Biyernes, Marso 22, 2013

MCBETH by William Shakespeare


We start with some creepy witches cackling about some guy named "Macbeth," and then cut to post-battle, where we learn that this Macbeth has been kicking serious tail in battle—so much that King Duncan has decided to give him the title Thane of Cawdor.
Now it's time to meet Macbeth. He's prancing home on a dark and stormy night after defending King Duncan in battle with some skilled enemy-disemboweling. Understandably, he's feeling pretty good about himself. Just then, he and his good pal Banquo run into three bearded witches (the "weird sisters"), who rhymingly prophesy that Macbeth will be named (guess what?) Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland. Just as Banquo is pouting about being left out, the witches tell him that he'll be father to a long line of future kings of Scotland.
The next thing we know, a guy named Ross shows up to say that, since the old Thane of Cawdor turned out to be a traitor and is about to have his head lopped off and displayed on a pike, Macbeth gets to take his place as Thane of Cawdor. Sweet! That takes care of the first prophecy. At this rate, the play will be over before lunch.
While Macbeth is waiting around for "chance" to come along and make him king, he starts getting restless. His ambitious wife, Lady Macbeth, prods him into acting like a "man" and killing King Duncan when the poor guy comes to Macbeth's castle for a friendly visit.
When Macduff (yeah, we know, there are more "Macsomebodies" in this play than an episode of Grey's Anatomy) finds the king's dead body, Macbeth kills the guards and conveniently accuses them of murdering the king. King Duncan's kids, Donalbain and Malcolm, find out what's happened, they high tail it out of Scotland so they can't be murdered too.
Macbeth is named king and things are gravy. Prophecies fulfilled! Except, wait. Macbeth starts to worry about the witch's prophecy that Banquo's heirs will be kings. Macbeth's not about to let someone bump him off the throne so, he hires some hit-men to take care of Banquo and his son, the unfortunately named Fleance. Banquo is murdered, but Fleance escapes.
Things go downhill for Macbeth, who's more haunted than an episode of Ghost Hunters. He pops in on the Weird Sisters for another prophesy, which comes in three parts: (1) watch out for Macduff; (2) No man born of woman is going to hurt him; and (3) Don't worry until Birnam Wood (a forest) moves to Dunsinane.
Macbeth breathes a sigh of relief with #2 and #3, since those are obviously impossible situations and mean that he's effectively safe. The one about Macduff has him a little worried, though, so he kills off Macduff's family. Naturally.
By now, people are starting to get a little suspicious. Macduff and Malcolm pay a visit to the awesome English king,Edward the Confessor, and start plotting with the English soldiers how to save Scotland from Macbeth's tyranny. Oh, and Lady Macbeth? She's not doing so hot. In fact, she basically dies of guilt. But Macbeth is safe, right? Not so fast. Macduff and Malcolm show up with their army and order troops to cut the branches from the trees in Birnam Wood for camouflage.
Remember what the weird sisters said about Birnam Wood moving to Dunsinane? Then you know where this is headed. Macduff corners Macbeth; calls him a "hell-hound"; tells him that he, Macduff, was "untimely ripped" from his mother's womb, i.e. delivered via C-section rather than being "born; and then cuts off his head. So much for the phony king of Scotland.
# MYTHODOLOGICAL THEORY

