Richard the Second free essay sample

For further information regarding the critical and stage history of Richard II, see SC, Volumes 6, 24, 39, 52, 58, and 70. INTRODUCTION Richard II (ca. 1595) is the first drama of Shakespeares second historical tetralogy, a sequence of chronological narratives based on events in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries that chronicle the ascent of the Lancastrian line to the throne of England. In the play, Richard, an ineffectual monarch and the last of the Plantagenet kings, is deposed and imprisoned after his cousin Henry Bolingbroke launches a successful coup to usurp the English crown. Following Richards assassination, Bolingbroke becomes King Henry IV, the subject of the following two plays in the sequence. Written entirely in verse, Richard II features what numerous critics perceive as Shakespeares most brilliantly realized rhetorical tragedy, a work centered on the poetic, introspective persona of King Richard II. Devoid of the spectacular battles, much of the violence, and the epic sweep of Shakespeares subsequent historical works, the play has sometimes been faulted for dramatic unevenness, but is nevertheless highly regarded for its moments of superbly crafted and penetrating poetic dialogue. We will write a custom essay sample on Richard the Second or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Dorothy C. Hockey (1964) compares the dramatic language of Richard II to Shakespeares later dramas, noting that while his later dramas use a masterful plain style that seamlessly incorporates prose and verse, the ornate and elevated rhetorical manner of Richard II elegantly matches the plays high style and regal subject. Character-based study of Richard II has overwhelmingly focused on its title figure, and on the relationship between Richard and his usurping rival, Henry Bolingbroke. In general, Richard has been viewed in sharp contrast with Shakespeares other English kings. Louise Cowan (1981) characterizes Richard II as a dignified but brooding monarch whose irresponsibility as a ruler is an affront to his hereditary authority. His political mistakes and personal disloyalty lead to his downfall, according to this reading, making Richards abdication the only means of restoring both personal dignity and historical balance. Raphael Falco (1999) focuses on the concept of charisma in his comparative analysis of Richard II and Henry Bolingbroke. For Falco, both men possess this unmistakable mark of leadership, but in very different forms. Bolingbroke challenges and subverts existing authority; he is a revolutionary and defiant hero who, Falco acknowledges, is paradoxically drawn to seek the royal power he will destroy with Richard. Falco notes that Richards authority derives from heredity; as the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty he links himself with permanence, tradition, and the corporate power of many individuals as one. In two complementary discussions of character in Richard II, Charles R. Forker (2001, 2002) examines the sources and tragic consequences of Richards destabilized, mutable personal identity and the results of Shakespeares deeply ambivalent rendering of both Richard and Bolingbroke in the drama. Forker first illuminates a central dichotomy between Richards self-indulgent, despotic rule and Bolingbrokes courageous and expeditious capacities as a natural leader who positions himself as Englands savior. The critic continues by probing the ways in which Shakespeare subverted this simplified opposition in order to expand his play into not merely the representation of two sorts of individuals, but of two complex approaches to power. The story of Richard II, therefore, relates the clash of competing ideological doctrines as personified by their respective standard bearers. Although there are many challenges to a successful staging of this play—such as the elaborate verse, complex political themes, and interpretation of Richards character—Richard II has proved to be popular in recent years and has been revived frequently on the stage. Carol Chillington Rutter (1997) reviews a 1995 production of Richard II directed by Deborah Warner that featured a female lead in the title role. Rutter contends that Warners Richard II—a significant one in Rutters estimation despite much critical denunciation—played effectively with the feminization of Richard and highlighted the emotional undercurrents of the work, including the grief-laden relationship between this declining monarch and his usurping cousin. Reviewing Director Jonathan Kents 2000 staging of the drama with the Almeida Theatre, featuring film star Ralph Fiennes, Ben Brantley (2000) maintains that Fienness scowling interpretation of Richard, while probing and powerful, was perhaps a bit overdone. Although intellectually stimulating, it lacked emotion and pathos in Brantleys appraisal. Offering a different view of the production, Richard Hornby (2000) admires Fienness skill with Shakespearean verse, as well as his flippant and petulant characterization of the deposed monarch. However, Hornby contends that the supporting casts inability to reach the evel of Fiennes severely weakened the project. Sheridan Morley reviews Tim Carrolls 2003 all-male production of Richard II at the Globe in London. Morley praises the casting, especially Mark Rylances exceptional interpretation of Shakespeares â€Å"weak, callow, and ultimately defeated king,† but faults the production for failing to marshal a strong Bolingbroke or other cas t members to support Rylances subtle and majestic Richard. Elvis Mitchell (2001) reviews director John Farrells modern-dress, ninety-minute film adaptation of Richard II. Mitchell finds little merit in this adaptation, citing weak individual performances and a lack of directorial vision, and claims that it â€Å"stands meekly in the shadow of film versions that have come before. † The subject of kingship has attracted a large share of scholarly comment on Richard II. Maynard Mack, Jr. (1973) outlines the antiquated notions of sovereignty professed by the major