Canadian New Media (the Topic Should Related To Cultural Industry Annotated Bibliography

Canadian New Media (the Topic Should Related To Cultural Industry Annotated Bibliography Canadian New Media (the Topic Should Related To Cultural Industry †Annotated Bibliography Example Segment/# Annotation and Review Gezduci, H., and dHaenens, L. (2007). Culture-explicit highlights as determinants of news media use. Interchanges: The European Journal Of Communication Research, 32(2), 193-222. doi:10.1515/COMMUN.2007.012The above article investigates the utilization of media as it identifies with social and socio-segment issues. The examination breaks down the consequences of a total report which included both host and local occupants so as to decide the one of a kind dissimilarity and connections that these gatherings communicated with connection to culture-explicit highlights explained through the news media. The determinant measurements included language, religion, and policy driven issues. The investigation found that unmistakable ethnic, strict, and socio-segment difference was displayed with connection the varying degrees of understanding and suggested implying that was construed by the news media. This degree of dissimilarity was normal as it just served to s trengthen the theory that social translations of media vigorously influenced the manner by which individual gatherings acclimatized the data that was given to them. In any case, what was not expected was that the outcomes would show an unforeseen gathering demonstrating the most clear disparity rather than the normal gathering. Along these lines, the examination noticed that albeit one may expect the ethnic or strict inclination of an offered gathering to all the more intently influence the manner by which specific social parts of the news media were deciphered, this was not the situation. Rather, the examination found an unmistakable relationship between's socio-socioeconomics highlights concerning the manner by which social news media was comprehended, acknowledged, and drew closer.

The Notebook Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Notebook - Research Paper Example This specific scene, â€Å"It’s Not Over,† shows up in the second 50% of the film and again is on the water, a reasonable setting. The couple, Noah and Allie, has been isolated for a long time, however now they are brought together and spend an enthusiastic end of the week reacquainting themselves with the reasons they experienced passionate feelings for years back and finding the turns in occasions that have kept them separated. The water isn't red this time, nor is the water quiet, however rough and the breeze blows through youthful Allie’s hair. It starts to rain and she attempts to secure herself with a drying towel, which plainly isn’t going to help as the downpour turns into a deluge. Noah snickers at her wobbly endeavor to shield herself from the storm. As in the initial scene of the film, in â€Å"It’s Not Over,† there are the components of a dinghy and a lake. In the initial scene, be that as it may, the waters are tranquil, proposing a quiet circumstance, until further notice. The general shading of the film’s opening scene is in red tones, recommending that the quiet and harmony isn't intended to last, yet that the characters will encounter choppiness eventually. In the film’s opening, the grown-up Noah, played by James Garner, is paddling the vessel on the red, however quiet waters. The red shading cast on the water is likewise utilized later in a portion of the apparel worn by Allie. As the film unfurls, we discover that the shading red is emblematic of Allie’s extremely energetic nature which firmly impacts their relationship. The rejoined darlings are cheerful on the water, yet as the tempest results and they arrive at the dock, unexpressed feelings spout forward and Allie asks Noah for what valid reason he never kept in touch with her. The sky is dull and blustery, and the darlings getting doused. The weather’s components all summon the enthusiastic peak of the scene. We find in the scene’s serene start, the darlings in their pontoon. It is over the lake from the camera, a widescreen shot indicating the characters in

The stanger and Truman comparison Essay Example for Free

