Dreams Essays (Examples)

Dreams -- Are They Psychologically ignificant

psychologically insignificant, or something in between?

The phenomenon of dreaming during sleep has long been a topic of interest to those interested in understanding the human mind. On one hand, there may be reason to believe that dream content and visual imagery in dreams provide clues to the unconscious mind as famously postulated by the psychological theorist who introduced the psychodynamic approach to understanding human psychology. On the other hand, there may be equally good anecdotal evidence that dreaming in humans is not particularly significant, particularly since non-human animals also apparently dream. It may be that human dreams are psychologically significant, but any such conclusion would have to be established by further research distinguishing dream sleep from non-dream sleep in the same manner as previous studies distinguishing REM sleep from non-REM sleep.

Introduction

leep is a phenomenon that appears to be universal among all…

Dreams and Delusions: The Drama of German History

Fritz Stern's 1988 book Dreams and Delusions: The Drama of German History (republished with a new forward in 1999), relies on a series of loosely-related essays in order to deal with Germany's ongoing legacy of orld ar II and the Holocaust. The book was chosen because of its particular subject matter and methodological approach, because its series of essays makes for a more varied and interesting read than would be possible with a more straightforward approach. Stern divides his book into four sections, with each section discussing a different feature of German history surrounding orld ar II and its aftermath; Stern includes sections for "The Dream of Peace," "The Lure of Power," "Peace and the Release from Greatness," and "Historians and the German Past" (Stern vii-viii). Stern's position seems to be that the rise of National Socialism in Germany was the product…

She states,

"when people think about analyzing their dreams, they usually think of psychics with crystal balls, dream dictionaries, or lying on a couch while a Freud-like psychologist tells them precisely what their dreams connote…"

Indeed, many people claim to know that dreams are important, and some may even try and understand dreams, but they are all too soon forgotten in favor of the worries of the day. However, dreams analysis, as emphasized by Tartakovsky, is not only beneficial, but also useful in dealing with daily problems. As seen from the studies above, dreams are a gateway to understanding oneself, and there is only benefit to be gained from performing a dreams analysis of one's dreams.

In psychological terms, "dreaming is non-essential when it comes to survival as a body but is essential with regard to our development and evolution as metaphysical beings," states Dr. Sumber, who has studied global…

Dreams

Mental illness impacts all areas of a person's life, from social interactions to self-perception, from cognitive functioning to spiritual belief systems. Dreams are no exception. Every person spends a good deal of time in the dreaming state, whether or not dreams are recalled or valued upon awakening. A person's sleep state is impacted by a number of factors ranging from the biological to the emotional. hen mental illness affects a person's life, it includes the large portion of life that takes place in the sleep state. Neurochemical processes, linked to emotionality, cognition, and behavior, may also have an effect on the content -- both manifest and latent -- of dreams. Similarly, the content of dreams could change a person's emotional state and subsequent neurochemistry. Generally, if mental illness affects waking life, then it must also impact dreams. The nature of the impact will be qualitatively different depending on the…

e experience a world roughly parallel to our usual visual-spatial one, though as noted, with some broader or wilder elements.

Furthermore, dreaming avoids the most "tightly woven," "over learned" portions of the nets. His research further shows that we dream very little of well-learned familiar tasks such as reading, typing, writing, or calculating, even when we spend hours per day of our waking lives on these tasks. (Hartmann 6)

Dreams contextualize emotion. Dreams notice similarities and produce explanatory metaphor. However, is this simply the way things are, or does it all have one or more functions? Is making broad connections useful in some way? Is picturing or contextualizing an emotional concern in pictured metaphor of use to us in some way? Perhaps not. Murray conducted research to answer these questions, which suggested that the biological state of REM sleep has a definite biological function for the body -- namely, restoration,…

Dreams, though abstract in nature and, often, in content, seem to have very concrete and applicable roles for their possessors. Whether serving as a driving force behind the achievement of one's goals or simply conjuring vague and forgotten traces of the subconscious, a dream's idealized purpose is hazy at best. But it is this condition that lends dreams their tremendous versatility. Particularly, dreams may have the capacity, due to their occasionally revelatory nature, to spur active manifestation. Namely, Langston Hughes' "Deferred Dreams," Rita Dove's "Daystar" and Nikki Giovanni's "Dreams" collectively illustrate the role of dreams as vehicles through which to achieve empowerment. There is evidence in all three of the aforementioned pieces to suggest that, through modes such as self-honesty, resistance to racism and persistence in the face of external negativity, dreams may be unparalleled in their effectiveness as tools to self-empowerment.

