Daughter of Kami: Shinto and Christian themes in 'Nausica of the Valley of the Wind'

Daughter of Kami: Shinto and Christian themes in Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Introduction Religion has affected art for centuries, because human responses to art and religion involve similar processes: imagination and emotional involvement (Beit-Hallami, 1983). It seems natural for religion to continue its influence on popular culture, especially film, because of its wide reach. However, looking at Japan, is it possible for a "non-Japanese" religion like Christianity to exert influence its popular culture, and to what extent? To answer this question, we look at the 1984 animated film of Hayao Miyazaki, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa). Nausicaä is said to be the quintessential Miyazaki film (Osmond, 1998) and it earned 740 million yen, with almost a million viewers. It owes its popularity to the incorporation of universal themes like religion, the environment and industrialisation. It contains so many themes, both Japanese (feudalism, Shinto) and non-Japanese (Greek Mythology, Christianity, European medievalism). It is interesting to note that Miyazaki is often described as a humanist, following no particular religion, yet Nausicaä contains an almost equal amount of references to Shinto and Christianity in the film. There are many English versions of the various terms and names of the characters in the film,

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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William Wordsworth's revolutionary ideas on poetry are a continuation of a movement that was begun by Rousseau.

William Wordsworth's revolutionary ideas on poetry are a continuation of a movement that was begun by Rousseau. Wordsworth's work, though with several omissions and additions, seem to be an English variety of Rousseauism. There are several fundamental views that exist in Rousseau's work and appear later in Wordsworth's writings. Napoleon said that the French Revolution would never have occurred without Rousseau. His Social Contract was the foundation for the emergence of the "democratic man" and the "democratic state." Just as Rousseau impacted great stimulus upon the French Revolution, the French Revolution held immense influence upon Wordsworth (Rousseau). Wordsworth traveled in France during the revolution. Although he had previously shown little interest in politics, he quickly embraced the ideals of the Revolution. From this he generated one of history's best known works; "The Prelude or Growth of the Poet's Mind" in which he outlined observations about the war and how it contributed to his artistic development (galegroup). The glee and hopefulness that surrounded Wordsworth's initial introduction to the revolution was quickly dashed by "disappointment and Disgust." (Solitary). The revolutionary and experimental fervor of his youth had been tempered. He came to suffer the disillusion of young revolutionaries in all ages who discover that death harks more harm

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Poetry Defined by Romantics Though Lord Byron described William Wordsworth as "crazed beyond all hope"

Poetry Defined by Romantics Though Lord Byron described William Wordsworth as "crazed beyond all hope" and Samuel Taylor Coleridge as "a drunk," the two are exemplary and very important authors of the Romantic period in English literature (648). Together these authors composed a beautiful work of poems entitled Lyrical Ballads. Included in the 1802 work is a very important preface written by William Wordsworth. The preface explains the intention of authors Wordsworth and Coleridge, and more importantly, it includes Wordsworth's personal opinion of the definition and criteria of poetry and of what a poet should be. Although there was some disagreement about the proper diction of a good poem, Coleridge, the lesser represented author of the two in the work, agrees with most of Wordsworth's criteria. He voices his own personal opinions, however, in his Biographia Literia. In both Lyrical Ballads and Biographia Literia, the authors' opinions coincide in that the definition and criteria of a poem is to be a structured and carefully planned composition that stirs passionate natural emotions in the reader and that the poet is the force directly responsible for this. To accomplish this, a great poet must possess an intimate knowledge of nature and have close interaction with all aspects of it. Coleridge states in his Biographia Literia that "the definition sought for be that of a

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Romanticism was a very imaginative and intellectual period that originated in Europe during the 18th century and distinguished itself by a heightened awareness in nature and emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination.

