Truman Doctrine Essays (2378 words) - Presidency Of Harry S. Truman

Truman Doctrine The Truman Doctrine was the impetus for the change in United States foreign policy, from isolationist to internationalists; thus we were drawn into two wars of containment and into world affairs. The Truman Doctrine led to a major change in U.S. foreign policy from its inception - aid to Turkey and Greece - to its indirect influence in Korea and Vietnam. The aftermath of World War II inspired the U.S. to issue a proclamation that would stem Communist influence throughout the world. However, our zeal in that achievement sent our soldiers to die in Vietnam and Korea for a seemingly futile cause. It must be the policy of the U.S. to support free peoples. This is no more than a frank recognitions that totalitarian regimes imposed on free peoples . . .undermine the foundations of . . . peace and security of the United States. The Truman Doctrine would change the foreign policy of the United States and the world. This policy would first go in aid to support the democratic regimes in Turkey and Greece. These nations were being threatened by Soviet-supported rebels seeking to topple the government and install a Communist regime. The Soviets were also making extreme territorial demands especially concerning the Dardanelles. A direct influence of this Doctrine was, of course, the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan was designed to give aid to any European country damaged during World War II. It tremendously helped ravaged European nations such as Italy and France. By helping them economically, the Marshall Plan indirectly helped to stem growing Communist sentiment in these countries. The process whereby the Truman Doctrine came to fruition was a long and arduous one. After World War II, the Soviet Union and the United States stood at the pinnacle of world power. By the late '40's, the U.S.S.R. had caught up to the United States' nuclear weapons programs. In addition, they were very land-hungry. Throughout Russia's history, they have been in search of a port - a quest advanced further by Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. The Soviets in that respect were direct threats to their non-Communist neighbors: Greece, Turkey, and Iran. In Iran, the U.S.S.R. was not evacuating Iran's northern provinces despite entreaties from the United States. In Turkey, the Soviet Union coveted several naval bases along the Straits of Dardanelles. Further, they pressured Turkey for border cessions that Turkey had taken from Russia after World War I. In Greece, the Soviets encouraged the insurgent leader Markos Vafiades with arms and economic support. The British troops helping the Grecian government were strangled of supplies due to poor economic times in Britain. Also, further territorial requisitions to Yugoslavia, Albania, and Bulgaria were being made. Seeing the deteriorating U.S. - Soviet relations, Truman issued two statements about agreements, violations, reparations, and Soviet actions threatening U.S. security. 1. The Middle East is of strategic importance to the U.S.S.R.(from which they are in range of an air attack.) 2. The U.S. must be prepared to wage atomic and biological warfare. (Ferrel 247) Soon after, he sent bombers to the Middle East. He desired the return of all arms given to U.S.S.R. under the Lend-Lease Act. There isn't a doubt in my mind that Russia intends an invasion of Turkey and seizure of the Black Sea straits to the Mediterranean. Unless Russia is faced with an iron fist and strong language another war is in the making, How many divisions have you? Truman had his eye on the Soviets and on war. However, The U.S.S.R. never made such invasions and thus quelled Truman's paranoia. The Truman Doctrine was starting to develop during 1947 when Truman issued several statements. 1. The present Russian ambassador . . . persona non grata . . . does not belong in Washington. 2. Urge Stalin to pay us a visit. 3. Settle the Korean question give the Koreans a government of their own. 4. Settle the Manchurian question .. . support Chang Kai-Shek for a strong China. 5. Agree to discussion of Russia's lend-lease debt to the U.S. 6. Agree to commercial air treaty. 7. Make it plain that we have no territorial ambitions. That we only want peace, but we'll fight for it! Truman also set several goals for questioned territories: The U.S. would go to war if

The Meaning for the Common Spanish Surname Colon

The Meaning for the Common Spanish Surname 'Colon' The common Spanish surname, Colon, most commonly derives from the Spanish given name Colà ³n, meaning dove, from the Latin colombus, colomba. As a personal name, it was favored by early Christians because the dove was considered to be the symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Colon last name is comparable to the Italian and Portuguese surname Colombo. Etymology The Colon surname may also have English origins, being a variant of Colin derived from the Greek personal name Nicholas, meaning power of the people, from the  elements nickan, meaning to conquer, and laos, or people. The surname is considered to be of Spanish and English origin. In the 17th and 18th centuries, it was discovered that several Colon families moved to the Caribbean Islands and the Central American region. Colon is known as the 53rd most common Hispanic surname.  