Such empowerment may be difficult to perceive immediately…

Dreams in Sigmund Freud and Franz Kafka

Dreams, the Unconscious, and the Real Self in the Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud and the Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

In 19th -20th century societies, the prevailing philosophical discipline and way of living among people is centering one's attention to the 'Self.' The concept of the Self is influenced by the individualist society prevalent in Western societies. Indeed, individualism through introspection is evident in the main themes discussed among discourses and literary works of this period.

Among these revolutionary thinkers that have helped develop and influence the 20th century philosophy and thought are Sigmund Freud and Franz Kafka, psychologist and literary writer, respectively. oth have been influential in introducing the theme of individualism through introspection, mainly through the method of psychoanalysis and subsistence to the philosophy of existentialism.

Sigmund Freud was an Austrian physician and founder of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is a branch…

Dreams and Daydreams in Romantic Literature

The most powerful and lasting contributions to the literature of a given era are invariably penned by bold thinkers struggling to comprehend the ever changing world in which they live. Spanning the 18th and 19th centuries, the French Romantic movement, which was propelled by the authorial brilliance of writers such as Victor Hugo and Honore de Balzac, was shaped and inspired by the momentous political and social upheaval roiling all of France after a contentious and bloody revolt. The toppling of a once infallible monarchy and the sudden distribution of democratic ideals forced the literary class to recalibrate their worldview instantly, and the result is a wealth of material, including novels, plays and critical pieces of nonfiction, all of which focuses intently on the machinations of the human mind. With the external foundations of the preexisting social order irrevocably shattered, authors like Marie-Henri Bayle,…

Dreams, Reality, and the Future of Environmental Psychology by Richard Sommer.

Origins of a New Field

Need to understand social and historical context of the discipline

started in U.S. And Canada and later diffused; related to Roger Barker on psychological ecology and Daniel Berlyne on environmental aesthetics ref to charisma (extraordinary power)

Intellectual climate of the 1960s

challenging traditional assumptions of allocation of power, resources, nature of society behavioral science had not yet predicted

Human Rights Movement

African-Americans and other disenfranchised groups fighting for justice affected ethics and design considerations (eg Brown v Board of Education)

Ecology Movement

Started by Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in 1962 -- impact on policymakers, public, science-refers to pollution-leads to greater protection of wilderness

But this time not just concerned with wilderness but also urban space, population control, energy

Leads to creation of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and 1960s --…

Dreams Begin Responsibility, Delmore Schwartz focuses on themes of maturity, responsibility and family. He does this through the interaction of several characters: the son, father, and the merry-go-round. Each of these characters is more than part of the story, though, each is symbolic within its interaction with one another, and the archetype it forms with society and culture.

The Son is the central character of the idea of maturation -- of aging, of maturing, and of the manner in which these events change a person's psychological understanding and reaction to the world. When one is young, nature is vast an strange, as one ages, this changes. "But I stare at the terrible sun, which breaks up sight, and the fatal merciless passionate ocean (513)." Time and emotion remain strangers, but the archetype of the Son means hat one is new to the world and must try to understand the complexity…

She is also a dreamer in that she believes that she will be able to help everyone. hen alter loses the money, her view changes somewhat in that she understands the world a little better. She knows that no doctor can cure "what ails mankind" (2254). She does come to realize that what truly ails mankind is something that cannot be cured because it is not a physical sickness in the truest sense of the words. Her idealism might be squashed but Beneatha still feels compelled to make difference in the world by doing what she can through helping others.

alter's dream is to be rich. The problem with alter's dream is that he does nothing to set it into motion. He likes to daydream about it but making his dreams come true is more difficult. He lacks vision and this causes him to miss out on coming close to…

Dreams and Learning

What are dreams? Why do people dream? Do dreams serve a purpose, or are they simply a way for the brain to excise extra information; a way for the mind to process information overload? Can dreams provide insight into future endeavors, future events, or are they simply the collection of images, emotions, thoughts, and fears? These questions have been pondered, to varying degrees, for thousands of years. However, only recently have dreams been tested empirically and even more recently still have dreams been subjected to a critical scientific method.

