Determinants of Elasticity Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Determinants of Elasticity - Assignment Example At the other hand, the focus of this document points out towards the growth in the prices of mattresses, sofas and beds, throughout the world. Rest is one of the basic human needs for sustainable existence (Mei-Se, Shu-Jung, & Hung-Ta, 2009), therefore people are forced to cope with rising prices of this important need, through forgoing other important desires. Mattresses and luxury sofa sets were luxuries during the course of past two decades, but in this modern era, they transformed into necessities for families to maintain their status symbol. At the same time, there is no suitable substitute available for them; along with this, there is a growing social pressure to acquire good to excellent quality sofa sets and mattresses to keep up with the changing trends. Therefore, it is wise to imply that, the demand of mattresses and other similar social necessities is not affected by the change in price largely. In parallel, it is recommended to the governments to provide firms producing these items with subsidies in order to, stabilize prices of their products, so that people can fulfill other desires as well. This paper focused on analyzing the price elasticity of necessities of human life, and painfully noticed that despite of their increasing prices, people are purchasing them. Therefore, governmental intervention is recommended in order to; control inflating price of mattresses and other similar

A Look At Greek Lyric Poetry And John Cage Essay Example for Free

A Look At Greek Lyric Poetry And John Cage Essay Music goes beyond language barriers; it speaks no language but that of the heart. However, like all art forms it has tenets and principles as to what is good music and what is simply noise. How about when artists claim that their works are music when it seems that these are perceived to be avant garde, not the kind of music that dominates the cultural period and worse, does not come from tradition? This paper seeks to take a look at the music in Hellenistic Greece, in particular a lyric by one of its known muses, Sappho, with her only surviving complete work, Ode to Aphrodite, and compare it with what is considered to be experimental composition from John Cage, his 4’33†. Both pieces were meant to be performed – although how these are performed also raised questions. Ancient Greece is revered to be a center of learning, where arts and culture flourished. It was one of the places where the earliest treatises on the different art forms were written, and they were keen to what constituted good and bad art, giving raise even to debates as to what is the function of art. Plato was known to promote the arts that will inspire people’s thinking, not their emotions, for he considered human emotions a weakness, and also because during that time musical scales developed from the study of the harmony in the universe, the mathematical equations used by the Pythagoreans (Henderson, 1957). It was because of this that he did not approve of the poets’ lyrics, because it deviated from the musical modes they were used to and relied on what sounded good to the ear, making music became accessible to the people (Anderson, 1966). Sappho was one of those poets whose lyric poetry when sung communicated the love and sensuality it contained, as with her work Ode to Aphrodite, deviating from their traditionally highly mathematically composed melodies where people were supposed to be quiet and listen to rigidly, for her lyric love poems were made to be felt and inspire emotion. In this way, Sappho, and her contemporary poets at the time helped create a turn for Greek music. Like Sappho, John Cage contributed to music with his compositions, characterized as avant-garde especially his chance pieces. However, his work that challenged perceptions and definition of music is his notorious 4’33†, a piece where for four minutes and thirty-three seconds the orchestra plays nothing. John Cage wrote this piece when he realized that there will always be sound, and deliberately wrote â€Å"Tacet†, to instruct the musician not to play. What Cage wanted for the audience to hear was the different sounds that occur during the interval the piece is played – all the various sounds that one does not pay attention to because they listen to something else. This is different from silence, unless the figuratively the sound of silence, since Cage’s point was that there is always sound if one listens intently (Cage, 1973). Both Sappho and Cage’s music differed from one another in that Sappho was expressing herself through her poetry, while Cage was making the listener turn to his environment. Although created in different environment and cultures, both musical pieces can be interpreted in a personal way, making it a unique experience. Sappho’s Ode to Aphrodite can mean something else to a modern listener than it used to in ancient Greece, and of course Cage’s 4’33† would always conjure something unique for each individual. What this shows us is that although music is made in a certain era, it can transcend the boundaries of time as long as it resonates with what is human and universal, as an appreciation for the sounds around us and those that speak of love, and that although music is governed by principles of what makes it good, it will always be a matter of personal experience. SOURCES: Anderson, W. (1966). Ethos and Education in Greek Music. Cambridge, HUP. Cage, John. (1973). Silence: Lectures and Writings, Wesleyan Paperback. Henderson, Isobel (1957). Ancient Greek Music in The New Oxford History of Music, vol. 1: Ancient and Oriental Music, Oxford, Oxford University Press. http://homoecumenicus. com/ioannidis_ancient_greek_texts. htm, Accessed on June, 15, 2009. http://www. greylodge. org/occultreview/glor_013/433. htm , Accessed on June 15, 2009.