BLEAK HOUSE by Charles Dickens


Sir Leicester Dedlock and Honoria, Lady Dedlock (his junior by more than 20 years) live at his estate of Chesney Wold. Unknown to Sir Leicester, Lady Dedlock had a lover, Captain Hawdon, before she married Sir Leicester — and had a child by him, Esther Summerson. Lady Dedlock, believing her daughter is dead, has chosen to live out her days 'bored to death' as a fashionable lady of the world.
Esther is raised by Miss Barbary, Lady Dedlock's spartan sister, who instils a sense of worthlessness in her that Esther will battle throughout the novel. Esther doesn't know that Miss Barbary is her aunt, thinking of her only as her godmother. When Miss Barbary dies, the Chancery lawyer Conversation Kenge takes charge of Esther's future on the instruction of his client, John Jarndyce. Jarndyce becomes Esther's guardian, and after attending school in Reading for six years, Esther moves in with him at Bleak House, along with his wards, Richard Carstone and Ada Clare. Esther is to be Ada's companion.
Meanwhile, Lady Dedlock is also a beneficiary under one of the wills in Jarndyce and Jarndyce. Early in the book, while listening to her solicitor, the close-mouthed but shrewd Mr. Tulkinghorn, read an affidavit aloud, she recognizes the handwriting on the copy. The sight affects her so much that she almost faints, which Tulkinghorn notes and thinks should be investigated. He traces the copyist who turns out to be a pauper known only as "Nemo" who has recently died. The only person to identify him is a street-sweeper, a poor homeless boy named Esther meets her mother at church and talks with her later at Chesney Wold - though, at first, neither woman recognizes the tie that binds them. Later, Lady Dedlock realizes that her abandoned child is not dead and is, in fact, Esther. She waits to confront Esther with this knowledge until Esther survives an unidentified disease (possibly smallpox, as it permanently disfigures her), which she got from her the homeless boy Jo after Esther and her maid Charley attempted to nurse him back to health. Though they are happy to be reunited, Lady Dedlock tells Esther that they must never acknowledge their connection again.Lady Dedlock also investigates the matter disguised as her French maid, Mademoiselle Hortense. She pays Jo to take her to Nemo's grave. Meanwhile, Tulkinghorn is convinced that Lady Dedlock's secret might threaten the interests of his client, Sir Leicester Dedlock, and watches her constantly, even enlisting the maid, who detests her.Esther soon befriends both Ada and Richard, who are cousins. They are beneficiaries in one of the wills at issue in Jarndyce and Jarndyce; their guardian is a beneficiary under another will, and in some undefined way the two wills conflict. Richard and Ada soon fall in love, but though Mr. Jarndyce doesn't oppose the match, he stipulates that Richard (who is inconstant) must first choose a profession. Richard first tries the medical profession, and Esther first meets the newly-qualified Dr. Allan Woodcourt at the house of Richard's prospective tutor, Mr. Baynham Badger. When Richard mentions the prospect of gaining from the resolution of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, John Jarndyce beseeches him never to put faith in what he calls "the family curse".
Esther recovers, but her beauty is supposedly ruined. She finds that Richard, having failed at several professions, has ignored his guardian and is wasting his resources in pushing Jarndyce and Jarndyce to conclusion (in his and Ada's favour). Further, he has broken with his guardian, under the influence of his lawyer, the odious and crafty Mr. Vholes. In the process of becoming an active litigant, Richard has lost all his money and is breaking his health. In further defiance of John Jarndyce, he and Ada have secretly married, and Ada is carrying Richard's child. Esther experiences her own romance when Dr. Woodcourt returns to England, having survived a shipwreck, and continues to seek her company despite her disfigurement. Unfortunately, Esther has already agreed to marry her guardian, John Jarndyce.
Hortense and Tulkinghorn discover Lady Dedlock's past. After a quiet but desperate confrontation with the lawyer, Lady Dedlock flees her home, leaving a note apologizing for her conduct. Tulkinghorn dismisses Hortense, no longer any use to him. Feeling abandoned and betrayed by Lady Dedlock and Tulkinghorn, Hortense kills Tulkinghorn and seeks to frame Lady Dedlock for his murder. Sir Leicester discovers his lawyer's death and his wife's flight, and he has a catastrophic stroke but manages to communicate that he forgives his wife and wants her to return to him.
Developments in Jarndyce and Jarndyce seem to take a turn for the better when a later will is found which revokes all previous wills and leaves the bulk of the estate to Richard and Ada. Meanwhile, John Jarndyce cancels his engagement with Esther, who becomes engaged to Dr. Woodcourt. They go to Chancery to find Richard and to discover what news there might be of the lawsuit's resolution. To their horror, they learn that the new will has no chance to resolve Jarndyce and Jarndyce, for the costs of litigation have consumed the estate. Richard collapses, and Dr Woodcourt determines that he is in the last stages of tuberculosis. Richard apologizes to John Jarndyce and dies, leaving Ada alone with their child, a boy she names Richard. Jarndyce takes in Ada and the child. Esther and Woodcourt marry and live in a Yorkshire house which Jarndyce gives to them. In time, they have two daughters.Inspector Bucket, who up to now has investigated several matters on the periphery of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, accepts the commission of the stricken Sir Leicester to find Lady Dedlock. He suspects Lady Dedlock, even after he arrests George Rouncewell (the only other person known to be with Tulkinghorn on the night of the murder and to have quarrelled with him repeatedly). Bucket asks Esther to help search for Lady Dedlock. By this point, Bucket has cleared Lady Dedlock by discovering Hortense's guilt, but Lady Dedlock has no way to know this and wanders the country in cold weather before dying at the cemetery of her former lover Captain Hawdon (Nemo). Esther and Bucket find her there.
Many of this intricate novel's subplots deal with the minor characters and their diverse ties to the main plot. One of these subplots is the hard life and happy though difficult marriage of Caddy Jellyby and Prince Turveydrop. Another focuses on George Rouncewell's rediscovery of his family at Chesney Wold and his reunion with his mother and brother.
               