Yet, with all of the study and interest in dreams and in the purposes of sleep in general, there seems to be little consensus among scholars and dream researchers. While Sigmund Freud studied dreams and found them to be a way for the brain to release the hidden desires we repress during waking hours, research suggest that there…

In this scene, she is deliberately planting an idea in Laura's head that someone will show up out of the blue and ask for her hand in marriage. Even Laura knows that the likelihood for this occurring is small. Even when Jim enters into the picture, Amanda puts all of her faith into him marrying Laura without knowing anything about him or his feelings. Tom needs to find an escape from his mother and he does so by leaving home as often as possible. His greatest escapes are going to the movies and spending time of the fire escape. The pressure of taking care of the family proves to be too much for Tom as he tells Amanda that if he were thinking of himself as much as she accused him of doing so, he would be like his father, who is "gone! As far as the system of transportation…

Dreams May Come, a film directed by Vincent ard, with a screenplay by Ron Bass, shows visually the mental images of characters in the film through the afterlife universes that they create for themselves. The aim of the film is signaled by its title, a quote from Hamlet's famous Act III soliloquy.

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub / For in that sleep of death what dreams may come / hen we have shuffled off this mortal coil" (Ham. 3.1.10-12). Thus, the film provides a vision of what the life after death may hold. hile following the struggles of Chris Nielsen to adapt to his private afterlife universe, the film heavily relies on the technique of presenting mental images visually, often in very creative and striking ways. The character Doc, who functions as Chris' guardian angel, expresses the basic philosophical stance of the film. In response to…

Not only did Obama come to recognize this basic racism in most of the others he encountered, but he even developed his own rather race-centric views that he was able to consciously exploit to his advantage. Basketball, for instance, became a way for Obama to celebrate his Africa-American heritage and solidify his identity. He recalls that "on the basketball court I could find a community of sorts...on a turf where blackness couldn't be a disadvantage" (Obama 80). At this point, Obama had accepted the reality of the divide that was thrust upon blacks and whites alike. Adolescence is a time when everyone is searching for their identity, and for Obama for a time this meant determining a specific racial identity and attempting to live up to it.

Of course, these attempts did not really a provide a long-term tenable position for Obama, and his views on the reality of racial…

I believe the fact that the entire house is covered in wood paneling is symbolic of my desire to have some freedom. On the one hand I cling to them, as evidenced by the storm trying to take me away, but the wood paneling can be seen as representative of being confined and closed in. The paneling is not harmed during the storm and is as sturdy and strong as ever, which indicates my unconscious belief that I am trapped with my family.

Condensation is a component of the dream that creates the story line. The urge to keep my family together, and protect them from the world, while also understanding that it takes a strong man to be able to do it all, is created from the condensation of the dream.

My ego transformed the drives and wishes into a narrative of the dream in several ways.

The wish…

Prester John was another mythic king of another semi-mythic land (probably modern day Ethiopia) that was long sought by European explorers and adventurers. Once again, the very nature and purpose of Ponce de Leon's expedition emphasized the European view of the New orld as a place where anything was possible - in particular, those things which were not readily possible back home. Untold wealth in precious metals went hand in hand with the miraculous powers of magical springs.

Ponce de Leon sailed along the Atlantic coast of Florida and past Cape Canaveral down to Biscayne Bay, in what is now Miami, and around the southern end of the Peninsula and into the Gulf of Mexico. From there he continued northward at least as far as Charlotte Harbor on Florida's southwest coast.

As he only traveled so far along the coast, he was never able to determine whether Florida was an…

Dreams, Why Do We Have Them and What Do They Mean

Origins and Significance

The main causes of dream have been assigned to two major thoughts-natural and supernatural. The natural cause has further been categorized as psychological and physiological.

