Tuesday, March 17, 2020

A Raisin in the Sun, Act Two, Scene 3 Essays

A Raisin in the Sun, Act Two, Scene 3 Essays A Raisin in the Sun, Act Two, Scene 3 Paper A Raisin in the Sun, Act Two, Scene 3 Paper Essay Topic: A Raisin in the Sun Act Two, Scene 3: At this point in the play, Ruth and Bennie are packing up their belongings to get ready to move to their new home. Ruth tells Bennie about how things have gotten better between her and Walter as well as how they went out to the movies the previous night and held hands, which they havent done in a while. At that moment, Walter enters the room, turns a record on, grabs Ruth by the arm, and begins to joyfully dance with her. The two dance and have a wonderful with when the doorbell rang. Bennie goes to answer the door because Walter and Ruth were busy dancing. Once the door was opened, Bennie noticed a white man in a dress suit at the foot of the door asking if Mama was there. Bennie replies no to the man and Walter invites the man (now introduced as Karl Linder) in to have a seat to talk about the financial matters of the house Mama had bought. Linder tells Walter that the people living in the same community as they would like to, are upset with a colored family moving in and would like to keep it a white establishment. They like things the way they are now and offer Walter the option of selling them their new house for more than the price they had paid for it. Walter becomes upset at this, and tells the man to leave his house. Linder leaves and soon afterwards, Mama enters the room and asked who visited. Walter told her what had happened and she hadnt seemed to be troubled at all. Walter then tells Mama to open a gift that he, Ruth, and Bennie had gotten her, so she does. Mama was extremely surprised to open a gift of gardening tools to use at their new house. Travis then gives Mama a gift that he had gotten her which was a gardening hat that she loved. At that time, a small man rings the doorbell and happened to be a friend of Walters. The man enters the house, sits down, and informs Walter that their business partner was supposed to meet him today to go over plans for their new business, but never showed; implying that the man had run off with all of their money. Stricken by this, Walter beings to break down because the only money he had ever had, he put in the hands of a man who he thought was aithful to help him with his family. He was also upset by this because he had disobeyed his mothers wishes of putting a portion of the money away for Bennies schooling, and the rest in a bank account for the future. Upset as his son, Mama begins to beat Walter for what he had done. Act Three: In the final act of the play, Bennies friend Asagai goes to the Young house to help the family with their packing. Asagai greets her and asks how shes feeling as well as how school is going. Still upset from the news she Just heard about Walter all of her amilies money, Bennie tells Asagai that she might not become a doctor anymore because she cant cure people any more. Shocked by this, Asagai talks to Bennie about Africa, and how she could go to Nigeria with him and learn to be a doctor there. Bennie becomes overwhelmed with all of the events that had occurred in one day, so Asagai leaves to give her some time to think about things. Once Asagai had left, Walter entered the room Bennie was in, and Bennie began yelling at Walter about what he had done to lose the money. Walter seemed to pay no attention to his egan talking about how they all should accept what had happened, let it go, and move on. Mama talks about how they should not move to the new home and get the money back that they paid for it so they could possibly fix up the coop they had been living in for some time now. Ruth becomes upset at this, believing that they should go to their new home no matter what had happened in order to start over. Walter then returns to the house and tells his family that he is going to sell the newly purchased house back to Karl Linder so they can still have a decent amount of money to live. Mama is all for the idea until she finds out that Walter would be buying the house simply so they could be out of the white folks way. When Karl Linder shows up at their house to final the deal, Walter tells Linder that he is going to keep the house for his family and he will have to deal with their family living there. Linder says fine to what Walter had to say, and leaves. Happy with what the decision had been, Ruth, Mama, Bennie, Travis, and Walter grab all of their packed up belongings and move them to the moving truck to start over in their new home.

