Thursday, January 30, 2020

Ambition in Macbeth Essay Example for Free

Ambition in Macbeth Essay Julius Caesar once said â€Å"When the gods wish to take vengeance on a man for his crimes they usually grant him considerable success and a period of impunity, so that when his fortune is reversed he will feel it all the more bitterly†. This quote directly reflects the problem with over ambition in effective all cases. Being over ambitious can bring someone to great heights but usually also leads to their downfall. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the situation is no different. Macbeth, the protagonist in the play, is cursed with over ambition. This affliction brings him to great heights in his career however ultimately leads him to his downfall. Three main examples of Macbeths blind ambition go as follows. Near the beginning of the play Macbeth is awarded the title of the Thane of Cawdor by the late Kind Duncan after he managed to capture the previous thane on crimes of treason. Macbeth is temporarily content with his title but that was not to last. Upon his wife, named Lady Macbeth, receiving word of a prophesy regarding Macbeth becoming king she begins to hatch a plot to have Macbeth seize power from Duncan. Macbeth, hesitantly accepts the plot after much prodding from his wife by saying† I am settled, and bend up each corporal agent to this terrible feat. Away, and mock the time with fairest show: false face must hide what the false heart doth know. †(1.7. 89-93) This simply means that he must hide his true intentions from Duncan before he kills him. Shortly after his coronation, Macbeth begins to fell unsafe with his position. He feels the guilt bearing down on him at almost every moment in the day and he has trouble sleeping. He ponders the witches prophesy and realizes the next step that he must take. The witches stated that Banquo â€Å"Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none: So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo! †(1.3.70-71) Given this knowledge, Macbeth is worried that Banquo may overthrow Macbeth. He hires three murderers to go out and kill Banquo and his son Fleance. He says â€Å"Well then, now Have you considerd of my speeches? Know That it was he in the times past which held you So under fortune, which you thought had been Our innocent self: this I made good to you In our last conference, passd in probation with you, How you were borne in hand, how crossd, the instruments, Who wrought with them, and all things else that might To half a soul and to a notion crazed Say Thus did Banquo. † (3.1.80-90) By saying this, he basically pins all of their troubles on Banquo and thus giving them reason to kill him. The third and ultimately final example of Macbeths reckless ambition occurs when Macbeth has the family of MacDuff, one of his Thanes, killed to simply send a message to the people of Scotland that he was not to be trifled with. Coincidentally, the reason that spurred him on to do this and the reason MacDuff manages to convince Prince Malcolm are quite closely connected. MacDuff escapes to England to raise an army against Macbeth, upon arriving he is questioned by Malcolm who had escaped previously as to the reason for his arrival. The only thing that allowed MacDuff to convince Malcolm to do this for him was the furor he had mustered upon receiving word of his dead family. He exclaims: â€Å"O, I could play the woman with mine eyes And braggart with my tongue! But, gentle heavens, Cut short all intermission; front to front Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself; Within my swords length set him; if he scape, Heaven forgive him too! † (4.3.269-273) In conclusion, these three events had temporarily positive effects and long lasting extremely negative effects on Macbeth and ultimately leading to his death. He did not remain content with the title bestowed upon him by Duncan and instead strive after the title for king for himself. He sought to stop  the prophesy bestowed upon him by the witches by having Banquo killed but revealing his guilt afterward. Finally he had the family of a potentially opposing thane murdered to send a message to him. Unchecked ambition has been the bane of powerful men and women throughout history and nothing has changed in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

XFL †What the Hell? Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Sports paperes