Allan Hobson and obert McCarley have in 1970, during the sleep period called apid Eye Movement suggested that the visual as well as emotional brain parts get into action. Any other sensation, whether physiological or pertaining to the sensory organs get together with this front lobe activation to create into a wholesome dream sequence or event. For example a banging sound of any kind in the real-time world around him along with an associated recapitulation of distant past happening where the person was in a school even as he enters his EM stage in sleep combine and may engender a dream of observing a parade along with the same rhythmic banging…

Freud

Sigmund Freud's publication The Interpretation of Dreams is one of the psychologists seminal works. In The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud outlines his fundamental theories of the human mind including the existence of conscious and unconscious layers of mind, and the existence of the Oedipus Complex. As the title suggests, the book also delves deeply into the realm of dreaming. Freud offers theories explaining why people dream, and how learning how to interpret dreams can help reduce or eliminate neuroses.

The Interpretation of Dreams is divided into seven chapters, plus the addition of an index. The first chapter is on the scientific literature on the "problems of the dream." Freud asserts the possibility of interpreting dreams scientifically, and claims that he possesses insight into the proper methods of dream interpretation. This chapter provides a sort of review of literature, combined with background information on the subject. Freud refers first to…

inter Dreams

The American Dream is a concept uniquely American which says that if a person is willing to work hard enough, and then they can climb up from their birth station and become successful. This is true except that a person who is self-made, that is to say someone who was born poor and made themselves rich will never be accepted into groups who focus on "old money." Old money families are ones who have been rich for generations and will continue to be so in the future. F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story "inter Dreams" is about a boy named Dexter who wants to become rich and comes to associate true success with the winning of the heart of a wealthy woman named Judy. In his interactions with women, his wooing of Judy initially, his engagement, and then her marriage to another person, Dexter shows that he associates the…

Dreaming is just one of the natural phenomenons that human beings do during the process of sleeping. Indeed, this natural process is not constrained to any particular characteristic and people with cultural diversity, all age groups and different social backgrounds dream throughout their entire lives. Since dreaming is linked to the mind and soul, thus it is considered that people will continue to dream until they are living (Hobson 2004).

Dreaming is an entire chain and cycle of metaphors, feelings, sensation and insight that forms a story while a person is asleep. Since the dreams people see are not in one shape, hence it can be peaceful, thrilling, practical, scary, chaotic, or implausible. This means that during the entire phenomenon of dreaming, a person can hallucinate about humans, houses, places such as cities, hills, rivers and various other things that the individual have not even seen in real life (Hobson…

Chaucer basically offers an idea of the acceptance of the temporal quality of the world and how that relates to life and love. This can also be seen as a lack of consolation; however, in this lack of consolation he is admitting that there is no consolation and that that fact alone should act as a consolation. The man is destined to grieve for his wife as this is how the temporal world works. There is no consolation for the grieving.

There is not one of the two characters whom find any kind of consolation, though it is clear that the Dreamer is quite taken with the dream. e aren't able to say what happens next -- after he wakes up; however, it is somewhat accepted that the Dreamer and the Black Knight are a bit closer to making peace with their situations. Neither of them have been on a…

Dreaming argument & Pragmatism

Dreaming

The Blumenfelds' argument in regards to dreaming is essentially that since we have dreams that resemble real life experiences, we cannot be certain that at this moment we are not dreaming, given that the character of our experience does not always alert us to the fact that we are in a dream state. Austen's objection to this is that simply being able to say that dreams have a 'real life' quality presumes that one knows what real life is, as distinguishable from dreams. Austen demands that there must be a particular reason to distrust one's senses and think that one is dreaming (Slides 15-16). "It is possible to recognize cases of deception only if there is a background of general non-deception" (Slide 17).

For a Pyrrhonian Skeptic, one must remain in a continual state of doubt. However, the Blumenfelds' argument suggests doubts in the ability…

Dream Business

My dream business would be a German Bakery that sells traditional German Bakery and Cafe. I would call it "Heidi's German Bakery and Cafe." I would open the business together with a German nephew of mine who has worked for over 25 years as a master baker in the Heidelberg bakery of my German relatives. The third member of the business would be an American baker who received his professional training at Venieros Italian Bakery, America's oldest Italian pastry shop in New York City that was founded in 1894. Our business would be located in New York City since there is a huge German/European population and only very view places where one can dwell in traditional German baked goods. ifty [to date: sixty two] years ago, when East 86th Street was known as "Sauerkraut Boulevard," there were German bakeries aplenty as well as pastry counters in most of…

Other positive leaders in this regard are the "priestly" ones, who bring continuity and hierarchy to the goal, delegating to the most powerful and differentiating individuals; the "elected" leaders, who gain authority by being chosen; and the "missionaries," who have a certain kind of mission to achieve -- economic, religious, political or social service (Stewart).

