'Assisi' - Norman MacCaig

When we come across deformed people we tend to stop and stare at their ugliness but the poem 'Assisi' by Norman MacCaig shows hypocrisy and shows us that you shouldn't only look at the outside of people and things but you should look onside as most things are the opposite on the inside. In my essay I shall write about the shock techniques and figures of speech used in the poem which made 'Assisi' stick in my mind. The first writing technique I'm going to study is the contrasts and opposites. The main contrast is "The dwarf with his hands on backwards sat, Slumped like a half filled sack." Compared to "the three tiers of churches" Which he sat outside. This is a good contrast as the poem talks about how beautifully decorated the church is and the dwarf is so ugly and deformed that he emphasizes the beauty of the church. Another example of contrasts is "the ruined temple outside," The contrast is in the dwarf himself, how he is so ugly, deformed, and ruined. However the inside of the dwarf is a ruined temple as he used to be happy and probably didn't care to much about what other people though of him but after years of being frowned upon and looked down on he would have become ruined inside and he would begin to feel worthless. The last contrast I shall look at is the church its self, how it is so beautiful on the outside and so beautifully decorated but the way the

  • Word count: 764
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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Describe the development of the doctrines of Christ and of the Trinity during the Councils of the 4th & 5th centuries. What were the political and religious movements and ideas leading to the Councils of the 4th & 5th centuries?

BA Divinity First Year. Neil Lincoln. Module: Church History. 7 November 2002 Describe the development of the doctrines of Christ and of the Trinity during the Councils of the 4th & 5th centuries. What were the political and religious movements and ideas leading to the Councils of the 4th & 5th centuries? Introduction Through describing the Church history leading up to the 4th and 5th century ecumenical Councils this essay will attempt to outline the cause of the split over different perspectives of the Holy Trinity that eventually lead to the Great Schism of West and Eastern Churches. On closer reflection it is clear that the human element in any appraisal causes views that will differ. Over the years these views have had to be assessed, refined and concluded. After two thousand years this in reality has only partially been achieved and the schisms still exist although the basic theme may concur. The term Great Schism refers to either one of two schisms in the history of Christianity. Most commonly, "Great Schism" refers to the "great East-West schism", the split between the Eastern and Western churches in the eleventh century; the second schism, the "schism of the west" in the fourteenth century, refers to a time when three (claimant) popes were elected simultaneously (Great). But the main concern in this essay will be the split preconditions that

  • Word count: 5299
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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Early Croatian Architecture.

"Early Croatian Architecture (Pre-Romanesque)" In Early Christian and Pre-Romanesque Periods, small churches with various floor-plans were built. The stone ornaments "pleter" appeared at the time.A special importance have about 150 Pre-Romanesque Croatian churches (9th to 11th century), mostly along the coast. About 15 of them are well preserved . Probably the best example of old Croatian church architecture is the Pre-Romanesque Chapel of Holy Cross in Nin built around 800 AD. This small, early Christian church from the pre-Romanesque period has a ground plan in the form of a cross, and a cupola. Also from Nin comes the famous font of Višeslav (about 800 AD), which is kept in a museum in Split, and is an outstanding example of Croatian carved braiding Another very important monument of the Pre-Romanesque architecture in Europe is the Church of St. Donat in Zadar built in the 9th century. This church, erected on an ancient forum, has all the features of pre-Romanesque architecture and is considered the archetypal monument of Croatian sacral architecture. The church, with its 27m high monumental dome, is enclosed and simply ornamented, yet very impressive and has become the symbol of Zadar. The erection of the Basilica of Euphrasius began in the 6th century. This representative example of early Christian architecture consists of an atrium, a baptistery, and a basilica

  • Word count: 578
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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Saltaire is a model village built between 1851 and 1876 by Sir Titus Salt.