XFL – What the Hell? Vince McMahon is at it again. Vince McMahon, the head of the World Wrestling Federation, is trying to work his marketing wizardry by establishing a new professional football league, the XFL. This extreme football league with all-access media coverage, hard-hitting action, and fast-paced wide-open offense is supposed to be the next great entertainment frenzy. I, for one, think this league will be flop after a season or two for many reasons such as lack of fan interest, poor quality players, and lack of real football. Vince McMahon’s WWF is a multi-million dollar corporation and has been wildly successful in capturing the sports entertainment market. â€Å"Monday Night Raw,† the weekly soap opera on TNN, is one of the three most watched cable shows each week. In addition, the WWF has weekly wrestling shows on UPN and MTV. Personally, I am caught up in the phenomenon. I set aside my Monday evenings to watch Monday Night Football and professional wrestling. I enjoy attempting to figure out the storylines before they unfold and attempt to guess the action that may happen in the next segment. Surprisingly, many Americans share my point of view and enjoy this sort of entertainment. The WWF’s core market personality is an American male, between the ages of 12-35, very similar to professional football. The WWF provides high flying action, crushing hits, and exciting finishes; not much different than the NFL. Vince McMahon is attempting to extend the short NFL season and capture America’s passion for football while marketing more of his merchandise - not the best business idea in my view. The XFL is to begin play the week after the Super Bowl, Saturday, February 3, 2001. The league will be comprise... ...e McMahon will spend millions of dollars in a campaign to draw fan interest and support and very little return on investment will occur. Yes, the first season may be successful with the â€Å"all-access† view of football and little outside sporting competition. However, America will soon recognize that the XFL games have poor quality talent and that it is just Vince McMahon and Dick Ebersol trying to make a few extra bucks at the expense of the American public. I believe that this league will fold after its second season. As an accountant and an economist, I wish Vince and Dick the best of luck in marketing this gem. I hope they are able to make the XFL profitable and possibly change the face of competitive sports with the flare the WWF provides. However, they will have to do so without one avid football and professional wrestling fan supporting their endeavor, ME!