The way that leaders work with individuals in both sports and at work will also reinforce their ability to stay on task; cooperate; use time, talents and resources wisely; embrace diversity; learn from each other and share accomplishments. Dennis Kinlaw, who recommends ways to coach or lead individuals for successful performance, offers what he calls a "coaching skills inventory" that breaks coaching into "shades of coaching" or different methods for driving results. For example, in one inventory, he breaks coaching into five specific categories: Contact and Core Skills, Counseling, Mentoring, Tutoring, and Confronting and Challenging…

Older people could receive tax incentives to act as teachers to students in areas of expertise, or simply to help out as coaches or staff. Ideally, private educational institutions would be few, to ensure a lack of a drain of community resources from the public schools, although private schools could supplement student education for students with special needs that could not be met by the public system.

Transportation

Unless it was required for their daily work-related commute, residents would agree to drive fuel-efficient cars and receive tax credits if they drove hybrid or electric cars.

Safety

Community watch groups would supplement the police force. Both police and volunteer organizations would also engage in educational efforts with the school system regarding anti-drug, anti-bullying, and anti-violence campaigns. Fire safety would be ensured by a professionally trained core force, supplemented by a group of volunteers for less vigorous conflagrations.

aste collection

Collection would…

..find a creative way to keep in touch" (Baca pp). Jill Mallen, an assistant vice president, remarked, "...value every relationship. You never know who you might need to talk to next week" (Baca pp). hat she and MacKay mean is that most often in life, someone from the past becomes the key to helping someone become successful, whether by contacts, letters of referrals, or simply picking their brain for ideas. Therefore, when beginning the quest, common sense says to turn to those around you for support.

Editors are not going to come knocking on the door if they do not have the manuscript. If investors do not know about an invention or business idea, then they cannot invest. Thus, it is necessary to set goals concerning a dream, make a to-do list just and outline the most logical approach to achievement. For example, if owning a lake house is the…

And my perfect classroom would have no more than 15 students at a time, so personal attention can be given to each individual several times each period.

Is it possible to achieve my dream classroom? It is possible to bring in the technologies I have referred to, albeit school districts are cutting back on teachers, courses, and equipment due to the economic slowdown. It is possible because there are foundations and other granting sources that do provide the resources to help education. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, for one, provide millions of dollars to education on a lot of levels. That is just one funding source, and there are others, but first the research must be done to locate existing philanthropists and foundation sources. Two links to funding sources: a) http://www.eschoolnews.com/funding/; and b) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10892464.

ith some help writing a grant proposal, I believe it is possible to achieve the…

Dream: I become a business consultant in a company that specializes in developing marketing strategies for cosmetics products.

• My Life Role: College student

• My Long-Term Goals in This Role:

I earn an associate of arts (A.A.) degree by June 2012.

I earn a bachelor of arts (B.A.) degree by June 2014.

I participate in a two-month business internship in an advertising company in the summer of 2014.

I earn a master of business administration (MBA) degree by June 2016.

I publish a scholarly business journal article by the time I earn my master's degree.

• My Short-Term Goals in This Role: (this semester)

I achieve an A in my English 1, Counseling, Introduction to Business, and Business Law classes by May 12.

I complete a research paper about the importance of marketing strategies for my introductory business class by April 14.

I discuss the findings of my paper…

Dream City

Oriented

The apparent garbage crisis of overflowing landfills would help develop urban landscapes for the future city.

Establish an overlay district of employment to encourage high-income employment in strategic locations

I would like to see the city where health systems are integrated and sharing one regional headquarter.

The leaders must facilitate development programs that generate high-income jobs.