The stanger and Truman examination Essay The Stanger composed by Albert Camus and The Truman Show both have incongruity in them. To start with their life is as it were inane and nothing truly to it. Attempting to carry on with a â€Å"normal† life is the thing that they are taking a stab at. Truman from The Truman Show and Meursault from The Stranger both have things that portend their definitive options throughout everyday life, which incorporate imagery, existential subjects, and incongruity. In The Truman Show, there is incongruity present all through the entire film. During the majority of the film, Truman needed to leave Seahaven and go investigate the world. He wanted to accomplish something beyond carry on with a curious, regular life. He is one of a kind, and it is his inspiration that makes him stick out. His suffering assurance helped him discover the appropriate response. For instance, he nearly suffocated during a tempest while cruising, however he continued on. Truman found a solution, however it might not have been the appropriate response he was scanning for. When Truman discovered that his life was a network show, he understood he would not be as one of a kind on the off chance that he left. He would not be the focal point of consideration, and now needs to be only a conventional individual outside of Seahaven. There additionally incongruity present all through The Stranger, as Meursault likewise has fairly a revelation towards the finish of the novel. All through the story, Meursault is not interested in numerous things and doesn't show solid virtues. For instance, he murders a man without solid thinking. In the wake of getting condemned to death, he genuinely acknowledges why he is getting rebuffed for his activities. He comprehends what will befall him and acknowledges it. Incidentally, rather than having moral considerations or sentiments of regret, he accepts that scorn of him would cause him to feel less Gonzales 2 alone. In any case, he understands he becomes more joyful when he better comprehends human presence and reason. â€Å"As if that visually impaired anger had washed me clean, freed me of expectation; just because, in that night bursting at the seams with signs and stars, I opened myself to the delicate apathy of the world. Discovering it so much like myselfâ€so like a sibling, reallyâ€I felt that I had been glad and that I was upbeat once more. For everything to be fulfilled, for me to feel less alone, I had uniquely to wish that there be a huge horde of observers the day of my execution and that they welcome me with cries of hate,† (Part 2, Chapter 5, P. 123). He feels desolate, and it is the loathe from the horde of onlookers that assist him with feeling less alone. There are likewise existentialist subjects in The Truman Show. In spite of the fact that the show’s maker, Christof, attempted to keep Truman in Seahaven, he eventually proved unable. Truman’s freewill and control of his own destiny drove him to finding reality with regards to Seahaven, and along these lines controlling an incredible result. He acknowledged a mind-blowing truth being focused on a TV program, however proceeded onward by leaving Seahaven. In spite of the fact that Truman’s counterfeit world reached a conclusion, he entered reality as he left Seahaven. Meursault confronted a great deal of things like an existentialist. For instance, he was prepared to acknowledge his result after he shot the Arab. He additionally was prepared for death, knowing it is inescapable. Some existential topics incorporate freewill, controlling your own destiny, tolerating your destiny, and assuming liability for your own activities. These topics are altogether present in The Stranger. It was the freewill that driven him to shooting the Arab, since he was in all out control. He picked his destiny, acknowledged the results, and assumed liability for what he did. For instance, he understood he was going to bite the dust, and acknowledged it. Emblematically, Truman’s â€Å"fake† world reaching a conclusion was foreshadowed by a past occasion. The light installation that fell as Truman left his home represented things beginning to self-destruct. Gonzales 3 Shortly after this even, there were more models that made him be dubious and far fetched of his general surroundings. Another extraordinary case of imagery in the film was the incomplete extension that Truman and Marlon had discussions on. Truman was constantly unsure of something when he addressed Marlon on the extension, and it could speak to Truman’s unfulfilled life and vulnerability. Despite the fact that Truman’s life was unfulfilled in his eyes, there is something that portends him going later on and finding something. The name of his boat was the Santa Maria, which was a well known pontoon that Columbus cruised to America on. This foreshadowed Truman leaving the town of Seahaven to investigate a totally new world. There is a lot of imagery present in The Stranger also. For instance, Meursault doesn't care for being awkward, particularly from the climate. Many see the sun as a wellspring of warmth, now and again magnificence, however Meursault hates the warmth. The sun typically brings happiness, enthusiastic warmth or solace to an individual, however Meursault appears to detest feeling passionate in any capacity. He likewise disdains heat from the sun. The sun was a boundary of Meursault’s feelings. It likewise drove him to kill. While strolling on the sea shore, Meursault experienced the Arab once more. The Arab reflected light off of his blade from the sun. Meursault pondered internally, â€Å"All I could feel were the cymbals of daylight slamming on my temple and, intuitively, the astonishing lance flying up from