The Non-Jewish Individual Essay -- Jewish History, Kafka

The Non-Jewish Individual Jewish history is a study of a people in exile. Since the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, the experience of the Jewish individual in relation to non-Jewish society has often been that of an outsider looking in. In addition, the distinct Jewish culture, religion, and philosophy identifiably marked the Jews as a separate people. Although this demarcation exposed the Jews to many negative ideological trends, Isaac Deutscher’s â€Å"The Non-Jewish Jew† argues that this marginalization enabled the great thinkers of the 19th and 20th centuries to revolutionize the European continent. As the title suggests, the non-Jewish Jews were individuals that abandoned Judaism. Deutscher argues that the historical exclusion imbued Jewish people with the innate perspective of the external critic. When the individuals liberated themselves from the ideological shackles of Judaism this now double marginalization provided the perspective of the extreme outsider. Once freed from both the restrictions of Jewish and Christian ideology they were then able to reinterpret society and develop the theories that would revolutionize the world. Deutscher asserts that the famous non-Jewish Jews such as Spinoza, Heine, Marx, and others were representatives of this perspective. In essence, their independence from society enabled them to criticize and fundamentally change the ideological landscape of Europe in ways that other thinkers bound by Christian or Jewish ideology could not. However, with an analysis of Deutscher’s argument through Franz Kafka’s â€Å"A Report to an Academy† it becomes clear that his â€Å"Non-Jewish Jews† were not only dependent upon society, but also more importantly they were not actually Jewish. Initially, Kakfa’s â€Å"... ...by the subjects of Deutscher’s â€Å"The Non-Jewish Jew† are reflected and exhibited in Deutscher’s work. His assertion that Jews have a special ability to critically analyze society because of their historical isolation supports the same race based ideology that the historical figures worked against. Additionally, the association of Marx, Heine, and the others to this racially decided independence from society fails to acknowledge their deep connection to their non-Jewish culture. Therefore, through an analysis of Deutscher’s work through the context of Kafka’s â€Å"A Report to an Academy† it becomes apparent that Deutscher undermines his argument by failing to appropriately state the relevance of the historical figures connection to society and most importantly, by allowing racial inflections to manipulate his perspective of his subject revolutionary individuals.

Kant’s Views on Space and Time Essay

In his Critique of Pure Reason, Immanuel Kant wrote about the science of the transcendental aesthetic in which he argues that space and time exist as a priori intuitions in the human mind. Space and time, for Kant, are the pure forms of intuition that order our empirical intuitions or sensations and allow us to have them. Thus, the essence of his view in this regard is that space and time are subjective human conventions that our mind brings to the realm of experience. There is one argument of Kant’s for space being a pure intuition in particular that I find compelling. Essentially, Kant says that empiricists advocate that the concepts of space and time are derived from our sense experience. Kant argues however, that it would be impossible for space and time to be concepts derived from sense experience because of the fact that all of our sensory experience is already ordered spatially. Kant poses that there exists, a noumena other than phenomena. Reality can either be the empirical/phenomenal world, or the non-empirical noumenal world, or they could be both. The noumena may somehow house or emanate the manythat is in our minds in order to perceive empirical space and time. Kant points out that we can simultaneously view both the empirical reality of space as well as the transcendental ideality. As far as a whole or one whole, Kant posits that we cannot successfully conceive of the whole or entire entity of time, or space because it is supposed to be infinite as, in never-ending and formless. I can show you the finite shape or form of an object, whether felt, heard, felt, tasted, or shown, but I cannot successfully show you the shape or form of either space or time itself, only the objects and events that reside within them. Kant points out that we dream, yet dreams are not empirically spatial. We can only say, I had a dream at such and such a time, yet we cannot go there, as in going to an actual physical place, so dreams are only temporal. Yet, dreams are still part of reality. The same applies for time and space.

