About Glenn Murcutt, an Australian Way of Architecture

About Glenn Murcutt, an Australian Way of Architecture Glenn Murcutt (born July 25, 1936) is arguably Australias most famous architect, although he was born in England. He has influenced generations of working architects and has won every major architecture award of the profession, including the 2002 Pritzker. Yet he remains obscure to many of his Australian countrymen, even as he is revered by architects worldwide. Murcutt is said to work alone, yet he opens his farm to professionals and students of architecture every year, giving master classes and promoting his vision:  Architects thinking locally acting globally. Murcutt was born in London, England, but grew up in the Morobe district of Papua New Guinea and in Sydney, Australia, where he learned to value simple, primitive architecture. From his father, Murcutt learned the philosophies of Henry David Thoreau, who believed that we should live simply and in harmony with natures laws. Murcutts father, a self-sufficient man of many talents, also introduced him to the streamlined modernist architecture of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Murcutts early work strongly reflects Mies van der Rohes ideals. One of Murcutts favorite quotations is a phrase he often heard his father say. The words, he believes, are from Thoreau: â€Å"Since most of us spend our lives doing ordinary tasks, the most important thing is to carry them out extraordinarily well.† Murcutt is also fond of quoting the Aboriginal proverb  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Touch the earth lightly.† From 1956 to 1961, Murcutt studied architecture at the University of New South Wales. After graduation, Murcutt traveled widely in 1962 and was impressed by the works of Jà ¸rn Utzon. On a later trip in 1973, he remembers the modernist 1932 Maison de Verre in Paris, France, as being influential. He was inspired by the Californian architecture of Richard Neutra and Craig Ellwood, and the crisp, uncomplicated work of Scandinavian architect Alvar Aalto. However, Murcutts designs quickly took on a distinctively Australian flavor. The Pritzker Prize-winning architect Glenn Murcutt is not a builder of skyscrapers. He doesnt design grand, showy structures or use flashy, luxurious materials. Instead, the principled designer pours his creativity into smaller projects that let him work alone and design economical buildings that will conserve energy and blend with the environment. All of his buildings (mostly rural houses) are in Australia. Murcutt chooses materials that can be produced easily and economically: glass, stone, brick, concrete, and corrugated metal. He pays close attention to the movement of the sun, moon, and seasons, and designs his buildings to harmonize with the movement of light and wind. Many of Murcutts buildings are not air-conditioned. Resembling open verandas, Murchutts houses suggest the simplicity of Farnsworth House of Mies van der Rohe, yet have the pragmatism of a sheepherders hut. Murcutt takes on few new projects but is intensely devoted to what he does, often spending many years working with his clients. At times he collaborates with his partner, architect Wendy Lewin. Glenn Murcutt is a master teacher;  Oz.e.tecture is the offical website of the Architecture Foundation Australia and the Glenn Murcutt Master Classes. Murcutt is proud to be the father of the Australian architect Nick Murcutt (1964–2011), whose own firm with partner Rachel Neeson flourishes as Neeson Murcutt Architects.   Murcutts Important Buildings The Marie Short House (1975) is one of Murcutts first homes to combine modern Miesian aesthetics with Australian wool shed practicality. With skylights that track the overhead sun and a galvanized corrugated steel roof, this elongated farmhouse on stilts takes advantage of the environment without harming it. The National Park Visitors Centre at Kempsey (1982) and the Berowra Waters Inn (1983) are two of Murcutts early nonresidential projects, but he worked on these while honing his residential designs. The Ball-Eastaway House (1983) was built as a retreat for the artists Sydney Ball and Lynne Eastaway. Nestled in an arid forest, the main structure of the building is supported on steel columns and steel I-beams.  By raising the house above the earth, Murcutt protected the dry soil and surrounding trees. The curved roof prevents dry leaves from settling on top.  An exterior fire extinguishing system provides emergency protection from forest blazes. Architect Murcutt thoughtfully placed the windows and meditation decks to create a sense of seclusion while still providing scenic views of the Australian landscape.   