figures in Richard II, from the ordered, traditionalist views of York and Gaunt to Richards divinely authorized and idealized, but irrevocably weakened, ruling ideal. In Macks appraisal, Shakespeare opened such archaic perspectives to scathing criticism by consistently foreshadowing Richards abdication and the ascent of Bolingbroke. Henry E. Jacobs (1986) also examines the role of kingship in the play. For Jacobs, Richard II dramatizes a theoretical shift from medieval and feudalistic ideals of primogeniture, succession, and divine authority in favor of Renaissance realpolitik—power politics in the terms of Machiavelli. In his analysis, Jacobs summarizes the ways in which Shakespeare depicted the transition from an old ethos to a new one using prophecy as his principle dramatic device. Thomas F. Berninghausen (1987) views the metaphorical relationship between gardening and kingship dramatized in Act III, scene iv of Richard II as the thematic touchstone of the drama. Berninghausen contends that Richard II â€Å"derives its frame, rhetoric, and vocabulary from the myth of the origin of history described in Genesis,† including the stories of the Garden of Eden and Cain and Abel. Thus, according to Berninghausen, the drama reenacts the Christian theme of the Fall by introducing the sins that Henry IV and his son, Henry V, must expiate through their future stewardship of the English people. Kenneth C. Bennett (1988) evaluates the dramatic structure of Richard II and contends that it depicts the two parallel tragedies of Richard and Bolingbroke, who are â€Å"tied ultimately by their underlying prideful errors, their failures to set limitations on their powers. †

Demography of Harbor Hills, Austin, TX

Demography of Harbor Hills, Austin, TX History of the Neighborhoods In this social economic analysis, I will focus on Austin city located in Texas as well as Harbor Hills in New York. Austin is the capital city of the US state of Texas. It has a population of approximately one million people according to US Census Bureau. Since its foundation in the 19th century, Austin has grown in an unprecedented rate to become eleventh most populous city in the US.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Demography of Harbor Hills, Austin, TX specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Besides, the city hosts a myriad of government operations and education institutions such as University of Texas. It is worth mentioning that the city has a cosmopolitan composition of population in the sense that many people living in the area come from different races, nationalities and ethnicities. To that end, racial, ethnic and other demographic characteristics of Austin are of paramount importance i n this analysis. Besides, the report will also analyze other variables including poverty levels in comparison to racial and ethnic belonging and background. For the purposes of qualitative analysis and comparison, the paper will also focus on demography of Harbor Hills in New York. Harbor Hills has as modest population of around five thousand people. It reflects a hamlet and is located in Nassau County in New York. The city will provide important variables that will be of interest especially when making comparison of various demographic parameters such as poverty rates and racial background. Fig 1: Racial Composition of Austin, TX Race Population Percentage (%) Total Population: 1,007,264 White Alone 699,233 69.4% Black or African American Alone 85,468 8.5% American Indian and Alaska Native Alone 5,633 0.6% Asian Alone 58,806 5.8% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Alone 770 0.1% Some Other Race Alone 133,673 13.3% Two or More races 23,681 2.4% The mot ivation behind this analysis is the fact that Travis County is one of the most diverse counties not only in Southwest of the United States but also in other areas of the country. The rationale is that the entire state of Texas has experienced unsurpassed rate of immigration leading to a multiethnic population. Most profoundly, Blacks and Hispanics have become significant races within Texas and its cities. Harbor Hills will serve as a point of reference when making comparison about poverty levels and ethnic belonging of the city residents. Besides, the demographic analysis will utilize both dependent and independent variables to arrive at a succinct analysis of the city.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Description of Variables In this analysis, rate of poverty will stand out as of the major variable. It refers to the number of people living below certain threshold. Acco rding to the United States Census Bureau, poverty rate refers to the number of people living below minimum wage. On the other hand, minimum wage is the threshold of income per person in employment that International Labor Organization (ILO) stipulates. It varies from time to time due to other factors such as the rate of inflation and jurisdiction. In Harbor Hills and Austin, analysis of poverty rates will provide us with vital statistics. Besides, analysis of rates of poverty will facilitate explanation of other demographic and external variables such as income and literacy levels. Second, the paper will analyze the rates of poverty visvis ethnic and racial backgrounds of the residents in both neighborhoods. It is important to point out that rate of poverty is directly associated with level of education and race. Due to different cultures and demography, comparison of the two neighborhoods will reveal other characteristics that are pertinent to the analysis. Empirical Profile of the Neighborhoods Poverty rates in Austin vary greatly in accordance to race and ethnicity. The major races in the city are Whites, Black and African Americans, Hispanics, Indian Americans and other races. The Whites constitute approximately 69.4% of the total population while the Blacks and Africans constitute just above 8.5%. Other races constitute approximately 20% of the population. According to 2010 statistics released by US Census Bureau, poverty rate in Austin varies with age. Poverty rate of children under the age of 18 years stand at 22.1% implying that at least two out of ten children living in Austin live under poor conditions. For the population of people between the ages of 18 and 64 years, poverty rate stood at 15.5%. Above 64 years, poverty rate of the population seem to have reduced within the period of analysis. It stood at an average of 8.1%. On average, poverty rate in the city of Austin is just above 15%. According to the US Census Bureau, the rate of poverty remain s high when compared to the national average that was 12% in the same year. Various factors are attributable to high rates of poverty in Austin. At the outset, it is of importance to mention that level of education and race are major determinants of poverty rates in the neighborhood.  