Lightness And Darkness By Michael Clark - 1377 Words

Michael Clark suggests the author James Baldwin uses a theme of lightness and darkness to support the metaphors of childhood. Baldwin connects the culture of Harlem in the 1950s to lightness and darkness not only with childhood, but all stages of a person’s life. I believe Baldwin uses the motif to connect what one has learned as a child and transform those teachings and apply them within your adult life. During this time period, Harlem was flourishing with aspiring artists, writers and musicians. People in Harlem were free to create, explore and expand their ways of thinking. However, this freedom was followed by delinquency, crime and drug use. The setting and time period is significant to â€Å"Sonny’s Blue’s† as it informs the reader on the past and social upbringing of the Harlem culture. Baldwin reveals after the Great Depression and World War II the atmosphere of Harlem changed. The people who lived there were no longer aspiring to do great. People were struggling to find work and pay for their bills. Harlem and the individuals who resided there struggled financially and lived their lives in poverty. The background in regards to Harlem informs the reader that growing up in this area is not easy; temptation exists everywhere you go. Wherever lightness is present, a sort of darkness accompanies it. The author uses lightness and darkness to portray the achievements and disappointments of living in Harlem, discrimination against African Americans and the relationship

Fractional Growth Factors Free Essays

string(99) " Write an equation for the rabbit population p for any year n after the rabbits are first counted\." Early Field Experience Lesson Plan Fractional Growth Factor CMP Math 8th Grade Ms. Tanisha Wilson Fifer Middle School Tanisha Wilson MTSC 403 Fall 2011 CONTEXTUAL FACTORS Student Characteristics There 28 students and they are in 8th grade CMP math class. There are some students in this are inclusion so there are two teachers in the classroom. We will write a custom essay sample on Fractional Growth Factors or any similar topic only for you Order Now There is a regular mathematics education teacher, and there is a special aid teacher. The students in this class have to take two mathematics classes each day, a CMT course and a prep course which will help them score high on their DCAS scores. They are from different nationality backgrounds and they understand English well. There is one student in the class who has a wheel chair and the desk is arranged for him to sit comfortably by the door. Overall the students in this class are well behaved and eager to learn mathematics. Grouping Patterns Student’s seats are arranged in groups of four. Students will work in groups of four and a class as a whole will whole. Prerequisite Knowledge Students should already be able to identify the growth factor in the problem with reasoning, the y- intercept, and what everything number in the equation represent. Students are also expected to know what exponential growth mean and are able to graph and factor with exponential growth with whole numbers. Instructional Materials Smart board, smart responders, paper, pencil LEARNING GOALS Mathematical Learning Goals Students will build on their knowledge of exponential growth. Students will think about exponential growth with the fractional (or decimal) growth factors and know when it is appropriate to round the number to the nearest decimal place and why. Students will know how to find the fractional exponential growth using the formula P= a (b)x. NCTM Content Standards Grades 6-8 Algebra * Identify functions as linear or nonlinear and contrast their properties from tables, graphs, or equations. * Model and solve contextualized problems using various representations such as graphs, tables and equations. Delaware Standards Math GLE Standard 2 Algebraic Reasoning * Compare the rates of change in tables and graphs and classify them as linear or nonlinear. * Use tables, graphs and symbolic reasoning to identify functions as linear or nonlinear. DIRECT Diversity- there will be different ways to solve the problems so students would be given many ways to practice and choose which method fits best. Interpersonal Communications- students will follow a method that the teacher in the class uses which is called Think, pair, share. Students would think about their answer, pair up with their group members to discuss what each other got, and then share their answer with the whole class. Reflection- students would reflect on what is going on in the class by exit cards at the end of the lesson. Students will also receive extra practice by doing a homework assignment. Effect teaching and assessment Strategies- students would be asked questions leading to them figuring out the formula. At the end of the lesson there would be exit cards to assess what the students have learned in today’s lesson. Content and Pedagogical Knowledge- this is like a review lesson. Students already have prerequisite knowledge on the same material. The only difference with this lesson is that the growth factors for the problems we will be working on today are fractional. Technology- students would use smart responders in the beginning of the lesson to determine if their answers were correct or not. We will also be using the smart board to see the problems needed in order to keep the lessons going. Mathematical Proficiency Strands Understanding mathematics- student’s will be asked multiple questions based off of the problems they have done in previous lessons and the lessons we are doing today so I could know if the students are understanding the