Lost in the Cosmos: A self-Help book review
Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book by alker Percy is a psychology-based "self-help" book that turns the genre on its head by approaching the individual from a unique perspective. Percy's viewpoint is that is actually healthier to feel that something is wrong with oneself than to feel that one is perfectly fine. The primary aim of the book is not so much to provide self-help to the reader as it is to explore the mystery of human nature and the world around us. The idea of sensing that something is wrong is rooted in the Judeo-Christian perspective that Percy utilizes to convey a sense or longing for fulfillment, redemption, salvation, etc. By addressing an audience that looks for a psychological solution (or a solution to life's problems via a psychological channel), Percy attempts to guide the reader through a series of…...
mlaWorks Cited
Percy, Walker. Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book. NY: Picador, 1983.
Print.
Adopting the first author's ("Monkey Management") fresh perspective about his Management class, I also tried to envision myself as the author/student in "Finding," who is now facing the challenge of discovering the Creature in his class. Given my flexible nature and open-minded outlook in experiencing new challenges, I supposed that in "Finding," I would become interested on the fact that the class will become extraordinary given the conflicting nature of the course and the students. Thus, I would envision myself as a spectator who is always on the look-out of possible clashes that may happen between the teacher and my classmates. Of course, I will not become a passive audience to this mysterious class interaction: I will play my part as a student-discoverer-spectator, looking out for the Creature through my interaction with the teacher and my classmates as both a student and a spectator.
Of course, what happened to the…...
Loss of the Creature
Notice how Rembrandt employed chiaroscuro in his works," began my art history professor. "His technique revolutionized the way that artists portrayed sources of light on the canvas." glanced around me. About twenty students sat neatly behind their desks, faces illuminated eerily by the glow of the overhead projector. The scene was ironic: our professor trying to convey an understanding of chiaroscuro through a painting done five centuries ago, when right before our eyes was a true example of the contrast between light and shadow. Art history is an arena in which the "loss of the creature" is felt most profoundly. In his essay "The Loss of the Creature," Walker Percy notes that biology students are removed twofold from their subjects of study, first by layers of packaging, of labels and names, and second by a confounded array of theories. Similarly, any classroom discussion of art fails to…...
This fact certainly holds true for Ehrlich, who purposefully moved to Wyoming, which some have labeled as one of the least populated states, to get away from an urban existence of overly similar familiarities. This experience is the basis for "The Solace of Open Spaces," in which she plunges into a world of natural life and hardship primarily to deal with the death of a lover. However, by immersing herself in an experience that is wholly foreign to her and her previous form of existence, she is able to gain the much needed solace she was looking for, while also recovering her sense of self and her subjective perspective with which to view the world from afresh.
This motif of escaping the literal, physical trappings of daily existence to enter into a new mind state in which to view one's self and regain one's subjectivity is evinced within Dillard's "Total…...
Apologetics for Generation ZTable of ContentsIntroduction 3Who is Generation Z? 3Understanding the Problem 8ackground to the Humanities 10The Sources That Will Help 13Walker Percys Moviegoer 14The Disease That Haunts Man 18Flannery OConnor 21Pluck Out the Mystery? 23The Tale of Shoefoot 25Take Them to the Wonder 26Conclusion 28ibliography 31IntroductionTo counter the pluralism of todays culture, it is important that the Christian faith be presented objectively and with an insistence on truth. In todays world, truth is seen as subjective. Everyone has his or her own personal truth. Tell your truth, is how the saying goes. This is a problem because very often ones personal truth conflicts with anothers truth or with objective truthi.e., reality. Since Satan is the father of lies, it is important that Gen Z recognize that real truth matters, as commitment to real truth is the only way to disentangle oneself from the culture of lies and come…...
