The Bacchi Essays - Mythological Kings, Lycia, Sarpedon, Trojans

The Bacchi Man, supposing you and I, escaping this battle Would be able to live on forever, ageless, immortal, So neither would I myself go on fighting in the foremost Nor would I urge you into fighting where men win glory. But now, seeing that the spirits of death stand close about us In their thousands, no man an turn aside nor escape them, Let us go on and win glory for ourselves, or yield to others Sarpedon speaks this passage to Glaukos, why Sarpedon was chosen to speak these words might be because he was the result of one of Zeus' many affairs. Sarpedon's courage is also mentioned in line 104 of book twelve, which helps to support his words in this passage. The passage itself deals with the build up of the Trojans breaking through the defense that the Achians had constructed to defend their ships and men. It is at the end of book twelve that Hektor with the aide of Zeus breaks through the Achian wall by throwing a massive rock, which appears to be Herculean in nature. What makes this even more remarkable is that the Trojan forces had bombarded the wall with all their might and had been unable to break through. Then, when it appeared that they would not be able to do it, Hektor stepped up and in true Heroic fashion solved the problem. A common question which comes up, is why in many Greek stories do you see people fighting a battle in which they now they are going to loose. The attack on the Trojans was of very little consequence to many of the men who were at this battle. If they one or lost would not overly affect their cities, except for the fact that either way there would be far fewer men when they returned. So why then did the fight these battles? The answer is really quite simple. In ancient Greek civilization, there existed a Heroic code that had to be followed. The Consequences for not following this code was disgrace, which was worse then death. No man would want his name disgraced, for not only would it affect him, but also his family and possible his city. Just as Sarpedon says ?Let us go on and wind glory for ourselves By fighting, in death or life both Glaukos and Sarpedon will now always be remembered as heroes. The reason why the Heroic code existed can be attributed to the Greeks concept of death. To them there was no afterlife. Therefore, it was necessary to have a celebrated life since upon death there was nothing else. If you did not have success and honor in life, there was nothing left for you afterwards. Another perfect example and explanation of the Heroic code occurs in Book One of Herodotus' The Histories. It is at line 35 that Solon tells the story of Cleobis and Biton. The story in its basic nature is about two sons who respect their mother so much that they carry her to the festival of Hera so that she would not be late. Upon arriving at the festival, the two sons passed away. While the story is about the death of two sons, it is not meant to be sad. For as Solon says in the passage ?they had a most-enviable death-a heaven- sent proof of how much better it is to be dead than alive.? So not only in Homer's text is this Heroic code observed, but in texts which occur much later. It is true that the Greeks felt that it is better to die well then to live long and have a poor death, the same cannot be said about their gods. In the minds of the Greeks, the gods were immortal and such trivial things as life and death did not concern them. While they prayed to the gods for favors, and prosperity they knew that if they did grant their requests it was done out of either kindness or pity for the lesser humans. This is illustrated throughout the Iliad by looking at the actions of Zeus, Hera and the other gods. While they do take sides, who wins to them is more like a bet. The way in

States of Consciousness essays

States of Consciousness essays Numerous factors determine when and why you feel tired, full of energy, and hungry. A person's state of consciousness and awareness varies throughout the day and depends on a person's activity, environment, and time clock. As a human we have what is called circadian rhythms, which simply explains our daily highs and lows. An example of your basic up and down rhythm would be the sleep/wake cycle. Sunlight regulates the sleep/wake cycle by causing the suprachiasmatic nucleus to decrease its production of melatonin in the early morning and increase it in the evening. Melatonin is a hormone that if increased in blood levels makes an individual drowsy or tired and if decreased will make them more alert. Certain individuals will experience that their biological clock is often out of sync. This can be explained sometimes from either jet lag, working the night shifts or graveyards, and Monday-morning fog. Sleep in itself has its own biological patterns and rhythms. Hans Berger introduced the electroencephalograph to us so that we would be able to measure the patterns and rhythms of sleep through a record called an EEG. Two different patterns of sleep are REM sleep and NREM sleep. The NREM sleep actually has four stages involved in it. During the first stage a person becomes slightly drowsy because of the mixture of alpha and theta brain waves. At the second stage, an individual tends to have bursts of brain activity for a short time, which in terms are called sleep spindles. The second stage also involves theta brain waves and the beginning of delta waves. The third and fourth stages of NREM sleep are often referred to as "slow-wave sleep". Both of these stages are measured by the amount of delta brain wave activity. During REM sleep, the sleeper is unconsciously active. His eyelids may flutter, he may have increased heart rate, and occasional muscle spasms. The two basic sleep the ories are the evolutionary and restorative t ...

