Reducing Classroom Size
July 26, 2008
by Paul Mikesell
One of the major issues in the current academic system that continues to be a source of controversy is class size. As the research presented throughout this essay will illustrate, students greatly benefit from being placed in classrooms with a greater teacher-to-student ratio. While many see agree with this position, it is often seen as unlikely to change. This is simply due to the economics of the issue. To reduce the class size, more teachers would need to be hired and the money to do this could not be found in many schools. It may appear difficult to institute, but I feel that smaller classroom size will greatly increase the quality of education given to students and be worth the economic costs. Read the rest of this entry »
Woody Allen: The Director and the Character
July 17, 2008
by Paul Mikesell
The collective works of Woody Allen tend to feel as though they are parts of a larger work better than most modern directors. Part of this feeling comes from the fact that Allen directs, writes, and stars in nearly all of his films. Even as he experiments with various genres, his films maintain the feeling that is present throughout his other films. Three of his most well-known and respected films are Annie Hall, Manhattan, and Hannah and Her Sisters. 1977’s Annie Hall is often considered Allen’s best film and won the Academy Award for Best Picture (beating out Star Wars in what today would seem nearly impossible). It describes the beginning through the end of a romance between Alvy (Allen) and Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). Allen’s comedic follow-up to Annie Hall, 1979’s Manhattan, reunites him on film with Keaton in an extremely stylistic film shot in black and white that tells the stories of multiple relationships and the accompanying loneliness. The final film I will be looking at is 1986’s Hannah and Her Sisters. This film presents three sisters, Hannah (Mia Farrow), Lee (Barbara Hershey), and Holly (Dianne Wiest), who all face instability within their relationships with their family, friends, and significant others.
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(Note: I don’t think this is actually a very good paper. However, I received an A for it, so what do I know?)
by Paul Mikesell
John Hughes’ 1986 comedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is essentially two different films when placing it as an “urban text.” A portrayal of the suburbs is presented at the beginning and the end of the film, and a portrayal of the city is shown in between. Both portrayals can be utilized in completing an analysis of Ferris Bueller as an urban text.
The term “urban text” refers to a genre that any text can fit into. It is important to note at this point that “urban” does not simply refer to the city in an urban text. The same techniques can be used to analyze a text that is set within the suburbs. As this film takes place in both locations, I will analyze both the city and the suburbs and their relation to the urban text.
There are certain expectations of a text once the reader knows and understands which genre(s) it fits into. The primary expectation of an urban text is it having the theme of the individual versus society. In Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, this theme is presented through the title character’s drive to skip school and spend the beautiful day on his own terms. In a broader sense even, the theme is reflected through the dichotomy between inside and outside. In an urban text, society is often represented through the inside, while the individual is at odds with this by being outside. One can view Ferris as the ultimate individual as he spends his day outside in Chicago, as opposed to inside a classroom at school.
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by Paul Mikesell
Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita is a work of fiction. It is a made up story. Humbert Humbert is not a real person and his actions did not happen. The issue that arises while reading Lolita is that Nabokov essentially tricks the reader into believing that the story is real, that a work of non-fiction is being read. Nabokov writes with a modernistic intent: his purpose in creating Art is to lie to the reader. Lolita is Art through lies being presented as fact.