mathematics we are covering the in class. Applying concepts to solve problems- students would be given two solve problems and asked how they came up with their answer with explanations of how they got the answer. Reasoning logically- students would be given a real life situation as a solve problem and the answer they come up with have to logically fit the situation given in the story. Engaging- students will be engaging with each other to discuss their thoughts of the solve problems by doing the think, pair, share. Assessment Plan In the previous investigation, we studied exponential growth of plants, mold, and a snake population. In the growth factor and the starting value, we could make predictions. The growth factors in these examples were whole numbers. In this investigation, we will study examples of exponential growth with fractional growth factors. Students will have an understanding on how to find the exponential growth of a Rabbit population with fractional growth factors. Examples will be shown that students understand the lesson by using the growth factor table, being able to determine what is the growth factor and when is it appropriate to round it up to if necessary and students will be able to connect the chart and table to a formula for the exponential growth rate. Pre- Assessment Students will be given a chart that looks like the previous charts we have went over. The difference with this chart is that the growth factor is not a whole number. Students will have to find the equation based off of the chart. They would put their answer into the smart responder. Once everyone’s answers are calculated into the smart responder, we will receive a percentage of how many students got the correct answer in the class. We will then discuss why that is the correct answer. Additional Assessment 1 Students would be given a problem on the smart board with a table which will represent the exponential growth of rabbits. Ask students the following questions†¦ 1. What is the growth factor? Explain how you found your answer. 2. Assume this growth pattern continued. Write an equation for the rabbit population p for any year n after the rabbits are first counted. You read "Fractional Growth Factors" in category "Papers" Explain what the numbers in your equation represent. 3. How many rabbits will there be after 10 years? How many will there be after 25 years? After 50 years? 4. In how many years will the rabbit population exceed one million? Do not give students the answers. Have students come up with the answers on their own, then they could discuss with a classmate, then the whole class would discuss the correct answer and why. While students are working in groups, the teacher would be walking around and looking at student’s notes to see their understanding. If you see that there is more than one approach to the answer, then call on the different students with the different approaches so there could be variety. Post Assessment The class would sum up what we did in today’s lesson by answering the exit cards with a question similar to the one we did in class. Students must answer the question in details. The teacher will explain to the students that the main point of the lesson today is to recognize that the growth factor may not always be a whole number. By the end of this lesson, students should be able to solve a problem dealing with exponential growth with the growth factor not being a whole number. OPENING 5 Minutes8:00-8:15 Rationale Students will be shown a chart on the smart board and will be asked to find the growth factor and the equation for the table. Since the students are already familiar with exponential growth using whole numbers, I want student’s to see that not all exponential growth would have a whole number as the growth factor. The opening activity is a reflection on the same type of formula they have been working on, the only difference is that the growth f actor would not be a whole number. Students would focus on the growth factor and being able to put it into an equation which will support the table. Students will be assessed by using the smart responders. The smart responders will allow the teacher to know the percentage of students who got the correct answer before beginning the lesson. | Materials Smart board, smart responder, pencil, and paper Activity Description When the students first walk into the classroom, they will be asked to grab a smart responder. (The smart responder allows the teacher to see the percentage of how many students got the correct answer). Based off of the results on the smart responder I will have a short discussion of what is the growth factor, the y-intercept, and why important to know those numbers in order to create a formula. The table is as followed†¦ X| 0| 1| 2| 3| Y| 30| 57| 108| 206| Differentiate Instruction One student from each group will get up to get the smart responders for their group and return them when we are done. Students will be able to do this because there is a student in the classroom with a disability; he is in a wheelchair so I do not want him to feel left out in any way. Therefore, each group will have to go through the same procedure. Another differentiate instruction we will do is go over the correct answer into details because there are some students in the class who are inclusion. I do not want to move too fast with the class as a whole so I will continue to review the material and monitor ALL students understanding of the lesson before moving on. What is the growth factor in this table? Possible Student Responses| Possible Teacher Follow-ups| 1. 