Romanticism was a very imaginative and intellectual period that originated in Europe during the 18th century and distinguished itself by a heightened awareness in nature and emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination. It was more extensive in its genesis and persuasion. In addition, it was deeply associated with the political principles of the time, reverberating peoples uncertainties, expectations, and aspirations. William Blake and William Wordsworth were two poets from the Romantic period. Both of these poets were very classical in their elucidation of nature. Although they were in essence from the same time period, they had contrasting views concerning nature. The intention of both William Blake and William Wordsworth is to portray their own deeply felt views in their poems. They put on display divergent insights based upon their conflicting observations, and, indeed, their very different literary aims. William Blake lived during 1757-1827. He was an English poet, artist, engraver, and publisher. He exercised a great influence on English romanticism. Blake was extremely responsive to the veracity of the human stipulation and of his time. William Wordsworth lived during 1770-1850. He was a defining member of the English Romantic Movement. Like other Romantics, Wordsworth's personality and poetry were deeply influenced by his love of

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Psychology is defined as a scientific study of human mind and behaviour processes. Discuss.

.1) Psychology is defined as a scientific study of human mind and behaviour processes. Just as all definitions have limitation, the definition of psychology has limitations too. For example, some psychologists would interpret 'behaviour' to mean both overt responses and conscious experience, while others would be more restrictive. Similarly, some psychologists include behaviour of other species, while some are concerned only with human behaviour. Despite such variations in the focus of interests, the methods used in psychology are scientific. That is, the methods are primarily based on a tradition which originated with the natural sciences of physics, chemistry and biology. That is why I would like to propose that a more useful way of thinking about the discipline of psychology, is to see it as part of the sum total of what people do because, like other scientific disciplines psychology is a human activity. It is scientific in that it is based on the methods of systematic observation and analysis which are part of all science. One of the things that make psychology unique as a science is that the investigator (which is the psychologist) and the subject matter (the client) are essentially the same. Psychology also provides the tools to identify and modify human thought, feelings and behaviour, affecting how people interpret and interact with the world around them.

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Coleridge, Samuel Taylor (1772-1834), English poet, critic, and philosopher, who was a leader of the Romantic movement.

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor (1772-1834), English poet, critic, and philosopher, who was a leader of the Romantic movement. I II DEVELOPMENT Coleridge was born in Ottery St Mary, Devon, on October 21, 1772, the son of a vicar. From 1791 until 1794 he studied classics at Jesus College, Cambridge University, and became interested in French revolutionary politics. His heavy drinking and debauchery incurred massive debts which he attempted to clear by entering the army for a brief period. Eventually, his brother paid for him to be discharged on a plea of insanity. At university he absorbed political and theological ideas then considered radical, especially those of Unitarianism. He left Cambridge without a degree and joined his university friend, the poet Robert Southey in a plan, soon abandoned, to found a Utopian society in Pennsylvania. Based on the ideas of William Godwin, this new society was dubbed "Pantisocracy". In 1795 the two friends married sisters, Sara and Edith Fricker. Not only did Coleridge's marriage to Sara proved extremely unhappy, but he also became estranged from Southey, who departed for Portugal that same year. Coleridge remained in England to write and lecture, editing a radical Christian journal, The Watchman, from his new home in Clevedon. In 1796 he published Poems on Various Subjects, which included "The Eolian Harp" and his "Monody on the Death of

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Seamus Heany - Death of a Naturalistand The Early Purges

Miranda Fisher-Levine 10N Seamus Heany - Death of a Naturalist and The Early Purges The poems of Seamus Heany can be seen to be similar in many ways, in language, style, subject and mood. In this essay I shall compare two of his poems - Death of a Naturalist and The Early Purges. The Early Purges is on the subject of a young boy learning about how kittens are drowned on a "well-run" farm. Dan Taggart appears to be an older boy or man, obviously experienced in these matters, and his attitude to the "scraggy wee shits" is transferred to the Heany towards the end of the poem, when he realises the "pests have to be kept down". This is a new attitude to him - at the beginning of the poem, the sound they made was "frail", their paws were "soft", both potential terms of endearment, but these turn out to be (in his eyes) "false sentiments", and he refers to puppies as "bloody pups". Living on a farm does seem to harden him, but these "false sentiments" would only seem false on a farm, where animals have to die to benefit humans. However, these sentiments are not false because when he feels them, he has not learn the ins and outs of farm life, so they are merely naïve. The thought that this is a "farm attitude" is confirmed by his reference to the town being a place "where they consider death unnatural". The language Heany uses in The Early Purges is atmospheric. When

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Human Nature and Human Life.