Learning Object Oriented Programming With Delphi

Learning Object Oriented Programming With Delphi Online Delphi OOP Course submitted by John Barrow Part 1 Introduction to OO basics Chapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3 Part 2 Introduction to class inheritance Chapter 4Chapter 5 Part 3 Programmer defined classes and objects Chapter 6Chapter 7 Part 4 Accessing an object and its data Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 10 Part 5 The Sender parameter and substitution Chapter 11 Part 6 Introducing type inheritance Chapter 12Chapter 13Chapter 14 Part 7 Using and abusing inheritance Chapter 15Chapter 16 Part 8 Indirection Chapter 17Chapter 18 Part 9 Association Composition Chapter 19 Chapter 20Chapter 21 Part 10 Two Patterns Using Composition Chapter 22Chapter 23 Part 11 Some Patterns for varying behaviour Chapter 24 Part 12 Bidirectional links, Callbacks and Linking Classes Chapter 25 Part 13 Factory Patterns Chapter 26 Part 14 A Decorator Chapter 27

Cover letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 29

Cover letter - Essay Example petencies comprise of Complaints Management Premises Security, Confidentiality Maintenance Quality Assurance, Data Protection Act Compliance, Difficult People Handling and Continued Professional Development Conflict Resolution .In addition, over the course of my career, I have recorded several achievements such as reorganizing the reception area and effectively increased overall efficiency by 30%.I also achieved Medical Records Management, Patient Share Governance, received Greeter Awards 2004 ,Customer Care Ordinance Counselor together with Adult Care Advisor-Ombudsmen of Forsyth County. I am a time conscious and keen individual who always executes her duties with unmatched precision and within the given time frame. I am a firm believer in team work and tries as much as possible to collaborate and partner with my colleagues through sharing and building workable relationships. I am always keen on learning the latest industry trends and normally seek to adopt and incorporate them in m y work whenever possible. Finally I have excellent oral and written communication skills in addition to being equipped with exceptional presentation skills. Above all, I am a God fearing person and my integrity is above par. It’s my hope that you will kindly consider my application and invite me for an interview. I am very sure that I can make a big difference in your valuable team. Looking forward to working with you. Thank you for your time and kind

Imagine you are the advisor to the Secretary General of OPEC. You are Essay

Imagine you are the advisor to the Secretary General of OPEC. You are asked to assess the ability of OPEC to manage the price of - Essay Example These members supply around 40% of the world’s oil (USA Congressional Record, 2007). Law of Supply and Demand (Mankiw, 2008) OPEC’s economic goal is to control production in order to raise the price of oil and eventually increase the generation of its members’ substantial profit. In a free market, the supply and demand tend to push the price at the level in which quantity supplied and quantity demanded are equal (Baumol and Blinder, 2008). Based on this law, it can be pictured out that when the supply of a normal good is low but its demand is higher, it substantially results to price increase. Thus, OPEC is on the right track of controlling production in order to maximise the oil resources of its members. In fact, it has a significant power to control the entire market considering that 70% of world oil reserve belongs to the cartel. Furthermore, OPEC targets to supply only 40% of the world’s oil consumption. This means that it has created influence on the world’s oil supply provided that the demand is higher and even reaching to an upward spiral due to rising economies. Oil is the lifeblood of the modern economy (Navarro, 2008). This means that every economy, developing or even highly developed will tend to maximise resources and even operations, but this cannot be addressed efficiently without relying heavily on oil supply. For instance, oil has become the very reason for every business to operate. From production, down to transportation and inside every household, oil is gaining a wide range of importance, function and economic role. Thus, oil is considered as a normal good and becomes the basic commodity in the world. Oil therefore has created a specific level of demand depending on a certain economy’s requirements in order to sustain and enhance its development and growth. However, from 1972 to 2008, it is noted that OPEC has been ineffective at maintaining cooperation among its members due to issues concerning rest riction of production (Mankiw, 2008). Mankiw explained that members were tempted to cheat their productions just to gain more profit advantage. As a result to this, the increase of oil price was never been successful on restricting production, but because of the increase in demand of worldwide consumption. As shown in Table 1, the price of oil per barrel increases over time. However, this increase was pointed out as barely influenced by OPEC’s success in restricting its production, but due to increase in market demand for the said commodity (Mankiw, 2008). In the mid-1980s OPEC members were having misunderstanding regarding on the regulatory issues of production. As a result, the production increased beyond the controllable limit as specified by OPEC. As the production of oil in the world market increased, there was more supply available leading to the decrease in price. Such decrease in price was clearly due to availability of supply, but what seems to be obvious was the des ire of some OPEC members to gain productive output from their oil resource. In 2007 to 2008, the price of oil substantially was higher. However, it was due to the increase of demand in the world oil market as there was an increasing number of emerging economies such as China (Mankiw, 2008). Table 1. History of oil price as influenced by OPEC regulation of production (Mankiw, 2008) Year Price per barrel 1972 $3 1974 $11 1981 $35 1986 $13 Income and substitution effect The positive income effect states that when the price of normal good decreases it leads to