mlaBibliographyBarna Group. Gen Z: the Culture, Beliefs and Motivations Shaping the next Generation. Ventura, CA: Barna Group, 2018. Barna Group. Atheism Doubles Among Generation. Accessed January 29, 2021. Emily. “Tell all the truth but tell it slant.” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56824/tell-all-the-truth-but-tell-it-slant-1263 Dostoevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov. Doubleday, 2012.Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Notes from Underground. Barnes&Nobles, 2005.Dr. White Literature Conferences, https://stmarcelinitiative.com/bookstore/Ezell, Kevin, host. “#29 – Reaching Gen Z with the Gospel: Part 1.” North American Mission Board (podcast). Accessed January 30, 2021. https://www.namb.net/podcasts/evangelism-with-johnny-hunt/reaching-gen-z-with-the-gospel-part-1/Frank, Joseph. Dostoevsky: a writer in his time. Princeton University Press, 2012.Freitas, D. The happiness effect: How social media is driving a generation to appear perfect at any cost. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2017.Geisler, Norman, and Turek, Frank. I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. Wheaten, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2004. Gilbert, David A. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The Novena to St. Boniface of Tarsus: A Pastoral Program for Addressing Sexual Addiction in Colonial Mexico.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Catholic Social Science Review 19 (2014): 87-109.Jones, C. “One in ten millennials would rather lose a finger than give up their smart phone: Survey”. AI & IOT Daily. 2018. Accessed January 30, 2021. Retrieved from https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/322677/one-in-10-millennials-would-rather-lose-a-finger-t.html Jones, E. Michael. Libido Dominandi: Sexual Liberation and Political Control. St. Augustine’s Press, 2000.Malick, Terrence. To the Wonder. Focus Features, 2012.Mcdowell, Sean, and Wallace, J. Warner. So the next Generation Will Know: Preparing Young Christians for a Challenging World. Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2019.Moring, Mark. “Redefining Apologetics for a New Generation.” October 13, 2017. Accessed on January 30, 2021. Retrieved from https://lifewayresearch.com/2017/10/13/redefining-apologetics-for-a-new-generation/O’Connor, Flannery. Wise Blood. Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1948.Percy, Walker. The Moviegoer. Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1948.Pew Research Center. Defining generations: Where millennials end and Generation Z begins. January 17, 2019. Accessed January 26, 2021. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/17/wheremillennials-end-and-generation-z-begins/Plato. Apology. http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/apology.html Ritchie, M. A. Spirit of the rainforest: A Yanomamö shaman\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s story. Chicago: Island Lake Press, 1996.Seemiller, Corey and Meghan Grace. Generation Z Leads: A Guide for Developing the Leadership Capacity of Generation Z Students. North Charleston: Create Space Publishing, 2017.Singer, Bryan, dir. The Usual Suspects, film. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet. http://shakespeare.mit.edu/hamlet/hamlet.3.2.html Stanley N. Gundry, Steven B. Cowan, William Lane Craig, Gary R. Habermas, Paul D. Feinberg, John M. Frame, and Kelly James Clark. Five Views of Apologetics. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2000. Stieg, Cory. “More than 7 in 10 Gen-Zers report depression,” CNBC, 2020. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/21/survey-more-than-7-in-10-gen-zers-report-depression-during-pandemic.html Viola, Frank, and George Barna. Pagan Christianity? Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices. Carol Stream, IL: Barna Books, 2008.UN, “COVID impact on young people’s mental health,” 2020. https://unric.org/en/covid-19-impact-on-young-peoples-mental-health-in-spotlight/ White, James Emory. Meet Generation Z. Grand Rapids, MI.: Baker Books, 2017. Willis, Avery T. Jr. Making Disciples of Oral Learners: To Proclaim His Story Where It Has Not Been Known Before. Lima: Elim Publishing, 2004.Zacharias, Ravi. Can Man Live Without God. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2004. https://www.barna.com/research/atheism-doubles-among-generation-z/ Dickinson,
The Muted Horn Symbol in Pynchons The Crying of Lot 49The horn is a symbol of alerta signal of calling one to attention that a message of importance might be communicated. In Pynchons The Crying of Lot 49, the protagonist Oedipa is spurred on by the symbol of a muted horna sign that suggests the opposite: no message is coming; nothing of any significance will be communicated. The message perhaps is that there is no meaning to be received. In a postmodern world, post-truth is what best describes the character of the culture. The world has moved beyond respect for truth; now it is enraptured by the enveloping chaos of illusion and disillusion. Yet one is simultaneously haunted by the idea that maybe there is some meaning and significance to it all anyway.hat is interesting about Pynchons novel is that the same ideas and themes were explored in a film…...
mlaWorks CitedPynchon, Thomas. The Crying of Lot 49. J.B. Lippincot, 1965.