                      Bleak House focuses on its unique narrative structure: it is told both by an unidentified, third-person narrator and a first-person narrator, Esther Summerson. The third-person narrator speaks in the present tense, ranging widely across geographic and social space (from the aristocratic Dedlock estate to the desperately poor Tom-All-Alone's in London), and gives full rein to Dickens' desire to satirize the English chancery system — though this narrator's perceptiveness has limits, stopping at the outside to describe characters' appearances and behaviour without any pretence of grasping or revealing their inner lives. Esther Summerson tells her own story in the past tense and her narrative voice is characterised by modesty, consciousness of her own limits, and willingness to disclose to us her own thoughts and feelings. These two narrative strands never quite intersect, though they do run in parallel. Nabokov, after describing the ways Esther's voice changes as the novel progresses, concluded that letting Esther tell part of the story was Dicken's "main mistake" in planning the novel Alex Zwerdling, a scholar from Berkeley, after observing that "critics have not been kind to Esther," however, thought Dickens' use of Esther's narrative "one of the triumphs of his art.
# POST-MODERNISM THEORY

HOW THE MINDS WORK by Steven Pinker



Whatever their weaknesses, one thing of which thinkers attracted to sociobiology have plenty is confidence. Jared Diamond subtitled a recent book A Short History of Everybody for the Last 13 000 Years. Daniel Dennett has published a book entitled Consciousness Explained. And now Steven Pinker wants to tell us How the Mind Works.
Actually, Pinker concludes his book by suggesting that we can never know how the mind works - not completely anyway. If the mind is the product of natural selection, he asks, 'why should we expect it comprehend all mysteries and to grasp all truths?' Among the mysteries that he expects not to understand are consciousness, sentience and free will. But then, Pinker seems to believe that these are philosophical, not scientific, concerns. And his aim is to sweep away philosophical speculation from psychology and provide a truly scientific account of the mind. Perhaps unsurprisingly, in this he fails. But where he succeeds is in creating a book that is witty, erudite, stimulating and provocative.
There are two key arguments to How the Mind Works. First, Pinker wants us to think of the mind as a natural computer, which works by using a set of rules or algorithms to process data. By specifying these rules, and understanding how they are implemented, we can begin to learn how the mind works. Second, Pinker argues that these rules have been selected for in the course of evolution. Each set of algorithms constitutes a 'module' or separate organ within the brain, designed by natural selection to carry out a very specific task: to learn a language, for instance, to recognise faces or to behave romantically. Pinker's attempt to stitch these two elements into a cohesive narrative is not entirely convincing. The first part of the book, on the psychology of cognition, is brilliantly argued and wondrously written. The second half, which examines the evolutionary antecedents of the mind, descends into cod-psychology and often reads more like Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus than a scientific exposition. (Anger, Pinker informs us, 'protects a person whose niceness has left her vulnerable to being cheated'; guilt can 'rack a cheater who is in danger of being found out'.)
By far the most persuasive part of Pinker's book is his discussion of what has been dubbed the Computational Theory of Mind. At its heart is the idea that intelligent systems, like the human brain, cannot simply be stuffed with trillions of facts. Rather, they must be equipped with a smaller list of core truths and a set of algorithms to deduce their implications.
For example, what we call common sense embodies an immeasurable number of facts about the world that we take for granted. You know that when Edna goes to church her head goes with her. We know that if Doug is in the house he must have gone through some opening unless he was born there and never left. Such notions cannot be specified, fact by fact, in the brain. They must derive from a tacit understanding of how the world works. The mind, Pinker writes, solves its unsolvable problems by 'a leap of faith about how the world works'.
