Public Administration and Politics free essay sample

duction During the apartheid era, the South African public service was isolated and out of touch with international developments in Public Sector Reform (PSR) (Thornhill, 2008). New Public Management (NPM) ideology based on generic management ideas and institutional economics had spread through the Anglophone world in the 1980s and 1990s (Hughes, 2003). During the transition in the early 1990s, very little work done by the African National Congress (ANC) on the nature of the post-apartheid public service. It was understandably obsessed on the issue of political power. It is often argued that NPM has been highly influential in shaping Public sector reform in post-apartheid South Africa. To what extent has the South African public service been influenced by NPM reforms, as opposed to other reforms? What has been the effects of these reforms? They are decentralization of authority and responsibility to managers, rightsizing which entails reducing the size of the public sector, corporatisation in the form of converting departments into free standing units, the creation of the Senior Management System (SMS), the use of the contract system for heads of departments, the creation of a more flexible human resources system, the introduction of Performance Management and attempts to improve service delivery. We will write a custom essay sample on Public Administration and Politics or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page With the exception of fully blown privatization and public-private partnerships, this focus probably straddles the entire spectrum of NPM. The method consisted of interviews with a number of senior government officials which included three current Director-Generals. An interview was also held with the previous Minister of Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi. New Public Management: The Framework In the 1980s, the traditional bureaucratic public administration model of Max Weber and Woodrow Wilson was challenged in Anglophone countries such as England, Australia and New Zealand. A new model of public sector management emerged in these countries which was called NPM. NPM is not a coherent theory but rather a discrete set of ideas that can be broadly divided into two categories. First, there is the use of private management ideas, such as the provision of more responsive and efficient services, performance agreements including service standards, greater independence and flexibility for managers and new financial techniques. Second, there is greater use of as privatisation and public-private partnerships in service provision. NPM is generally inspired by the values and concepts of the private sector. It was seen as a way of cutting through the red tape and rigidity associated with old-style public administration. The Context of Public Sector Reform Global economic influences have been an important background variable in considering administrative reform. One general reason for public sector reforms internationally is to restrain public spending, lighten the bureaucratic burden and to reshape social policies that cannot be afforded (Polity and Bouckaert (2004:28).

Two Women One Struggle essays

Two Women One Struggle essays The name Ann Frank has become so popular from a required reading in high school that she needs little introduction. She was a school girl in Nazi Germany, during World War II, that was forced into hiding because she was Jewish. This particular essay gives you some of her earlier diary entries that give you a view of her life before she was in hiding. Our second essay, The long Good-Bye, was written by a women named Amanda Coyne. She gives us a look at what family life is like in a Federal prison. My essay discusses the similarities and differences between Franks point of view in writing to her friend Kitty-a diary and Coynes in reporting Mothers day at the federal prison. In both situations rights have been removed and have been replaced with more restrictions, but the women try to hold on to some of their natural habits. In Amanda Coynes essay, she observes a group of women trying to let go of their surroundings and remember what it was like on the outside by sampling each others perfumes. It seems that Charitys uncanny talent for divine brand names is perhaps nowhere on earth more appreciated than here with these sensory-starved inmates,(pg195) Coyne describes. The women in the federal prison are also limited to there dress code. Women arent allowed to wear shorts that are to short and are regularly checked by security guards. Coynes sister Jennifer tells them a story about one of the main security guards named Ponytail, She is also the toughest guard here, particularly in regards to the federal rules governing exposed skin.(pg195) These are a lot more petty the restrictions that Ann had to face. In her diary she gives us some examples, Our freed om was severely restricted by a series of anti-Jewish decrees: Jews were required to wear a yellow star; Jews were required to turn in their bicycles; Jews were forbidd ...