I must address my quest for an economically vital and people-friendly future city. The apparent garbage crisis of overflowing landfills would help develop urban landscapes for the future city. There are various ways in which trash could be transformed into treasure. Based on my understanding of the Clearwater's challenges and opportunities, coupled with the current economic conditions, I believe the below strategies will translate Clearwater into a new city of my desire.

Establish an overlay district of employment to encourage high-income employment in strategic locations: the future city will be a…

The is also based on drive-defence model which was advanced by Freud.

The second topology one includes the less common dreams whose meaning are different and should therefore be treated and handled in the light of latest theoretical frameworks as advanced by Kohut Self-psychology. He referred to these dreams as "Self-state dreams" which are experienced when the patient's psychological structure stability is in jeopardy .Such crisis or threat usually occur in different pathological states, the states can however vary from being hyper-stimulation (maniacal), to tension reduction in approach of a depressed state. This might lead to a serious problem related to the of the psychic structure's disintegration .

Kohut in (1977) stated that the act of exhibiting the elements of a dream makes up the attempt by the unconscious to tackle the psychological dangers that are related to the actual processes portrayed in the visual images in the dream

Through…

" (Flanagan: 38) Theorists, scientists and thinkers have come up with their own views on dreaming. Dreams are considered "warnings," "premonitions," "announcer of good" and "indicators of future" as well. Many feel that dreams come from a divine power that warns people about the consequences of their actions or tries to put them on a better path by sending messages in the form of dreams. Initially it was believed that EM period was the only time when we dreamt but this theory has been replaced by a more comprehensive one that states that dreams are divided into all parts of our sleep with EM sleep accounting for most of the dreams. Neuroscientist Mark Solms goes back to Freud saying that dreams are connected with preservation of sleep on a statistical level. He doesn't bring wish fulfillment into the equation but does agree with Freud on the subject of preservation of…

g. If one eats something salty it is possible to have a dream involving drinking water.

On the other hand, though Hobson and McCarley put forth a model that has been validated empirically to a certain extent, their theory gives a nonspecific explanation in that it refers to a general level of neural activation which generates dreams; the synthesis part involves the integration of disparate sensory, motor, and emotional elements by making use of memory integrated events which allow interpretation. Their model is too general and unspecific, while the Freudian theory suggest a complex process with several stages and different significance attached to them.

Freud's theory offers a deeper insight into the quality of dreams by reinforcing their meaningfulness, their role (they are the manifestation of repressed wishes), and, most importantly, Freud emphasizes that dreams are a particular condition of thinking, fact that was taken into consideration by his followers.…

Psychodynamic and Psychoanalytic theory suggest that early stages of human development have a significant impact on our relationships and our ego throughout the life span. According to Freudian theories, manifested behavior is based on latent problems of the past. The therapeutic process of psychoanalysis is designed to help the client become aware of past problems or latent desires that have been suppressed during the process of psychological development. Key themes that emerge in the literature on psychoanalytic theory include the role of the unconscious mind in shaping self-concept and behavior, dreams as the language of the unconscious mind, and the development of ego defense mechanisms as psychological coping mechanisms.

Dream analysis is one of the hallmarks of Freudian theory and central to psychoanalysis. In this article, Hebbrecht (2013) presents several case studies from clinical practice to illustrate some of the ways dream recollection can be stimulated during therapy, and how…

Dream

The year was 1819 and I suddenly found myself in a society and culture that was starkly different than the one I was accustomed to. I am not sure how it all transpired but it was only yesterday that I had gone to a party to celebrate New Year 2005. I vividly remember meeting my friends and thoroughly enjoying myself before I took that drink. What happened after that? I don't know but it appears I was sent into some time machine because when I woke up today, life was just not the same anymore.

I woke up in a room, which is as dull and dreary as they can get. There are no pictures on the wall, no stereo, no collection of CDs and no television. The room has just one large-sized wooden bed, long flowing curtains, which have been closely drawn, a ceiling fan and a dressing…

Dreamed of Creating Magic - and He Does

One of my dreams was to grow up and become a magician. ell, that's what happened. I'm not a science fiction writer. I'm a magician. I can use words to make you believe anything." -Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury is one of the classic authors of our day- one of the fathers of science fiction. At nearly 82 years old, and over 500 works later, he is still going strong. He is still writing, creating and producing.