Economic Class

Economic â€Å"Class† † What barriers make it difficult for the poor to change their economic class? † There are several examples that can be given and this paper will outline some of the reasoning. Barriers can be anything from inherited social standings, to birth wealth, or even geographical locations, even to the amount of funding for extracurricular activity, racial and gender domination are also a barrier. There are many different things causing there to be barriers causing it hard for people to change the barrier of economic class.Keeping a good social standard is sometimes difficult to sustain, making it hard to change. Author Gregory Mantsios â€Å"Class in America† in 2003, has many different ideas on the way economic class is. Social standings and consequently life chances are largely determined at birth. Individuals who have gone from rags to riches abound in the mass media, statistics on class mobility show these leaps to be extremely rare (Mants ios711). Most economic success is because of the wealth that these individuals receive at birth. Over 66 percent of the consumer units with incomes of $100,000 or more have inherited assets (Mantsios711).In the stories that are read in most cases there is more wealth due to being born into it than earning it by hard work. Most people do not choose to be put into an economic class; rather it happens on its own. If someone grows up knowing only low income or having very little as a child, they seem to carry that on with them as they get older. It is hard to go from something you’re used to all your life to something so different. Poverty is a very difficult barrier to overcome, no matter where someone is from or where they now live. Author Diana George â€Å"Changing the Faces of Poverty: Nonprofits and the Problem of Representation†. 001 writes, â€Å"You don’t have to leave your own country to find third-world poverty. † (George623). Most groups that are asking for money to help the starving children are usually in a different country. As people see Children, Inc. showing photos of children that make people feel helplessness for. People want to help solve the hunger issues by sending money but sometimes feel uneasy with doing it because we are afraid that the money is not always going for what these people think it is. Habitat for Humanity helps individuals here in the United States to get back on their feet and try to overcome a barrier of no food or places to live.Habitat for Humanity aims to eliminate poverty housing from the globe (George 625). Being in small cities is also sometimes a barrier to overcome because there are not as many jobs or access to jobs. There are run down houses that people without jobs, find it hard to find the funding to do upkeep on them. Poverty condemns millions of people throughout the world to live in deplorable and inhuman conditions. These people are trapped in a cycle of poverty, living in places offering little protection from the rain, wind and cold (George 626). Living in run down houses causes many different illnesses and can cause death as well.It is hard seeing young people living in this situation as well as older people. Finding better housing is something most people strive for. It is just more difficult when not living in a better neighborhood with better housing. Author Peter Singer â€Å"The Singer Solution to World Poverty†, writes, an American household with an income of $50,000 spends around $30,000 annually on necessities, according to the Conference Board, a nonprofit economic research organization, (Singer 879). Therefore, for a household bringing in $50,000 a year, donations to help the world’s poor should be as close as possible to $20,000 (Singer 879).When living in run down areas, and communities with having no means to improve, makes it very hard to change. For some people seeing others doing things they would love to do and know they can not, makes some people feel hopeless and gives them thoughts of never being able to change. Approximately 12 percent of American population-that is, nearly one of every eight people in this country-live below the official poverty line (calculated in 2001 at $9,214 for an individual and $17,960 for a family of four). Among the poor are over 2. million homeless, including nearly 1 million homeless children (Mantsios 701). At last count, nearly 33 million Americans across the nation lived in unrelenting poverty (Mantsios 703). Having extracurricular activities make it hard for poorer people than more wealthy. Some people go to private schools, where they have many options for fun and activities after school. Having options like taking different language classes after, going to sleep away camps, some with sons of ambassadors and children of doctors. Going on family vacations regularly, two or three times a year is more than likely.They know ahead of time that they will most definitely g et into a very good college with or without scholarships with ambitions to be president. As for others, go to a small to medium public school where most options are very little. Going to a YMCA day camp is the most camping experience a lot of poorer people get to experience. They are children of hard working individuals in factory’s and school employees. This is how several of them get to do sports as well. They have ambitions to be presidents as well as school teachers.Racial and gender issues stop people from going farther in life than they would like as well. Racial and gender domination are other forces that hold people down (Mantsios 712). Women experience the effects of sexism whether they are well-paid professional or poorly paid clerks. As women, they face discrimination and male domination, as well as catcalls and stereotyping (Mantsios 712). Similarly, a wealthy black man faces racial oppression, is subjected to racial slurs, and is denied opportunities because of h is color (Mantsios 712). The experience of women and minorities are differentiated along class lines.Although they are subordinate positions vis-a-vis white men, the particular issues that confront women and minorities maybe quite different depending on their position in the class structure (Mansios 712-713). Class -oppressed men, whether they are white or black, have privileges afforded them as men in a sexist society. Similarly, class-oppressed whites, whether they are men or women, benefit from white privilege in a racist society. In today’s society, people would think that this would not be an issue anymore, but it seems to still be problems with it.Oppression is cumulative, and those who are poor, black, and female are often subject to all of the forces of class, race and gender discrimination simultaneously (Mantsios 713). It seems that if you are a black woman that you would be in a lower class than a white female. Being female and of ethnic race you would be considere d in the lower class and that causes many issues for someone to succeed. Being in a society that does goes by classes has caused many issues for several classes to succeed in a position that is very wanted.Americans judge too many people, and it does show that it can be a major barrier for someone to get past. No one likes for others to know their situations, people try to hide things from others so that no one know if they are in the lower class. Trying to fit in is something that most Americans allow themselves to do. Everyone wants to be considered in the same category of class. Why do people judge so much and why do they say and do hurtful things to people that are in a lower class than themselves? It is just how the human race is and more than likely will always be.It has been this way for many years and will continue to do so. Some people are raised in many different levels of human nature, and it grows with each individual as they become adults, but looking down on someone an d belittling them, all because they are not as rich as them, or have as many material things as they do needs to come to a stop. That causes too many people to stop trying to overcome obstacles in their way to make a better life for themselves and their families. Getting out of a rut is a hard thing to accomplish. This is a major barrier to overcome. Works Cited George, Diana. Changing the Face of Poverty: Nonprofits and the Problem of Representation. † 2001. The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings. Ed. Richard Bullock and Maureen Daly Goggin. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 2010. 622-33. Print. Mantsios, Gregory. â€Å"Class in America-2003. † 2004. The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings. Ed. Richard Bullock and Maureen Daly Goggin. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 2010. 697-717. Print. Singer, Peter. â€Å"The Singer Solution to World Poverty. † 2009. The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings. Ed. Richard Bullock and Maureen Daly Goggin. 2nd ed. New Y ork: Norton, 2010. 873-80. Print.