Carbon-13 Non Magnetic Resonance (NMR) of Steroids

Carbon-13 Non Magnetic Resonance (NMR) of Steroids Carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (CMR) spectra show a marked sensitivity to such important features of chemical structure as carbon hybridization, the electronegativity of heteroatoms, branching and steric crowding. Potentially, CMR is an extremely rich source of structural data in organic chemistry, capable of rivaling or even surpassing proton magnetic resonance. In the research proposed here, we intend to develop this potential in the field of steroid chemistry. The factors which determine the CMR spectra of steroids are only modestly well understood. We have begun, and propose here to continue, a systematic study of families of closely-related steroids (keto- and hydroxy-androstanes and cholestanes) with the conviction that only through such a systematic study can the basic factors governing the CMR spectra of steroids be brought to light. We intend to quantify those factors as predictive rules which relate spectra to structures and to develop computerized methods for using t hose rules to extract structural information from the CMR spectra of unknown steroids. We also propose to develop several chemical methods (derivatization procedures) for augmenting the information-content of such spectra. Within the last twenty years, the phenomenon of nuclear magnetic resonance†2 (NMR) has evolved from little more than a laboratory curiosity to one of the most powerful analytical tools in chemistry. The experiment itself consists of observing, in an applied magnetic field, the resonance frequencies (in the radio-frequency range) of magnetic nuclei in a liquid chemical sample. The analysis of NMR spectra yields chemical shifts and coupling constants which reflect, respectively, the chemical environments of and the bonding or spatial relationships between atoms whose nuclei are magnetic. Because protons are magnetic, interacting particularly strongly with electromagnetic fields, and because they are present in virtually all organic compounds, proton NMR (PMR) has found broad usefulness in organic chemistry. The literature on PMR spectroscopy is huge, and frequently it is found that PMR spectra yield chemical information which would be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain by an y other method. The determination of structure and conformation, 394 the analysis of mixtures, 435 the study of rate processes6 and the elucidation of reaction mechanisms 7 have all been aided substantially by PMR techniques. Other nuclei frequently observed via NMR are F-19, P-31 and C-13. The first two are not common inorganic compounds and are thus used for more specialized studies. Carbon, by definition, occurs in all organic molecules, but only about 1isotope C-13. This, together with the fact that C-13 nuclei are almost two orders of magnitude less sensitive than protons to the NMP experiment, has hampered the widespread use of C-13 NMR (CMR) as an analytical tool for organic chemists. However, recent instrumental 8 advances such as pulsed Fourier transform techniques and 9-l 1 noise-modulated proton decoupling have made it possible to obtain natural-abundance CMR spectra of even large molecules (e.g., steroids) or low-concentration (ca. 0.05 M) samples within a reasonably short time (0.5 10 hr.). The research to date 12 indicates that C-13 chemical shifts (which constitute the primary data usually collected in the CMR experiment) cover a broad range (ca. 200 p.p.m.) relative to H-l shifts (ca. 10 – P.P.m.1, and are highly sensitive to hybridization, the electronegativity of substituents, branching, and steric crowding. Thus CMR spectroscopy is pote ntially a rich and highly useful source of structural data. As further advances in instrumental design take place, CMR spectroscopy will become an increasingly available and informative tool in organic chemistry. OBJECTIVES AND SIGNIFICANCE The research proposed herein is directed toward understanding the factors which determine C-13 chemical shifts in steroids and toward developing computer-based methods whereby a chemist can obtain structural information from spectra of unknown steroids. This class of compounds was chosen for two reasons. First, the steroid skeleton is more or less rigid, providing a relatively controlled framework within which to study the effects of steric hindrance and other geometrical factors upon C-13 shifts. Second, a great fraction of steroid and natural products chemistry involves the identification or verification of steroid structures, and thus we expect our results to be of significant practical utility. At the current level of understanding of C-13 chemical shifts, it is not now possible to predict the CMR spectrum of a given steroid with much certainty, although by referring to simple model systems, one can often rationalize the signs and general magnitudes of the spectral changes which take place when the nature and position of substituents are altered. It is now a challenging problem simply to assign the spectrum of a known steroid, that is to identify which observed peaks belong to which carbons. The first definitive study of the CMR of steroids was presented only four years ago by Roberts et al. 13 – In that report, the assigned spectra of nearly thirty assorted steroids are presented, with the assignment task accomplished ’I using specific single- frequency and off-resonance proton decoupling, hydroxyl acetylation effects on chemical shifts, deuteration, and substituent influences in analogous -6- compounds.