Pinker demonstrates the power of the computational model in a brilliant exposition of human vision. The act of seeing, Pinker explains, is not simply a matter of recording sensory data from the eye, but of transforming that data into meaningful chunks of information, a process that is astonishingly difficult but capable of explanation by the computation theory. Pinker's description of the 'Mind's Eye' is one of the most elegant pieces of writing I have come across about the mechanics of living processes.
How many sets of algorithms does the brain possess? It used to be thought the brain was a single general-purpose processor that applied the same set of rules to every situation. This is now regarded as highly improbable. As Pinker puts it, 'only an angel could be general problem solver'. In mere mortals 'the mind has to be built out of specialised parts because it has to solve specialised problems.'
Pinker, in common with most evolutionary psychologists, believes that just as the body is built out of specialised organs, so too is the mind, with each organ or module designed to carry out a specific task. Designed by who or what? By natural selection. In the same way as the eye or the kidney has evolved so have the organs of the brain. And what tasks are they designed to accomplish? According to Pinker, the tasks that beset our Stone Age ancestors who lived when our mind was evolving. Through ninety-nine per cent of our history humans lived as hunter-gatherers. Evolution, therefore, has designed the human mind to solve the problems, not of modern life, but of the Stone Age. The mind, Pinker writes, 'is a system of organs of computation designed by natural selection to solve the kind of problems our ancestors faced in their foraging way of life.'
A number of lines of evidence have given credibility to the idea of a 'modular' mind. Child psychologists, for instance, have shown that infants as young as three months have knowledge about what constitutes an object and about how objects move that is unlikely to have been learnt. Psychologists have dubbed this innate knowledge 'intuitive physics'. Similarly many psychologists now believe that infants have an instinctive understanding of the difference between animate and inanimate objects ('intuitive biology') and that other human beings have the capacity to think and hold beliefs ('intuitive psychology'). Meanwhile, studies of brain-damaged patients reveal their incapacities to be astonishingly specific. Some, for instance, are unable to name objects, but otherwise are perfectly normal. Others do not recognise faces but have no problem in recognising material objects. These studies suggest that such information is held in different domains ('modules') in the brain.
The idea of a modular mind is not new, having been first developed by an Austrian neuroanatomist, Franz Joseph Gall, in the early nineteenth century. By the postwar era, however, the modular picture of the brain had become defunct. At least in part this was driven by the fear that innatist concepts were dangerous and racist. Now that modular notions are becoming fashionable again, many critics are once more warning of the dire social consequences of such a scientific outlook.
Pinker rightly dismisses these fears as specious. 'A denial of human nature', he points out, 'no less than an emphasis on it, can be warped to serve harmful ends.' He adds that 'the debate over human nature has been muddied by an intellectual laziness and unwillingness to make moral arguments when moral issues come up. Rather than reasoning from principles of rights and values, the tendency has been to buy an off-the-shelf moral package (generally New Left or Marxist) or to lobby for a feel-good picture of human nature that would spare us having to argue moral issues at all.'
I have considerable sympathy with Pinker's complaint. The trouble is that evolutionary psychology tends towards an intellectual laziness as crass as that of its critics. Take, for instance, the claim that brain modules are analogous to body organs. This is simply not so. The heart is located in a specific place, its boundaries are well drawn and it has an easily-defined function. Not so the brain modules. The brain is made up of anatomically distinct regions but these regions are not autonomous organs. Rather they constitute a cohesive and integrated system organised in ways we do not yet understand. Psychologists talk of a 'language module' but even the simplest linguistic task involves several different brain regions working simultaneously. If some aspect of the task changes slightly, such as hearing words rather than speaking words, a different constellation of brain regions are involved. The brain is functionally specialised but not in the way the body is. The analogy with body organs is misplaced.
