pick Lewis up to take him to the moratorium meeting and Lewis must decide between staying for the play and going with Lucy. Nowra’s belief on the importance of the existence of love and fidelity in a relationship is shown when Lewis says to Lucy â€Å"It’s about important things like love and fidelity†. Intertextuality is used here through Lewis’ character development and change of values that is evident in this line. This change occurred through his participation in the production of Cosi Fan Tutte with the patients and his exposure to the themes in the play. The women in both Cosi Fan Tutte and Cosi are often compared with the Arabian Phoenix which acts a symbol for a woman’s constancy or fidelity. â€Å"A woman’s constancy is like the Arabian Phoenix. Everyone swears it exists, but no one has seen it.† This is quoted by Lewis to Lucy to further convey Nowra’s belief in the importance of love and fidelity in a relationship. As Cosi was written in a time where a huge social change was occurring and women were beginning to have more sexual freedom with the invention he birth control pill, a lot of aspects of the play focus on the empowerment of women and the double standards that exist between and women in society especially when it comes to fidelity. This is shown in Nowra’s contrast of Act Two, Scene One and Act Two, Scene, Two. In Scene One, Lewis is unfaithful as he kisses Julie but in Act Two he reprimands Lucy for sleeping with Nick failing to mention his own infidelities. Intertextuality is used in this scene when Lewis claims that a woman’s constancy is like the Arabian Phoenix, revealing his hypocrisy. Through Lewis’ condemnation, Nowra demonstrates that, although modern society has become more sexually lenient, there are still double standards that occur which condone men’s fidelity but condemn women’s fidelity. It is revealed that Nowra believes that men and women should be equal not only in relationships but in society too. Julie articulates the message at the beginning of the play when she says that men â€Å"want women to deceive them because it will prove their worst thoughts about women† which in contrast is confirmed by Lewis’ attitude towards Lucy’s infidelities.

Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb By Jason Chamberlin Essay

Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb: By Jason Chamberlin The atomic bomb was one of the most impacting event of the 20th century. It forever changed the way that people looked at war. For the first time, the human race possed the ability to destroy on a massive scale, and they actually got to see how they could do it during the second World War. It was a decision that the president, Harry Truman, had to think and decide very carefully on what exactly he wanted to do. Never in the history of war has anyone had the power that now existed within the United States of America. With a single decision, the President struck fear in the people of other nations. It was an exclamation point that stated how powerful a nation that America now is.†¦show more content†¦Through testing and many secret meetings, President Truman gave the final order to use it. The title that was given to the creation of the atomic bomb was the Manhattan Project. This was the name that was given to ensure that the bomb be kept a secret. Some of the people that were working on it did not even realize what they were doing. The project was worked on all over the country, making it even more of a mystery as to what the Untied Sates was doing.2 The Target Committee was made up to watch over the project and discuss areas of concern with it. They were the ones that would report to different military officials in order to keep the President informed. In meetings at Dr. Oppenheimer’s office in Los Alamos, topics such as status of targets and rehearsals of the bomb were discussed.3 The Target committee tried to cover all areas of the bomb in order to make sure everything went perfect. This is where the actual information started in order to plan out each and every step leading up to dropping the bomb. The information was crucial to the whole project. There would be no way that the President would order the bomb to be dropped unless they had it working perfect. Dr. Oppenhiemer was the main scientist that would be in direct contact with General Groves. The general would then inform the President.4 On Monday July 2nd, 1945, General Groves called Dr. Oppenheimer to discuss testing the bomb itself. In there phone conversation