Sunday, March 1, 2020

Statue of Zeus at Olympia

Statue of Zeus at Olympia The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was a 40-foot-high, ivory and gold, seated statue of the god Zeus, king of all the Greek gods. Located in the sanctuary of Olympia on the Greek Peloponnese Peninsula, the Statue of Zeus stood proudly for over 800 years, overseeing the ancient Olympic Games and being acclaimed as one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. The Sanctuary of Olympia Olympia, located near the town of Elis, was not a city and it had no population, that is, except for the priests that took care of the temple. Instead, Olympia was a sanctuary, a place where members of the warring Greek factions could come and be protected. It was a place for them to worship. It was also the place of the ancient Olympic Games. The first ancient Olympic Games was held in 776 BCE. This was an important event in the history of the ancient Greeks, and its date as well as the foot-race winner, Coroebus of Elis was a basic fact known by all. These Olympic Games and all that came after them, occurred in the area known as the Stadion, or stadium, in Olympia. Gradually, this stadium became more elaborate as the centuries passed by. So did the temples located in the nearby Altis, which was a sacred grove. Around 600 BCE, a beautiful temple was built to both Hera and Zeus. Hera, who was both the goddess of marriage and the wife of Zeus, was seated, while a statue of Zeus stood behind her. It was here that the Olympic torch was lit in ancient times and it is also here that the modern Olympic torch is lit. In 470 BCE, 130 years after the Temple of Hera was built, work began on a new temple, which was to become famous around the world for its beauty and wonder. The New Temple of Zeus After the people of Elis won the Triphylian war, they used their spoils of war to build a new, more elaborate temple at Olympia. Construction on this temple, which would be dedicated to Zeus, began around 470 BCE and was done by 456 BCE. It was designed by Libon of Elis and centered in the middle of the Altis. The Temple of Zeus, considered a prime example of Doric architecture, was a rectangular building, built upon a platform, and oriented east-west. On each of its long sides were 13 columns and its shorter sides held six columns each. These columns, made of local limestone and covered with white plaster, held up a roof made of white marble. The exterior of the Temple of Zeus was elaborately decorated, with sculpted scenes from Greek mythology on the pediments. The scene over the entrance of the temple, on the east side, depicted a chariot scene from the story of Pelops and Oenomaus. The western pediment depicted a battle between the Lapiths and the Centaurs. The inside of the Temple of Zeus was much different. As with other Greek temples, the interior was simple, streamlined, and meant to showcase the statue of the god. In this case, the statue of Zeus was so spectacular that it was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia Inside the Temple of Zeus sat a 40-foot-tall statue of the king of all Greek gods, Zeus. This masterpiece was designed by the famous sculptor Phidius, who had previously designed the large statue of Athena for the Parthenon. Unfortunately, the Statue of Zeus no longer exists and so we rely on the description of it left us by second century CE geographer Pausanias. According to Pausanias, the famous statue portrayed a bearded Zeus sitting upon a royal throne, holding a figure of Nike, the winged goddess of victory, in his right hand and a scepter topped with an eagle in his left hand. The entire seated statue rested upon a three-foot-high pedestal. It was not the size that made the Statue of Zeus unequaled, although it was definitely large, it was its beauty. The entire statue was made from rare materials. Zeus’s skin was made out of ivory and his robe was made up of plates of gold that were intricately decorated with animals and flowers. The throne was also made of ivory, precious stones, and ebony. The regal, godlike Zeus must have been amazing to behold. What Happened to Phidius and the Statue of Zeus? Phidius, the designer of the Statue of Zeus, fell out of favor after he finished his masterpiece. He was soon jailed for the offense of placing his own and his friend Pericles’ images within the Parthenon. Whether these charges were true or trumped up by political disfavor is unknown. What is known is that this master sculptor died in prison while waiting for trial. Phidius’ Statue of Zeus fared much better than its creator, at least for 800 years. For centuries, the Statue of Zeus was carefully cared for oiled regularly to avoid damage done by the humid temperatures of Olympia. It remained a focal point of the Greek world and oversaw hundreds of Olympic Games that occurred next to it. However, in 393 CE, Christian Emperor Theodosius I banned the Olympic Games. Three rulers later, in the early fifth century CE, Emperor Theodosius II ordered the Statue of Zeus destroyed and it was set on fire. Earthquakes destroyed the rest of it. There have been excavations done in Olympia that have not only revealed the base of the Temple of Zeus, but the workshop of Phidius, including a cup that once belonged to him.