9| Did everyone get that answer? | No. | What did you get as the growth factor? | At first I got1. then I divided the next two consecutive numbers which is 108/ 57 and I got 1. 894736834, so the growth factor is not the same with each number. | Did anyone else get that? | Yes| Well I’m happy you pointed that out. What is the difference between this table and the previous tables we have been doing these past few weeks? | The growth factor is not the same for every outcome is not the same exact numb er| What is different about the numbers though? | They are a decimal and not whole numbers. | Ok. Good point. Is 1. 894736 close to 1. 9? | Yes| When you divide 206 and 108, what is your outcome? 1. 907407| Is that close to 1. 9? | Yes| So what could you tell me about this growth factor now? | That the outcomes are very close to each other but they are not the exact same| So imaging if you wanted to round your growth factor to the nearest whole number, put the number 2 into your formula, what are your results? | 30*2= 6060*2= 120120*2= 240| Are your results accurate compared to what we need on our table? | No. | Why is that? | Because when you keep multiplying by 2 instead of 1. 9 the result grows bigger and bigger and it does not match what we need. What do you suggest we do if we wanted to put these numbers into an equation that will have the closest possible outcome? | Round it to 1. 9? | Why 1. 9? | Because what was the first exact outcome and when we divined the next consecutiv e numbers, they are close to 1. 9| Ok great job. So when this happens we will round up to the nearest outcome and in this case it is 1. 9| BODY #1 30 MinutesTime: 8:15- 8:45 Rationale The purpose of this activity is for students’ to have a visual with a story of rabbits reproducing and is able to form an equation with the table given to them. This activity will build on the students’ knowledge of exponential growth and at the same time introducing with fractional growth factors. It is important for students to understand that the growth factor will not always be a whole number and what they should do when they face this problem. This activity develops the learning goal of student’s being able to think about fractional growth factor and why should they round it to the nearest decimal place instead of the whole number. Materials Graphic Calculator, pencil, paper, smart board Activity Description Students will be sitting in groups of four. During this activity, student’s will do a think, pair, share for every question asked to them before discussing it with the class as a whole. Think, pair, share is a way for students to actually THINK about their answer and why do they think that will be the correct answer; they should also be taking down notes at this point. PAIR is when they talk amongst their partners and share what they came up with and then compare answers. If anyone answer is different, then they will discuss why are their answers different. SHARE is when the whole class has a discussion about all of the possible answers and come to an agreement and understanding of the correct answer. Students will be assessed while doing think, pair, and share. The teacher would be walking around the class taking notes about the student’s understanding and mentioning anything that stands out or may be confusing about the lesson to the class. This will just be personal notes for the teacher to know the student understands of the lesson. | The activity will begin with the â€Å"did you know† which will be shown on the smart board. Did you know? In 1859, a small number of rabbits were introduced to Australia by English settlers. The rabbits had no natural predators in Australia, so they reproduced rapidly and became a serious problem, eating grasses intended for sheep and cattle. In the mid-1990s, there were more than 300 million rabbits in Australia. The damage they caused cost Australian agriculture $600 million per year. There have been many attempts to curb Australia’s rabbit population. In 1995, a deadly rabbit disease was deliberately spread, reducing the rabbit population by about half. However, because rabbits are developing immunity to the disease, the effects of this measure may not last. Students will think about the â€Å"did you know† problem and then a table will be shown on the board based off of the problem. If biologists had counted the rabbits in Australia in the years after they were introduced, they might have collected data like these: Growth of Rabbit Population Time (yr)| Population| 0| 100| 1| 180| 2| 325| 3| 583| 4| 1,050| Students would be asked the following questions followed by a mini class discussion for each question. 1. What is the growth factor? Explain how you found your answer. 2. Assume this growth pattern continued. Write an equation for the rabbit population p for any year n after the rabbits are first counted. Explain what the numbers in your equation represent. 3. How many rabbits will there be after 10 years? How many will there be after 25 years? After 50 years? 4. In how many years will the rabbit population exceed one million? Differentiate Instruction There are some students in this class who are inclusion which mean that they need extra help with understand the concept of the material. There is an inclusion math teacher in the classroom as well but her attention is strictly for those students’. The activity has question and answers so that way everyone in the class could participate in lesson and contribute their understandings. Students will also have to think about the answer on their own at first before working in pairs which will be helpful for the teacher who is walking around to see the students understanding individually. The inclusion student’s will also receive peer help along with teacher sponsoring. What is the growth factor of rabbits reproducing represented by this table? Possible Student Responses| Possible Teacher Follow-ups| 1. 