Photographing architecture Essay Example for Free

Photographing architecture Essay Introduction: Words are like bricks. If the bricks are of even size, arranged properly, the structure will be fine and sturdy. If the bricks are weak, broken and arranged by an imperfect mason, the results are obvious. So is the case with literature. Appropriate words needs to be used at the appropriate place; the outcome will be pleasant reading, soul-satisfying! A good author can chisel perfect statue out of the strength of words. The essential ingredients of a novel are plot, characterization and imagery and the force of the words. Poets say a beautiful girl looks more beautiful, when she is calm and polite. Likewise, a good book turns out better to read by appropriately-applied flowery vocabulary. Calvino’s book under review, â€Å"Photographing Architecture,† is the perfect example of this category, though it doesn’t have the plot as such. Calvino makes many things visible†¦. The book is about photographing architecture, through the charming, magical words-the magnetic literary skill. This book is the perfect example, to know and understand how to write about the cities. Again, the intelligent application of the words is the hallmark of the book. From the practical viewpoint, the book is easy to carry; it is small in size. The prose is breathtakingly elegant. Marco Polo describes to Kublai Khan, how each city is interestingly different, though full of contradictions. The book, therefore, becomes the tourist guide of the cities as for the architecture of the era. Marco Polo involves himself so much about the description of the cities, he is so touchy about their decline, and he says candidly to Kublai Khan about the city of his birth, Venice, â€Å"Perhaps I am afraid of losing Venice all at once, if I speak of it. Or perhaps, speaking of other cities, I have already lost it, little by little. (Calvino, 1978, p.87) Every perception of the city is taken care of, each city gets a new type of description, and how one arrives at the city, which part is toured initially, whether one resides in the city or only travels through it. Some of the descriptions look like real-life shopping—a jewelry box, a phantasmagoria etc. In the architecture school, in a part of the syllabus, the student needs to draw these cities from the descriptions provided by Calvino. Such was his perfect and realistic assessment of the architecture! The cities belong to the great Mongol Empire. Each city bears a woman’s name and yet from the description of the cities, full justice seems to have not been made to the female gender. Did Marco Polo follow the conditions of women, then prevailing? Women find little mention; their presence tends to be half-sequestered, peeping from windows and verandas, not a single positive role, while men are brave and adventurous explorers. Macro Polo seems to be the guide and philosopher of Kublai Khan. He listened to him with kindled curiosity, about the city and architecture of his own Empire, so big, that the King would not be able to travel through the cities in his lifetime. But the conversations are supposed to imaginary. The imagination of Marco Polo is so fertile, it borders reality, if not beats it in many areas. He mentally constructs the cities to perfection. â€Å"Invisible Cities† is presented as a dialogue between explorer Marco Polo and the great Kublai Khan, in which the former is describing cities he has visited in the Khans empire. In his story telling, Marco Polo describes these cities in every way possible: ‘by their inner structures, their denizens, from above, below, within, through their mirror images, and even utilizing modern day urban settings.’ Some of the cities about which Marco Polo talks about to Kublai Khan are, Armilla-unfinished or demolished, Zobeide, a white city, well-exposed to the moon, Moriana, with alabaster gates transparent in the sunlight, Ersilia, the city of labyrinth of taut strings and poles, Thekla, the city under construction, Argia, the city that has earth instead of air and Olinda, the city that grows in concentric circles. Conclusion: Books written in poetic style, with emotional contents, appeal to the heart. Marc Polo, the author-architect, makes that happen. It is the reader’s heart, and Marco Polo controls its beats not only for the duration of the reading, but even longer. References: Calvino, Italo: Book: Invisible Cities Paperback: 165 pages Publisher: Harvest Books; 1st Harvest/HBJ Ed edition (May 3, 1978) Language: English ISBN-10: 0156453800 ISBN-13: 978-0156453806

Censorship: Freedom Or Suppression ? :: essays research papers

Censorship: Freedom or Suppression ? Government censorship can be looked at as a blessing or an unneeded burden. I personally feel that all censorship is completely unnecessary and should be found unconstitutional. It is the countless moral views that bring no right answer for what should and should not be censored. I know that the governments version of censorship varies greatly from mine, just as mine does from a world wide view.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The citizens of the United States are living in a pure democracy that has given us all first amendment rights. This alone should mean that their should be no government intervention on a code of ethics or morality. This should mean that we as citizens should be allowed complete freedom of our own choices. Our government was set up to make laws and to keep our society in order. They were doing a fine job until they started making decisions for us on what is or isn't decent. The most recent example of this is the Communication Decency Act of 1996(Located in the Telecommunications Act Of 1996). This act more or less states that the Internet should be censored and be given restrictions. The first issue this brings up is who owns the Internet. No one really owns it because it is really thousands of computer networked together. The main backbone of the Internet was originally made up of government funded universities and other government institutions. However that is no longer the case. Now the majority of the Internet is run and operated by independent services and everyday citizens. The Internet is a modern day symbol of the freedom of speech we have in our society. The government has no right to tell us what we can and can not do in our homes. No one is forcing anyone to go to any specific area of the Internet for anything. These are all choices made with our own free will. I feel that the government is clearly violating the fine line between church and state. The Job of the church is to keep up moral and ethical standards in our world. Obviously the government got the wrong job description for clearly they are violating the trust they have in the Church doing its job.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I know that if they put me in charge of censorship things would be a lot different from how they are today. The first step I would make would be censoring all Ex-lax and Imodium D commercials. I find it extremely peculiar that these commercials always seem to appear right during dinner.