Van Goghs Use of Color

Van Goghs Use of Color The works of Van Gogh and his use of color have often been studied chronologically demonstrating the shift in his usage of colors from his early paintings, which were dark and pessimistic, to the paintings of his mature career, where he has used lighter tones and brighter colors.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Van Gogh’s Use of Color specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the later stage, Van Gogh made a distinct use of complementary color scheme, which was a definite shift from the classical treatment of colors. This paper will compare and contrast two paintings, The Sower and The Night Cafà ©, and demonstrate the distinct style Van Gogh followed to use color for his paintings. Expressive use of colors in distinctive complementary schemes has dominated many of the masterpieces created by Van Gogh. His correspondences to his brother during the 1882-85 demonstrate his obsession with the use of color in his work. They demonstrate that Van Gogh’s concern and distinction between shades, tones, hue, and brightness of color, which formed the psychological basis of colors and themes of his paintings. The use of complementary colors, which became the signature of Van Gogh’s style, helped to intensify the mutual effect of the color scheme in the paintings. Van Gogh used basic colors and contrasting hues to increase firmness and depth of his paintings: These things that are relevant to complementary colors, to the simultaneous contrasting and the mutual devaluation of complementary colors, are the first and most important issue: the second is the mutual influence of two similar colors, such as carmine and vermilion, or a pink-lilac and a blue-lilac. (Van Gogh Letter # 428, dated Oct. 1885. (Bekker and Bekker) The use of primary colors and the use of their complementary colors, also known as secondary colors, is a basic technique used for impressionistic painting. When a primary color is put against a complementary color, it creates a contrasting color scheme, creating a powerful effect. Van Gogh exploited this technique of creating a strong effect in his painting through juxtaposition of primary and complementary colors. Van Gogh’s fascination for complementary colors intensified as he shifted his focus from Dutch style to paintings that are more impressionistic.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Gayford (179) demonstrates Van Gogh’s heightened interest in colors, which created a symbolic language for the maestro. In another correspondence to his brother Theo, Van Gogh expressed his increasing obsession with colors: â€Å"Yesterday evening an extraordinary beautiful sunset of a mysterious, sickly citron color – Prussian blue cypresses against trees with dead leaves in all sorts of broken tones without any speckling with bright gr eens.† (Gayford 179) Thus, colors create a symbolic language for Van Gogh, which helped his to determine the effect that wanted to create in his paintings. Given this understanding of Van Gogh’s philosophy of color, the essay then moves on to analyze two of his paintings and the treatment of colors in them. The Sower demonstrates a man striding across a wheat field, with outstretched arms, appear in many of Van Gogh’s paintings and sketches. Philosophically, it has often been interpreted as the renewal of life; however, in this essay we will discuss the use of complementary color scheme of the paintings. The particular picture that is discussed in this essay was painted in 1888, which stands out from all other paintings of sowers and creates a unique impressionistic creation of the cycle life in full summer (The Sower is shown in figure 1 below). Figure 1: The Sower, 1888 The Sower, painted predominately in yellow and violet demonstrates the use of complementary colors by Van Gogh. Yellow is a primary color that is positioned against violet, one of its complements, and a mix of the other two primary colors, red and blue. Even though artists had knowledge of the effect two complementary colors could create, no one before Van Gogh experimented with it.