Introduction Saltaire is a model village built between 1851 and 1876 by Sir Titus Salt. Sir Titus salt was born on 20th September 1803 at the Old Manor house. He was educated at Dame School, Morley and later at Batley Grammar School. In 1820, he left school and started work in the wool stapling business; this involved buying wool from the farmer and selling it to the manufacturer. When his parents moved to Bradford, Titus prospered in the Wool Trade. He attended wool sales all over England. In order to accommodate his workers Sir Titus Salt built the village saltaire named after the river aire. Sir Titus Salt used a limited number of architects to build saltaire. He was trying to combine the new technology of the nineteenth century to the ordered authority of the pre-industrial world. The village of saltaire is also closely related to the ideas and principles of sir Titus salt not only in the way he named the streets after his relatives and people he knew but also in his more established principles which arose from his religion, being a non confirmist Sir Titus salt was strongly opposed to drinking. This is why there are no pubs in the village of saltaire. Sir Titus Salt (1803-1876) MAP OF SALTAIRE The village The village comprises 22 streets, 850 houses, 45 Alms Houses and occupies an area of 25 acres. The streets carry the names of his wife, children and other family

  • Word count: 1680
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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Holy Liturgy or Divine Liturgy.

Holy Liturgy or Divine Liturgy The Orthodox tradition have a more elaborate form of the Eucharist service. Some Orthodox Christians call the Eucharist the Divine Liturgy, while others call it the Holy Liturgy or Sacrament of Sacraments. Here is an outline of a Greek Orthodox Eucharist: AN OUTLINE OF THE DIVINE LITURGY The Service of Preparation - Proskomide (bringing forth the gifts) . Priest's Prayers of Preparation (Kairos) 2. Priest's Vesting 3. Preparation of the Gifts a. Cutting the Pieces from the Offering Bread (Prosphron) b. Commemorations of Saints and the Faithful (living and dead) c. Covering of the Gifts d. A Prayer of Blessing The Liturgy of the Word (Synaxis) - Liturgy of the Catechumens . Doxological Invocation 2. Great Litany - Petitions of Peace (Eirinika) 3. Antiphons - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, separated by brief petitions 4. Small Entrance 5. Trisagion 6. Biblical Readings 7. Sermon The Eucharist - Liturgy of the Faithful . Cherubic Hymn and Great Entrance 2. Petitions, Confession of Faith 3. Kiss of Peace 4. The Creed 5. Offering of the Gifts (Anaphora - The Great Eucharistic Prayer) a. Thanksgiving b. Trisagion ("Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord Sabaoth") c. Words of Institution, Remembrance d. Offering of the Gifts e. Epiklesis - Prayer of Consecration f. Commemorations 6. Petitions and the Lord's Prayer 7. Bowing of the Head 8. Preparation

  • Word count: 2775
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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On the 11th February 2002 we went on a church trial and an SELB bus was organised. Mrs Venard and Mrs Johnston accompanied us. We went on a church trial to see the differences in the Baptist and Catholic Church.

Introduction On the 11th February 2002 we went on a church trial and an SELB bus was organised. Mrs Venard and Mrs Johnston accompanied us. We went on a church trial to see the differences in the Baptist and Catholic Church. First we went to the Baptist church where Pastor Dilworth talked to us. He talked about the simplicity of the church and the reasons for it. The church had no stain glass windows, no Stations of the Cross or ornaments. Baptists believe that people are the church of God, not the building therefore the building is plain and the word of god is concentrated on most. We then went to the Catholic Church. St Patrick's is built in gothic style. Literally everything points to heaven. The building is 125 years old and it was built in 1876. The church is very big and can hold up to 100 people. The church contains outstanding beautiful features. The stain glass windows are very impressive and show the life of Jesus and holy people like St Patrick. The church also has Caen marble, which is very beautiful. The people here want to honour god through their agriculture. As you have read, there are many differences in the Baptist and Catholic Church. Baptists believe the people are the church, where as the Catholics believe the building is to show their faith and love for god. Part 2 In one investigation we went on a church trial to study three pieces

  • Word count: 1281
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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There are many different views on this statement so I will discuss as many of them as possible before concluding with my own view on the discussed statement. "You do not have to go to Church to be a Christian".