the blade before me. The searing cutting edge sliced at my eyelashes and cut at my stinging eyes, (Part 1, Ch. 6, P. 59). Directly after this, he shot and murdered the Arab. It appears the little feelings that Meursault had assumed control over his activities. Before he approaches the Arab and shoots him, Meursault ponders internally, â€Å"It happened to me that all I needed to do was pivot and that would be its finish. In any case, the entire sea shore, throbbing in the sun, was pushing on my back. I stepped toward the spring,† (Part 1, Ch. 6, P. 58). Be that as it may, towards the finish of the novel he gained a few ethics and saw considerably more about existence. At the point when he did, he Gonzales 4 investigated the window, with the sun sparkling behind it, and looked at his appearance: I drew nearer to the window, and in the last light of day I looked at my appearance one more time,† (Part 2, Ch. 2, P. 81). In addition to the fact that they come to an importance for their life they discover approaches to transform it for them. As should be obvious, existential topics, images and incongruity anticipate, however influence Meursault’s and Truman’s extreme decisions throughout everyday life. Work Cited Camus, Albert. The Stranger. January 1955. Print. Gonzales 5 The Truman Show. Dwindle Weir. Perf. Jim Carrey, Laura Linney, Ed Harris, Noah Emmerich, Brian Delate, Holland Taylor. 1998. Film.

Getting to Know the Personal Potential Index

Theres been a whole lot of buzz about the new ETS Personal Potential Index (PPI). We decided to do some investigating of our own to learn more about the innovative applicant evaluation system. We spoke with Kate Kazin, ETS executive director for strategic initiatives in higher education, and got the scoop on PPIthe benefits, the way it works, and why schools, recommenders, and students are raving about it. Thank you, Kate, for the PPI refresher course! What is the Personal Potential Index? The Personal Potential Index, or PPI, is a new web-based tool that allows recommenders to provide information about an applicant in the areas, or dimensions, of knowledge and creativity, resilience, communication skills, planning and organization, teamwork, and ethics and integrity. Evaluators fill out an overall evaluation and then rate applicants on their performance in these six dimensions. At the end of each section is a space where recommenders can provide examples or comments to supplement or explain their ratings. How does the PPI differ from traditional letters of recommendation? The PPI is a standard form that recommenders fill out to provide a qualitative and quantitative picture of applicants. The idea behind the PPI is that you cant tell the whole story with test scores alone, and so the PPI rating system allows recommenders to go beyond the scope of grades and scoresin just about 11 minutes. According to Ms. Kazin, What makes the PPI unusual is that it combines the feedback of multiple evaluators. Each evaluator fills out the evaluation form and provides comments, and then ETS takes the ratings and comments from the multiple evaluators and produces a single PPI Evaluation Report for that applicant.An evaluator can fill out the PPI just once for an individual applicant, regardless of how many schools the applicant is applying to, but what the school gets is the Evaluation Report from the multiple evaluators, not the evaluation itself. How, why, and when was the PPI developed? The PPI has been in the making since about ten years ago when the GRE board found that there were two major problems that were bedeviling graduate education: Students were beginning programs and never finishing them, or they were taking forever to complete them. The GRE board consulted with ETS about what could be done to address these issues. The board asked ETS to come up with a tool that would help identify which students would be more likely to succeed. ETS researchers interviewed business school and graduate school deans and concluded that more than technical mastery of the field it is important to have non-cognitive skills like resilience, integrity, etc. After a decade of research and development, the PPI was launched in the summer of 2009. It is the brainchild of the Center for New Constructs, a division at ETS that works to develop ways of measuring intuitive, hard to measure dimensions and attributes of applicants. ETS will be doing a validity study next year to provide evidence about the systems incremental validity. How widely has the PPI been adopted? So far 12,000 students have accounts and 2,000 reports have been sent to different schools. All graduate schools will accept the PPI as a supplement to the required letters of recommendation, and some business schools (like Notre Dame Mendoza) are already requiring it instead of traditional LORs. There are a number of medical schools and dental schools that are also accepting the PPI, and the interest among top b-schools is on the rise. The PPI is available free for GRE