According to  Public Profiler: World Names, the majority of individuals with the Colon surname live in the United States, followed by additional concentrations in countries like Spain, Luxembourg, Belgium, and France.   Alternate Surname Spellings CoulonCollonCoulonsCoulombCoulomCoullonCoullonsCoulhonCoulombsDecoullonsDecoulons Famous People With the Surname Cristà ³bal Colà ³n aka Christopher Columbus: Famous Italian explorer best known for his discovery of the New World.Carlos Colà ³n: Retired Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is the father of wrestlers Carly Colà ³n, known professionally as Carlito, and Eddie Colà ³n, known professionally as Primo Colà ³n. He is also the uncle of WWE wrestler Epico, whose birth name is Orlando Colà ³n.Ashley Colon:  Puerto Rican artist singer originally from Jamaica. She started her career in the tropical music band Las Chicas del Clean, translating to the girls of the clan. Genealogy Resources 100 Common Hispanic Surnames Their MeaningsGarcia, Martinez, Rodriguez, Lopez, Hernandez. Are you one of the millions of people sporting one of these top 100 common Hispanic last names?COLON Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Colon surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Colon query.FamilySearch - COLON GenealogyFind records, queries, and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Colon surname and its variations.COLON Surname Family Mailing ListsRootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Colon surname.DistantCousin.com - COLON Genealogy Family HistoryFree databases and genealogy links for the last name Colon. Use the resource First Name Meanings to find the meaning of a given name. If you cant find your last name listed, you can suggest a surname be added to the Glossary of Surname Meanings and Origins. References: Surname Meanings and Origins Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German-Jewish Surnames. Avotaynu, 2005.Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia. Avotaynu, 2004.Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989.Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003.Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.

Perspectives of Native American Tribes (Response Paper) Essay

Perspectives of Native American Tribes (Response Paper) - Essay Example ing to the analytical discussion of Dowd (1993), the experience and perspectives of the Native American Tribes had undergone various stages including development and challenges during the period of American Revolution from the year 1754 to 1781. During the early stage of the revolution, the Indians had experienced numerous obstacles to their continuous survival as a citizen on their own native lands at the early 18th century due to the controlling vied of the British and French. The British and French troops vied their prominent control over the American continent during the mid of eighteenth century whereas, the Native American communities continued seeking for expanding their colonial lands with various settlements. Aftermath the seven years’ of War with the British, the diplomatic situation and decisions of the Indian populations came under a more circumscribed position1. However, the outburst of the American Revolution in 1754 had imposed major consequences for the Indian colonies in North America, which can be stated as one of the most defining events of the Native Americans. During this stage, adequate understanding about the American Revolution was also advocated as a major contest for the Indian peoples along with their liberty within their own land. In this regard, many of the Indian colonies were sided with a hope of achieving victory with the British, which would stem continuous expansion of the Western countries. In this context, a Free Mason named Joseph Brant along with sister Mary Brant played a crucial role by moving communities away from neutrality policies and into an association with the diplomatic decisions of the British. In this regard, the role of few leaders such as Brant along with his sister and participation of few other front-runners from the Native American tribes can be also regarded as major defining aspects in the history of the Native American and the American Revolution2. After being achieved a successful revolution, the

Satellite Technology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Satellite Technology - Research Paper Example Historically, the first artificial satellite was launched by Russia (at that time known as the Soviet Union) in the late 50s. Though, there was not a specific purpose behind that satellite, however, it was used to transmit a repeated simple Morse code signal. On the other hand, today’s new technology-based satellites are able to receive and re-transmit thousands of signals at the same time. These signals can be a simple digital data or they can include a complex TV program (Rouse; The Govt of PEI; Radio-Electronics). This paper presents an overview of the satellite technology. This research will cover a number of aspects such as the functioning of satellite technology, its uses, currently operational protocols, working distances, bandwidth etc. Uses