Again, Pinker suggests that the brain's functional specialisation arises from innate mechanisms. But much recent evidence suggests that modularity may, at least in part, be the product of learnt rules and knowledge. Psychologists like Annette Karmiloff-Smith have proposed a much more nuanced relationship between innate and learned knowledge in the creation of modules, arguments that Pinker by and large ignores.
Moreover, Pinker constantly confuses the concepts of 'intuitive' and 'folk' knowledge. All cultures, for instance, classify the living world into groups (land animals, birds, fish, and so) which bear some resemblance to scientific classification, and most have a concept of 'species'. Pinker takes this to demonstrate an innate understanding of biology. But why should it? It simply suggests that humans have a common capacity to categorise and that the empirical reality of the world leads us, at some minimal level, to categorise living beings in a similar way.
The most problematic of Pinker's notions is the idea that modern behaviour is adapted to a Stone Age way of life. 'Our brains', Pinker writes, 'are not wired to cope with anonymous crowds, schooling, written language, governments, police, courts, armies, modern medicine, formal social institutions, high technology, and other newcomers to the human experience.' Why not? After all our brains created all these things. It seems bizarre to hold that the brain is 'wired up' to invent modernity but not cope with it.
The claim that we are Stone Age Men living in a Space Age world is based on a thoroughly unDarwinian methodology. Darwin wrote that 'the present is the key to the past'. Reversing this method and using the past as the key to explain the present is a fatal mistake. There is no reason (apart from dogma) why we should regard what once explained human behaviour in evolutionary terms as sufficient to explain human behaviour now.
Paradoxically for a book that claims to have solved the mind-brain problem, the consequence of Pinker's approach is that it unwittingly rehabilitates old fashioned Cartesian dualism. Pinker is wary of falling into what is called the 'naturalistic fallacy' - the idea that because something is natural, it must be right. He therefore proposes that ethics should be separate from the scientific study of behaviour. Science and ethics, he argues, are 'two self-contained systems played out among the same entities in the world.' The 'science game treats people as material objects, and its rules are the physical processes that cause behaviour through natural selection and neurophysiology.' The 'ethics game' on the other hand, 'treats people as equivalent, sentient, rational free-willed agents, and its rules are the calculus that assigns moral value to behaviour through the behaviour's inherent nature or consequence.'
For Pinker, then, a human being is 'simultaneously a machine and a sentient free agent'. This allows an individual to behave in a thoroughly unDarwinian way and if their 'genes don't like it, they can go jump in the lake.' But what allows humans to behave in this fashion? After all, natural selection would soon dispense with any tendency among non-human animal to tell their genes to go jump in the lake. Ethics, presumably, are not some metaphysical entities, but an aspect of human behaviour. How then do they originate if not through 'natural selection and neurophysiology' which Pinker holds to be the basis of all other behaviours? Pinker's division of human into 'simultaneously a machine and a free agent' is a sleight of hand to avoid such questions. Descartes, unable to comprehend how science could explain the mind, divided the human into a mechanical body and unknowable soul. Pinker has done much the same - except that he has relabelled the soul as 'ethics'.
How the Mind Works is for most part an intelligent and stimulating work. Its weaknesses arise from Pinker ignoring his own injunction about how one should understand the mind. At the start of the book Pinker notes that 'any explanation of how the mind works that alludes hopefully to some single master force of mind-bestowing elixir like 'culture', 'learning' or 'self-organisation' begins to sound hollow, just not up to the demands of the pitiless universe we negotiate so successfully.' It's a pity he did not add evolution to that list. There is more to the human mind than its evolutionary heritage.
# DARWINISM THEORY