† Since then, several other authors 14 have reported research on the CMR of steroids, but only recently has the systematic study 15,16 of families of closely related steroids begun. We have reported 16 the assigned spectra of fourteen keto-substituted androstanes and cholestanes, where the keto group occupies every possible position around the skeleton. We are currently collecting data on a similar series of hydroxy-substituted steroids, and work is also in 17 progress on the series of steroids containing one endocyclic double-bond. The initial stage or our proposed research is to complete the hydroxyl series and to obtain the CMR spectra of several bifunctional (e.g., dihydroxy and keto-hydroxy) steroids. With such a collection of systematic data available, we will be able to study the influence upon C-13 shifts of these three types of functionality, alone and in combination, which are by far the most common types occur-ing in natural steroids. From these data, we expect to be able to extract rules which will allow the accurate prediction of CNR spectra of steroids containing these groups. Zffrcher’*-20 has derived an extremely useful set of rules relating skeletal substitutions in steroids to changes in the PMR shifts of protons in angular methyl groups. The C-13 rules we seek will relate not only to angular methyl groups but to all carbons in the skeleton, and will thus provide a great deal more information than the Zircher rules. These CNK rules will also form the base for our proposed work in the computerized interpretation of CNR data (vide infra). – As the second portion of our work, we propose a study of reversible derivatization procedures which will aid in the assignment of the spectra of known steroids, and in the analysis of the spectra of unknown -7- steroids. Roberts and co-workers 13 have found that acetylation of a hydroxyl group in a steroid produces characteristic changes, due primarily to steric effects, in the shifts of carbons close to that group. They have used this effect in assigning such shifts. We propose to study the effects of other hydroxyl-group derivatives, specifically, the 2,4,6- trimethylbenzene (benzoates themselves, in our hands, have not shown any advantages over acetates), trifluoroacetate and the trimethylsilyl ether. These derivatives have different steric and electronic properties than do acetates, and should thus produce different patterns of spectral change, providing a convenient means of augmenting the information-content of ordinary CMR spectra. We also propose to observe the C-13 shift changes which take place upon cyclic ketalization of carbonyl groups, and we expect that such changes will be useful in determining the local environment of keto groups on steroids. It has been found 21,22 that the presence of a paramagnetic complexing agent (e.g., a †lanthanide shift† reagent) causes large changes in C-13 chemical shifts of alcohols and ketones. These changes can be related to the geometry of the complex, which reflects the geometry of the Alcohol or ketone itself. We intend to explore the use of such shift-reagents in assisting the interpretation of steroidal CHR spectra. Of particular interest will be the difference between JA- and p-hydroxy steroids: It is expected that the grossly different steric environments of axial vs. equatorial hydroxyl groups will have a pronounced effect upon the geometry of the complex, and thus, very different lanthanide shift patterns should result. If so, the effect should provide a convenient means for distinguishing the stereochemistry of sterols. -8- A third facet of the proposed research involves the development of computerized techniques for automatically extracting structural information from CMR spectra. This represents a logical growth of our Heuristic DENDRAL project, 23-28 an eight-year joint effort between our laboratories and the Departments of Genetics and Computer Science. The purpose of the project is to develop applications of heuristic programming (†artificial intelligence†) to problems in chemical inference, with the bulk of the effort directed toward the computerized interpretation of mas s-spectroscopic (MS) data. In the early DENDRAL research, 24,25 only saturated, acyclic, monofunctional compounds were treated, but we have recently reported the successful identification of the structures cf estrogenic steroids 25 (and mixtures thereof 27 ) via the computerized interpretation of MS data. As the complexity of compound classes has increased, we have felt a growing need for sources of structural data other than MS. CMR data show a sensitivity to stereochemistry and substituent placement which complements, rather than duplicates, MS-derived information, and thus CMR is the ideal candidate. We have demonstrated 28 the feasibility of using CMR data in automated structure analysis. Using a detailed and accurate set of predictive rules 29 for saturated, acyclic amines, we have constructed a computer program which can †reason out† the structure of such an amine, starting from its empirical formula and CMR spectrum. A similar effort is proposed for the steroids (at least, those containing endocyclic double bonds, carbonyl groups and hydroxyl substituents) in which structural information would be inferred from CMR data using accurate predictive rules. This information could then be integrated with the results obtained from derivatization or special CMR techniques, 9- and (if necessary) from