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Van Gogh’s Use of Color specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Primary colors, when juxtaposed with complementary colors, create a vibration and magnificence that is otherwise unattainable. Hence, when yellow is used against violet, it creates greater brightness and pureness of color than when painted with any other colors. Similarly, violet seems more lively and vigorous when put against yellow. The Sower was painted when Van Gogh was living in Arles, in June 1888. The original Sower by Millet from which Van Gogh drew inspiration or his Sower believed that Millet created a painting in â€Å"c olorless gray† and wanted to create a painting of the sower with colors (Bekker and Bekker). In order to understand color contrast, consider putting orange against blue and orange against green. Orange is blue’s complement where blue is a primary color and orange is a secondary color created through mixing of the other two primary, red and yellow. Hence, the effect of brightness when orange and blue are used together is greater than when orange and green are used, wherein both are secondary colors. Moreover, the orange when put with green seem darker, almost a different color. Hence, it can be observed that colors can change their hue and brightness depending on the colors with which they are used. Moreover, colors cannot be used singularly, without considering the other colors that are used. Colors cannot be judged in isolation. Hence, it is important to understand what colors are used along with the others and what affect it creates in the paintings. Knowledge of colo rs becomes the most important factor while studying Van Gogh’s form so impressionistic painting. The painting of the yellow and violet together as an expression of light and darkness in the field is an extreme example of use of complementary colors in paintings. This helped in intensifying the brightness, saturation, and depth of the painting. Van Gogh described his 1888 creation inspired from Millet’s painting, in one of his letters, as â€Å"painting from Millet’s drawings is more like translating them into another language than copying them† (Metzger and Walther 272). The colors used in the painting became reminiscent of his emotions and feelings. The colors demonstrated the dominant mood of the painter. The Night Cafà © is a poetic expression through colors, which demonstrates the harsher realities of modern life. Van Gogh’s obsession with colors intensified from 1885 until his death in 1890, resonant in his letters to his brother Theo. Each o f the letters is evocative of the saturation, hue, and intensity of the colors from his palette. In describing the Night Cafà © (figure 2) in his letter to Theo, Van Gogh associates passion with the use of two complementary colors – red and green:Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More I’ve tried to express the terrible passions of humanity with red and green. The room is blood red and dull yellow, with a green billiard table in the middle; there are four lemon yellow lamps casting an orange and green glow†¦ In my picture of the night cafà ©, I’ve tried to convey the sense that the cafà © is a place where one goes to ruin goes mad, commits crimes. I’ve tried to express the powers of darkness, in a way, in this dive of a bar, through contrasts of delicate pink, blood red, wine red, and soft Louis XV green and Veronese green, in contrast with hard green-yellows and blue-greens – all this amid an infernal furnace of pale sulphur. (Letter#533, Bekker and Bekker) The above description of the painting as expressed through Van Gogh’s words demonstrate the use of complementary colors in the painting, and the reason for the sue of the colors in their complementary best. Life’s juxtaposition is expressed through the oppositio ns of color that makes life as well as his paintings so pulsating. In the Night Cafà © Van Gogh has expressed the struggle of life through the juxtaposition of the two complementary colors – red and green. The violet and blue used in the painting depicts sadness and dreariness of modern nightlife, and Figure 2: The Night Cafà © The painting shows maximum saturation of colors, where colors like red and green has been used without any hint of tint or shade. In the Night Cafà ©, Van Gogh used color in its purest form against its equally pure complementary. This is not seen in The Sower, where the colors were used symbolically, but not its purest hue. The use of original hue in the Night Cafà © sets is apart from other paintings, even though the technique used in both the pictures are similar. Nevertheless, both the picture reverberates with the infernal furnace of life though the use of yellow, which has been used to depict the sun in The Sower and the lamps in The Night Ca fà ©. The difference between the two paintings is that the first is a depiction of continuity of life while that of the cafà © describes a hellish existence. Bekker, K.G. and A.Y. Bekker. 2009. Color and Emotion - a Psychophysical Analysis of Van Gogh’s Work. 15 December 2009. PsyArt. Web. psyartjournal.com/article/show/bekker-color_and_emotion_a_psychophysical_analy. Gayford, Martin. The Yellow House.:Van Gogh, Gauguin and Nine Turbulent Weeks Provence. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006. Print. Metzger, Rainer and Ingo F. Walther. Van Gogh. Berlin: Taschen, 2008. Print.