8| Why 1. 8? | Because divided the first two consecutive numbers which is 180/100= 1. 8 so every year the rabbits times itself to 1. 8| So did you get 1. 8 every time you divide the consecutive numbers? | No, when I divided 325 by 180 I got 1. 805555556, when I divided 583 by 325 I got 1. 793846, and when I divided 1,050 by 583, I got 1. 801029. They were all close to 1. 8 so I rounded it up like what we did for the warm up. | Great job, my only question is why did we round it up by 1. 8 and not 2? Because we are dealing with fractional growth factors even though these are decimals. | But what if you didn’t know you was dealing with fractional growth factors and you had to solve this problem, why wouldn’t you round your growth factor up to the nearest whole number? | Because if I rounded my growth factor up to the nearest whole number then the result for the growth amount for populations of rabbits of the next year would not be around the number given. | I don’t really understand what you mean; may you please demonstrate to the class using your calculator? | The student would demonstrate to the class using his/ her calculator Year 1100*2=200not close to 180 Year 2200*2=400not close to 325 Year 3400*2=800not close to 583 Year 4800*2=1600not close to 1050 So why do we round to the nearest appropriate decimal? Possible Student Responses| Possible Teacher Follow-ups| Because if we were to round it to the nearest whole number, then the growth factor will not be close to the next years population rate. | Correct. What is the equation used for this growth factor? | 100(1. 8x)| Why? | Growth factor is 1. 8 and we raise that by time which is x| Ok great job. | CLOSINGTime: 2 minutes Learning Goal(s) Students will build on their knowledge of exponential growth. Students will think about exponential growth with the fractional growth factors and know when it is appropriate to round the number to the nearest decimal place and why. Students will know how to find the fractional exponential growth using the formula P= a (b)x. Review Based off of what we learned today students will be able to draw connections from the previous lessons with exponential growth factors and now know how to find the exponential growth with the growth factor not being a whole number. Students are to state why they are rounding up the number to the nearest decimal (if needed). Students will have to answer the Exit Cards before leaving the class. 1. Why isn’t the growth factor of exponential growth always a whole number? 2. If you were to round up your decimal or fraction to the nearest whole number and put it into the equation P= a(b)x, what will your outcome be and explain why. Students would be assessed on their understanding of today’s lesson and making sure that they meet the learning goals thinking mathematically. | Follow-up Activities Students will be assigned a homework assignment. 1. In parts of the United States, wolves are being reintroduced to wilderness areas where they had become extinct. Suppose 20 wolves are released in northern Michigan, and the yearly growth factor for this population is expected to be 1. 2. a. Make a table showing the projected number of wolves at the end of each of the first 6 years. b. Write an equation that models the growth of the wolf population. c. How long will it take for the new wolf population to exceed 100? 2. a. The table shows that the elk population in a state forest is growing exponentially. What is the growth factor? Explain. Growth of Elk Population Time (year)| Population| 0| 30| 1| 57| 2| 108| 3| 206| 4| 391| 5| 743| b. Suppose this growth pattern continues. How many elk will there be after 10 years? How many elk will there be after 15 years? c. Write an equation you could use to predict the elk population p for any year n after the elk were first counted. d. In how many years will the population exceed one million? Homework will be checked during the next class meet. ATTACHMENTS â€Å"Growing Growing Growing† book pages 33-36 How to cite Fractional Growth Factors, Papers

Minority Rights for Constitutionalism and Democracy -myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theMinority Rights for Constitutionalism and Democracy. Answer: This essay focuses on the discussion of the concept of minority rights proposed by John Mill and the criticism of his theory. Classical utilitarianism addresses the connection between majorities and the minorities on two levels. One is theoretical and another is practical. The traditional criticism of this relationship between these two classes proposed by Utilitarianism focusses on the alleged incapability to provide adequate theoretical foundation for securing individual right as well as the protection of the interests of minorities. This phrase the greatest happiness of the greatest number can be interpreted as an implicit declaration of majority ascendancy (Roach, 2017). This criticism can be traced to the heart of the utilitarianism in John Stuart Mills notion of the tyranny of majority. In discussing this, Mill has proposed a partial criticism pf the classical utilitarian theory of government which he inherited from James Mill and Bentham. The object of this essay is to discuss and examine the problem of majority rule as well as minority rights from the perception of the classical formulation of the theory of Utilitarianism, more particularly that of Bentham and J.S Mill. Mill recognizes individual rights but they are based on the concept of utility which he has insisted in his