On average, Austin’s income per household is around $88 thousands annually. In black households, the average level of income stands at just below $50, 000 annually.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Demography of Harbor Hills, Austin, TX specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is different from the average annual income accruing Whites’ households that stood at approximately $96, 499 during the same period. Consequently, the disparities that are apparent in terms of incomes also reflect in other aspects of Austin. For instance, poverty levels among the blacks stand at about 24.3% while that of Whites is a mere 13.3% (in the year 2010). In addition, it is worth highlighting that other races residing in Austin record a significantly higher rate of poverty than the white population. Central to the rate of poverty is the level of education across the ethnic groups living in Austin. Apparently, over a quarter of the population has attained a bachelor’s degree while almost an equal proportion of the population has some college education. Education is an important indicator of the likelihood of being absorbed in the labor market according to many social scientists. As such, its rate either increases or reduces the likelihood of employment and influences the amount of income accruing each household. To this end, it is important to pinpoint that that rate of unemployment amongst the white population stood at a modest 5.9% in the neighborhood. Among the blacks, the rate of unemployment is more than twice when compared to that of the white population. It stood at 12.4% according to the statistics released by Census Bureau in 2010. This helps us to draw a conclusion and deduce that average white population is more literate than respective black population in Austin. This is reflected in the disparities of income per household and the rate of unemployment between the two major races living in the city Austin. In Harbor Hills, New York, poverty rates are relatively low when compared to Austin. Particularly, the number of poor children stood at five in 2001accounting for 0.8% of children under the age 18 that live in abject poverty. This number has grown in a period of 10 years to peak at 3.2% in 2011. For ages between 24 and 64 years, the rate of poverty has increased from 5.1% to 7.1 between 2001 and 2011 respectively. Nonetheless, the rate of poverty among the senior citizens has reduced marginally from 5.3% in 2001 to 4.8% by 2011. On average, Harbor Hills has one of the lowest rates of poverty in Nassau County. It is important to highlight that poverty levels vary considerably in l ine with racial belonging and education attainment of the residents. Unlike in Austin, Harbor Hills has one of the lowest rates poverty accruing the black population and other minority races. According to the US Census Bureau, the rate of poverty among the black population stood at 0.5% in 2010, which was a lower rate of poverty than that of the majority white population. In fact, the rate of poverty among white residents of the neighborhood stood at 6.8% in 2011.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The mean income accruing every household in Harbor Hills was approximately $83,275 in 2010. While the statistics for the annual income accruing black households was unavailable by the end of 2010, every white household recorded an average annual income of about $83, 451. This implies that the households had a higher per household income than all other racial groups in the neighborhood. While income per household is a strong exogenous variable that influences poverty rates within a community, other factors such as education attainment contribute significantly to the welfare of the residents. US Census Bureau records that an average of 48.7% of the population has attained a bachelor’s degree with well above 20% of the population having achieved a graduate degree. This implies that a considerable majority of the residents is able to access employment opportunities in both military and civilian institutions. Due to high level of educational attainment, it is critical to highlight that Harbor Hills has a different social economic profile than Austin. In addition, the number of people living in the neighborhood is relatively low when compared to the residents of Austin. It therefore follows that population density of the two neighborhoods vary greatly despite similar variables typifying the communities. Besides, seems to be ‘an above average’ suburb in terms of socio-economic parameters that are provided by US Census Bureau. Conclusion In essence, Austin and Harbor Hills neighborhoods vary greatly. On the one hand, Austin is located in Travis County, Texas in Southwest of the US. It is the capital city of Texas and hosts myriads of state institutions and departments. Due to its geographical location, Austin has different social groups belonging to various races, ethnicities and nationalities. White and black races are the predominant races although there are other races in the city. According to the US Census Bureau report of 2010, poverty rates among the white residents are lower than poverty rates among the black residents. Consequently, there is a higher level of average annual income accruing white households than black