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

View paper →

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

View paper →

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

View paper →

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

View paper →

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

View paper →

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

View paper →

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

View paper →

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

View paper →

1,508 words

Higher education's role in creating a sustainable future

The purpose of this paper is to argue for a specific action the college community must undertake to enable higher education to participate in the creation of a sustainable future.

~8 min read

View paper →

2,052 words

The legislative process: how bills become laws in Congress

The process of how a bill becomes a law in the U.S. federal government is extended and complicated, full of opportunities when the bill can be sidetracked, stalled, or stopped from progressing into a law.

~11 min read

View paper →