test-takers (for them to send reports to up to four schools), and is available to all other applicants for a fee. How is PPI better for applicants? How is it better for the schools? For recommenders? With the PPI, applicants get a chance to show more of themselves, to put their best foot forward and highlight strengths that may not be apparent from standardized test scores. The PPI adds, in a meaningful way, more about an applicant than does a number or a set of numbers. Another advantage of the PPI is that applicants can mix and matchthey can have one person fill out the form for one program or school and another person for a different program or school. For schools, the PPI provides the benefit of easy to use comparable ratings. It provides an important dimension to the application process in a way thats convenient, doesnt cost schools anything, and is easy to use. Evaluators appreciate the PPI because it helps them advance the case of the students they are recommending. Its true that many evaluators are filling out traditional LORs in addition to the PPI, but most feel that spending an additional 11 minutes on an easy form does more help than harmplus, its web-based and can filled out anytime and anyplace. Resistance has been minimal and comes mostly from people who havent actually tried it. In short, its really a win-win for everyone. As it becomes more widely known, we should begin to see the number of users increase quickly. Doesnt an applicants personal statement reflect his or her non-cognitive side? Shouldnt that be enough for the adcom in receiving a broad picture of the applicant? Its true that the personal statement provides those things, but the benefit the PPI brings to the application is the non-biased perspective of an outsider. Is there any encouragement in the instructions to recommenders to provide examples and specifics in their comments, as opposed to Johnny is great? If not, will there be a loss of qualitative information, which good recommendations used to provide? Most people fill out some of the comment fields, especially if an applicant is weak in a particular area or requires more explanation. Evaluators are encouraged to include comments, and since the whole process is so short anyways, most feel like they can spare the time to write additional information. Are there security features to prevent forged PPIsa problem with traditional LORs? It is a problem with traditional LORs. We provide all the information about the evaluator so if a school wants to investigate further they can. Many times applicants fill out their own recommendations because they dont want to burden their recommenders or because of a language barrier (like if their recommender doesnt read or write English fluently). The hope is that the PPI is so easy to fill out that applicants wont feel like they need to fill it out themselves. Also, the PPI has been translated into Spanish and Chinese to help with the language problem. Has the PPI received any criticisms? In general business schools have been much more open to the PPI. In grad schools, however, which are considered more traditional, its harder to ask people to change the way theyve been doing admissions for years. A resistance to change forces intelligent people at prominent schools to ask questions like, But where would we put it in the folder? Can you talk more about how the PPI will contribute to diversity if graduate admissions? When adcoms look just at standardized test scores, they may miss very good candidates that have other qualities that can contribute to their success at school. By taking a students non-cognitive skills into account, the PPI helps create a more level playing field. As part of the rigorous research process, the PPI was tested in conjunction with Project 1000, an initiative to increase historically underrepresented students in stem fields, and was proven successful. Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

The Siege and Capture of San Antonio

In October-December of 1835, rebellious Texans (who referred to themselves as â€Å"Texians†) laid siege to the city of San Antonio de Bà ©xar, the largest Mexican town in Texas. There were some famous names among the besiegers, including Jim Bowie, Stephen F. Austin, Edward Burleson, James Fannin, and Francis W. Johnson. After about a month and a half of siege, the Texians attacked in early December and accepted the Mexican surrender on December 9. War Breaks out in Texas​ By 1835, tensions were high in Texas. Anglo settlers had come from the USA to Texas, where land was cheap and plentiful, but they chafed under Mexican rule. Mexico was in a state of chaos, having only won its independence from Spain in 1821. Many of the settlers, in particular, the new ones who were flooding into Texas daily, wanted independence or statehood in the USA. Fighting broke out on October 2, 1835, when rebellious Texians opened fire on Mexican forces near the town of Gonzalez. March on San Antonio San Antonio was the most important