introduction to On Liberty. He regards utility to be the final application on all the ethical questions and it is essential be the utility in the largest sense, that is based on the enduring interests of man as one of the most progressive being. As prospered by Mill, the individual has limitations of power which is exercised by the society legitimately (Patten, 2014). He clearly defines that his concerns for liberty and rights do not extend to all the individuals as well as all the societies. Mill states that individual rights are always acceptable to harm oneself as long is not haring others. He argues that the individuals do not have rights to do lasting and serious harm to either themselves or the property because no one exists in isolation. To him the individual rights can affect others especially impact of the property which indirectly harm the collective rights (Morigiwa, Ishiyama Sakurai, 2017). To John Mill, the individual rights are the spirit of justice which is the most important part of ethics. According to the political theorists, the majority statute cannot be the exclusive manifestation of the supreme power in the democracy. However, there is always a threat of abuse of power which the majority enjoys. Democracy mandates minority rights just as the majority rules (Grigoriadis, 2015). As the democracy in this contemporary world is understood, the rights of the minorities must be secured no matter how estranged the minority or group is from the majority societies else the rights of the majorities miss their relevancy. The liberties of individual along with the privileges of the groups of the separate states now a day has been protected though the acts and bills of rights. In the country like America, the rights are measured as the most essential elements of liberal democracy (Dahl, 2017). These are embodied in the international human rights conventions. These enumerate the rights which may not be violated by any of the governments and safeguard the right of the minorities against the majority tyranny. John Mill Took the principle and wrote, The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community against his will is to prevent harm to others (Mill, 1966). The no harm principle by Mill, aims to avert the governments from becoming the medium for the tyranny of majority, that was viewed as not only a political but also a social tyranny which muffled the minority voices as well as impose regulation of through along with values (O'Nions, 2016). He separates the concerns about the tyranny of majority into two differ challenges for democracy. First, the institutional problem which he explains in detail. To him, even in the system of majority rule, the government may reflect the abuses regarding the majority tyrants (Kreitzer, Hamilton Tolbert, 2014). He argues that there is nothing inherent in the majority rule which prevent unjust results. The another challenge can be considered as the cultural problems. This issue refers to the distinct for m of despotism formed by the culture of the self-government. The rights of the majority have to be secured as the tyranny of the majority has been granted to be evil. The tyranny of evil like all other has been granted to be dreadful chiefly operating through the acts of the public authorities (Ayoub, 2015). According to the theorist, the society sometimes become tyrant itself. the majority of the society regulate the norms and when the wrong issues are followed instead of right (Koenig, 2017). The institutional problems centers on the possibilities which records the idea that the majorities can have the capability to violet rights of the others. Charles Taylor was one of the greatest thinkers of post-world war era. He is basically known for proposing a liberal theory of multiculturalism that identifies the collective cultural rights of the minorities within the Federation of Canada. He is the proposer of the theory named, deep diversity that calls for liberalism which is dedicated to collectivist survival as well as improvement of the Quebecois, Aboriginals and the visible minorities of the state. This particular theory has been employed effectively by the academics as well as media elites (Mitnick, 2018). This is because this theory has efficiently transformed Canada into a diverse country in one hand and representing the Canadian Multiculturalism as the successful model to this world. This theory of deep diversity, proposed by Charles Taylor, directly opposes the theory of J.S. Mill because it entails cultural requirement of the minorities unpredictable with liberal norm. It states that all the citizens must enjoy the same rights as enjoyed by the individuals (Burchardt, 2016). In such case, one can support the idea of Taylor that the theory of individual rights covered within it the concept that the humans must have the right to showcase their ethno-cultural identities and get recognized. This is because of the fact that such recognition is mandatory to the self-fulfillment of the individuals (Shorten, 2016). Taylors ideology argues that the individuals can grow only as the members of the community. He states that the mainstream liberalism to advocate a disjointed idea of the individuals existing outside as well as apart from one particular society. Traditionally, John Mill has been depicted to be self-contradictory as well as failure to concept a coherent and united social theory. The recent scholars have however defied this view. To them, the work of John Mill is creatively systematic in linking the antinomies inherent in the liberal democratic thoughts. This revisionist clarification as well as understanding, of the concept of Mill is