of the Satellite Technology This section discusses some of the fundamental uses of the satellite technology. In the past, when the satellite technology was developing, satellites were interesting, hidden and top secret technology b ased systems. In fact, they were utilized mainly in a military power, for carrying out tasks such as espionage and navigation. On the other hand, they are currently a vital component of our daily lives. Now we can observe the use of satellites all around us: for example their utilization in weather reporting, TV transmission through DISH and DIRECTV Network, and daily telephone calls. Additionally, in numerous other examples, satellites perform a significant role in a number of areas. For instance, magazines and newspapers are more appropriate for the reason that they broadcast their images and text to a wide variety of printing websites using satellite to increase the speed of the local data and information distribution (Brown; Rouse). In addition, before transmitting data signals down the wire into our homes, cable TV is renitent upon the satellites technology to distribute its data. Moreover, the most dependable limousine and taxi drivers also make use of satellite technology bas ed Global Positioning Systems to determine the appropriate destination (Brown; Rouse). Satellite Functionality New technology-based communications satellites currently have a silent, however deep, influence on our daily lives. These technology based systems are used to connect remote regions of the Earth via television and telephone. Additionally, the modern business organizations conduct their business operations at high speed because of satellite technology. In fact, various newspapers, such as USA Today and The Wall Street Journal, are first designed and typeset and then for the sake of printing newspaper are all transmitted across the nation via satellite (Gulf of Maine Research Institute; Maral and Bousquet). Figure 1 Radio signals Source: http://www.gma.org/surfing/sats.html Figure1 shows that the radio communication signals near the microwave frequency transmission range are most excellent and extremely effective in transferring the huge volumes of data and information traffi c, for the reason that they are not redirected through the Earth's environment as minor data transmission frequencies are. In this scenario, they move around in a straight line, and this process is recognized as "line of sight data transfer and communication." If somebody in San Francisco attempts to beam a microwave data signal straightly to Hawaii, this will not be possible to send signals at such distance, in fact that the signal will disappear into space or dispel into the sea. Over

BCG Growth Matrix Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

BCG Growth Matrix - Assignment Example Market growth is the percentage at which the market is growing over a given period of time. Market or demand growth indicates opportunity. Low growth products or markets have greater competition and vice versa. Marketers and ecommerce owners can use industry analysis, published reports and third party tools to track sale rates to gauge market growth. Marketers should plot the market share and market growth at least annually for each product category on the BCG Matrix. The BCG Matrix has four quadrants. Products in the Dogs quadrant are those in the lower right quadrat. They have low growth and low market share. These products should be closed out. The Cash Cow products are those in the lower left quadrant (Roggio, 2014). They have good market share and low growth. These products are harvested from with the revenue being invested elsewhere. The Question Marks products are those in the upper right quadrant. They have low market share and high growth. These products are promoted and advertised. The Stars are the upper left quadrant. They have strong market share and high growth. Marketers hold on to the Stars and try to continue to grow with moderate advertising and marketing. The benefits of the BCG Matrix include helping marketers evaluate balance between the quadrants, seek experience and volume effects, prepare for the future, and manufacture new products at low enough prices to lead in the market share. BCG Matrix is also easy and simple to use. The limitations of the BCG Matrix is that it neglects synergism between product lines, the Dogs can earn more than Cash Cows sometimes, getting data can be a challenge, high market share sometimes does not reflect on profitability, low market share products can be profitable and small competitors with fast growing market shares are neglected. Roggio, A. (2014). Using the BCG Matrix for Ecommerce Marketing Decisions. Practical ecommerce. Retrieved from

Power Relations In Diego Velazquezs Las Meninas English Literature Essay