town in Texas and the rebels wanted to capture it. Stephen F. Austin was named commander of the Texian army and immediately marched on San Antonio: he arrived there with some 300 men in mid-October. Mexican General Martà ­n Perfecto de Cos, brother-in-law of Mexican President Antonio Là ³pez de Santa Anna, decided to maintain a defensive position, and the siege began. The Mexicans were cut off from most supplies and information, but the rebels had little in the way of supplies as well and were forced to forage. The Battle of Concepcià ³n On October 27, militia leaders Jim Bowie and James Fannin, along with some 90 men, disobeyed Austins orders and set up a defensive encampment on the grounds of the Concepcià ³n mission. Seeing the Texians divided, Cos attacked at first light the next day. The Texians were greatly outnumbered but kept their cool and drove off the attackers. The Battle of Concepcià ³n was a great victory for the Texians and did much to improve morale. The Grass Fight On November 26, the Texians got word that a relief column of Mexicans was approaching San Antonio. Led once again by Jim Bowie, a small squad of Texans attacked, driving the Mexicans into San Antonio. The Texians found out that it was not reinforcements after all, but some men sent out to cut some grass for the animals trapped inside San Antonio. Although the â€Å"Grass Fight† was something of a fiasco, it helped convince the Texians that the Mexicans inside San Antonio were getting desperate. Who Will Go with Old Ben Milam Into Bexar? After the grass fight, the Texians were indecisive about how to proceed. Most of the officers wanted to retreat and leave San Antonio to the Mexicans, many of the men wanted to attack, and still others wanted to go home. Only when Ben Milam, a cranky original settler who had fought for Mexico against Spain, declared â€Å"Boys! Who will go with old Ben Milam into Bexar?† did the sentiment for attack become the general consensus. The attack began early on December 5. Assault on San Antonio The Mexicans, who enjoyed vastly superior numbers and a defensive position, did not expect an attack. The men were divided into two columns: one was led by Milam, the other by Frank Johnson. Texan artillery bombarded the Alamo and Mexicans who had joined the rebels and knew the town led the way. The battle raged in the streets, houses and public squares of the city. By nightfall, the rebels held strategic houses and squares. On the sixth of December, the forces continued to fight, with neither making significant gains. The Rebels Get the Upper Hand On the seventh of December, the battle began to favor the Texians. The Mexicans enjoyed position and numbers, but the Texans were more accurate and relentless. One casualty was Ben Milam, killed by a Mexican rifleman. Mexican General Cos, hearing that relief was on the way, sent two hundred men to meet them and escort them into San Antonio: the men, finding no reinforcements, quickly deserted. The effect of this loss on Mexican morale was enormous. Even when reinforcements did arrive on the eighth of December, they had little in the way of provisions or arms and therefore were not much help. End of the Battle By the ninth, Cos and the other Mexican leaders had been forced to retreat to the heavily fortified Alamo. By now, Mexican desertions and casualties were so high that the Texians now outnumbered the Mexicans in San Antonio. Cos surrendered, and under the terms, he and his men were allowed to leave Texas with one firearm apiece, but they had to swear never to return. By December 12, all the Mexican soldiers (except for the most gravely wounded) had disarmed or left. The Texians held a raucous party to celebrate their victory. The Aftermath of the Siege of San Antonio de Bexar The successful capture of San Antonio was a big boost to the Texian morale and cause. From there, some Texans even decided to cross into Mexico and attack the town of Matamoros (which ended in disaster). Still, the successful attack on San Antonio was, after the Battle of San Jacinto, the rebels biggest victory in the Texas Revolution. The city of San Antonio belonged to the rebels...but did they really want it? Many of the leaders of the independence movement, such as General Sam Houston, did not. They pointed out that most of the settlers homes were in eastern Texas, far from San Antonio. Why hold a city they did not need? Houston ordered Bowie to demolish the Alamo and abandon the city, but Bowie disobeyed. Instead, he fortified the city and the Alamo. This led directly to the bloody Battle of the Alamo on March 6, in which Bowie and nearly 200 other defenders were massacred. Texas would finally gain its independence in April  1836, with the Mexican defeat at the battle of San Jacinto. Sources: Brands, H.W. Lone Star Nation: New York: Anchor Books, 2004.the Epic Story of the Battle for Texas Independence. Henderson, Timothy J. A Glorious Defeat: Mexico and its War with the United States.New York: Hill and Wang, 2007.