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Film Comparative Analysis

Film Comparative Analysis â€Å"The general response following the screening was a distinct realization that nobody is above the law, and that the stereotypes associated with the â€Å"cono† nearly left Larranaga guilty as mistakenly charged. † (Syjuco, 2012) There is no justice, when innocent men are in jail; this is the main idea that the two films have in common. With this, let us ask ourselves, â€Å"Is there really something wrong with the Philippine and Texas justice system? Are we to admit that it is a corrupt system that we have? These two films will leave our eyes wide opened to the truth or if not, to the flaws and corruptions in the justice system, not only of our own country, but also that of the others. I. Background Give Up Tomorrow The documentary film is about a Filipino-Spanish student named Paco Larranaga, who was sentenced to death in 2004 for the double murder and rape of Chiong sisters (Marijoy and Jacqueline) in 1997. This is the story of what we now know as the Chiong Murder Case, a cebu scandal of the century.Two Chiong sisters go missing on July 16, 1997. Larranaga was one, along with six other suspects who was pinpointed by the state witness, David Rusia. David Rusia is a convicted felon and was sentenced to prison twice in the United States for other crimes. As claimed by Rusia, he was with Larranaga in Ayala Center, Cebu early in the evening of July 16, that evening Larranaga says that he was at R&R Restaurant in Quezon City with his friends; such fact was proven by photographs and the testimonies of his friends.The defense presented thirty-five witnesses, including Larranaga’s teachers and classmates at the Center for Culinary Arts (CCA) in Quezon City, who all testified under oath that Larranaga was in Quezon City, when the crime is said to have taken place in Cebu. The trial court considered these testimonies irrelevant, rejecting these as coming from â€Å"friends of the accused,† and were not admitte d. The following are also evidences presented by the defense during trial — a)Larranaga, at that time was at a party at the R&R Restaurant along Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City, and stayed there until early morning the following day. )After the party, the logbook of the security guard at Larranaga's condominium indicates that Larranaga returned to his Quezon City condominium at 2:45 a. m. c)Rowena Bautista, an instructor and chef at the culinary center, said Larranaga was in school from 8 a. m. to 11:30 a. m. and saw him again at about 6:30 p. m on July 16. d)The school’s registrar, Caroline Calleja, said she proctored a two-hour exam where Larranaga was present from 1:30 p. m. Larranaga attended his second round of midterm exams on July 17 commencing at 8 a. m. Only then did Larranaga leave for Cebu in the late afternoon of July 17, 1997. )Airline and airport personnel also came to court with their flight records, indicating that Larranaga did not take any flight on Jul y 16, 1997, nor was he on board any chartered aircraft that landed in or departed from Cebu during the relevant dates, except the 5 p. m. PAL flight on July 17, 1997 from Manila to Cebu The aforementioned evidences did not prevent the conviction of Larranaga along with his six co-accused. The trial court judge, after rendering judgment against them, was found dead in a hotel in Cebu, and allegedly committed suicide.This unexpected event during the Chiong murder case was proven in the film to be part of the whole scheme of putting the blame on Larranaga, and concealing the truth of the facts with regard to the murder and rape of the Chion sisters. Larranaga, along with the other co-accused were sentenced to death, and appealed later on, but all of them were denied. Considering the Filipino-Spanish nationality of Larranaga, his family asked for help from the Spanish government. In September 2009, the Department of Justice approved Larranaga's transfer to a Spanish prison.Thelma Chiong , the mother of the victims, expressed shock over the decision, saying that, despite Larranaga's Spanish citizenship, â€Å"If you committed a crime in the Philippines, you are jailed in the Philippines,† despite the fact that this would constitute a breach of the treaty and thus of international law. Larranaga, escorted by two Spanish Interpol agents, left for Spain on October 6, 2009. His good behavior at the New Bilibid Prison was taken into consideration, and he will serve the rest of his sentence at the Madrid Central Penitentiary at Soto del Real. The Thin Blue LineThe film is an investigation into the 1976 murder of Dallas police officer Robert Wood. Harris testified that Adams had shot and killed Wood after their car had been pulled over on their way home from a movie. Adams claimed to know nothing of the murder, insisting that Harris had dropped him at his home two hours before it occurred. Local authorities believed Harris, and witnesses corroborated his story, lead ing to Adams’ conviction and a death sentence, (which was later on changed). Randall Adams recalls the events in detail: after running out of gas, he had been picked up by Harris in a stolen car.The two had gone to a movie where they drank beer and smoked marijuana, and this was the extent of their relationship. David Harris, on the other hand, also recalls the events of the evening in detail, but creates a much different impression. Adam’s defense attorneys thought that Harris was the killer, pointing to his past criminal record and other crimes committed the night of the murder. The film presents a series of interviews about the investigation and reenactments of the shooting, based on the testimony and recollections of Adams, Harris, and various witnesses and detectives. Two attorneys who epresented Adams at the trial where he was convicted of capital murder also appear: they suggest that Adams was charged with the crime despite the better evidence against Harris bec ause, as Harris was a juvenile, Adams alone of the two could be sentenced to death under Texas law. II. Similarities and Differences The two films both dealt on the fact that there is a corrupt justice system. That even an innocent man can be put into jail all for the sake of concealing the truth. This idea is very obvious in the films presented, that even a man of little knowledge with the law will doubt the guilt of both, Larranaga and Adams.The idea brought up by the filmmakers of both was a frame up or cover up which lead to the conviction of innocent people. The very controlling authorities in both were the police officers, the judge, and other executive officers of the government and to add, the media, influencing the course of the trial and the impression of the masses on the suspects. In both, police authorities were overwhelmed with the idea of having someone to put the blame for the murder of the victims. They were like heroes of the public for having solved the case and f ound a suspect. In which, it is very obvious that it was politically motivated.As one of the differences between the case of Larranaga and Adams, is that of having exhausted all administrative remedies. Larranaga, after being convicted in the trial court, appealed to the Supreme Court, but was not able to attain a favourable judgment. After such, taking into consideration of the dual citizenship of Larranaga, they asked for the help of Spanish government so that the death penalty be withdrawn and let him be transferred in Spain where he will serve his sentence. This however paved the way for the abolishment of death penalty by former Pres.Gloria Arroyo and the approval of Larranaga’s transfer. The cases of Larranaga and Adams both involved rights which were violated. As declared under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the following are those evidently violated in the course of the whole trial of the case, (a) Article 11, par. 1, (b) Article 9 and (c) Article 1 0. †¢Article 11, par. 1 Everyone charged with a penal offense has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.In light of this article which pertains to the right of an accused to be presumed innocent, Larranaga was outrightly charged as a criminal in the minds of the people, especially those of the Cebuanos, even before a trial was held. Aggravating this situation was the participation of the media from the start up to the end of the case, tagged as the â€Å"trial of the decade†. The impressions that were made by the police authorities and the media, contributed to the image of Larranaga as guilty of the crime charged.His identity was corroborated as a rich bad boy/gangster from a prominent family, in which the people presumed that they will make use of their resources to pay for witnesses and manipulate the whole case and avoid prosecution. As to the case of A dams, he was made fit to the image of a cop-killer as compared to Harris. The prosecution relied on the testimony of Harris that it was Adams who killed Wood, even before the start of the case, they knew already who to convict. The fact that Harris was a juvenile that time, made it more likely for Adams to commit the crime thus moving away from the presumption of his innocence. Article 9 No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. The course of Larranaga’s arrest came swift and unexpected and appeared to him as kidnapping. The people who arrested him were all in civilian clothes, though they looked like policemen. They did not identify themselves when they arrested Larranaga, until they were asked by Larranaga’s sister. They unlawfully arrested Larranaga due to absence of warrant of arrest, in defense, they said that he committed a continuing crime.As to Adams’ case, he was taken into the custody of the police few days after the commission of the crime. He was forced to sign a document containing an admission that he was the one who murdered Wood. The policeman even threatened him with a pistol if he will not sign it. There is no sufficient cause for his guilt. †¢Article 10 Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.The right to a fair and speedy trial was not accorded to Larranaga, first, the media had participated a lot in drawing the image of Larranaga as the criminal. The judge also showed his impartiality which was really unexplainable. After having refused to accept the testimonies of witnesses of Larranaga, preventing him to take the witness stand and rendered a judgment of double life imprisonment, the judge was found in a hotel dead. Through the series of events that had transpired, the fairness and impartiality of the trial cannot be said to be pres ent.As in the case of Adams, it cannot be said to have been a fair trial for him because the prosecution presented fake witnesses, in which the conviction was based. There is a biased judgment and inconsideration on the merits of the case. Adams was not able to defend himself, such conviction of him was predicated on the failure of his defense lawyer to clearly establish his innocence albeit all the frame-ups that had transpired. References: http://www. centerforsocialmedia. org/sites/default/files/documents/pages/interview_transciption_giveuptomorrow. pdf http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/The_Thin_Blue_Line_(film)