progressive by the study of his theory of justice as well as its role in determining his policy points on the issues like welfare voting rights, education, government intervention, taxation and the future of capitalism. Therefore, it can be concluded that the ideology that was introduced by the theorist like John Mill has a far reaching effect on the legislative, administrative and economic aspects just like the social facet. Despite the fact that there has been a number of contradictions in the theory of Mill, it has been greatly followed by the scholars still in this contemporary world. References: Ayoub, P. M. (2015). Contested norms in new-adopter states: International determinants of LGBT rights legislation.European Journal of International Relations,21(2), 293-322. Burchardt, M. (2016). Does religion need rehabilitation? Charles Taylor and the critique of secularism.Working with a Secular Age. Boston and Berlin: de Gruyter, 137-158. Dahl, R. A. (2017). Decision-making in a democracy: The Supreme Court as a national policy-maker. InConstitutionalism and Democracy(pp. 137-154). Routledge. Escamilla, M. (2018).Rights and Utilitarianism. John Stuart Mills Role in its history.Journals.openedition.org. Retrieved 10 April 2018, from https://journals.openedition.org/etudes-benthamiennes/192 Grigoriadis, I. N. (2015). On the Europeanization of minority rights protection. InThe Europeanization of Turkish Public Policies(pp. 154-166). Routledge. Koenig, M. (Ed.). (2017).Democracy and human rights in multicultural societies. Routledge. Kreitzer, R. J., Hamilton, A. J., Tolbert, C. J. (2014). Does policy adoption change opinions on minority rights? The effects of legalizing same-sex marriage.Political Research Quarterly,67(4), 795-808. Mill, J. S. (1966). On liberty. InA Selection of his Works(pp. 1-147). Palgrave, London. Mitnick, E. J. (2018).Rights, groups, and self-invention: group-differentiated rights in liberal theory. Routledge. Morigiwa, Y., Ishiyama, F., Sakurai, T. (2017). Universal Minority Rights? A Transnational Approach.Proceedings of the 5th Kobe Lectures. Tokyo and Kyoto. O'Nions, H. (2016).Minority rights protection in international law: The Roma of Europe. Routledge. Patten, A. (2014).Equal recognition: The moral foundations of minority rights. Princeton University Press. Roach, S. C. (2017).Cultural autonomy, minority rights and globalization. Routledge. Shorten, A. (2016). Alan Patten Equal Recognition: The Moral Foundations of Minority Rights Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014, 344 pp. 30.95 hbk.

Melancholy in Twelfth Night Essay Example

Melancholy in Twelfth Night Essay Twelfth Night is the merriest of Shakespeare’s romantic comedies, it is also the saddest. The Christian associations of the title suggests the carpe diem theme which runs through the play. Epiphany, according to Christian mythology, is the time when the shepherds recognized the birth of Christ. The feast of epiphany is the last festival of the Christmas season, after which death takes over. This cycle of life is an extension of the ancient pagan fertility rituals. The mood is similar in Keats’s ‘To Autumn’, Hedge-crickets sing; and now with a treble soft The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft; And gathering swallows twitter in the skies. Only, Keats finds reassurance in the fact that swallows will return, but Shakespeare is concerned with the cessation of life which looms over the whole play. Here the recognition is of the transience of life, unlike in Cymbeline where the rediscovery of Perdita symbolises the rediscovery of one’s soul. Significantly, Twelfth Night is the last of the romantic comedies. After this Shakespeare moves on to the tragedies and the problem plays – this is the last play where joy is not alloyed with problems of evil and anti-life. Everything that is subject to time is valueless, this was the medieval conception. Thus during the middle ages all human activity was directed towards God. Man was given little importance. Then with Renaissance came yet undiscovered knowledge. The new astronomical discoveries allowed man to explore the universe independent of the scriptures. With this was born man’s pride in being man in the mortal universe. And thus man became conscious of the beauty and transience of life. This removed the concept of life everlasting from the framework of eternity. We will write a custom essay sample on Melancholy in Twelfth Night specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Melancholy in Twelfth Night specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Melancholy in Twelfth Night specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This introduced the prominence of mortality. The dance of death was now more feared than ever. New questions about human existence took form. Comedy seeks to find answers, a meaning of life; yet Shakespeare presents a frail shadowy background to his actions. One of the main governing thoughts in Twelfth Night is the fragility of life. This is the play of youth, almost all the characters are young, and this generates the sadness. Shakespeare asks all to enjoy fleeting life, make the most of the twelve days, scorning the Malvolios. A pattern emerges from all this lot which gives life some meaning. Twelfth Night, despite all its laughter, seems to play upon the keys of loss, affliction and deep bewilderment, which sounds through the gentle beauty of the romance convention and the festive humour. The bonded family words – father, brother, sister – signifies absence, loss of security and a longing. It is this sense of irreparable loss, and the mild apprehension that all this might prove to be a