The Magney House (1984) is often called Glenn Murcutts most famous house as it integrates Murcutts elements of function and design. Also known as Bingie Farm, the architectural masterpiece is now part of the Airbnb program. The Marika-Alderton House (1994) was built for the Aboriginal artist Marmburra Wananumba Banduk Marika and her English husband, Mark Alderton. The house was prefabricated near Sydney and shipped to its location in the unforgiving Northern Territory of Australia. While being built, Murcutt was also working on the Bowali Visitors Centre at Kakadu National Park (1994), also in the Northern Territory, and the Simpson-Lee House (1994) located near Sydney. Glenn Murcutts more recent homes from the 21st century are often bought and sold, somewhat like investments or collectors items. The Walsh House (2005) and the Donaldson House (2016) fall into this category, not that Murcutts care in design is ever diminished. The Australian Islamic Centre (2016) near Melbourne may be the last worldly statement of an 80-year-old architect. Knowing little about mosque architecture, Murcutt studied, sketched, and planned for years before the modern design was approved and built. The traditional minaret is gone, yet the orientation toward Mecca remains. Colorful rooftop lanterns bathe interiors with colored sunlight, yet men and women have different access to those interiors. Like all of Glenn Murcutts work, this Australian mosque is not the first, but it is architecture that- through a thoughtful, iterative process of design- may be the best. I have always believed in the act of discovery rather than creativity, Murcutt said in his 2002 Pritzker acceptance speech. Any work that exists, or which has the potential to exist, is related to discovery. We do not create the work. I believe we, in fact, are discoverers. Murcutts Pritzker Architecture Prize Upon learning of his Pritzker award, Murcutt told reporters, Life is not about maximizing everything, its about giving something back- like light, space, form, serenity, joy. You have to give something back. Why did he become a Pritzker Laureate in 2002? In the words of the Pritzker jury: In an age obsessed with celebrity, the glitz of our starchitects, backed by large staffs and copious public relations support, dominates the headlines. As a total contrast,  our laureate works in a one-person office on the other side of the world...yet has a waiting list of clients, so intent is he to give each project his personal best. He is an innovative architectural technician who is capable of turning his sensitivity to the environment and to locality into forthright, totally honest, non-showy works of art. Bravo! - J. Carter Brown, Pritzker Prize jury chairman Fast Facts: The Glenn Murcutt Library Touch This Earth Lightly: Glenn Murcutt in His Own Words.  In an interview with Philp Drew, Glenn Murcutt talks about his life and describes how he developed the philosophies that shape his architecture. This thin paperback is not a lavish coffee table-book, but provides excellent insight into the thinking behind the designs. Glenn Murcutt: A Singular Architectural Practice.  Murcutts design philosophy presented in his own words is combined with commentary from architecture editors Haig Beck and Jackie Cooper. Through concept sketches, working drawings, photographs, and finished drawings, Murcutts ideas are explored in depth. Glenn Murcutt: Thinking Drawing / Working Drawing by Glenn Murcutt.  The architects solitary process is described by the solitary architect himself. Glenn Murcutt: University of Washington Master Studios and Lectures.  Murcutt has consistently conducted master classes at his farm in Australia, but hes also been forging a relationship with Seattle. This slim book by the University of Washington Press provided edited transcripts of conversations, lectures, and studios. The Architecture of Glenn Murcutt.  In a format large enough to display 13 of Murcutts most successful projects, this is the go-to book of photos, sketches, and descriptions that will introduce any neophyte to what the unwavering Glenn Murcutt is all about. Sources Glenn Murcutt 2002 Pritzker Laureate Acceptance Speech, The Hyatt Foundation, PDF at pritzkerprize.com/sites/default/files/file_fields/field_files_inline/2002_Acceptance_Speech_0.pdfAustralian Architect Becomes the 2002 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, The Hyatt Foundation, https://www.pritzkerprize.com/laureates/2002

Definition and Examples of Tense Shifts in English

Definition and Examples of Tense Shifts in English In English grammar, tense shift refers to the change from one verb tense to another (usually from past to present, or vice versa) within a sentence or paragraph. A writer may temporarily shift from past tense to present tense in order to enhance the vividness of a narrative account.   In prescriptive grammar, writers are cautioned to avoid unnecessary  shifts in tense. Unmotivated shifts between present and past may obscure meaning and confuse readers. Examples and Observations The bridge was still open then, and I was up there one day mowing the grass alongside the road, just minding my own business, when I see something moving out of the corner of my eye. - C.J. Fisher, The Legend of Diadamia. AuthorHouse, 2005Staring rigidly up at it, Justin is listening to her joyous protestations at his right side. Dizzy from travel, laden with last-minute hand luggage, the two of them have minutes earlier arrived here from London for the first time. - John le Carrà ©, The Constant Gardener. Hodder Stoughton, 2001 Gliding From One Tense to Another It is possible to glide from one tense to another in the course of one sentence, but the key to doing it is always to be in control, to know what you are doing, what effect you are hoping to achieve.   