MS analysis to yield possible structures. Not only would such a system have substantial utility, but it would represent an important advance in the †state of the art† in both CMR spectroscopy and chemical information-processing. A. CMR Spectra of Steroids We plan to complete the series of sterols by synthesizing [emailprotected], [emailprotected], 74-, 9+, lbc-, 14ti-, 16x- and 176- androstanols or cholestanols, whose CMR spectra (pulsed Fourier-transform spectra, obtained at 25 Mhz. using noise modulated proton decoupling) will be recorded and assigned. We have worked out likely synthetic pathways for the preparation of these using commonly accepted procedures and starting from compounds available in our laboratories. In order to test the extent of additivity relationships and of various interactions of substituents, we shall similarly synthesize and record the spectra of two or three dozen dihydroxy and keto-hydroxy androstanes and cholestanes. The candidates chosen will depend upon the results of the analysis of the monofunctional steroids. Using statistical procedures similar to those of Dalling and Grant, 30 and of Lindeman and Adams, 31 we shall attempt to correlate s/structural variables with chemical shifts, the goal being the derivation of an accurate set of substituent parameters for steroids. In assessing the effects of steric crowding and skeletal distortion, we plan to utilize a computerized, classical-mechanical model of the molecular structure, such as the Westheimer-type models recently reviewed by Schleyer. B. Derivatization We propose to analyze the changes in C-13 shifts which take place when the hydroxyl group in several of the above androstanols and cholestanols is derivatized to the 2,4,6-trimethylbenzene, trifluoroacetate and trimethylsilyl ether. We propose similarly to investigate the effects of ketalizing (with ethylene glycol) several androstenone and cholestanones. We propose to analyze the effects of lanthanide shift reagents (in varying concentrations) upon the CMR spectra of several of the hydroxy- and keto-steroids, with particular emphasis upon pairs of sterols which differ only in the orientation of the hydroxyl group. These investigations will be directed toward the development of a repertoire of non-destructive, chemical methods for increasing the ’information available from CMR spectra. C. Computerized Interpretation of CMR data There are three phases to our proposed research in this area, all of which will make use of the heuristic programming techniques developed in our DENDRAL project. First, we intend to develop a program to assist in the assignment of spectra obtained in; arts A and B, using currently available techniques (i.e., using rules for acyclic systems together with analogies from appropriate model systems). The purpose here is twofold: On one hand, such a program will hasten a time-consuming procedure (in our work, the assignment of spectra requires about as much time as the preparation of samples and the recording of spectra, combined), while on the other hand, it will provide a context within which to develop techniques applicable to the more difficult problem of structure identification. Specifically, we will need methods for express; ing CMR rules as efficient computer code, and for deciding whether a good, unambiguous fit occurs between predicted and observed data. Secondly, we intend to u tilize the rules derived in part A, together with derivatization information from B, to write what is called a †planning† program in the DENDRAL terminology. Such a program is designed to examine the spectrum of an unknown and, referring to a set of heuristics, to attempt to verify the presence or absence of specific structural features in the unknown. Whereas the predictive rules allow one to predict a spectrum from a given structure, the heuristics represent transformations of the rules which allow one to infer structural information from a given spectrum. The primary challenge in constructing the planning program will be the design of heuristics which are as informative as possible, yet which run efficiently. This program will be a useful analytic tool in itself and will be used in the third phase of our proposed research. This third phase will involve merging the planning program with the existing DENDRAL system, which analyzes MS data for steroids. Modifications will be made to the structure generation program, which can construct all possible sets of acyclic substituents from a given set of atoms and attach those substituents in all possible ways to a given cyclic skeleton. The structure generator now makes use of IISplanner information, constructing only those steroids which are consistent with it. We shall modify the algorithm to make use of the output from both the MS and the CMR planners, and shall extend the algorithm to consider questions of stereochemistry, which are currently ignored. We believe that the augmented DENDRAL s ystem will have the capacity to identify, unambiguously, the structures of a wide variety of steroids using information from just these two spectroscopic sources. The programs will be written in the LISP language, and will thus be compatible with the rest of the DENDRAL system. Computer time on the PDP-10 will be provided through the NIH-funded SUMEX facility at Stanford, and we request no support in this proposal for computer facilities. Programs developed in our proposed research will be available to the scientific community over the ARPA computer network.

School Violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

School Violence - Essay Example The nation’s experiences on the juvenile violence’s have been disturbing to most of the people throughout the country. The situation has been worse especially the shootings that are happening in the locality. For instance, in our case is Ian who is a 15-year old student who is in possession of an armed gun. He took it from the parent’s cabinets and sneaked it to school where he commits a serious crime. The boy is a high school student and lives with the parents in the Southern where he attends school on a daily basis. Ian, like many other teenagers is short temperamental and resistive to corrections. He gets offended very first due to trivial issues and can easily cause harm. However, Ian lacks the attention he deserves as a teenager and his parents are less available due to work conditions. The teachers on the other hand, teach generally and follow their time schedule strictly. Ian thus lacks the support and the general life qualities (Altun & Baker, 2010). It was a normal school day and everything moved on swiftly without interactions. As it was the case with the assignments submissions, the teacher was not pleased with Ian’s work. As the students were dispersed after the school activities, the teacher called him aside. As Ian explained, the teacher was making un recommendable comment to him before he less knew of what to reply to the teacher he had withdrawn the gun he sneaks to school with and shot the teacher. This was a violent reaction that Ian did not understand and was extremely aggressive. According to McGee and DeBernardo (1999), they figure facts that being a loner as Ian was with less support could lead to a person straying away or rather an indication that moves someone away from the cultural norms as well as committing serious violent behavior. A further research done on the same, what causes someone to be a loner, found that the males

Law of Business Associations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Law of Business Associations - Essay Example James and Patrick also have the stakes of an accounting firm. This is the same accounting company that handles the accounts of Noosa Group. These three directors own the stakes of Noosa Company equally, each one of them owns 2000 shares, out of the total 6000 shares that the company holds. The company has not paid dividends to its shareholders. Instead they have invested their profits, back into other businesses of the company, with the aim of achieving their long term goals of the organization. Harris’ wife gets sick, and he needs some money to take her to hospital. He is unemployed, unlike the two other directors, who run an accounting firm. He does not have the money to treat her wife, and approaches the other directors to ask them if he company could start paying dividends to its directors. The other directors refuse, and when he decides to sell his shares, they refuse to buy him out. They force him to resign on the account that he is against the long term goals of the org anization. He is forced to resign, although he does it reluctantly. Issue This case has several issues: a) Disagreement between directors. b) Interference of Personal Interests in the Company. c) Company Responsibilities to the shareholders. The directors of Noosa Group are in disagreement. They have disagreed over the conflicting interest of the company. They are divided into two major groups. One side of the group wants the company to start paying dividends to its shareholders, while the other group has refused to approve that request, on claims that it will interfere with the long term goals of the organization. It is the responsibility of a company to declare dividends whenever they make profits. This means that the company is also in breach. The shareholders of the company should also be shown the company’s accounts, whenever they want to see them. The finance the company, and also make key decisions of the company. Therefore, they are entitled to knowing whatever is goi ng on, and how the company is spending their money. Noosa refused to disclose its books of accounts to Harris. Later, Harris discovers that the company has been overpaying the accounting firm that is in charge of managing Noosa. The company is directed by James and Patrick. This is another issue of personal interest interferes in the company. Rule The law gives shareholders and directors the power to make key decisions of the firm (Fu-Lai, 2007). They are the key stakeholders of the company, and hence should be given information about all the major operations of the company (Lui, 2005). They should see the audited accounts of the firm, whenever they demand to do so. Each shareholder has power to vote, in the decision making process of the company. The voting power is decided by the weight of their shares, which is dictated by the number of shares that one owns (Hamilton, & Gray,2009). The higher the number of shares, the stronger the vote becomes. The directors of the company are al so forbidden from running another business, whose interest and that of their company conflicts (Halwey, 2011). Application In this case, there is a breach of the company’s law. First, the company refused to show Harris their accounting records. Harris is an equal shareholder to the rest of the directors, and