Power Relations In Diego Velazquezs Las Meninas English Literature Essay The author of the painting Las Meninas (1656), Diego Velà ¡zquez (1599-1660) worked at the court of Philip IV, thus at the centre of the centralised power structure of one of the original nation-states of Early Modern Europe. Las Meninas has been argued both in Velà ¡zquez time and in ours to be his masterpiece. My purpose in this essay is to argue for an interpretation of this painting and its shaping by an exploration of power relations rather than by perspectival considerations. My interest in the present essay will be to analyse Las Meninas within the perspective of power relations, in an effort to provide an alternative reading to the literature based purely on the technical aspects of the painting. A lot has been written regarding the great unclearness that the painting Las Meninas seals, but, there is a question that we must acknowledge in presence of the visual intricacy of the painting, what indeed did Velà ¡zquez paint? I am not looking to provide the final answer to this question in this essay. However, I believe that by analysing Las Meninas within the perspective of power relations, I can contribute to the scholarship on Velà ¡zquez and provide an approach that can also contribute to the answer of this question. Las Meninas (fig. 1) (Spanish for The Maids of Honour) is an oil on canvas painting with 318 cm ÃÆ'- 276 cm. The setting is a large room and it has long been unclear whether the interior represented in the painting is real or imaginary. F. J. Sà ¡nchez Cantà ³n identified the room by the paintings in it as the main chamber of an apartment in the Alcà ¡zar of Madrid that had been occupied by Prince Baltazar Carlos before its assignment to Velà ¡zquez.  [2]  However, F. Ià ±iguez Almech was unable, when analysing the seventeenth-century plans of Alcà ¡zar, to identify any room that would correspond to the one in the painting, being possible that Velà ¡zquez did not depict any actual room.  [3]   Fig. 1. Diego Velà ¡zquez, Las Meninas, 1656, Museu Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Available from: Museu Nacional del Prado Galerà ­a On-Line (accessed 29 March 2010). The painting presents a composition distributed in well organised spatial structure that provides to the depicted room a sensation of realism, proximity and depth, being the composition concentric, with the Infanta Margarita Marà ­a de Austria as its focal point.  [4]  The depth of the painting is accentuated by the frames on the wall on the right, by the canvas on the left and by the two empty chandeliers on the ceiling. In addition, the painting combines discreet colours, providing harmony to the painting (white, grey and black of the attires with details in red, beige of the canvas, and again tones of black and grey in the non-illuminated parts of the room).  [5]   On the right of the room, one has an oblique view of the wall with apertures which seem to be windows that let light into the room. On the left, the view of the room is cut by a large canvas seen from the back. The painter himself, Diego Velà ¡zquez, is portrayed in front of this canvas with a paintbrush on his hand, who seems to have just stopped working on the canvas for a moment in order to gaze out his models. Velà ¡zquez was fifty-seven years old when he painted Las Meninas and depicted himself in it, but without wrinkles, white hair, or any other sign that could indicate his actual age. The canvas Velà ¡zquez is working on is not visible to the viewer. More or less to the centre of the canvas stands a little girl identified as the Infanta of Spain, Doà ±a Margarita Marà ­a de Austria, who also gazes out in the manner of a portrait, and around who the other figures gravitate . . . like planets of an intricate, subtly ordered system, and reflect her light.  [6]  She is s urrounded on both sides by two young women attendants (the meninas of the title), being the one on the left (Doà ±a Marà ­a Agustina Sarmiento de Sotomayor) kneeling at the feet of the Infanta and offering her a bà ºcaro in a tray, while the other on the right (Doà ±a Isabel de Velasco) inclines a bit to the Infanta and turns her glance outwards the canvas. To the right of this group, in the corner of the canvas, stand two dwarves of distorted appearance, also court attendants. The woman named Marà ­a Barbola gazes outwards, while the midget who steps on the dog is Nicolasico Pertusato. On a more distant plan is Doà ±a Marcela de Ulloa, lady of honour, who turns her head to address a man (escort for ladies of the court), who stands beside her and looks outwards. Some distance behind them is the rear wall of the room, which has a door where stands Don Josà © Nieto Velà ¡zquez, Aposentador of the Queen, also gazing outwards. To the left of Josà © Nieto, the King Philip IV and the Queen Marà ­a Ana de Austria are reflected in a mirror. Some of the figures in the painting present little problem of identification, namely Velà ¡zquez and the Infanta; the others are less obvious. This identification of the figures in the painting is based on Velà ¡zquez earliest biographer, Antonio Palomino, who named the figures in Las Meninas on the basis of the known population of the court in Book III of his Museu Pictà ³rico y Escala Óptica, which was first published in 1724.  [7]  Palomino also identifies the two paintings in the upper part of the back wall with the then current royal holdings: Minerva Punishing Arachne and Apollos Victory over Marsyas, both originally by Peter Paul Rubens.  [8]   The Infanta occupies the centre of the visual focus, together with the King and Queens reflection on the mirror and the painter. The superior half of the painting is occupied with lamps and spots of light that enter trough the openings on the right wall; there are shadows covering the back superior part of the wall. The scene is taken from an angle that closes itself in the right with an opening in the wall. In the left, in another diagonal plan, the painting that is being painted by Velà ¡zquez leaves the figures in second plan and cuts obliquely the space. In the back, the mirror and the door make allusion to unknown spaces, which together with the spatial configuration of the portrayed room open the painting to the exterior and pulls the viewer to inside of the composition. As Madlyn Millner Kahr points out, the mirror in the painting contributes its own special brand of magic. In Las Meninas it directs the observers attention to events going on outside the picture (the presence of the royal couple), which in turn brings the observer within the picture area.  [9]   On her article Velà ¡zquez and Las Meninas, Kahr divides the cast of characters with a wide range of ages and physical types into different groups.  [10]  One of these groups is the dog, the midget and the female dwarf. According to Kahr, these three characters form a group apart due to their position in space and their compositional unity.  [11]  The central group, as Kahr argues, stands behind them, being constituted by the Infanta and the two meninas. The painter, Doà ±a Marcela de Ulloa and the guardadamas forms another group; and the last group is composed by the Aposentador of the Queen standing in the stairs and by King Philip IV and Queen Marà ­a Ana reflected on the mirror.  [12]  Thus, Kahr divides the characters in groups of three. This division provides unity, coherence and structure to the painting, and by placing the group of the Infanta and the two meninas as the central one, Kahrs group division concurs with Palominos consideration that the painting is a portrait of the Infanta.  [13]  The light that enters the room by the right side wall apertures mainly illuminates the Infanta, Doà ±a Maria Agustina Sarmiento and partially the other menina, that are highlighted in relation to the darkness behind them, reinforcing the conception that Las Meninas is a portrait of the Infanta of Spain. Carl Justi also described Las Meninas as a portrait of the Infanta Margarita as the centre of a recurrent scene of the palace life.  [14]   Joel Snyder agrees that considering the painting as the portrait of the Infanta Margarita, as Palomino and Carl Justi do, is a movement in the correct direction, but it fails to explain the presence of all the other figures in it that compete for our attention.  [15]  Jonathan Brown states that the subject of the painting is no one in particular, but that the painting is a claim for the nobility of Velà ¡zquezs art.  [16]  However, Snyder points out: To suggest that Las Meninas is a demonstration of the nobility of painting and of its proper place in the liberal arts, as Jonathan Brown does, is to locate the interest of the painting in the conditions of its origination and in the means employed to produce the demonstration. This is surely interesting and, if correct, revealing; but, again, it does not bring us to terms with the subject of the painting with what the painting is tout ensemble.  [17]   Firstly, the tout ensemble of the painting may be explored individually (considering the power relations between each figure in the painting), in order to then identify the subject of the painting. In approaching this issue, one should agree that one can identify the presence of the centralised power in the painting Las Meninas. The power in this painting may be recognized in several aspects. There is in the painting two distinct social groups: the working class and the one that enjoys the labour of those who work. On the one hand, we have the painter, the maids, the lady of honour, the escort for ladies of the court, the Aposentador of the Queen, and the dwarfs represented; while, on the other hand, we have the aristocracy represented in the Infanta that occupies the centre of the painting and King Philip IV and Queen Marà ­a Ana de Austria reflected on the mirror. When one questions why Velà ¡zquez depicted himself together with all the members of the royal household, the answer may be that he wanted to indicate that he also belonged to this illustrious circle. Sira Dambe states that in Golden Age Spain, the art of painting, still relegated to the rank of craft, had not yet been accorded equal status with the higher arts, such as music or poetry.  [18]  Therefore, this painting may be seen as Velà ¡zquezs proclamation of . . . power and status as a creator.  [19]  The ecclesiastic power is also present in the cross of the Santiagos Order in the chest of the painter, which was not originally painted by Velà ¡zquez, being painted after the artists death by the Kings demand.  [20]  When analysing the Fable of Arachne and Las Meninas, Jonathan Brown states, [Velà ¡zquezs] claim for the nobility of his art are firmly embedded in these multi-layered works, and in Las Meninas the gentleman painter, stands confidently at the easel, bas king in the glory of the monarchs person. And on his breast, the vibrant red cross of Santiago marks the artist as a nobleman.  [21]   In addition, one can also identify the presence of the artistical power of the painter over the remaining figures due to the dominium of the artistic language, but at the same time, the artistic needs to obey to a superior power, and in this case, the kingship. This statement finds support on the royal couple pictured in the mirror that accordingly represent the royal power. On her article Picturing Power: Representation and Las Meninas, Amy M. Schmitter affirms: The Kings representation is a force of power, a manifestation of royal power that embodies, displays, and extends it. It is a representation that acts, that represents by presenting, exhibiting, or exposing titles and qualifications, by figuring them in painting, by being a sign, by bringing to observation, and by playing in public. It thereby constitutes its subject, the royal power and the royal office, by representing it.  [22]   One can agree that the depiction of the King Philip IV and the Queen Marà ­a Ana de Austria on the mirror and of the Infanta Margarita as main focus of the painting represents directly in the painting the royal power it represents those that should be looked with reverence and submission. Furthermore, with the glances one receives and returns in the painting, the represented royal power gazes with control and vigilance over everyone else. Regarding the power relations between the remaining figures of the painting, one can argue that the meninas, the guardadamas and the lady of honour, by their own social condition are subordinates of the kingship. The two dwarfs are also condemned to the royal power and have as their function to entertain the royal household. The dog that is being stepped by the dwarf on the right is condemned to an even lower position (a submissive animal). In this perspective of power relations, the presence of Josà © Nieto Velà ¡zquez becomes enigmatic. Despite being the Aposentador of the Queen and therefore ruled by the royal power, he is portrayed in profile on the stairs of the back door, seemingly indicating an indecision of staying under the gaze of the royal power or leaving. From this analysis, one can agree that all the figures of the painting are entangled in the webs of power. Although the delimitations of power are well defined in the painting, representing the historical, political and economic conditions of seventeenth-century Spain, another way of looking at this issue is through the indirect allusions also present in the painting, such as the dwarf, positioned in perfect diagonal alignment with the painter. The two associate by contrast: the painter as the creator and admirer of what is beautiful, and the dwarf as symbol of deformity. In common, there is the fact that both are represented images of social groups placed aside from power. One should, nevertheless, consider this opposition from another angle. From the contrast itself between what the painter and the dwarf represent, one can obtain an exchange of parts by acknowledging that the arts represent both the sublime as well as the grotesque. Therefore, there is in this aesthetical inscription a subversion of the institutionalised values of power. The power of kingship is also central in Michel Foucaults chapter on Diego Velà ¡zquezs Las Meninas, being this the opening chapter of his book The Order of Things.  [23]  According to Foucault the function of the mirror reflection of the King and the Queen is to bring to the painting what is external to it. In the chapter Las Meninas, Foucault attributes the theme of the painting to the external space and gives the Infanta and her maids (internal space) the function of entertaining the King and Queen that are in front of the representation (outside space) as Và ©lazquezs models.  [24]   Foucaults critical analysis derives from the observation angle of the Infanta, the King and Queen in the mirror and how their gazes define the centre of the picture. The mirror in the back leads to the conclusion, as Foucault states, that it is about a question of what looks and what is looked. From these encounters of gazes and perceptions, the author notes that the notion of double arises from this painting. To Foucault the double reveals itself in the painting from inside the painting itself. The painting that Velà ¡zquez is painting in the portrait will be the representation of the reflexion of the King and Queen in the mirror at the back.  [25]   On the chapter dedicated to Las Meninas, Foucault argues that the Classical age, roughly the period from the seventeenth-century to the eighteenth-century, was a period when the intellectual world focused on the representations of the real. Accordingly, Foucault defines the subject of Las Meninas as the representation itself. To quote from Foucault: Perhaps there exists, in this painting by Velà ¡zquez, the representation as it were of Classical representation, and the definition of space it opens up to us . . . But there, in the midst of this dispersion which is simultaneously grouping together and spreading out before us, indicated compellingly from every side, is an essential void: the necessary disappearance of that which is its foundation of the person it resembles and the person whose eyes it is only a resemblance. This very subject which is the same has been elided. And representation, freed finally from the relation that was impeding it, can offer itself as representation in its pure form.  [26]   Therefore, Foucault argues that in Las Meninas representation tries to interpretate itself. In contemporaneous philosophy, it is the language that is going to establish the relation between the similarities with the world, making possible representation. Thus, one can affirm that the turning point from classic epistà ªmà ª to modern epistà ªmà ª is the passage of language as mediator (in representation) to object of knowledge. In the modern epistà ªmà ª, language does not reveal more directly the identity of the world, but it reveals the relations between things and the Man. It is from here that occurs the questioning of Man as centre around whom all the knowledge is created. Thus, Velà ¡zquez painting represents what is to come. The modern epistà ªmà ª is anticipated in Velà ¡zquezs Las Meninas it is the utopic function of art of anticipating the future. Consequently, to Foucault, Las Meninas is represented in an epistemic system the subject of representation should rema in invisible (the empty space of the kingship is the place that in the modern episteme will be occupied by the Man). Foucault points out: At once object since it is what the artist is copying onto his canvas and subject since what the painter had in front of his eyes, as he represented himself in the course of work, was himself, since the gazes portrayed in the picture are all directed toward the fictitious position occupied by the royal personage, which is also the painters real place, since the occupier of that ambiguous place, in which the painter and the sovereign alternate, in never-ending flicker, as it were, is the spectator, whose gaze transforms the painting into object, the pure representation of that essential absence.  [27]   Moreover, Foucault argues that the mirror portrayed in Las Meninas portrays the confrontation between representation and reflexion, being that a painting is different from a mirror and a representation goes beyond a reflexion. Therefore, the painting is a representation for the observer, and in the painting of Velà ¡zquez one has the painting itself, and inside it one has other represented paintings and also a canvas in first plan viewed from the back. In all, this painting is a representation that has as subject a kind of empty place that we can fill with several models. Foucault argues that instead of instituting a simple relation of mimesis as the main theme of the painting, the figures of the royal couple would be indicated as a kind of essential emptiness.  [28]   According to Foucault, the canvas on the left is the place for a dichotomy between visible/invisible. What the painter looks is doubly invisible, because it is not represented in the painting, and because we cannot see ourselves. The mirror in the back is the only visible representation, but despite that fact, no one looks at it. However, what is there represented, has nothing to do with what the painting presents, it reflects something that is exterior to the painting. In the place occupied by the spectator, are the models of the painter. Therefore, the painting allows to see what is doubly invisible. The characters in the mirror are the less noticed, but it is around them that all the representation happens. It is to them that all the other characters look gazing outwards the painting.  [29]  Thus, there are three looks that meet on the outside of the painting: of the model, in the moment he is being painted, of the spectator that contemplates the scene, and of the painter in the moment he paints the painting (the one in front of us, and not the one represented in the painting). Quoting from Foucaults The Order of Things: Of all the figures represented before us, they [the royals] are also the most ignored, since no one is paying the slightest attention to that reflection [in the mirror] which has slipped into the room behind them all, silently occupying its unsuspected space; in so far as they are visible, they are the frailest and the most distant form of all reality. Inversely, in so far as they stand outside the picture and are therefore withdrawn from it in an essential invisibility, they provide the centre around which the entire representation is ordered: it is they who are being faced, it is towards them that everyone is turned . . . from the canvas with its back to us to the Infanta, and from the Infanta to the dwarf playing on the extreme right, there runs a curve . . . that orders the whole arrangement of the picture to their gaze and thus makes apparent the true centre of the composition, to which the Infantas gaze and the image in the mirror are both finally subject.  [30]   One should note here that Foucaults theory emphasises the interior look it constitutes the interior from the exterior as a device built from the outside to the inside of the webs of power. Las Meninas, in Foucaults interpretation help us see this paradigm. By observing the painting, it is noticeable that the modern subject is constituted by surveillance, by the absent look (but at the same time very present), of a power that determines everything, from the characters clothing, gestures, attention, social position, in sum the ways of feeling and seeing are determined by a power that sees all and controls all. In view of these arguments, Foucault points out: In the profound upheaval of such an archaeological mutation, man appears in his ambiguous position as an object of knowledge and as a subject that knows: enslaved sovereign, observed spectator, he appears in the place belonging to the king, which was assigned to him in advance by Las Meninas, but from which his real presence has for long been excluded.  [31]   On his article Velà ¡zquez Las Meninas, Leo Steinberg presents similar arguments to Foucaults, including the viewers of the painting as part of a sphere which the partitioning picture plane cuts in two.  [32]  As Steinberg points out, if the picture were speaking instead of flashing, it would be saying: I see you seeing me I in you see myself seen see yourself being seen and so on beyond the reaches of the grammar.  [33]  What particularly interests me in Foucaults and Steinbergs approaches is the placing of the modern Man (in Foucaults case), and the observer (in Steinbergs case), as pivotal figures in the interpretation of Las Meninas, being that in their approaches the Man/observer holds the power he occupies the place of the royal power. To conclude, when one considers all these different approaches to Las Meninas, one is presented with a complex web of power relations. Firstly, the painting was produced in seventeenth-century Spain, a original nation-state of Early Modern Europe, and in and with the court of Philip IV the centre of a centralised power structure. Secondly, the painting depicts the royal power interiorly with the portrayal of the Infanta and the King and the Queen in the mirror, and at the same time exteriorly trough the implied presence of the royal couple reflected on the mirror. Thirdly, the painting also portrays all those ruled by the monarchic power, such as the maids of honour, the lady of honour, the guardadamas, the dwarfs, the Aposentador of the Queen, and also the painter. Fourthly, it also depicts Velà ¡zquezs proclamation of power by portraying himself in the royal household as a nobleman, and at the same time it celebrates his artistical power. Finally, the painting invisibly portrays the Man/observer that occupies the same place of the royal couple outside the painting, and that this way holds the power both as subject of representation and holder of knowledge. Therefore, one can conclude that what Velà ¡zquez did indeed paint in Las Meninas was power royal power, artistical power, and intellectual power. The setting and the figures of Las Meninas are merely incorporations of power relations, being the painting on his whole a metaphor of power.

Give Students a Break :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Give Students a Break Students at Tech, and indeed at most colleges, eagerly anticipate holidays because they provide a welcome break from classes. Although some may say that breaks only take away valuable class time from students, they fail to see the educational benefits that breaks afford. Tech's sparse holiday offerings take little advantage of these benefits. Tech is harming students, who could greatly benefit from the time breaks offer for relaxation, family interaction, and studying. Despite criticism, breaks do not necessarily have to adversely affect students' education by taking away important class time. There are many ways Tech could integrate breaks into its semester schedules without loosing any class time at all. For instance, classes could begin a few days early or end a few days late, allowing breaks to be added into the semesters. Alternatively, Tech could shorten its overly-long twenty-eight day Christmas break and use those days for breaks during the semesters. Careful planning of the breaks already offered would even help. During the fall semester, Tech currently offers one of its five breaks less than a week after classes begin and three more of its breaks less than three weeks before Christmas break begins. This poor scheduling leaves large gaps during the semester with no breaks at all. Why, though, are breaks important from an educational standpoint? One reason is that they lightens students' stress loads. College is stressful enough with breaks; without them, students have no way to recuperate from the stress of classes. During Montana Tech's fall semester, there are over two months of straight classes that contain no breaks at all. During the spring semester, there are two more large gaps between breaks, one of which is also over two months long. Although weekends do help, these are often used for studying and homework and do little to ease the students' stress. Many students begin to dislike their classes because of the stress they cause, and as a result, some put less effort into their studying. Breaks allow students some time off from their classes to relax so that they can come back refreshed. Another reason breaks are important is that they give students time to spend with their families. It is very important to develop social skills during college and, it is also important to become more independent. Both of these will aid the student when starting a new life after graduation. But family relationships are still very important for students.