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Media Bias And Its Impact On Society - 932 Words

For the majority of history, newspapers have reported hard facts. Newspapers were a trusted source that society depended on to form their own opinion. More than ever, today it seems to be more difficult to find facts or truth. Just on that statement two significant and impactful questions are raised. Why is there so much bias and discrepancies between reporting and why is society fine with this? Anyone who pays attention to the reporting that is going on, they would notice the first question, but do not take it a moment to question why the public or themselves allow it. This all ties back to newspapers because they are beginning of this disaster. Although there hundreds of colleges and universities offer reporting degrees, these two questions are the heart of the matter and affecting society negatively. The daily activity of reading and watching any news outlet becomes filled with garbage. This garbage, of course, is media bias. It is ironic that every media outlet will call out the other side, yet committing exactly the same sin at that very moment. This is dreadful for the audience or the public because one has no idea what is going on or is true. Paul Farhi, Washington Post, points out, â€Å"Meanwhile, just about every new poll of public sentiment shows that confidence in the news media has hit a new low. Seventy-seven percent of those surveyed by the Pew Research Center in the fall said the media â€Å"tend to favor one side† compared with 53 percent who said so in 1985.† ThisShow MoreRelatedDoes Racial Bias Affect The Lives Of Americans? Essay1593 Words   |  7 Pagescauses of this racial bias and the effects. We cannot ignore the obvious disadvantages minorities face in America. When examining the ways that systemic racial bias affects the lives of Americans, it is important to first define what systemic racial bias actually is. 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