In The Literary Review (February 2006), Francis King comments with admiration on how D.J. Taylor in his novel Kept frequently shifts gears from past tense to present to tauten a scene. And in an essay Glitches (Granta 27), John Gregory Dunne writes: Off the road there was what appeared to be a reviewing stand, and I sat there for a few moments, taking in the museum and the cold blue Sunday sky, taking stock, what to do, what to do next, Id really hate to cancel dinner tonight . . . Im breathing normally now, its OK A-OK, I wont even tell my wife, nor Tim, especially not Tim, I feel fit as a fiddle now. He wasnt though, but thats another story, told by his wife, Joan Didion, in The Year of Magical Thinking. Just notice the tense shift. - Carmel Bird, Writing The Story Of Your Life. HarperCollins, 2007 The Effect of Tense Shift in A Tale of Two Cities A Tale of Two Cities [by Charles Dickens] has a tense shift at a great moment of the story. After the trial and after Sydney Carton has taken the place of Charles Darnay in jail, the drugged Darnay and his family are fleeing in the stagecoach from Paris. Suddenly we find that the story is in the present tense. This adds vividness and excitement and here marks a peak which encodes part of the notional structure denouement of the story. - Robert E. Longacre, The Grammar of Discourse, 2nd ed. Plenum Press, 1996 Legitimate Tense Shifts Sometimes writers shift from past to present tense when telling a story to add vividness to the events.  This legitimate  tense shift is  a literary device called the historical present. It is familiar to readers of epic poetry, but people also use it when relating everyday anecdotes: I was walking down Delancey Street the other day when a guy comes up to me and asks me for the time. - (The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style. Houghton Mifflin, 2005) Usage Tips: Avoiding Needless Tense Shifts What is an example of an unmotivated shift in tense in writing? One example is starting a story in past tense and suddenly shifting into present tense:Last week I was walking along a street when this man walks up to me and says . . .We do this in speech all the time, but in formal writing its considered to be an error. - Edward L. Smith and Stephen A. Bernhardt, Writing At Work: Professional Writing Skills for People on the Job. NTC Publishing, 1997)Tense places the action of the verb in time: Today I go. Yesterday I went. Tomorrow I will go. Different verbs in a sentence or paragraph may logically use different tenses to reflect actions at different times.We will play tennis before we eat breakfast but after we have had our coffee.The tense you select to describe most of the actions in your paper is called the governing tense. Once you establish it, do not use another tense without a good reason. . . .The literary present tense is used to describe literature or art. If you use it, d o so consistently. - Toby Fulwiler and Alan R. Hayakawa, The Blair Handbook. Prentice Hall, 2003 It is common practice to analyze literary works in present tense. Thus, you would write, Pearl is a difficult child rather than Pearl was a difficult child in an analysis of Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter. If you are quoting a critic who has used a past tense verb in a particular sentence, you may change the tense of the critics verb by typing the tense you wish to use in square brackets. This bracketed change of tense avoids an awkward verb tense shift in your text.As a general rule of thumb, however, avoid changing the tense of verbs in the text of a literary work you are analyzing. - Linda Smoak Schwartz, The Wadsworth Guide to MLA Documentation, 2nd ed. Wadsworth, 2011

Alternative Perspectives on Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Alternative Perspectives on Management - Essay Example To illustrate this, there is consideration of two topics, that is, marketing and architecture as stated in the research study by Buchanan (2010). Since many businesses require robust marketing and architecture, the members attached to the business understand these phenomena. Additionally, the stakeholders and other members understand the rational phenomenon of the business. Many stakeholders and members of a business fail to attach the functional image of the business to their experiences in terms of marketing and architecture. Marketing The functionality of a business in terms of Marketing forms an ethical foundation although it tries to disguise itself and presence of limited critics who perceive its definition of the supposed ethics. There are epistemological suppositions which dominate this perspective and whose orthodoxy needs to be uncovered. This statement implies that it is tasking to perform function marketing, but is it possible to execute the practice of contacting a custo mer. Marketing has been applied mostly in non-profit organizations and government sectors. This implies that marketing is one of the most vital business functionality as stated by Alvesson (2003). According to Alvesson, Bridgman & Willmott (2009), the business functionality problem can be in terms of the marketing strategy that the business uses. Marketing is a crucial issue when dealing with the functionality of a business. ... Boje (2008) illustrates that marketing comes