EVERY CHILD IS SPECIAL by AAMIR KHAN


There was a playful nine year old boy who likes to disobey his parents and a boy whose enemies were books and books.
One normal school day, his English teacher asked Ishaan to read a part from his book for the reason of catching him spacing out while looking outside the window. Ishaan had a difficult time reading the words and told his teacher that the words were dancing. The teacher felt frustrated at the child for disobeying her and for not wanting to study or participate in her class so Ishaan was sent out of the classroom and spent the whole period outside. After experiencing the wrath of his teacher, he ditched his other classes and roam around the streets alone. The same night he begged Yohan, his older brother to make him an excuse letter so he could attend class the following day. Ishaan was, indeed, permitted to attend class, but they had a test in Math and because of spacing out and imagining random things he only answered the first number yet he answered it incorrectly, unfortunately failing again. That same day, his father found the fake excuse letter and asked his mother if Ishaan was sick the other day. His mother told his father that Ishaan was not sick and thus he discovered that Ishaan skipped his class. His parents met the teachers the next day. His parents learned that Ishaans not progressing at all and that he might fail grade 3 again.
Ishaan’s father was very frustrated at Ishaan. He asked Ishaan why he could not be like his brother, topping all his subjects. He decided that Ishaan would continue studying in a boarding school. Mrs. Awashti, Yohan, and of course Ishaan greatly opposed to this idea, however, no one could not change Mr. Awashti’s mind. His things were packed and Ishaan was sent to the boarding school. The only thing that Ishaan did was cry while his family went back home.
On his first day of school, Ishaan’s teachers were upset by his poor performance in class. His Arts teacher even whacked his knuckles five times. Ishaan was overwhelmed and traumatized at the same time because of how strict the teachers were. He became depressed and sad. He was still depressed when his family visited him and did not say a word. He didn’t even take a good look on the set of paints that Yohan gave to him. He just kept it. He was even more depressed when his family went back home.
Then one day, their new Arts teacher came because the previous one was going to teach in a different country. Mr. Ram Shankar Nikumbh, the new Arts teacher, made his entrance while playing his pipe and was dressed as a elf. After his exciting entrance, he instructed the class to draw what they want and that’s when he noticed a depressed Ishaan. He knew something was bothering the child. Later that day, Mrs. Awashti told Ishaan that they won’t be able to visit him because of Yohan’s tennis tournament. Ishaan clearly didn’t care anymore.
Meanwhile, Mr. Nikumbh was asking Rajan, Ishaan’s seatmate, about him. Rajan told him that Ishan had some difficulties in studying especially in reading and writing. Mr. Nikumbh checked Ishaan’s notebooks and discovered that his mistakes have a pattern. They were either written backwards or in mirror image. He went to Ishaan’s house to explain to his (Ishaan) family why he had some trouble learning in school; that he was showing symptoms of dyslexia, a reading and writing disorder, that he, Mr. Nikumbh had once suffered.
Mr. Nikumbh discussed in his class the famous people that had trouble writing and reading when they were young. This caught Ishaan’s attention. The class was sent out the classroom and Ishaan made a boat that showed his talent.
Mr. Nikumbh discussed Ishaan’s situation to the principal and suggested that he will teach Ishaan how to read and write while in return, he asked that the boy will be judged orally for the time being. He received the consent he needed and worked with Ishaan for the following days. One day, Mr. Awashti visited Mr. Nikumbh to tell him that his wife is doing some research about their son’s condition. Mr. Nikumbh asked him why he was telling him these details. Mr. Awashti said that he don’t want him to misunderstood them for being careless parents. Regardless of what Mr. Awashti had said, Mr. Nikumbh told him the real meaning of caring. On Mr. Awashti’s way out, he heard his son reading the advertisement for the upcoming painting competition. It was his first time to hear his son reading and in shame, he did not have a face to show his son and left without saying hi.
It was the day of the competition and Ishaan woke up and left earlier than the others and came back when the competition is already starting. All the contestants had fun. Ishaan and Mr. Nikumbh had a tie; however the final decision made Ishaan’s painting of a boy by the pond the winner. As for being the winner, his painting was the book cover of their school year book and Mr. Nikumbh’s painting at the back which is the face of Ishaan. Teachers and parents were very proud of Ishaan. It was all thanks to Mr. Nikumbh who did not give up on the boy who once didn’t know how to write and read.
Reflection:
The movie tells us that we all have a dream. It was also said that all people have talents/skills but we, sometimes, do not have knowledge that we have it in us. For us to discover this talents/skills or to achieve the dream we want, we need someone who can love and care for us while guiding us to the path we chose. Since in this world we live in is full of cruel, racist, and judgmental people who will, in the future, step on our courage, pride, and esteem, we need people who can pull us up when we face the world. It was shown in the movie how words can affect someone’s perspective in life, even so, with the help of the people who love us and of course yourself we can make a strong wall against those hurtful words you will here.
#MORAL CRITICISM