Frankie Klimek English Comp II January 28, 2004 Human Nature and Human Life In Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants," we see a young woman torn between two decisions as if she were standing between "two lines of rails," (248) each one leading to a different life for her. She must decide whether she will keep the life growing inside of her, or give it up to be with the young man she is with. Hemingway takes a spectator's point of view in this story, however through his mastery of imagery, symbolism and diction, he makes it evident in the end that "Jig" has overcome the selfish nature of youth and made the decision to keep her baby. The title of the story is a symbolic hint as to the meaning of the story. A white elephant symbolizes two things: First of all, in the story of Buddha, Buddha's mother dreams that a white elephant comes to give her a lotus on the eve of Buddha's birth; the white elephant symbolizes fertility and knowledge. On the other hand, a white elephant represents a burden. In ancient Asia, white elephants were regarded as holy, but to keep a white elephant was a very expensive task. If a king became dissatisfied with one of his nobles he would give them a white elephant, which in most cases would ruin the recipient. In this story, Jig has been given something very precious, a baby, which is the ultimate symbol of her fertility. To him the

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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What do you think to be the central theme or themes of "Tintern Abbey". How are the themes developed through the versification, imagery and symbolism and structure of the poem? William Unsworth, the

Tae Kim 6C1 Q: What do you think to be the central theme or themes of "Tintern Abbey". How are the themes developed through the versification, imagery and symbolism and structure of the poem? William Unsworth, the author of "Tintern Abbey", was a pantheist from the 18th Century, who had strong religious and spiritual outlook. The poem deals with the ideas of the nature, time and imagination; in an attempt of expressing and conveying the poet's perplex and unsure beliefs that these important aspects make up a "one living web". Amidst the poet's narration, we encounter him contemplating the central themes of "Tintern Abbey", the nature, time and the memories of Unsworth. To fully understand the purpose and themes of the poem, we must also endeavor to closely analyze its structure as well as acknowledging the versification, such as diction and punctuality. Unsworth's perplexity is conveyed in a prosaic and a pendulum-like structure, where the poem swings back and forth between two realms of idealism and reality. In the modern world we tend to congregate in a heavily industrialized urban, for economical benefits, inevitably resulting us to seek refugee to nature, - the nature where contingencies, obligations and the social context is temporarily absent and forgotten. According to the poem, Unsworth also believed that the nature possessed miraculous abilities to endow him with

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Yeats initial disenchantment with Irish nationalism can be successfully traced in his love poems to Maud Gonne - Discuss?

Q. Yeats initial disenchantment with Irish nationalism can be successfully traced in his love poems to Maud Gonne Discuss? In Dublin, WB Yeats met John O' Leary for the first time, a form Fenian who interested him in Nationalism and translations of Irish writing into English, and by doing so, gave Yeats' fresh and exciting subject matter for his poetry, and a new purpose. This was also the year he met Maud Gonne, tall and beautiful, a well- to- do revolutionary with whom he fell in love. Penniless, he could only offer her his poetic devotion. From the moment he met her, WB Yeats' life was profoundly affected by her famed beauty and unanswered devotion to Irish Nationalism. Born during an age when women were expected to be nothing more than window-dressing for their husbands, when women were expected to leave the rough and tumble world of politics to men, Maud Gonne rose above that prejudice. Maud Gonne did not return Yeats' passion. She accepted him with delight as a friend, but would not respond to any lovemaking. In many of Yeats' earlier poems we can see his enchantment with Maud Gonne. In the "Rose Collection" the rose had several symbolic meanings; as a title it probably means the "eternal rose of Beauty and peace"i It was also used in the ordinary sense of a rose in love poetry and Yeats knew Irish poets had used it to symbolise Ireland. According to York

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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