before finance and sales, implying that the power of marketing is a manipulative factor for many individuals since marketing shapes the customer’s needs so as to make enough profits. Internal processes that help to get the functional view of a business from a marketing perspective include; the organization of the marketing department of the business such that every product is familiar to every potential consumer. Martin (2001) in his research study, states that it is crucial for a business to broaden marketing into the public sector since many financial institutions insist on marketing plans. Marketing colonizes organizations but does not determine the direction that the business organization takes. To illustrate this perspective, there is consideration of the Woolworth supermarket where its marketing strategies ensure that all products, which already in the market, extend to as many customers as possible. The logo that a business u ses also acts as a boost in marketing its products. Most employees in the businesses I have observed fail to understand that to retain the customers who keep the business operation; the customers require new products, which have an added ingredient. The function image of a business is in the form of a set of ongoing activities, which are logical so as to sustain the business objectives of the organization these activities depend on the marketing strategy of the business as explained by Hatch & Cunliffe (2012). Marketing has, thus; been a teaching to me to become convincing to customers when trying to make them buy a new product. Currently many stakeholders in other regions do not promote their products through marketing as

Future trends in electronic commerce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Future trends in electronic commerce - Essay Example The Internet revolution causes with the latest growth figure among the some 160 million users, while others, remind marketers that this constitutes only a tiny minority of a few per cents of the world population. Expanding from this point, impact will be sought in the evolution of the applications used. Thus a sector where the number of firms which use a combination of Internet, intranet, extranet and telework is 'important' will thus display a higher impact of the Internet (Wagner 2007). Moving further ahead, one will consider which functions or activities the Internet is used for and thus see a greater impact of the Internet when home, social and productive functions are carried out through the Internet (Regan, 2007). In a year, there will be changes in the resources, behavior, organization, achievements and skills in different sectors. More and more companies will use e-commerce as the main tool of marketing communication and interaction. On the other hand, and more importantly, it appears that the use of e-commerce tools and techniques, or of information in general, is not likely to have any effect unless the appropriate combination of attributes and external factors exist. In a year, companies will use e-mobile service and mobile retailing more often. ... The further back in this chain companies and customers can go, the earlier they will be able to have an impact on sales. "Catalogs and stores can greatly buoy the online company to weather the storms that are inherent in technology and technology-based marketing, as a simple change in the technology environment can decimate the business model of an online company based solely on online marketing" ("Why one web merchant", 2006). In five years, there will be a great shift in customer service and information delivery systems. Critics state that "Online commerce market to grow to $300 billion over the next four years. But NOW is when consumers are forming their online shopping habits and developing buying loyalties" ("Understanding the Consumers", 2007). This is true of any new product or service, but, so far as the Internet is concerned, such fears are compounded because consumers will be purchasing goods via a system that they do not fully understand. In fact, consumers are already worried about the security aspects of the Internet. The first and most important lesson that has to be learnt when considering trading on the Internet is that sales that depend on geography will no longer work. Supermarkets, for example, with their departments that examine in great detail the demographics of an area before a new store site is developed, have no advantage in cyberspace. Any site can be accessed from anywhere in the world (Regan, 2007). Equally, any site can also be ignored from anywhere in the world. There is, however, an even bigger issue with marketing on the Internet. Not only is it difficult to select and purchase a prime site, in a good demographic area away from your competitors, that virtually guarantees you sales, but it is also increasingly difficult to

The Yellow Wallpaper and the Mark on the Wall Essay