Encompassing Learning through Life Cycles in the Book...

BOOK REVIEW Lifelong learning in the Global Knowledge Economy: Challenge for Developing Countries Lifelong learning is becoming necessary in many countries and it is more than just education and training beyond formal schooling. This book indicated that a lifelong learning framework encompasses learning throughout the lifecycle, form early childhood to retirement, and in different learning environments, formal, nonformal, and informal. This report represents the World Bank’s first attempt to lay out an analytical framework for understanding the challenges of developing a lifelong learning system. This book, which is as well as a report presenting lifelong learning in the global knowledge economy: challenges for developing countries, explores the challenges to education and training system that the knowledge economy presents. It outlines policy options for addressing these challenges and developing viable systems of lifelong learning in developing countries and countries with transition e conomies. This book addresses 4 questions: 1, what does a national education and training system, including its formal and nonformal components, need to do to support knowledge-based economic growth? 2, how can developing countries and countries with transition economies promote lifelong learning, and what challenges do they face in doing so? 3, given limited resources, what type of governance framework promotes lifelong learning for people in general and disadvantaged groups inShow MoreRelatedCurriculum Development: Process10055 Words   |  41 PagesMODULE 5 Models in Curriculum Development INTRODUCTION Curriculum development is concerned with the drawing up of plans for teaching and learning activities in classroom situations that will bring about positive changes in the lives of the learners. 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Form and Malignant Form Essay Example For Students

Form and Malignant Form Essay Every type of human activity has a malignant equivalent. The pursuit of happiness, the accumulation of wealth, the exercise of power, the love of onequot;s self are all tools in the struggle to survive and, as such, are commendable. They do, however, have malignant counterparts: pursuing pleasures hedonism, greed and avarice as manifested in criminal activities, murderous authoritarian regimes and narcissism. What sets the malignant versions apart from the benign ones? Phenomenologically, they are difficult to tell apart. In which way is a criminal distinct from a business tycoon? Many will say that there is no distinction indeed. Still society treats the two differently and has set up separate social institution to accommodate these two human types and their activities. Is it merely a matter of ethical or philosophical judgement? I think not. The difference seems to lie in the context. Granted, the criminal and the businessman both have the same motivation at times, obsession: to make money. Sometimes they both employ the same techniques and adopt the same venues of action. But in which social, moral, philosophical, ethical, historical and biographical contexts do they operate? A closer examination of their exploits will expose the unbridgeable gap between them. The criminal acts only in the pursuit of money. He has no other considerations, thoughts, motives and emotions, no temporal horizon, no ulterior or external aims, no incorporation of other humans or social institutions in his deliberations. The reverse is true for the businessman. The latter is aware of the fact that he is part of a larger fabric, that he has to obey the law, that some things are not permissible, that sometimes he has to lose sight of moneymaking for the sake of higher values, institutions, or the future. In short: the criminal is a solipsist the businessman, an integrated person. The criminal one track minded the businessman is aware of the existence of others and of their needs and demands. The criminal has no context the businessman does. Whenever a human activity, a human institution, or a human thought is refined, purified, reduced to its bare minimum malignancy ensues. Leukaemia is characterized by the concentration of the bone marrow upon the production of only one category of blood cells the white ones while abandoning the production of others. Malignancy is reductionist: do one thing, do it best, do it more and most, compulsively pursue one course of action, one idea, never mind the costs. Actually, no costs can exist because the very existence of a context is ignored. Costs are brought on by conflict and conflict entails the existence of at least two parties. The criminal, for instance, pays none because he does