dream provides the poignant dream-like feeling which pervades the play. The loss is internal as well as external. The recognition of one’s self is a dominant theme, and almost all characters are haunted by this and hunt for their selves as well as their lost loves. Orsino’s languorously insatiable desire for love and ‘food of love’ in the first scene presents a parodic statement of the omnipresent sense of want. The hunting pun serves to express the search which is already begun. Nevertheless, Orsino’s words set the mood of the play, which, even through all the ‘caterwauling’ of the kitchen group, never fades. Orsino says That strain again, it had a dying fall: O, it came oer my ear like the sweet sound That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odour Orsino’s appetite is soon satiated. The music loses its appeal and his love for love becomes evident. Even the hunting image takes on contemporary significance – Diana becomes the naked truth which makes Acteon wild. This is a parody of Petrarchan conceits and it is fittingly given to Orsino, who, like all in Illyria, is in a state of illusion. According to Plato’s Symposium love is a hole, an absence longing to be filled. So Twelfth Night is a play of pining: Orsino for Olivia, Olivia for Viola, Viola for Orsino, and comically Sir Andrew and Malvolio for Olivia. This emphasis on pining invokes the classical myth of Narcissus and Echo, and makes a narcissistic triad of self enclosed loneliness. Each of them playing simultaneously Narcissus and Echo with respect to others. They seek their own reflections in the other’s face and own echo in the other’s voice. But more melancholy than this ‘love-sorrow’ is the separation of loved ones by real or apparent death. This again can be traced to the sense of romantic lack as embodied in this state of primary loss. Nearly all characters bear traces of such loss – from the father-brother loss which provides similar traumatic experiences for Viola and Olivia, down to the farcical yet nostalgic exclamation of Sir Andrew: ‘I was adored once, too. ’ While Viola’s sorrow is genuine, Olivia’s vow to keep her face veiled for seven years seems more like a ploy to ward off Orsino’s unwanted advances. Otherwise her whole behaviour is comically excessive in place of being melancholy. Seven years in black violates the Elizabethan mourning etiquette which prescribed a period of one year for a brother. Olivia closely parallels Orsino – both in her reclusiveness more alleged than borne out – and as a willing victim of introspective melancholia. Olivia’s unnamed brother fades from the surface of the play. But his spirit continues to haunt. For no sooner has the theme of brother loss been sounded in the minor key than it recurs in the major. The ‘eye-offending brine’ of tears gives way to the sea. Olivia’s brother fades into Viola’s. In a drama greatly concerned with wholeness of identity, the twinned heroines are each presented as halves of a pairing, cloven away from the male counterpart with whom she started life. In Jungian terms, when Viola assumes the male disguise, it is as if she recapitulates in her own person the lost other, dressing exactly like Sebastian, and as if Olivia also locates her own in Viola. Herein lies the fact that both of them are in an illusory world, it is only the presence of Sebastian which allows a happy resolution, otherwise the imminent result was definitely tragic. There might be an autobiographical element in this brother-sister separation theme. Shakespeare himself was the father of boy-girl twins of whom the boy died before the composition of this play. The twins were eleven and half years old when death separated them. Shakespeare must have felt at heart the wistful sadness in the eyes of Judith the surviving child, which he endowed to viola. Twelfth Night contains a calm, loving elegy, and a myth of rebirth. It feigns that Hamnet, the boy twin, is not dead, but lingers in the unknown, washed up on the shores of Illyria, the land of illusion and lyricism. Prove true, imagination, O prove true This is not only Viola’s, but also Shakespeare’s heartfelt cry. Thus Viola’s sadness resounds with a new meaning. Her exclamation at her entry is, And what should I do in Illyria? My brother he is in Elysium. Her brother comes back to her, but Hamnet does not. Unlike Sebastian, Viola controls herself and centres her thoughts on immediate problems. Her wit allows her to obtain a shelter in an alien and unfriendly world. But her wit also has a touch of the autumnal – in keeping with the autumnal note of the play. And even in her sorrow she can sympathise with others. She understands Olivia’s plots instantly in place of scorn, shows tender understanding, she says, Alas, our frailty is the cause, not we, For such as we are made of, such we be. Her identification with Olivia is appropriate in more ways than one – not only both of them are lovesick, but also they long for a brother figure. But Viola’s pathos is more touching. She has to bear messages to her rival from the man she loves. This she does without a murmur and with all sincerity. Her praise of Orsino comes straight from her heart. She is pained to the extreme, and almost reveals herself when Orsino calls women less faithful and lacking in depth of emotion. She tells the Duke: My father had a daughter lov’d a man, As it might be perhaps, were I a woman, I should your lordship. Thus secretly professing her love. But her suppressed agony is felt when she tells Orsino the supposed ending of her non-existent sister’s love whose history was, she tells Orsino, A blank, my lord: she never told her love For she never expects to have Orsino and she