Interactive Whiteboard: Benefits in the Classroom

Interactive Whiteboard: Benefits in the Classroom Introduction The issues surrounding the use of interactive whiteboards (IWB) and creativity forms the focus of this essay. This area provides an opportunity to look at the interaction between new technologies and classroom reality in the Primary school setting, both in theory and practice. The essay starts with a brief overview of interactive whiteboards within the classroom setting before looking more closely at encouraging creativity both in teaching and learning. Teachernet (online) credits interactive whiteboards with the benefits of: Improving understanding of new concepts Increasing pupil motivation and involvement Improving planning, pace and flow of lessons Teachernet online, Interactive Whiteboards As Cogill (2003, p. 52) points out in her research report for Bects/DfES on IWBs in primary schools, the uniqueness of IWBs lies in its design to be used by teachers for teaching at whole class level. Yet in order to achieve the goals quoted above it is clear that certain other systems need to be put in place, especially professional development and teacher training. For example, as Barber et al. (2007) point out, it is vitally important for teachers to be confident and familiar with IWBs in order to use them to best effect. They also need to have a solid understanding of how to work with, and inspire, creativity and why (e.g. see Loveless 2002). To this end, and in agreement with official policy, there has been an upsurge in texts designed to help teachers work with IWBs. For example, Cooper et al. (2006) give a pragmatic description of how one can use IWBs within all teaching areas, from Maths to Reading. Craft (2000) also argues for the potential to use new technology with creativ ity rather than following the view expressed by some teachers that ‘†¦computers, far from stimulating or fostering creativity, both represent and do the exact opposite of this’ (Craft 200, p. 88). In creating space to use technology creatively it would seem that the first stage is to support their classroom use through training teachers both at pre-service level and through ongoing professional development. However, there is room for debate as to the depth of learning some of these formats inspire, seeming as occasionally do to seek to add entertainment rather than enrichment to learning. Whilst the funding made available through official initiatives, such as the National Grid for Learning (DfES 2003: DfES 2001) has encouraged schools to invest in new technologies, there is a need for systemic support to get the best out of it. For example Machin et al. found correlations between schools success with ICT and a ‘fertile background for making use of it’ (2006 p. 12). More pragmatically, Yelland (2007, p. 163) is one who warns that ‘not all software is positive for learning outcomes’ but then goes on to argue, in common with Machin et al. that it is the pedagogies generated by these new technologies that can create issues. Likewise Sutherland et al. (2004) warn that embedded use of ICT in the classroom can affect how knowledge is constructed. It is bearing this in mind that the following essay seeks to differentiate between, and concentrate on, creativity and not on the range of pedagogies that fall between poor practice and what has been referred to as edutainment. It seems clear that IWBs can provide a fantastic support, especially for visual learners, and posses the potential to be used to support and encourage highly creative interactive and educational learning environments through a wide range of curriculum areas. The ability for both students and teachers to manipulate visual materials (e.g. numbers, words, pitures etc) via the IWB and interact with the information displayed has been credited with: †¦increased pupil engagement, motivation and enjoyment, all potentially leading to improvements in pupil attainments Jones Vincent 2006, p. 2 However, research shows there is still considerable unfulfilled potential with the creative use of IWBs (Jones Vincent 2006: Smith et al. 2005). Creativity in itself has been viewed as essential for the progress of society (Cropley 2001, p. 133) and the next section of this essay looks more closely at how IWBs can be used in a variety of creative contexts starting theory and exemplifying with practice. Learning, or cognitive, styles are traditionally divided into visual, aural and kinesthetic and, in common with Gardner’s (1983) Theory of Multiple Intelligences, recognize what Craft (2000, p. 10) called a pluralist approach. This means catering for the various ways in which individual’s best absorb information and make meaning of it which in turn affects levels of student motivation. From the teaching perspective, creative planning is a means of overcoming individual barriers to learning and requires presenting information in a number of different ways. Cropley (2000, p. 148) saw this application of variety as encouraging creativity in students. IWBs