households. This is due to the average levels of unemployment and educational attainment that are skewed in favor of the white population. On the other hand, Harbor Hills is located in Long Island of New York. It is a relatively affluent suburb of New York City in the county of Nassau. Unlike Austin, Harbor Hills has a low population of about five thousand people. However, the residents have different ethnicities, races and nationalities. Moreover, the rates of poverty are relatively lower than in Austin. The levels of income and unemployment are more favorable for Harbor Hills; residents than for Austin dwellers. Reflection From the above demographic analysis, I have learned various lessons that are valuable to my social research and inquiry skills. At the outset, I have learnt that the level of income accruing every household is an important indicator of poverty level and status. However, households’ income is a dependent variable that correlates with levels of education attainment, unemployment and racial background. It is not surprising therefore, that black population in Austin suffers from the highest rates of unemployment and the lowest levels of educational attainment. This in turn has led to high number of black residents living under conditions of poverty and subsequently, low incomes accruing their households. Second, I have learnt that Austin has a higher number of residents (approximately one million) than Harbor Hills (five thousand). This has had a significant influence on the statistics that US Census Bureau released in 2010. For instance, it is absurd to purport that no student dropped out of high school in Harbor Hills since the statistics indicate a figure that is well below 1% in 2010. Indeed, the percentages do not reveal the actual number of people high lighted by various variables. Third, I have understood that Harbor Hills is relatively affluent than Austin. The rationale is that the neighborhood has a population of black residents who are comparatively wealthier than white residents are. Besides, it seems that only the wealthy blacks can afford to live in Harbor Hills. This is reflected in the high level of educational attainment in the neighborhood. It is commendable that the rates of literacy in the area are above 95%. Finally, I have learnt that Austin city is of strategic importance for the state of Texas. The reason is that the city has a rich diversity that can be used to draw general conclusions about the demographic characteristics of other cities.

The Impact of Internet on Thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Impact of Internet on Thinking - Essay Example Despite this the internet has many advantages on the way people think. My research question is: does the web shorten our attention spans? Attention span can be defined as the ability of a person to concentrate on a task without distraction. Attention varies with age and is measured by the time we spend continuously on a particular task. No, the internet does not shorten our span of attention as the studies conducted have shown that adults who spend time on the web boosted their brain power and also helped in preventing cognitive turn down like Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Spending time on the internet is beneficial to both adults and the young people. To the young the web has been of great importance as they use the internet as a tool of education and has registered positive effects on their academic performance. However the exposure of the web to children at a younger age should be minimal and if necessary, can be increased moderately with time and age as studies show th at the use of web increases attention of the adults better than the children (Dreyfus 60). The use of the web has made people to function like computers as they are able to receive, encode process and retrieve information faster than before and have become adapted to multi-tasking as a result of engaging or brains into activity. The attention span has improved because when people spend time on the web, this means that they spend time reading and studies have shown that students who spend at least 30 minutes on the internet have been shown to perform better. The use of the web keeps our brains active and improves our efficiency as well as our attention span. The brain has a nature of a muscle and therefore needs regular exercise, when we use the web, the brain is engaged in some activity and therefore it becomes more attentive. Failure to engage the brain makes it to be passive and thus lowers the span of attention. Most people have are easily distracted when reading a book than when on the web. The monotonous nature of the book makes one to be easily distracted unlike when one is on the web. The web has interesting things and one can learn new information at a very short time. Most people can concentrate for about 30 minutes when not using the internet and this span increases when they are using the web. The reason behind this is that the web has a lot of new, interesting information and this makes the person to want to learn more and therefore ends up concentrating on a particular task for a long period without getting distracted or bored (Brockman 176). The use of the web has enabled people to easily access information and learn new information unlike when not using the internet where people may spend a lot of time looking for specific information at the libraries for a long time. However, precaution is necessary as the use of the web has its setbacks among them is addiction to the wrong information. Studies conducted in the past have shown that students who are use the internet regularly do not use the internet in a productive way as they may be on social network sites ( Dreyfus 87). Most institutions are coming up with ways in which they can divert their attention from these social networking sites and makes their time when using the web more productive. The institutions are blocking the accessibility of these sites when students are in the institution and can only access the sites when they leave school.