Histoy of the Poblem
Rachel Evans (2011) lists a numbe of nutitional theapies fo the teatment of depession, anging fom St. John's Wot to "dan zhi xiao yao, a taditional Chinese medicine." Altenative medicine has often been seen as a supplement to the teatment of depession in the past. Othe teatments have included the famous lobotomy technique designed by Potuguese neuologist Antonio Egas Moniz, who was awaded the Nobel Pize fo his technique. Moniz simply dilled and snipped "neve fibes unning fom the fontal lobes to the est of the bain" (Lene, 2005). And Kyziidis identifies seveal ways in which the ancient Geeks would appoach mental illness such as depession:
"Ciceo…believed that man could help with his own cue though philosophy" (p. 43). Even today thee ae numeous studies that still show how physicians ely on phamaceuticals to estoe balance in a patient suffeing fom depession: Pevention of depends upon ealy intevention…...
mlareferences for religion/spirituality in treatment for anxiety and depression. Aging Mental Health 15(3), p. 334-43. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21491218
Wyatt, R.J. (2001). Tantalizing Clues to Preventing Schizophrenia. The Dana
Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.dana.org/news/cerebrum/detail.aspx?id=1452
Rosie to Lucy
An Analysis of Today's TV Sitcom, Media, and Reality
As is noted in "From Rosie to Lucy," Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique was, to some extent, concerned about the image of woman as presented by the mass media. hat Friedan reported was a kind of transformation from the woman of the 30s in magazines like Ladies Home Journal into the woman of the 50s -- the kind of hare-brained ditz of I Love Lucy. This paper will look at that relationship that struck Friedan so forcefully -- the relationship between media and reality -- and it will also argue that media tends to manipulate gender codes.
hat Friedan observed in the magazines of the 30s showed a professional woman much like the nurses of Florence Nightingale's nurse corps. She was devoted to an activity that was respected and needed. hat Friedan observed in the television sitcoms of the 50s…...
mlaWorks Cited
"From Rosie to Lucy: Retreat from Revolution: The Role of Mass Media."
Krauss, Tina. The L Word: Love It or Leave It. Rhizomes 14. 2007. Web. 3 July
Flannery OConnor: Annotated BibliographyCiuba, Gary M.Desire, Violence & Divinity in Modern Southern Fiction: Katherine AnnePorter, Flannery O\\\'Connor, Cormac McCarthy, Walker Percy. LSU Press, 2007.This book is helpful in understanding the role that violence plays in OConnors fiction. There is a violent confrontation in Everything That Rises and there is a moment of passion in Good Country People that ends with theft. Both stories leave the reader with many questions, and Ciuba helps to explain the framework that one can use to explain OConnors fiction in order to make sense of it. The book explores the themes of desire, violence, and divinity that are related in this southern fiction and that permeate the narratives of these authors. Ciuba uses the paradigm of mimetic violence that was developed by critic Ren Girard, and with that he looks at how individual human nature is shaped by environmental influences and how these authors expose…...
Everything That Rises Meets Good Country PeopleThe characters and situations of Flannery OConnors stories give a unique glimpse into a grotesque world of the Southa world that OConnor used to draw meaning about the moment of grace that touches and changes characters lives forever (Fitzgerald). To do this, she often focused on the relationship between mystery and manners in everyday Southerners lives, but did so in a way that relied on exaggeration and usually some form of violence. This is true of her stories Good Country People and Everything That Rises Must Converge. In these two stories, OConnor visits the moment of grace, where some form of violence takes place and characters are faced with a realization of the consequences of their actions and the extent to which they are alone, i.e., disconnected from the higher power. OConnor does a great deal more, as well, and this paper will show…...
ecruitment and Selection Techniques contribute to the Success of an Organization
ecruitment is a form of business contest and it is fiercely competitive. Organizations have to be strategic in order to attract and retain top talent to positions in the company. Competition between companies have become even more fierce and companies are doing all that they can to get the best talent for their organizations. Hence, it is important to have a well-defined recruitment policy in place, which can be executed effectively to get the best fits for the vacant positions. Selecting the wrong candidate or rejecting the right candidate could turn out to be costly mistakes for the organization. Companies understand that having the right people will definitely be difference between success and failure. ecruitment and selection is an ongoing process (Wilson, 2013). Businesses determine the present and future requirement of the organization and increase the success rate of…...
mlaReferences
Alder, M. (2011). Redefining Social Recruiting for 2011.
Blizzard, D. (2013). Honing your hiring. Journal of Accountancy, December (2013).