The Light Of Freudian Psychology Essay Example for Free

The Light Of Freudian Psychology Essay The influence of psychoanalytic theory upon contemporary thought is difficult to overstate, and equally difficult to quantify. Fundamental concepts of a dynamic unconscious, repression, ego, infantile sexuality, and the Oedipus complex have passed into popular discourse. Psychoanalysis is the root of all contemporary forms of psychotherapy, and as a clinical modality has had an enormous impact on the treatment of mental illness and on the fields of psychology and psychiatry, though this influence has been challenged in recent years by the rise of biological psychiatry. Though the scientific validity of its methods and premises has been hotly disputed, neuro-scientists, including Mark Solms, Antonio Damasio, Jaak Panksepp, and Joseph LeDoux, were actively conducting research in the early twenty-first century to correlate psychoanalytic ideas with the latest findings in brain science. In the humanities, psychoanalytic theory has strongly influenced approaches to literary texts, biography, history, creativity, and sociology. Freud himself was the first to apply psychoanalytic principles to the arts, through readings of Wilhelm Jensens novel Gradiva (1903), Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmanns The Sand-Man (1817), and several of William Shakespeares works; and through psycho biographical essays on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Shakespeare, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and Leonardo da Vinci. Freud also explored the implications of his ideas upon anthropology, history, and, perhaps most famously, religion, which Freud considered a primitive, quasi-psychotic projection, and which he considered at length in The Future of an Illusion (1927) and Moses and Monotheism (1939). The poet Wallace Stevens characterized Freuds influence as a whole climate of opinion, and the writings of Freud and other analysts, especially those of Jacques Lacan, have inspired countless artists and thinkers, including Andre Breton, Andre Gide, Benjamin, Thomas Mann, Rainer Maria Rilke, Jean Cocteau, Salvador Dali, Jackson Pollock, Lionel Trilling, Edmund Wilson, Jacques Derrida, Gilles Deleuze, and Slavoj Zizek; and cultural movements such as surrealism, dada, existentialism, deconstruction, and postmodernism. Psychoanalysis and Surrealism: An Exposition: The instincts and unconscious urges of humankind were heavily featured in the works of the surrealists of inter-war Europe. The link between psychoanalysis and the surrealist movement is most evident in the films of the movement. Before examining to what extent the surrealists (in particular, the Spanish film-maker Luis Bunuel) was influenced by Sigmund Freuds writings, I will first briefly present Freuds various models of the mind. Freuds scientific process was anything but static he constantly changed his theoretical framework, as he encountered discrepancies between the theories and his practical experiences during the continuing treatment of patients. The affect/trauma model, a result of Freuds studies of hysteria, focused on the repressed memories of patients. The goal was relief of the symptoms by forcing the patient to remember, a cathartic cure. The dramatic nature of the cure caused this particular version of Freuds work to be prominently featured in Hollywood movies dealing with psychoanalysis. The next stage in Freuds development of a model of the human mind was the topographical model, which he held from 1897 to the early 20s. This model divided the mind into three agencies; the conscious (being the immediately accessible thoughts and feelings), the pre-conscious (not immediately recallable, a reservoir of what can be remembered) and the unconscious (repressed feelings and thoughts which influence actions even though we are not aware of them). Through psychoanalytic treatment the patient can become aware of his repressed motives, making the unconscious conscious. The topographical movement was very much in tune with the Surrealist philosophy on the importance of the irrational. The start of the 1920s saw the emergence of Freuds main project, his structural model. After observing how many patients did not seem to want to get better, Freud came to the conclusion that the topographical model overestimated the importance of instincts. His new personality model consisted of the id, the ego and the super-ego. The id compares broadly with the unconscious, representing aggression and primitive instincts. The id is innate, not learned through socialisation. The ego enables a person to master his instincts; it is the rational part of the personality. Lastly, the super-ego is the part of the ego that