ability to operate as a computer means that audio and video tracks, live websites and multimedia applications can be used to appeal to a range of students learning styles. Ideally, this engages their attention, thereby impacting on their motivation and encouraging creative thinking. IWBs provide an opportunity to link or encourage student interests in a very visual and interactive way. The following takes an aspect of geography as an example of the ways that IWBs can enhance and allow creativity of teaching methods. When teaching the water cycle, the IWB can be linked to any number of live weather cams and channels both in the locality and internationally and show real time weather. Diagrammatic representations of the water cycle can involve the students moving the pictures or labels into the right order using the IWBs touch sensitive capability. Graphic representations of rainfall data or ‘what if’ questions connected with changes in rainfall can all be presented on the IWB. The IWB allows questions to be investigated and extra dimensions to be added, such as a 3 dimensional view of a rain drop or the response to a question regarding the different forms of water – solid (e.g. show ice cubes to glaciers), gas (e.g. show animated kettle boilin g or a steam train running) or liquid (show rivers, seas etc). Notes can be added as the subject is discussed and saved for review the next time. It has been commented that, even as early as Key Stage 1, science can be taught in too theoretical a manner (Charlesworth 2008). Yet in the Ofsted Success in Science report (2008), from which this information apparently derived, the use of an IWB is described as an effective component in a science lesson demonstrating how light works. The teaching strategies included whole class to small group work, role plays and investigative questioning with the IWB used make notes of the students ideas and ‘aid learning’ (Ofsted 2008, Sec. 18, p. 16). Although how the IWB was used to aid learning was not actually described, the suggestion is that it was a valued means of contributing to lesson management, flow and effectiveness. Likewise in maths, the IWB can be used to easily display mathematical representations, be they numeric or conceptual, such as numbers or blocks on a clearly visible scale to the whole class. IWBs provide an excellent support to lesson modeling. This issue of visibility is clearly important and to be able to demonstrate things such as small blocks or coins to a whole class so all can see has been mentioned frequently, such as one of the teachers in Cogill’s research into IWB use in primary schools (2002, p. 25). The DfES has produced – and continues to do so – Interactive Teaching Programs (ITPs) within the Primary National Strategy. For numeracy, these provide curriculum linked interactive programs designed to contribute, not take over, the lesson. Other methods include those demonstrated by Cooper et al.(2006) who show simple ways to add to the dynamics of the lesson, for example using games with clipart to play number line football on the IWB and so on. The imp ortant point is that the IWB works in combination with other teaching strategies, not at the expense of, or to the exclusion of, a balanced well-rounded teaching approach. Equally, the IWB is available to literacy and has an increasing array of supporting software (e.g. DfES ITPs). Cooper et al. (2006) exemplify the IWBs ability to provide students with focus through managing the amount of text visible and the method of presentation – font size and type, highlighted, shaded, hidden, revealed, coloured etc. This adds a dimension to focusing on text formats, from punctuation to spelling and can be very useful in identifying difference for students and helping the retention of information. At the same time, the IWB allows for connection to external media, for PowerPoint’s, video and audio clips, all of which add a dimension to the intended learning if used carefully. IWBs can also be used to create an inclusive environment for students with special needs. As with the font, size and colour changes mentioned above, for students who may have issues with eyesight or problems interpreting words, IWBs can be used to add a dimension of size and impact. For students who find it hard to concentrate, the use of interactive, highly visible materials within their range of interest can easily be projected through IWBs, for example using cars as counters or horses as cursors. The ability to use the IWB to gather notes may also enhance assessment opportunities for the teacher and the savable nature of IWB notes means these are accessible when required in an easily usable format. All these elements not only add to the pace of the lesson and appear to add to the pace of the learning, they also add to the teachers resource bank both for teaching and evaluating progress. In essence, it is perhaps in the area of ongoing professional development that the creative use of new technologies, such as IWBs, needs to focus. When the teacher is motivated and confident, then that comes through in the teaching tools. Indeed the research looked at for this essay has generally agreed with Wood and Ashfield (2008) that new technologies such as IWBs can provide excellent formats for creating and inspiring creative teaching and learning, yet these depend on the teacher’s knowledge and ability to use the technology to achieve this. Becta supports this in its assessment of research and comes to the conclusion that: In some subjects, the more experience the teacher has of using the interactive whiteboard the greater the likelihood of positive attainment