The Yellow Wallpaper and the Mark on the Wall - Essay Example Virginia Woolf was one of the English Women who pioneered the field of modern literature. Woolf is attributed to have written and published a lot of essays, short stories and novels. Woolf’s active years in literature climaxed during the 1920s when she pushed novels such as To the Lighthouse, Mrs Dalloway, Orlando and among others. The two essays were written from the perspectives of two women, who are also the narrators in the stories. This paper provides a compare and contrast analysis of the two essays â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† and â€Å"Mark on the Wall†. The two essays compare in that they have been written in a first person narration. It is evident that both Virginia Woolf and Charlotte Perkins Gilman have written the essays while at the same time narrating their stories. The two authors, also compare since they have centered their theme on addressing social concerns, which women experienced during the time they wrote the essays. The narrators of the two essays seem to be in deep contemplation of the current state of life. The narrators embark on providing details on the immediate environment surrounding them. The mentioned details are things in their background such as furniture and walls. Additionally, for the narrator in â€Å"the yellow wall paper† she gives details on the actual yellow wallpaper she is seeing (Gilman 1), while the narrator in â€Å"mark on the wall† describes the mark, which happen to be a snail (Woolf 8). Their contemplations compare since both narrators see their lives as either being suppressed or sidelined. The issue of men dominance, the narrator in â€Å"the yellow wall paper†, mentions that â€Å"†¦I am†¦absolutely forbidden to work†¦until I am well† (Gilman 1). However, according to the narrator she disagrees with ideas from the two men who subject her in dominance. The two men are his husband and his brother she asserts that â€Å"†¦congenial work†¦ with excitement†¦ change†¦would do me good† (Gilman 2). is also common in the two essays because the narrators state. On the other hand, in the essay â€Å"the mark on the wall†, the narrator points out men dominance when she states â€Å"†¦Hell and so forth†¦leaving us†¦with intoxicating sense of illegitimate freedom†¦if freedom exists†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Woolf 7). The two essays also compare since the narrators focus their minds on an imaginary place whereby their femininity, freedom and creativity are guaranteed. The two women writers, ultimately compare since they successfully address the plight of women through the powerful voice of literature. Another comparison comes from the fact that both narrators have experienced mental problems in there real lives. One of the main contrasts between the essays†The Yellow Wallpaper† and â€Å"The Mark on the Wall† lies on how they have been narrated. The narration of the story† The Yellow Wallpaper† is aided by characters close to the narrator his husband, John and brother. She says â€Å"John is a physician†¦my brother is a physician† (Gilman 1). In the, â€Å"Mark on the Wall† it is different in that the narrator does not seem to rely on a direct conversation with other characters since the narration is based on ideas coming from her mind (Woolf 3). In the â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† the narrator faces conflict between her inner desires, which entail her nature and creativity and her husband’s opinion of her. She writes â€Å"John†¦has no patience with faith†¦intense horror of superstition†¦scoffs openly on †¦

The Things They Carried, Tim OBrien | Analysis

The Things They Carried, Tim OBrien | Analysis Tim OBrien, in an interview has discussed the definition of truth by saying, You have to understand about life itself. There is a truth as we live it; there is a truth as we tell it. Those two are not compatible all the time. There are times when the storys truth can be truer, I think, than a happening truth (Herzog 120). This definition of truth is a great challenge for readers of OBriens works. It is hard even for the author himself to distinguish whether a detail is truth or no-truth. In this essay, I will discuss the blurry border between truth and fiction in OBriens Vietnam War stories, The Things They Carried. The technique that OBrien uses to blend truth and fiction in his book is his use of metafiction narrative to describe Vietnam War. Metafiction is a term given to fictional writing which self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact in order to pose questions about the relationship between fiction and reality. (Patricia Waugh). In the novel The Things They Carried, Tim OBrien purposely makes the boundary between truth and fiction invisible. For him, truth depends on the context of the situation that someone experiences it and what going on in that persons mind. The author starts his book with the quote, This is a work of fiction. Except for a few details regarding the authors own life, all the incidents, names, and characters are imaginary(6). However, just few pages later OBrien gives his dedication to the men of Alpha Company, and in particular to Jimmy Cross, Norman Bowker, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Henry Dobbins, and Kiowa. Ironically, they are all the main characters of the novel. Tim OBrien has already require his readers to notice the blur lines between fiction and fact in his stories. Tim OBrien blurs this line of truth in many ways. He uses truth in his fiction to make the story more believable. The protagonist as well as narrator of The Things