Bowen, D.E., Ledford, G.E., & Nathan, B.R. (1991). Hiring for the organization, not the job. The Executive, 5(4), 35-51. doi: 10.5465/ame.1991.4274747
Brundage, H., & Koziel, M. (2010). Retaining top talent. Journal of Accountancy, May (2010), 38-44.
Poe, Fall of the House of Usher
Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" is perhaps the best-known American entry into the genre of Romantic and Gothic tale, yet it is worth asking what elements actually identify it as such. Spitzer describes the level of Gothic excess here:
Roderick and Madeline, twins chained to each other by incestuous love, suffering separately but dying together, represent the male and the female principle in that decaying family whose members, by the law of sterility and destruction which rules them, must exterminate each other; Roderick has buried his sister alive, but the revived Madeline will bury Roderick under her falling body. The "fall" of the House of Usher involves not only the physical fall of the mansion, but the physical and moral fall of the two protagonists. (Spitzer 352).
To a certain degree, this marks Poe's story out for particular interest, particularly for…...
mlaWorks Cited
Allison, John. Coleridgean Self-Development: Entrapment and Incest in "The Fall of the House of Usher." South Central Review 5.1 (1988): 40-7.
Bailey, J.O. "What Happens in The Fall of the House of Usher?" American Literature 35.4 (1964): 445-66.
Butler, David. "Usher's Hypochondriasis: Mental Alienation and Romantic Idealism in Poe's Gothic Tales." American Literature 48.1 (1976): 1-12.
Damon, S. Foster. Thomas Holley Chivers: Friend of Poe. New York: Harper, 1930.
Each author subsisted to two (2) different kinds of perspectives, which make up the second and third critical elements of the comparative analysis component of this paper.
Berger analyzed humor based on social and political perspectives. Usage of these perspectives was most useful in discussing the two typologies of humor he thoroughly discussed in the book: satire and folly. Satire as a type of humor drew upon important concept that makes up its core: "militant irony" (158-9). Folly, meanwhile, was best characterized through the concepts "absurd" and "reality in a looking glass" (176).
Satire gives humor a political aspect to it, as illustrated in the term "military irony," which Berger defined as "a term derived from war, it is an attitude of attack that is part of a campaign against someone or something." Interestingly, the author qualified that satire need not have the 'brutality' that comes with military irony; however, he…...
mlaWorks Cited
Berger, P. (1997). Redeeming Laughter: the Comic Dimension of Human Experience. Walter de Gruyter.
Critchley, S. (2002). On Humour. Routledge.
Traditional Interpretation of Images: Class Stratification in John erger's Ways of Seeing and Sexual Politics in Susan ordo's Hunger as Ideology
The proliferation of popular or mass culture following after the emergence of the Industrial Revolution in 19th century gave birth to new ideologies that seek to understand how these new social phenomena (pop culture and industrialization/capitalism) affected the life of human society over the years. One of the most popular theories that developed in light of the Industrial Revolution is the critical theory perspective, which posits that in the society, there will always be an existing conflict between the elite or bourgeois and middle class/working or proletariat classes. Indeed, this stratification in terms of race, class, gender, and even religion has become the focus of modern studies nowadays. John erger and Susan ordo, adopting the classical Marxist approach, attempted to analyze how popular culture has affected human society, and what…...
mlaBibliography
Berger, J. Ways of Seeing.
Bordo, S. Hunger as Ideology.
Recognizing that the film's title functions on both of these levels is important because it reveals how Alfredson deploys common vampire tropes in novel ways which serve to elevate the emotional content of the film, so that the "rules" surrounding vampires become metaphors for the emotional development both characters undergo. Thus, following Hakan's death, Eli goes to Oscar and he invites her into his room at the same moment that she implicitly invites him into her life, revealing to him the first explicit hints that she is something other than a twelve-year-old girl. From this point on, the two work to protect and comfort each other while providing each other with the confidence and companionship they need in order to be happy. Oscar confronts his bullies, and after a period of initial unhappiness, Eli gains a friend who accepts her as a vampire.
Though Eli initially has far more agency and…...
mlaWorks Cited
Anderson, John. "A Boy and His Ghoulfriend: Beyond the Genre." Washington Post 07 Nov
2008, n. pag. Print. .
Ebert, Roger. "Let the Right One In." Roger Ebert. Sun Times, 12 Nov 2008. Web. 7 Dec 2011.
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now