gains for pupils Becta 2007, online Cropley (2001) argued that creativity is dependent on a wide range of factors, from cognition to personality, and this has to be considered within the context of the whole classroom environment. IWBs provide teachers with another means of teaching creatively through presentation in altered formats, especially when it comes to communicating with the class as a whole. However it is not alone in encouraging the creative skills of divergent (broad concept connections) and convergent thinking (focused concept connections) or in developing meta-cognitive thinking and accommodation, rather than assimilation, of information. In conclusion, IWBs have the potential to be used extremely creatively for both teachers and students. However, as with many new technologies, their use needs to be supported both by school policy and professional development. As it is likely that these technologies will continue to develop considerably during the near future, it is not enough to teach the usage of specific technologies and think that is where it ends. Perhaps an ongoing mentoring program or collaborative approach to planning with a high IT content may help compliment continued professional development. The same criteria apply to pre-service teacher training whereby familiarity with current IT needs to be support by an ongoing ability to develop IT capacity. From the students’ perspective, well planned and imaginatively used IWBs provide a stimulating, engaging and motivating means of learning. It is clearly just as important to use this interface as a part of a holistic, well rounded curriculum as well as an area in itself and not enough to assume familiarity with contemporary technology without teaching it. References Audain, J., David, A., Flute, M., Fielder, S. Cogill, J (2006) You can use an interactive whiteboard for ages 7-11, Scholastic Barber, D., Cooper, L. Meeson, G (2007) Learning and Teaching with Interactive Whiteboards : Primary and Early Years, Learning Matters Becta (2007) ‘Becta response to the evaluation of the Primary Schools Whiteboard Expansion project, accessed 11th January 2009, http://www.becta.org.uk Becta (2004) ‘Getting the most from your Interactive Whiteboard: A guide for Primary Schools, accessed 10th January 2009, http://publications.teachernet.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/15090.pdf Charlseworth, (2008) ‘Science teaching ‘too theoretical’, online article accessed 12th January 2009, http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2219313/science-teaching-theoretical-ofsted Cogill, J (2003) ‘The use of interactive whiteboards in the primary school: effects on pedagogy’, in ICT Research Bursaries: A Compendium of Research Reports, ICT in Schools Research and Evaluation Series – No, 16, Norwich: HMSO, available online at http://publications.teachernet.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/DfES-0791-2003.pdf#page=54 Cooper, A., J., Botham, K. Cromie, H (2006) You can use an interactive whiteboard for ages 4-7, Scholastic Craft, A (2000) Creativity across the primary curriculum: framing and developing practice, London: Routledge Cropley, A. J. (2001) Creativity in education learning: a guide for teachers and educators, Kogan Page DfES (no date) Interactive Teaching Programs (ITPs), accessed 12th January 2009, http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary/frameworks/library/Mathematics.ICTResources/itps/ DfES (2003) Fulfilling the Potential: Transforming Teaching and Learning through ICT in Schools, Norwich: HMSO DfES (2001) Survey of ICT in Schools 2001, Norwich: HMSO Gardner, H (1983) Frames of Mind: The theory of multiple intelligences, Basic Books: New York Jones, A. Vincent, J (2006) ‘Introducing interactive whiteboards into school practice: one school’s model of teachers mentoring colleagues’ online article accessed 12th January 2009, http://www.aare.edu.au/06pap/jon06333.pdf Loveless, A (2002) ‘Literature Review in Creativity, New Technologies and Learning’ Report 4, Futurelab Series, Bristol: Futurelab, available online at http://www.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/lit_reviews/Creativity_Reveiw.pdf Machin, S., McNally, S. Silva, O (2006) ‘Summary of articles: New technology in schools: is there a payoff? Discussion Paper No 55’, Centre for the Economics of Education at CEP, accessed 12th January 2009, http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs.download.CP199.pdf Ofsted (2008) Success in Science, Ref. No.070195, accessed 12th January 2009, www.ofsted.gov.uk Smith, H J., Higgins, S., Wall, K. Miller, J (2005) ‘Interactive whiteboards: boon or bandwagon? A critical review of the literature’ in Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, Vol. 21, pp. 21-101 Sutherland, R., Armstrong, V., Varnes, S., Brawn, R., Breeze, N., Gall, M., Matthewman, S., Olivero, F., Taylor, A., Triggs, P., Wishart, J. John, P (2004) ‘Transforming teaching and learning: embedding ICT into everyday classroom practices’ in Journal of computer Assisted Learning, Vol. 20 (6), pp. 413-425 Teachernet (online) ‘Interactive Whiteboards’, accessed 10th January 2009, http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/ictis/infrastructure/iwb Wood, R. Ashfield, J (2008) ‘The use of the interactive whiteboard for creative teaching and learning in literacy and mathematics: a case study’ in British Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 39 (1), Jan, pp. 84-96 Yelland, N (2007) Shift to the Future, Abingdon: Routledge

Examine the Ideas of Manliness, Hostility and Aggression in a View from the Bridge. How Are These Ideas Connected?