They Carried is named Tim OBrien, he also comes fr om the same town as the author Tim OBrien. The character is a college graduate and is also a drafted Vietnam War vet. He is in his late forties and also is a writer whose book Going After Cacciato got published. Those are obviously more than few details that the character shares with the real OBrien. The author successfully manages deploying his purpose that he wants the readers to feel what he felt. He wants his readers to know why story-truth is truer than happening-truth (203). Hence, readers cant help but trying to connect the relationship between the narrator with the author. Readers will always need to raises the question of what is reality and what is fiction. Even in the work of fiction, OBrien more than once insists readers to believe things he says is the truth. Before revealing the gruesome story of Rat Kiley slowly killing a baby water buffalo, OBrien writes, This one does it for me. Ive told it beforemany times, many versionsbut heres what actually happened (78). OBrien confesses that he has told the story in several ways, it means somehow the story has been fictionalized. However, he still convinces readers that: but heres what actually happened,. The truth in this story is being tested. Readers know that the story contains fictional detail after being told several different ways; they have been notified that The Things They Carried is a fiction. However, they are still to believe the story is true, because the author affirms so. This writing style defines OBriens work as a metafiction where the author consciously challenges the readers to distinguish truth with what he wants readers to believe is truth between the very blurry line. In this case, according to Lynn Whartons remark, everything is true but nothing authentic (Blyn 189). In the chapter How to Tell a True War Story OBrien is most clear in telling his opinion about truth of the war: A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done (OBrian 68). Furthermore, In many cases a true war story cannot be believed. If you believe it, be skeptical. Its a question of credibility. Often the crazy stuff is true and the normal stuff isnt, because the normal stuff is necessary to make you believe the truly incredible craziness (OBrien 71). OBriens short stories follow these rules. For example, the author describes a group of soldiers was ordered to listen for movements of the Viet Cong in the jungle. After few nights, they begins to hears the sounds of a cocktail party: popping champagne corks, several simultaneous conversations, opera-style music. Sanders, the soldier telling the story, says, All these different voices. Not human voices, though. Because its the mountains. Follow me? The rock-its talking. And the fog, too, and the grass and the goddamn mongooses (OBrien 74). The definition of a true war story have been established, in this case, the unbelievable fictional details were created in order to tell the real truth from the war. In Speaking of Courage, OBriens fiction become so believable. Readers can easily relate as if they witness this real life story everywhere. The protagonist Norman Bowker cannot restart his life because he cannot accept his self-described lack of courage in the shit field. No one is interested in his war stories any more, Norman becomes depressed by all the horrific memories, the guilt he carries. Readers can see the image of any soldier with PTSD then and now. Though OBrien has said this is a work of fiction (OBrien 5), hence readers need to treat Norman Bowker as a fictional character. However, in this story he is so real as a non-fictional truth. Following Speaking of Courage, the author adds Notes, to claim that Norman Bowker wrote to OBrien after the war. He also provides an update that Bowker has killed himself to reinforce the realistic factor in his fictional story. By doing this, more than ever OBrien has created the blurry line between truth and fiction in his works. Although the work is classified as a fiction, OBrien continually emphasizes the truthfulness of stories he tells . This technique creates uncertainty for the readers, resemble with the uncertainty of the young soldiers must have felt while fighting in Vietnam as the author confides: Certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons. I saw no unity of purpose, no consensus on matters of philosophy or history or law. The very facts were shrouded in uncertainty: Was it a civil war? A war of national liberation or simple aggression? Who started it, and when, and why? What really happened to the USS Maddox on that dark night in the Gulf of Tonkin? Was Ho Chi Minh a Communist stooge, or a nationalist savior, or both, or neither? What about the Geneva Accords? What about SEATO and the Cold War? What about dominoes? (OBrien 122). Steven Kaplan discusses this point in his essay The Things They Carried includes staging what might have happened in Vietnam while simultaneously questioning the a ccuracy and credibility of the narrative act itselfà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the reader is permitted to experience at first hand the uncertainty that characterized being in Vietnam (Kaplan 48). By blurring the line between fact and fiction, Tim OBrien can objectively