is observing and criticising the self. Built up through socialisation and internalising the values of the parents, the super-ego is the moral part of the personality. The surrealist movement arose as a result of the Dadaist movement which existed during the First World War and shortly thereafter. The growing awareness of the horrors of the Great War destroyed any belief in the romantic innocence of the past. One of the results was the surrealists, who inherited from Dada the contempt for traditional bourgeois culture and the classical aesthetics of art for arts sake. Born out of artistic and literary circles and with the writer Andre Breton the closest thing to a leader of the movement, the members of the movement were primarily writers and painters, and not filmmakers. Nevertheless, the surrealist movement was one of the first to acknowledge the importance of the new medium of film. Film was used as inspiration to boost creativity for prose and paintings. Interestingly, the surrealists preferred the popular Hollywood films, because the films were not part of bourgeois art, but of a new anti-art medium. Artists like Man Ray and Hans Richter started experimenting with cinema towards a surreal end. Co-operation between filmmakers and painters also took place, like Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dalis partnership in making Un chien Andalou. The special surrealist sensibility needs to be considered. It was a world view, a philosophical and active position approaching life and art. The surrealists celebrated the unconscious as a liberating force, to escape the deadening pressures of the rational, civilised world. The realistic attitude, according to Breton, clearly seems to me to be hostile to any intellectual or moral advancement (Breton 6). Dreams are more real than reality. The surrealists made use of drugs and hypnotism to reach into the dream-like state of their selves, to see the true reality behind the everyday appearances. Unconventional and subjective, dreams hold no logical and rational restraints to true creativity. The surrealist method of automated writing (ecriture automatique) is pure mental automatism, writing from a passive state, avoiding moral, religious and logical restrictions. This state of true authenticity closely resembles Freuds method of free association. Bunuels early movies Un chien Andalou and Lage dor show the influence of free association and to what great extent surrealism shocked the bourgeois sensibilities of the time. Filled with attacks on the numbing influences of the state and church, Bunuels 1928 debut became a resounding success, much to his chagrin. Bourgeois traditional circles were praising its high art and aesthetics. Bunuel asked how they could, when the film clearly was a passionate call to murder? Bunuel on Un chien Andalous famous eyeball-slitting sequence that opens the film and his career: To produce in the spectator a state which could permit the free association of ideas, it was necessary to provoke a near traumatic shock at the very beginning of the film. The irrational montage that follows necessitates a purging of rationality, relying on emotional and unconscious impact to carry the film. Incongruent jumps in time and space abound, like when the protagonist is shot by his alter-ego, only to in the falling motion end up in a park, briefly clutching the shoulder of a statue-like woman. In trying to make sense of the images, the viewer must negotiate with the unconscious. The young man is fighting his own unconscious urges for the young woman. In one remarkable scene he strains against the combined weight of a piano, a donkey and two priests an absurdly humorous representation of the repressive forces of bourgeois culture and religion. While Un chien Andalou can be seen as a piece of cinematic poetry, Bunuel used the dramatic language of cinema to its fullest in the revolutionary Lage dor in 1930. Lage dor, Bunuels next movie, has the main character of Modot incarnating the wild, untamed power of love and sexuality that threatens the institutions of family, state and church. The lovers Modot and Lya Lys are constantly thwarted in their unacceptable passion by society. Modot can be seen as representing the unconscious in its free, anarchic aspect, while the repressive society is the aggregate super-ego. Modot has no tolerance for the trappings of society; they are but obstacles to the fulfilment of his desires. An example is the way he slaps the mother at the dinner party, and when he kicks the blind man. Eros is closely tied up with Thanatos. A particularly poetic piece of surrealism is the scene where Lya Lys is gazing into her mirror, which reflects a cloudy sky. The sounds of wind, bells and barking link the two lovers together even if they are miles apart. Rarely has the power of the unconscious to overcome the boundaries of reality been more brilliantly evoked. Freudian psychology played an important, if somewhat unacknowledged, role in surrealist thinking. However, the surrealists were highly eclectic, they borrowed