Modern Times Essay

Discuss the representation of one of the following themes in ‘Modern Times’: industrialization, progress, gender. In 500 words your critique of ‘Modern Times’ must describe and comment upon specific scenes in the film. Charlie Chaplin’s film â€Å"Modern Times† is, in itself, a discussion of progress and of modernism. It is set in the 1930s, a time of great change and great struggle due to industrialism and unemployment. The film enraptures its time period in a light-hearted fashion that examines both the positive and negative effects of modernity, ultimately answering whether progress through loss or stagnancy exclusive of cost is better, with modernity in its most pure form. The film damns modernism for the way it destroys our cultures and traditions, yet revels in the abolition of such ridiculous dreams. Chaplin characterizes Industrialism as a movement that although is designed to speed up production and efficiency, as a byproduct, causes p eople harm. This is shown in 22:05 and 28:55 where, due to unemployment caused by industrialism, the American family is torn apart. This is a prominent theme that continues throughout the movie, as the little Tramp and the Gamin are both victims of unemployment and the destruction of their homes. However, Chaplin then goes to make fun of the â€Å"American Dream† and society’s goals in scenes 55:07 and 31:50 respectively. In 55:07 the rickety, worn down house that the Gamine and the Little Tramp find symbolize the fragility and downright silliness of the American Dream as it breaks and crumbles under them. It also teases the upper class in 31:50 with the absurdity of starving yourself for social status. It isn’t till 1:10:15 that Chaplin starts to takes a stance on whether change is worth the loss when it is revealed that the Gamine has secured a job for both herself and the Little Tramp. The reversal of gender roles was revolutionary and completely overshadows the thorough deconstruction of the American Dream of which they had held so dear in 55:07 and 43:14. The deduction being that ultimately, progress is for the greater good. The film goes beyond that, nonetheless, stating that society is not heading towards true progress and is getting held back by its own sense of evolution through Industrialism. Chaplin continuously makes fun of the legal system, upper class society, and in particular, industrialization. These themes stand for society’s goals and through that, their idea of progress. Chaplin subverts this view by making fun of just how ridiculous all these things are. For instance, machines are shown to actually attack people in  the scene beginning at 8:10 and Chaplin’s character is shown literally fending off the outbreaks of a machine gone rogue in 1:02:36. They show no progress and only serve to limit society as all these things have a negative impact on the movies characters. For instance, any attempts made by the Little Tramp to join the movement of Industrialism ends in prison, which, ironically is one of the two ways to escape society’s pressures and goals. The only other way that the Gamine and the Little Tramp are able to move on – in a state of freedom – and continue their lives, i.e. progress, is by escaping from society and starting again, effectively abandoning everything that they held precious. Chaplin states that the way to enlightenment is to leave everything that connects you to society. In conclusion, Chaplin advocates the very extreme of futurist modernity in â€Å"modern times† by stating that change is good and that the only way we can truly progress is by forsaking everything.

Web Page Analysis Essay - 1695 Words

Web Page Analysis While browsing the enormous variety of sites and home pages on the World Wide Web, it is difficult to compare and contrast items that do not have anything in common. How can we say the Wall Street Journal page is better than Joes Page of Craziness? Therefore the first step in critiquing web pages is by determining their purpose. The goal of a web page can vary from presenting factual information such as the CIA Page, or displaying ones own computer generated art. Hence, the only way to judge a page is by examining what it tries to accomplish, and how it achieves its goal. Once the objective of the page is established, three simple criteria can be used to determine its net worth (pun not†¦show more content†¦After wandering randomly on the web, thanks to a site randomizer, the site titled, Alfred Hitchcock - The Master of Suspense, caught my attention. Based on the works of Alfred Hitchcock, the page describes his biography, his movies, and other sources of related information. On the title page, Patricio Lopez lists many different links to more information about Hitchcock. One link tells of Hitchcocks life, other links describe trivial aspects of his work such as his cameos, memorable quotes, people who helped make his movies, and a guide to his films. By briefly examining each of the links, it is apparent that Lopez has thoroughly studied his films (on a casual level) and illustrates his knowledge throughout this site. In some of his other links, Lopez describes himself and his fascination with the cinema and Hitchcock. Thus, Lopez is trying to inform visitors about Hitchcocks life and work. In addition, the site successfully achieves this objective due to the detailed nature of the links and the introduction of lesser known facts, based on his intensive study. After a more incisive inspection of the various links and the information contained within, I began to evaluate the organization of the site. Organization plays an important role in web sites since the general purpose of a site is to present information of some sort, so the reader could find information faster if the different subjects are arranged in a logical order. On the indexShow MoreRelatedThe Problems Encountered By Web Mining Essay1304 Words   |  6 Pages3.1 Problems Encountered The web is highly dynamic; lots of pages are added, updated and removed everyday and it handle huge set of information hence there is an arrival of many number of problems or issues. Normally, web data is highly dimensional, limited query interfaces, keyword oriented search and limited customization to individual user. Due to this, it is very difficult to find the relevant information from the web which may create new issues. 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