There are many different views on this statement so I will discuss as many of them as possible before concluding with my own view on the discussed statement. "You do not have to go to Church to be a Christian", is a very emotive statement and generally people from a low church would agree to this statement which sparks of the discussion. The first issue is that on the "no, you don't have to go to church to be a Christian", side, is that it is your faith that really matters and as long as you believe in God, Jesus, the resurrection and the what it says in the Bible it doesn't matter. On the "yes, you do have to go to church to be a Christian", side, a true Christian shows their faith to God by attending church as well as just believing. The "no" people don't like the sound of this so instead of just sitting around, believing they whip their Bible out and start reading and believing but on the other hand the "yes" people say, "Uh, uh, it's no use just reading the Bible because you won't fully understand it". So the "yes" people say that you need to go to church because the priest interprets the Bible so that it is understood by the worshippers: the Priest would have had five years of training and Priests are necessary so that they can explain the significance of passages because humans are fallible. The discussion then moves on to the "no" people making the point that what if

  • Word count: 1887
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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Assisi Poem review.

Assisi Poem review The Poem "Assisi" was written by Norman Mac Caig, and in it he describes his feeling at seeing a deformed beggar outside a grand ornate church. In my essay, I will argue that Norman Mac Caig's motive for writing the poem is to arouse our sympathy for the beggar and our disgust at the church for its hypocrisy. In addition I will look into how he achieves this and point out the techniques he employs. Furthermore I will discuss the poet's views and attitude towards the church and the beggar as well as how he challenges us in the way we treat people who are vulnerable and in need. Finally I will give my own opinions on the poem and the techniques employed in it. In the poem, a beggar is sitting slumped beside a grand, ornate and expensive church, whilst a priest is leading a group of tourists around the church. The tourists are taking photographs here and there but they are also fascinated by the beggar and take photographs of him too, however they help him in no way whatsoever. As the priest leads the tourists past some particularly excellent paintings he explains that the paintings were done by Giotto, a famous medieval artist who painted pictures for many churches so that the stories in the bible could be understood by those that could not read. The poet arouses our sympathy and creates a sense of pathos towards the beggar in several ways. Firstly, he

  • Word count: 1066
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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A03: "It is not possible to be a disciple to-day in the way Jesus intended." Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer showing that you have considered more that one point of view.

A03: "It is not possible to be a disciple to-day in the way Jesus intended." Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer showing that you have considered more that one point of view. I would agree with this statement because there are a lot of distractions that restrict people from performing the way Jesus had intended. For starters there is a lot of selfishness about now and people will not leave self behind or make sacrifices in society today. Many Christians just do not seem to be that committed to their faith; they only seem to support their religion when it suits them or when they get into difficulty in life. We live in a very fast moving world which is full of temptation and comforts People now days just have the tendency to forget about their religion as there are other more exciting things to do. They want all the comforts they can get. The numbers of people in the modern world who go to church are falling. Out of those people who do go to church they have either been forced to go by members of their family or else they go due to habit. Going to church may make some young people feel uncool as their peers may laugh at them. In to day's society there has been a lot of bad things happening within the church with regards to child abuse etc. This has since turned people away from the church and has made people's faith weaken. They just feel that they cannot trust the

  • Word count: 992
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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You do not need to go to Church to be a Christian." Do you agree?Give Reasons for your answer in order to show that you have thought about different points

"You do not need to go to Church to be a Christian." Do you agree? Give Reasons for your answer in order to show that you have thought about different points of view. "You do not need to go to Church to be a Christian"- This is a statement that could be strongly agreed with, or on the contrary, strongly disagreed with. Or maybe, if you share the same point of view as me, then you could even have varied views on the argument. In my opinion, I think that going to Church plays an important rôle in the life of a good Christian. I think that Christians should go to church to honour the Lord in his house as a mark of respect, and also so that they can pray with their community and be taught the words of the Lord by the Bishop or the Rector. However, according to the bible and Christian beliefs, God is everywhere, so why does being a Christian mean you have to go to Church? Belief in God and putting faith into practice are equally important according to the bible, and according to me. Blessed are those who pray in your house (Ps 84:4) I agree with both sides of the argument equally, and therefore do not have a definitive point of view on the statement, "You do not have to go to Church to be a Christian". Although, if I did have a certain one way view on the matter, and I thought that it was vital that to be a Christian, you must go to Church, like many people do, then I

  • Word count: 1290
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)
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