The History of the Kaleidoscope and David Brewster

The History of the Kaleidoscope and David Brewster The kaleidoscope was invented in 1816 by Scottish scientist, Sir David Brewster (1781–1868), a mathematician and physicist noted for his various contributions to the field of optics.  He patented it in 1817 (GB 4136), but thousands of unauthorized copycats were constructed and sold, resulting in Brewster receiving little financial benefits from his most famous invention. Sir David Brewsters Invention Brewster named his invention after the Greek words kalos (beautiful), eidos  (form), and scopos  (watcher). So kaleidoscope roughly translates to beautiful form watcher. Brewsters kaleidoscope was a tube containing loose pieces of colored glass and other pretty objects, reflected by mirrors or glass lenses set at angles, that created patterns when viewed through the end of the tube. Charles Bushs Improvements In the early 1870s, Charles Bush, a Prussian native living in Massachusetts, improved upon the kaleidoscope and started the kaleidoscope fad. Charles Bush was granted patents in 1873 and 1874 related to improvements in kaleidoscopes, kaleidoscope boxes, objects for kaleidoscopes (US 143,271), and kaleidoscope stands. Charles Bush was the first person to mass manufacture his parlor kaleidoscope in America. His kaleidoscopes were distinguished by the use of liquid-filled glass ampules to create even more visually stunning effects. How Kaleidoscopes Work The kaleidoscope creates reflections of a direct view of the objects at the end of a tube, through the use of angled mirrors set at the end; as the user rotates the tube, the mirrors create new patterns. The image will be symmetrical if the mirror angle is an even divider of 360 degrees. A mirror set at 60 degrees will generate a pattern of six regular sectors. A mirror angle at 45 degrees will make eight equal sectors, and an angle of 30 degrees will make twelve. The lines and colors of simple shapes are multiplied by the mirrors into a visually stimulating vortex.