speak to readers about war. Throughout the book there are many different versions of the truth. In any war story, but especially a true one, its difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happenThe angles of vision are skewed (OBrien 71).The story called Spin tells of the Vietnamese soldier that the narrator killed. The story The Man I Killed describes the same dead Vietnamese man and creates a history for him. He loved mathematics (OBrien 142), he had only been a soldier for a single day (OBrien 144), and like the narrator he went to war in order to avoid disgracing himself, and therefore his family and village (OBrien 142). The story Ambush makes the reader wonder whether any of this ever happened. That narrator tells us that he was not the thrower of the grenade that killed the soldier and then Even that story is made up (203). in a true war story, if theres a moral at all, its like the thread that makes the cloth. OBrien keeps giving the readers truth and then revising it or reshaping that trut h to something else. The reader is never quite sure where the real fact is but finds that it does not matter. In OBriens own words, You cant extract the meaning without unraveling the deeper meaning (77) For OBrien, truth can change, truth evolves through time and depends on the contexts and circumstances. OBrien also said Truth is fluid. Truth is a function of language. According to the authors own concept about truth, fiction is sometimes can be also considered truth. His brilliant and humorous example was: in 1964 I love Sally is the truth, but in 1965 the truth is I love Jenna. So they are both the truth told by the same person, but are very different just by the time they were told. OBrien said: A lie, sometimes, can be truer than the truth, which is why fiction gets written. The things they carried as a whole is vastly under the shadow of this definition, where fiction and nonfiction get seperated by a very blurry line; where it contains both truths and imaginations. Even for OBrien, he sometimes could not even distinguish what really happened and what he thinks it happened because the border between those two is so paper thin. In OBriens point of view, lives are about stories-the stories we tell ourselves, the stories we tell others. What is really true in our lives as we live it? Might there be events that we view incredibly significant now that we wont remember twenty years from now? Are there trivial details now that might come to have great impact on our lives or teach us incredible lessons? So where is this elusive truth? Truth is what we see from our own personal experience, and truth changes as we live our lives and as we keep remembering things, events, and people in our lives. Truth changes as we mature and as we continue to tell our stories or play them over in our minds. As critic Kaplan says, OBrien saves himself by demonstrating in this book that events have no fixed or final meaning and that the only meaning that events can have is one that emerges momentarily and then shifts and changes each time that the events come alive as they are remembered or portrayed (Kaplan). In an interview, OBrien was asked: What can stories do for us? He said: Stories do a lot for us. They can help us heal. They can make us feel part of something bigger. We all tell stories to ourselves-about today and tomorrow-we live our lives based on a story we tell ourselves. And were constantly adjusting ithoping for a happy ending. (Curran) For him, the key is hopefully to learn something or gain some insight from the process of telling and retelling in which truth and non-truth may get blend into each other to make sense. By stating his book is a work of fiction, OBrien gives himself a license to have more room to create and to write even though the materials are based on the truth. OBrien says One of the chapters in The Things They Carried is about a character with my name going to the Canadian border. He meets an old man up there, almost crosses into Canada but doesnt. I never literally did any of these things, but I thought about it. It was all happening in my dreams and in my head. And the one thing fiction can do is make it seem real. To let the reader participate in this kid making this journey and it feels like its really happening. You hope the readers asking the same questions that you were back then. You know, like What would I do? Would I go to Canada? What do I think of war? So even if the story never happened, literally, it happened in my head. If I were to tell you the literal truth about that summer, the truth would be that I played a lot of golf and worried a lot about the draft. But t hats a crummy story. It doesnt make you feel anything. (Richmond.com). It turns out he did not do the things in the story, but he considered them. The real truth would be boring but the embellished truth is still true. Just because he did not live these things does not mean that they are not true. He has embellished the truth in his head in order to dramatize the moral dilemma for the reader. With the pass he has given to himself in writing fiction base on truth, and letting truth hidden in fiction, everything is believable. In the book The Things They Carried, OBrien says, By telling stories, you objectify