not include in his weltbild the Other. The dictator doesnquot;t suffer because suffering is brought on by recognizing the other. The malignant forms are sui generis, they are dang am sich, they are categorical, they do not depend on the outside for their existence. Put differently: the malignant forms are functional but meaningless. Let us use an illustration to understand this dichotomy: In France there is a man who made it his lifequot;s mission to spit the furthest a human has ever spat. This way he will make it into the Guinness Book of Records GBR. After decades of training, he succeeded to spit to the longest distance a man has ever spat and was included in the GBR under miscellany. The following can be said about this man with a high degree of certainty: a. The Frenchman had a purposeful life in the sense that his life had a well-delineated, narrowly focused, and achievable target, which permeated his entire life and defined them. . He was a successful man in that he fulfilled his main ambition in life to the fullest. We can rephrase this sentence by saying that he functioned well. c. He probably was a happy, content and satisfied man as far as his main theme in life is concerned. d. He achieved significant outside recognition and affirmation of his achievements. e. This recognition and affirmation is not limited in time and place. In other words, he became part of history. But how many of us would say that he led a meaningful life? How many would be willing to attribute meaning to his spitting efforts? Not many. His life would look to most of us ridiculous and bereft of meaning. This judgement is facilitated by comparing his actual history with his potential or possible history. In other words, we derive the sense of meaninglessness partly from comparing his spitting career with what he could have done and achieved had he invested the same time and efforts differently. He could have raised children, for instance. This is widely considered a more meaningful activity. But why? What makes child rearing more meaningful than distance spitting? Nothing does but common agreement. No philosopher, scientist, or publicist can rigorously defend an argument in defence of a hierarchy of meaningfulness of human actions. There are two reasons for this inability: a. There is no connection between function functioning, functionality and meaning meaninglessness, meaningfulness. b. There are different interpretations of the word Meaning and, yet, people use them interchangeably, obscuring the dialogue. People often confuse Meaning and Function. When asked what is the meaning of their life they answer, using function-laden phrases. They say: This activity lends taste =one interpretation of meaning to my life, or: My role in this world is this and, once finished, I will be able to rest in pace, to die. They attach different magnitudes of meaningfulness to various human activities. Two things are evident: a. That people use the word Meaning not in its philosophically rigorous form. What they mean is really the satisfaction, even the happiness that comes with successful functioning. They want to live on when flooded by these emotions. They confuse this motivation to live on with the meaning of life. Form In Art EssayReligion is like that and so are most modern ideologies. Science tries to be different and sometimes succeeds. But humans are frail and frightened and they much prefer malignant systems of thinking because they give them the illusion of gaining absolute power through absolute, immutable knowledge. Two contexts seem to compete for the title of Master Context in human history, the contexts which endow all meanings, permeate all aspects of reality, are universal, invariant, define truth values and solve all moral dilemmas: the Ratio and the Affect emotions. We live in an age that despite its self-perception as rational is defined and influenced by the emotional Master Context. This is called Romanticism the malignant form of being tuned to onequot;s emotions. Romanticism is the assertion that all human activities are founded on emotions or emotionally directed. This relatively novel approach in historical terms has permeated human activities as diverse as politics, the formation of families and art. Families were once constructed on purely totalitarian bases. It was a transaction, really, involving considerations both financial and genetic. This was substituted during the 18th century by love as the main motivation and foundation. Inevitably, this led to the disintegration and to the metamorphosis of the family. To establish a sturdy social institution on such a fickle basis was an experiment doomed to failure. Romanticism infiltrated the body politic as well. All major