from Freud whatever suited their purpose in whichever form they saw fit. Their goal was to change the view of mankind, not to offer any objective, scientific contribution to the field of psychology. The very idea of a controlled science was alien to them, held that their own ideas were more subtle and profound than that of any science. Even if the method of automated writing closely resembles free association, the surrealists never directly acknowledged Freud for it. The difference between the two positions can be seen in that Freuds method of free association held that one should keep to the original notion that started the association, whereas the surrealists were vehemently opposed to this idea. For them, this was to unnecessarily repress and limit the expression of a free spirit. The surrealists were influenced by Freuds topographical model, before the development of the structural model of the 20s. The concept of the super-ego in the structural model was exactly what the surrealists wanted to destroy, the image of the moralistic bourgeois society. Its very existence was anathema to the surrealist world view. It follows that parts of the movement (accentuated after the increasing politicisation of the movement in the 30s into communist and non-communist camps) were suspicious of Freuds bourgeois nature in his theories on the super-ego. Direct meetings between Freud and the surrealists were somewhat of a disappointment to both parties, the surrealists were let down over the fact that Freud privately was quite the bourgeois gentleman, whereas Freud was dismayed by the frivolous nature of the surrealists. The unconscious as a liberating force is central to the films of Bunuel and to the surrealist movement in general. For the surrealists the unconscious is a spring-well of pure art, devoid of the degenerating effects of reality. Bunuels style thrived on bringing the unconscious to the surface of reality, thus enmeshing it with reality. As opposed to this central theme in surrealist productions, Freud postulated a sharp divide between reality and dreams. The Freudian concepts of condensation and displacement were also used widely in surrealism, again unacknowledged. Still, Breton gave thanks to Freud in his Manifesto of Surrealism for his discoveries on the mental world. Applauding Freud for applying his faculties to the study of dreams, Breton writes that it is inadmissible that this considerable portion of psychic activity has still today been so grossly neglected (Breton 10). Whereas the surrealists examined the dream-state for its freedom from logic restraints, Freud studied dreams for uncovering problems evident in the awakened state. For instance, the Freudian psychologies of dreams play an important part in Bunuels films. Both Belle de Jour and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie make frequent use of the dream-vehicle. In Belle de Jour the dreams act as wish-fulfilment of the repressed sexual desires of Severine, and in Discreet Charm the dreams of the bourgeoisie represent their fear of the unmasking of their superficial world (witness the scene where the bourgeoisie suddenly find themselves eating dinner on the stage of a theatre). The surrealist view of the unconscious is indebted to the unconscious of Freuds topographical model. The difference is in the motives and reasoning behind the use of the unconscious. Freud wanted to understand the human psyche, while the surrealists were on a mission of liberation and freedom. Perhaps both parties had more in common than they cared to admit, regardless of their differing cultural framework. WORKS CITED: 1) Anzieu, D. Freuds Self-Analysis. Translated by Peter Graham. London: Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-analysis, 1986. 2) Breton, A. Manifestoes of surrealism 1969. 3) Mellen, J (ed). The worlds of Luis Bunuel 1978.

Irony in The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin Essay -- American Literat

In "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, there are many moments when Chopin's craft of writing feeds the irony of the story. One perfect example, "assure himself of its truth by a second telegram" (772). This sentence subdued me into believing that Mrs. Mallard's husband was dead, when in fact, we learn that he never died. In addition, Mrs. Mallard is a woman with a strong sense of passion and detest. In the end, she dies by the nature of story. Chopin brings a style of writing that has irony. In the beginning of the story, Chopin's introduces you to the heart trouble that afflicts Mrs. Mallard. Her condition is significant later because this ailment drives the story. However, the notion of this heart condition can be overlooked as being meaningless. Many readers could argue that this heart condition foreshadowed the climax of the story instantaneously but it does not. In the end of the story, we realize the significance of her sickness. It was a clever way to secretly introduce the weakness that ends Mrs. Mallard's life. Another, well deceptive measure used by Chopin'...