your own experience. You separate it from yourself. You pin down certain truths (OBrien 158). For OBrien, stories can make events happen over again, can bring back to life ones weve lost. He writes, The thing about a story is that you dream it as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you, and in this way memory and imagination and language combine to make spirits in the head (230). The Things They Carried, then, brings back to life for OBrien lives such as Norman Bowker and Bowkers best friend Kiowa. Since stories can have such an incredible effect, they save us. The us implies OBrien, other veterans, as well as general readers. By using metafiction as a vehicle for the Vietnam War, OBrien is able to discuss with readers why the stories are told and retold. Readers are better able to understand the aftereffects on veterans and relate to experiences they may never personally under go. OBrien uses fiction to be able to tell whole truth because the fact is fiction is often closer to the truth than what surrounds us on a daily basis. By explaining to readers how The Things They Carried operates on different levels, OBrien is arguing that his fiction piece is more accurate than nonfiction pieces on the Vietnam War. Even when OBrien exaggerates the truth or changes the details of a story, he does so to make the Vietnam War more real for the readers. As explained through the story of Norman Bowker and in How to Tell a True War Story, for OBrien, the truth of a story depends almost solely on how real the experience seems for the readers. In this way, happening truth remains historically and emotionally distant (Silbergleid 133). If the story is not technically true, at least the reader understands the significance of the event. Silbergleid notes story truth, is full of excruciating detail and specificity (133). OBrien uses story-truth to recreate Vietnam for outsiders. If the readers can fully imagine the shit field where Norman Bowker lost his best friend because of a sudden lack of courage, then that story of Vietnam is real. Although a Norman Bowker may not have ever existed, may only be a character in the fiction piece The Things They Carried, his experience undoubtedly happened to other soldiers. Even with exaggeration and falsification, the reality of Vietnam is accurately created by OBrien. The character Mitchell Sanders summarizes The Things They Carried best: I got a confession to make, Sanders said. Last night, man, I had to make up a few things. Yeah, but listen, its still true. (OBrien 77)

Society MUST Understand how the Natural World Works Essay -- Argumenta

Society MUST Understand how the Natural World Works Except for children, few of us spend much time wondering why Nature is the way it is; where the Cosmos came from, or whether it was always here; or whether there are ultimate limits to what humans know. There are even children who want to know what a black hole looks like; why the sky is blue; how does a balloon stay up in the air; what makes the human body work; and why there is a Universe. I have many opportunities to teach children at various ages and have observed that many of these children are natural born scientists. They have inquisitive little minds filled with curiosity and wonder. Provocative and insightful questions bubble out them with enormous enthusiasm. I am often asked follow-up questions that have the potential to take up the whole day. These children have never heard of the notion of a dumb question. I find something all together different when talking to middle and high school students. A great deal of them seem to get by by memorizing facts and the joy of discovery that led to those facts has gone out of them. They have lost most of the wonder, and gained little skepticism. This particular age group's main concern is not taking up class time asking dumb questions. They are willing to accept inadequate answers and they don't ask follow-up questions. Many of them are more concerned with the placement of the hands on the clock and when the school bell is going to ring. The middle and high school classrooms are often saturated with indirect glances to judge the approval of their peers. As a graduate student, it is frightening to see the same behavior acted out in upper-level college courses. The negative glances from those who lack respect for learning defi... ..., drive to learn things and then to exchange the information with others (239). I understand the natural world to be an absolutely essential tool for any society with a hope of surviving the next century. It is of tremendous importance that we take responsibility as parents and teachers and start generating critical, curious, and imaginative students. The worlds needs and deserves a society with a basic understanding of how the natural world works. Works Cited Bishop, J. Thomas. "Enemies of Promise." In the Presence of Others: Voices That Call for Response. Second Edition. Andrea A. Lundsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. St. Martin's Press. New York, 1997. 26-261. Thomas, Lewis. "The Hazards of Science." In the Presence of Others: Voices That Call for Response. Second Edition. Andrea A. Lundsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. St. Martin's Press. New York, 1997. 239.