Examine the ideas of Manliness, Hostility and Aggression in A View from the Bridge. How are these ideas connected? A View from the Bridge: a tragic drama piece, written by Arthur Miller and first published in 1955. Curtained by the never-ending dramatics of the play, is quite basically a fight for an unconditional love, portrayed by a man of whom perplexes his emotions like no other (Eddie Carbone). The play itself is set in the 1950’s; times when masculinity and dominance we’re vital for a man to obtain, and therefore prove to be key concepts during A View from the Bridge. Due to the constant battle to be the top of the hierarchy, a hostile atmosphere is continuously present within the circle of male characters. To be the more predominant man proves highly important; it gives them authority over the female characters, and status over the other males. The play has been written as a Greek Tragedy: a storyline of where a certain person is destined for disastrous misfortune (the Hero). Linking to this, is the opening narration spoken by Alfieri. Alfieri is a lawyer, and as he quotes â€Å"I am a lawyer .. We’re only thought of in connection with disasters†, you are automatically signalled that something bad is bound to happen at some point during A View from the Bridge. Eddie Carbone works as a longshoreman in New York. He lives with his wife Beatrice, and his niece Catherine. Eddie proves to be the protagonist within the first page of A View from the Bridge, of which is chorused by Alfieri (an ageing lawyer). From this, it is rather easy to acknowledge that Eddie is going to play a domineering role, and quite obviously the hero in this Greek Tragedy comparison. As I have previously mentioned, masculinity is highly important, and particularly important to Eddie. Being the utmost respected and powerful man proves rather essential to him during the play, as gives him domination over the household females. An example of this would be in Act Two, just after Eddie rings the immigration bureau. â€Å"Get them out the house†¦ Not tomorrow, do it now. †. Here he is giving Catherine orders in a rather authoritative manor, and this is a prime example of the way he speaks to the female characters. Eddie has incestuous desires for his niece, Catherine. This continues to be an ongoing problem throughout the entire play. It is quite clear to recognise Eddie’s feelings toward Catherine from the opening scene. When Catherine enters, Eddie is overly keen to know where she is going due to the way she is dressed (short skirt etc); he questions her before becoming complimentary about her appearance, because he is obviously panicking that she has dressed herself specifically to impress another male. Eddie quite clearly feels that as a man, he has a right to inquire when he feels necessary; possibly using this to conceal the fact he wants nothing more than direct control of Catherine’s life. â€Å"Beautiful† he quotes Catherine when observing her new hairstyle. Through the whole of A View from the Bridge, Eddie does not pay Beatrice one single compliment, which seems rather obscure, suggesting he has more admiration for his niece than his wife. Catherine constantly seeks Eddie’s approval, repeatedly asking him â€Å"You like it? about the way she looks. This tells the audience that Eddie has brought Catherine up to believe his opinion is always necessary, relating to the idea of masculinity and the dominance possessed by the household male. The actual reason Catherine dressed herself differently was due to the fact that she has been newly employed as a stenographer: somebody who specializes in the transcription of speech. Yet again, Eddie has something to sa y about the fact that Catherine has a job. â€Å"You can’t take no job. Why didn’t you ask me before you take a job? are his exact words when telling her rather directly how he sees the situation. He is implying that she should of asked for his permission before taking the job, and has disobeyed him by not doing so. This goes back to the idea of him being manly and sustaining his authorities. However, I do not think this is the only reason he doesn’t want Catherine taking the job. It is quite clear to see Eddie has more feelings for his niece than he should have, although during the first half of A View from The Bridge I don’t think he has discovered this for himself. From pinpointing that Eddie was overly bothered about the length of Catherine’s skirt, and her getting a job, it is clear for the audience to absorb that he does not want her to grow up, as this could possibly mean letting go and giving Catherine more independence than preferable. Although Eddie beholds a rather harsh identity, he proves himself a warm and welcoming man when his wife’s cousins immigrate to America in search of employment. Marco and Rodolfo are introduced into the household: quoting â€Å"You’re welcome Marco, we got plenty of room here†, Eddie comes across as a very considerate person. Marco greets Eddie with a firm shake to the hand, however Rodolfo does not. A hand shake is a typically manly gesture, and