political ideologies and movements of the 20th century had romanticist roots, Nazism more than others. Communism touted the ideals of equality and justice while Nazism was a quasi-mythological interpretation of history. Still, both were highly romantic movements. Politicians were and to a lesser degree today see the case of Prince Diana, are expected to be extraordinary in their personal lives or in their personality traits. Biographies are recast by image and public relations experts to fit this mould. Hitler was, arguably, the most romantic of all leaders, closely followed by other dictators and authoritarian figures. It is a clichAÂ © to say that we use politicians to re-enact our relationships with our parents. Politicians are patrician or merely father figures. But the Romanticist virus drove this transference mechanism into new troughs of infantilism. In politicians we want to see not the wise, level headed ideal father but our actual parents: capriciously unexpected, overwhelming, powerful, unjust, protecting and awe-inspiring. This is the romanticist view of leadership: anti-Webberian, anti bureaucratic, chaotic. And this set of predilections, later transformed to social dictates, had a profound effect on the history of the 20th century. Romanticism manifested itself in art through the concept of Inspiration. An artist had to have it in order to create. This led to a conceptual divorce between art and artisanship. As late as the 18th century, there was no difference between these two classes of creative people, the artists and the artisans. Artists accepted orders of commercial nature including delivery dates, prices, etc. His art was a product, almost a commodity and was treated as such by others examples: Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Mozart, Goya, Rembrandt and thousands of artists of similar or lesser stature. The attitude was completely businesslike, creativity was mobilized in the service of the marketplace. Granted, artists used conventions more or less rigid, depending on the period to express emotions. They were trading emotional expressions where others were trading spices, or engineering skills. But they all were trading and were proud of their artisanship. Their personal lives were subject to gossip, condemnation or admiration but were not considered to be a precondition, an absolutely essential backdrop. The romanticist view of the artist painted him or more and more her into a corner. His life and art became inextricable. Artists were expected to transmute and transubstantiate their lives as well as the physical materials that they were dealing with. Living the kind of life, which is the subject of legends or fables became an art form, at times predominantly so. It is interesting to note the prevalence of romanticist ideas in this context: weltschmerz, passion, self destruction were considered fit for the artist. A boring artist would never sell as much as a romantically-correct one. Van Gogh, Kafka and James Dean epitomize this trend: they all died young, lived in misery, suffered self-inflicted pains and ultimate destruction or annihilation. To paraphrase Sontag, their lives became metaphors and they all suffered from the metaphorically correct physical and mental illnesses. Kafka developed tuberculosis the punishment as part of an on going trial, Van Gogh was mentally sick, James Dean died appropriately in an accident. In an age of social anomies, we tend to appreciate and rate highly the anomalous. Munch and Nietzsche will always be preferable to more ordinary but perhaps equally as creative people. Today there is an anti-romantic backlash divorce, the disintegration of the romantic nation-state, the death of ideologies, the commercialization and popularization of art. But this counter-revolution tackles the external, less substantial facets of Romanticism. Romanticism continues to thrive in the flourishing of mysticism, of ethnicity and of celebrity worship. It seems that Romanticism has changed vessels but not its cargo. We are afraid to face the fact that life is meaningless unless WE observe it, unless WE put it in context, unless WE interpret it. We feel burdened by this realization, afraid of making the wrong moves, using the wrong contexts, making the wrong interpretations. We understand that there is no constant, unchanged, everlasting meaning to life, and that it all really depends upon us. We denigrate this kind of meaning. A meaning that is derived by humans from human contexts and experiences is bound to be a very poor approximation to the TRUE meaning. It is bound to be asymptotic to the Grand Design. It might well be but this is all we have got and without it our lives will indeed prove meaningless.