1,846 words

Chicago's economic renaissance and reduced political corruption in the twenty-first century

"The central city is by far the dominant municipal jurisdiction within the [Chicago] region, and for most local officials across Cook and the five 'collar counties' beyond, the direct benefits of Chicago globalism are difficult to discern" -- Larry Bennett, "Community Power Applied: Chicago's…

~10 min read

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2,619 words

Western scholarship's portrayal of Prophet Muhammad before September 11, 2001

Prior to September 11, 2001, few Western observers might have given more than a casual look at the Islamic faith because the religion and its prophet, Muhammad, had little bearing on their personal lives.

~14 min read

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1,105 words

Berger and Critchley's perspectives on humor as social and communicative phenomenon

Communication and language is one of the most distinct features of humanity that sets it apart from other animals.

~6 min read

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1,787 words

James Monaco's "How to Read a Film" and film criticism methods

Monaco, J. (2000). How to read a film, 3rd ed. Oxford University Press. James Monaco's seminal cinema studies text, How to Read Film, is currently in its third edition.

~9 min read

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2,036 words

Mozart's "The Magic Flute" and Freemasonry symbolism

The music in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's operatic odyssey is nothing short of miraculous, as is the plot.

~11 min read

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1,544 words

John King's "Magical Reels": cinema and Latin American cultural identity

King, John. Magical Reels: A History of Cinema in Latin America. Critical Studies in Latin American and Iberian Cultures. London: Verso, 2000.

~8 min read

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1,496 words

Reality and illusion in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

Death of a Salesman, playwright Arthur Miller places emphasis on the major theme of reality vs. illusion to better demonstrate that the Loman family generally cannot distinguish between the two concepts, and that confusion will ultimately lead to Willy Loman's downfall.

~8 min read

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2,272 words

The nature-nurture debate in human development

One of the most fundamental debates in human developmental still harkens back to the seventeenth century argument over nature vs. nurture.

~12 min read

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908 words

Rhetoric and persuasion in Woolf's "Shakespeare's Sister"

Virginia Woolf's famous non-fiction work a Room of One's Own concludes with an essay on "Shakespeare's Sister." In this piece, Woolf argues that had Shakespeare had a sister who was as talented as he was, it would have been impossible for her to make a living as a writer owing to the societal…

~5 min read

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5,111 words

Evaluating educational websites: criteria for classroom use in history

It is important that any Web site which is used in the classroom or which is recommended to the students is accurate in the information presented. This is assessed on the source of the information which was used to produce the Web site content and the way in which it has been represented.

~26 min read

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