throughout the play it soon becomes clear that Rodolfo does not fit the stereotypical figure of a man. Eddie expects a man to be a breadwinner, to have obvious physical strength, power and domination. Rodolfo appears to not possess any of these qualities, of which soon proves a serious problem to Eddie. â€Å"Paperdoll.. chorus girl.. kid.. hit-and-run-guy†: these are just a minority of the nicknames given to Rodolfo throughout A View from the Bridge. Rodolfo shows himself as a man that does not fit all the categorical standards of a typical male, and as the play goes on we see how this controversial character shines a negative reflection onto Eddie, bringing him nothing but utter aggravation. Rodolfo likes to cook, sing, dance, and even make dresses. These feminine qualities that he possesses cause Eddie to become suspicious about his sexuality, although Miller makes it quite clear that Rodolfo is not a homosexual, when his relationship with Catherine begins to bloom. To Eddie’s dislike, Catherine takes an immediate shine to Rodolfo. When she asks him â€Å"You married too? †, it is quite clear she’s interested in him. Eddie is not in favour of Catherine becoming close to Rodolfo, and he clearly tries to discourage what he does by calling him petty nicknames. Underneath the front that Eddie puts on about hating Rodolfo, I think ,secretly, he is particularly jealous of him. The play is set in the 1950’s, and therefore there was a lot of pressure on men to live up to the expectations and be the typical male. Rodolfo is not afraid to be himself, even if it does go against all rules of typicality. In my opinion, Rodolfo is a very brave character for doing so: he has no fear of being judged, and I think Eddie is intimidated by this. Eddie has never known any different, and so he is automatically against this new idea of a man being slightly feminine. This tells us Eddie cannot cope with change, relating back to when I mentioned how he is unable to come to grips with the fact Catherine is maturing and becoming less reliant on him. In Act Two, a drunken Eddie makes the ridiculous decision to kiss both Catherine AND Rodolfo. He clearly does this in an attempt to clear all cobwebs, and try to see through to the truth about Rodolfo’s sexuality. Unfortunately for Eddie, he only comes to discover that Rodolfo is nothing more than a heterosexual . I also believe this was an act of bare desperation; Eddie could not think of any other way of getting through to Catherine how he feels, and obviously believed this was the only way to put a stop to her and Rodolfo’s relationship once and for all. However, the scene proves Rodolfo to be more manly than Eddie thought, when Rodolfo demands â€Å"Stop that! Have respect for her! †. Respect is an important quality for a man to have , especially in A View from the Bridge. Although saying this, when Eddie â€Å"pins his arms† (Rodolfo), it again goes back to the idea that Rodolfo fails in the physical department of manliness. This scene is a turning point for the audience, as from this they now know rather exactly how Eddie feels towards Catherine, and how insanely jealous he truly is of her and Rodolfo’s relationship. This is a serious downfall for Eddie, telling you that he is getting progressively closer to his Greek Tragedy ending. As an audience, it is evidently apparent that Marco is in complete contrast to his brother, Rodolfo. Straight away he is thought of as a real man: â€Å"Marco goes round like a man; nobody kids Marco†. This is quoted by Eddie, who quite obviously knows where he stands with Marco, and seems rather threatened by the fact that there are now two dominant male figures in the household. This goes back to when I mentioned how there is always a secret fight to be top of the hierarchy: it is just never made official. It is unnecessary for Marco to prove his manliness verbally, due to the fact that his physicality speaks for him. He demonstrates his strength in a rather protective manor, when he strains to lift a chair directly above Eddie’s head. He does this as a discrete warning, cautioning Eddie to leave his brother alone. When Eddie punches Rodolfo at the end of Act One, he makes it out to be a joke, but Marco is not silly, and clearly knows that it was nothing more than a camouflaged threat made toward Rodolfo. Marco uses physical communication; alerting Eddie that if need be, physically, he will always come out on top. When Marco does this, the other characters are oblivious to the fact that it was meant as a threat. However, the audience would be able to recognise exactly what Marco was implying; the staging would portray the shadowed aggressiveness of the gesture, and build serious tension. It would also add to the hostile atmosphere, that had been previously created by Eddie. Alfieri is another example of a conventionally masculine character. His predominate role in the play proves him an honest, helpful and firm man. The fact that he is a lawyer also tells you as an audience, that he possess a lot of power. I think the title of the play (A View