dares not aspire to the impossible. As when her brother’s name is mentioned she fears to hope for the best. Shakespeare saves the play from ending in total disaster by bringing in Sebastian and thus allowing Viola to have a happy end, in an union with Orsino. In the first scene orsino begins with an imagery of flowers. And the scene ends with flowers: Away before me to sweet beds of flowers! Love-thoughts lie rich when canopied with bowers. The image of flowers comes again and again throughout the play. Flowers symbolise transience – momentary beauty, something that does not last. So Feste tells Olivia: As there is no true cuckold but calamity, so beauty’s a flower. Reminding her that times are never always bad, thus to keep on mourning for something that is past is to waste precious time and no one has world enough and time. Orsino talks about woman’s beauty, asking Cesario to fall in love with some woman younger than he, For women are as roses, whose fair flower Being once displayd, doth fall that very hour. Viola has to agree. She admits that death comes when one has just reached perfection. Speaking not only for women but for all mankind. The flower imagery stresses the carpe-diem theme of the play – cease the day before it ends. This theme is also propagated through the music of the play. In Twelfth Night music plays a vital role, establishing the tone of the play. Through music the emotive basis of human existence is emphasised, which is to be felt rather than perceived cerebrally. There is rare music in Viola. She does not sing, but her words carry poetic inspiration. She echoes Shakespeare’s sonnets when she tells Olivia: Lady, you are the cruellst she alive If you will lead these graces to the grave And leave the world no copy. Like the early marriage sonnets the theme here is of beauty perpetuated through marriage. But the character who is full of music and is truly melancholy, though not in his attitude or expression, is Feste. Feste is the first true fool of Shakespeares plays. One of the functions of the clown is to sing. He sings to Toby and Andrew: What is love? Tis not hereafter, Present mirth hath present laughter: Whats to come is still unsure. In delay there lies no plenty, Then come kiss me sweet and twenty: Youth’s a stuff will not endure. The fragility of youth and shadow of death – this is in line with the play’s theme and mood and also Feste’s character. His other song, which he sings to please Orsino, is equally sad, Come away, come away death, And in sad cypress let me be laid. Fie away, fie away breath, I am slain by a fair cruel maid. This song continues to reveal Feste’s own bleak future. He is outside the action, an objective onlooker. There is no involvement. He is poor, has no security. He begs to acquire money. For a man of his intellectual capacities this must be disgusting. He has no past, no future and no considerable present. He is a relic of the past, from Olivia’s father’s time. He is constantly threatened with discharge which is as bad as hanging for him. But he lets summer bear it out. Only his song betray his state. Thus in his songs the thought of hereafter is subordinated. In the final scene everyone leaves except Feste, who stays to give the audience a song. A song in which he is transformed from the character to the actor. His final song marks the ending of the play, the ending of the twelfth night. Death’s reign starts from the next day. Feste’s song is nostalgic, he recalls when folly was not as unacceptable or threatening. He also gives a cynical view of marriage as an unwanted responsibility. This casts an oblique perspective on the centrality of marriage in the play as a symbol of concord and resolution. A great while ago the world begun, With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, But thats all one, our play is done, And well strive to please you everyday. That’s all one’ signifies from one perspective that since nothing is really important enough to worry about, pleasure and folly are the only activities worth undertaking. From another, similar, perspective the phrase can be read as hopeless, despairing resignation, pleasure and folly are doomed attempts to escape from an intolerable consciousness of futility . In ‘our play is done’, it is more about the innocent activities than about the play itself. It is a nostalgic recognition of the post innocence state. Feste’s song probably takes place on a dark, empty, silent stage, encapsulating Feste’s loneliness. His life is really as empty. He is as much an outcast as Malvolio, only he is not embittered. He is the artist. Isolated, presenting life, but not belonging to it. His song is a very cynical comment on human existence. To Feste the world does seem like a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. The song is a reminder of the theme of the play – youth and its subjection to time. The question which arises is whether this kind of existence is worth the strife. With this question the curtain descends on Shakespeare’s romantic world. The final song, which brings together all the melancholy passages in the play, leaves a yearning in the reader’s mind. A tinge of sadness which fills the heart and leaves a deep impression, is given to the whole play. This song marks a turning point in the world of Shakespearean drama. The playful attitude is done, now it is time for serious businesses of life, which involves the greatest of calamities. Perhaps at the moment Shakespeare himself identified with Feste. He who even with his immeasurable height of mind had to be the public’s jester and servant. Perhaps for an idle moment he wondered, if all this is worth the complications or not.