THE PASSION OF CHRIST


         A depiction of the last twelve hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, on the day of his crucifixion in Jerusalem. The story opens in the Garden of Olives where Jesus has gone to pray after the Last Supper. Betrayed by Judas Iscariot, the controversial Jesus--who has performed 'miracles' and has publicly announced that he is 'the Son of God'--is arrested and taken back within the city walls of Jerusalem. There, the leaders of the Pharisees confront him with accusations of blasphemy; subsequently, his trial results with the leaders condemning him to his death. Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Palestine, for his sentencing. Pilate listens to the accusations leveled at Jesus by the Pharisees. Realizing that his own decision will cause him to become embroiled in a political conflict, Pilate defers to King Herod in deciding the matter of how to persecute Jesus. However, Herod returns Jesus to Pilate who, in turn, gives the crowd a choice between which prisoner they would rather to see set free--Jesus, or Barrabas. The crowd chooses to have Barrabas set free. Thus, Jesus is handed over to the Roman soldiers and is brutally flagellated. Bloody and unrecognizable, he is brought back before Pilate who, once again, presents him to the thirsty crowd--assuming they will see that Jesus has been punished enough. The crowd, however, is not satisfied. Thus, Pilate washes his hands of the entire dilemma, ordering his men to do as the crowd wishes. Whipped and weakened, Jesus is presented with the cross and is ordered to carry it through the streets of Jerusalem, all the way up to Golgotha. There, more corporal cruelty takes place as Jesus is nailed to the cross--suffering, he hangs there, left to die. Initially, in his dazed suffering, Jesus is alarmed that he has been abandoned by God his father. He then beseeches God. At the moment of his death, nature itself over-turns.
The Passion of The Christ focusses on the last twelve hours of Jesus of Nazareth's life. The film begins in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus has gone to pray after sitting the Last Supper. Jesus must resist the temptations of Satan. Betrayed by Judas Iscariot, Jesus is then arrested and taken within the city walls of Jerusalem where leaders of the Pharisees confront him with accusations of blasphemy and his trial results in a condemnation to death.
This film depicts the final hours of Jesus Christ, starting from His prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane and His betrayal at the hands of Judas Iscariot. It goes on to show the trials He endured under Pontius Pilate and King Herod as well as the torture and ridicule He suffered in between. Once the death sentence is pronounced, He carries a heavy wooden cross to Golgotha amidst throngs of jeering citizens and horrendous beatings, while a few citizens do what they can to help Him. Throughout this time, we are shown memories from His past with His mother and Disciples, where He gives His teachings. Finally, He is crucified, dies, and is buried, but resurrects from the dead on the third day.
# NEO CLASSICISM THEORY

BLOSSOMS by Walter Dean Myers

I never dreamt 
that tender blossoms 
would be brown 
Or precious angels 
could come down 
to live in the garden 
of my giving heart 
But here you are 
brown angel 


    This poem falls under Modernism theory. It is a free verse poem and that is one of the characteristics of the literary pieces that falls under modernism theory. Walter Dean Myers is a virtual literary chameleon. He has written picture books, poetry, short stories, novels, formula fiction, historical fiction, and biographies. He has an inept ability to write in the voice of a young adult about issues as sobering as teen homicide and as silly as the secret formula to un-pop popcorn. Myers also uses unique language which adds to the humor and “down home” feeling of the books.
 # MODERNISM THEORY

THE WITCH by Edilberto k. Tiempo


     Stories say that a witch known as Minggay Awok (awok, meaning witch in Visayan language)resides nearby the creek separating the barrios of Libas and Sinit-an. Her strange appearance, solitary life and rare visits in the barrios feared the people. She has always been blamed whenever strange things happen. Thus, Minggay was often subjected to various killing attempts in order to stop the curse that she allegedly placed on them. However, their suspicions were never proven. One day, a boy who occasionally visits his uncle in Libas met an old woman while fishing in the creek. She had been so kind to direct him to a spot where he can get more shrimps. They chatted for a while until the boy finally realized that she is the "witch" that he had heard about. He immediately walked away with the shrimps and the dilemma of his encounter with the witch's contrasting image with the old woman by the creek.


    This story falls under eco-criticism theory because the place that the author describes helps a lot in showing and describing the scenes and ideas. Also, through the environment where the story happened, the message was imparted thoroughly and helps the reader to understand what was the story all about.

# ECO-CRITICISM THEORY