from the Bridge), was in fact based around the role of Alfieri. It is as if he is playing God in this tragedy; he has the ability to look over and judge the situation, but remains un-bias and uninvolved (possibly a skill he has developed from his job). Alfieri has a view from the bridge, and is looking down on a fateful occurrence (Greek Tragedy) that he cannot prevent from happening. Just after Eddie’s death, Alfieri quotes â€Å"something perversely pure calls to me from his memory†. Due to the fact that Alfieri has been such an honest and trustworthy character throughout, this line could sway the audience into realizing that maybe there was a good side to Eddie, as well as bad. Eddie had a rather double-sided personality. Although his love for Catherine got the better of his character, underneath it was quite recognisable that he was generally a caring man that looked after his family very well. He was born poor, and worked hard as a longshoreman to ensure he was able to provide for his wife and niece. The background of the author himself (Arthur Miller), most probably had strong influential effects on the way A View from the Bridge was written. For example, his mother and father were polish immigrants; this relates to the storyline of A View from the Bridge, as Marco and Rodolfo are also immigrants. Miller obviously has a clear view of what he expects a man to be. He has made the main character (Eddie) a very typical man: domineering, strong, and respected by all. If Eddie’s death was a tragedy, then in Millers eyes he was obviously the hero of the play. Miller was born in 1915, and therefore raised around people who too, believed that these qualities were necessary if you were to be considered a real man. A View from the Bridge is a play largely involved in the historical/cultural context of the early 20th century. The ‘American Dream’ correlates directly to the storyline of A View from the Bridge. The American Dream is basically the idea that all humans are of an equal worth, and that all people should do things that give them a quotably â€Å"better, richer, and happier life. â€Å". Eddie’s perception of Rodolfo goes against this idea of the American Dream, because he believes that Rodolfo deserves to be lower in status than him, just because he is not the typical man. When Catherine begins to take an interest in Rodolfo, Eddie does his best to prevent their relationship progressing. â€Å"Don’t lay another hand on her unless you wanna go out feet first† are his exact words when thinking only of oneself. He is very selfish by doing this, and is potentially forbidding Catherine from living the American Dream (happier life). The Sicilian code of honour is another historical policy that relates to A View from the Bridge. The Sicilian code is basically a firm rule of extreme loyalty, solidarity and justice. The Mafia in the early 1900’s followed this code rather closely, for example: if someone was to hurt or even threaten a member of your family, you were to honour them and take an immediate action of revenge. The mafia’s law would justify the murder of Eddie Carbone, due to the fact Marco killed him purely because he posed a threat to Rodolfo. The female characters in A View from the Bridge are the main victims of hostility, manliness, and aggression in this play; Catherine in particular. Due to the fact that Eddie highly dislikes Rodolfo, there is a constant hostile atmosphere present within the household. Catherine is made to feel like she must choose between Eddie and Rodolfo, which again causes hostility. This is not a typical father/daughter relationship; it is clear for the audience to see this from the way Eddie behaves when Catherine and Rodolfo are together. Eddie lives in denial about the fact that he is in love with Catherine, and uses fury to disguise it. When Alfieri figures that Eddie has these strong feelings for his niece, he says â€Å"She can't marry you can she? â€Å"; Eddie does not know how to respond to this and again attempts to hide how he feels for Catherine by getting overly angry, â€Å"I don't know what the hell you're talkin' about! â€Å". The audience are affected by this as, making you pity Catherine and the awkward position she is in. Beatrice suffers from this also, as Eddie is her husband. In one scene they argue about sex, because Beatrice is receiving hardly any attention from Eddie due to his aggression and confidentiality throughout the play. Eddie is constantly taking his anger out on Beatrice, yet she never complains. However, in one scene she has clearly had enough and decides to stand up for herself and go against Eddie. â€Å"I want you to cut it out now, you hear me? I don’t like it! Now come in the house. † To this I think Eddie is quite startled, and replies with â€Å"I’ll be in right away†. Beatrice knows full well that Eddie has more feelings for Catherine than he should: â€Å"You want somethin' else, Eddie, and you can never have her! â€Å". In this quote I think jealously is getting the better of Beatrice, as she describes Catherine as a thing, rather than a person.