Ray Douglas Bradbury was born in aukegan, Illinois on August 22, 1920. He was the third son of Leonard Spaulding Bradbury, a telephone line worker, and Esther Marie Bradbury, a Swedish immigrant. Bradbury credits his mother, with jump-starting his love of fantasy and the supernatural. His mother was fascinated with the new motion pictures. She would sneak Bradbury in with her when he was only two…

dream of having a career in field of Actuarial Science started at a young age. This shaped my thinking by wanting to understand logic and the way conclusions were reached utilizing complex formulas. Along the way, this fueled my sense of motivation in assisting others. It focused on not only my own personal satisfaction, but the joy I experience when they succeeded. This is because I am an international student, who is the first in his family to go to college and can relate to the challenges they are experiencing.

During this time, I dedicated myself to education and gaining real world experience. My journey took me to Ohio State University. This is where I received my Bachelors in Actuarial Science. Never giving into the temptations of college life, as I always remained focused on working in the field. I am motivated to use advanced statistics to help corporations, entrepreneurs…

" Herein is where the issue of "love and lust" plays a role, and the author uses the jade and stone imagery and the spiritual and cultural meanings of both to also relate to the reader the warmth of real love and the fire of pure carnal passion (lust).

The question of who is the most tragic figure in this story can be answered that there are several. One is Pao Yu, who comes a long way from his reputation as a womanizer and a drunk, to much improvement in his deportment, and then loses his love, Taste of Spring, albeit he gets back his stone and completes his examination successfully. The Princess Ancestress is also tragic, who has shared her treasures with the family, is then abducted, in a tragic twist of fate. But Black Jade is also tragic, as she is in the hearts of the readers as…

Dreaming

For centuries, people have sought to explain not only what people dream about, but also why humans dream. In older times, dreams were used for prophecy. Later, they were used in the growing field of psychology.

But, until fairly recently, people only theorized about what dreams mean, and not why people themselves have evolved the capacity to dream.

This paper examines various theories that explain why human beings dream. The first part of the paper looks at the writing of Sigmund Freud regarding dreams as the royal road to the unconscious. Implicit in Freud's writings is the view that dreams evolved as humans were forced to sublimate their natural desires to live in society.

The paper then looks at the work of J. Allan Hobson, who saw dreams as a result of the natural physiological workings of the brain. In this body of research, Hobson meticulously matches the features…

Nickel and Dream

People who are born or raised in the United States share unique character traits because of the American culture. Because this is considered a land of freedom and opportunity there are rights and gifts that are promised to each citizen. The American Dream is the unique idea that anyone who is willing to work hard can come from nothing and achieve their life's goals and ambitions so long as they live in America. Anyone, no matter how low class their level of birth, can succeed and have all the material possessions, money, and related power that they want as long as they are willing to put in the effort to achieve it. It is a promise which is two-sided because it requires the American to reach out for what the nation is holding above their head. In response to this ideology, many American authors have taken it…

American Dream alive and well?

hile the American Dream has been one of the most intriguing concepts in U.S. history, it has gradually come to be more and more difficult to access. Many people in the present actually have problems determining whether or not it still exists and this amplifies the problem. hile most would prefer to believe that the American Dream never left and that anyone has the chance to make it in the American society, the reality is that there are a lot of interfering factors that make it difficult for people to achieve their goals in spite of the fact that they go through great trouble with the purpose of doing so.

Social class represents an important factor in the contemporary society and the American Dream has come to be closely connected to it during recent decades. The reality is that governments have the tendency to provide…

Culture, Dreams, And Artwork

Dreams and artwork are two things that seem to provide an invitation for interpretation, and cultural perspective is almost always going to influence that interpretation. At first blush, this statement may seem to fly in the face of Jungian interpretation, since the collective unconscious and the enduring interpretation of symbols might suggest that symbols would not vary across cultures. However, such an interpretation ignores the fact that Jung acknowledges the impact that individual culture has on the interpreter. While symbols may retain a broader overall meaning across cultures, the details of those symbols are certainly influenced by the surrounding culture. Moreover, some symbols may be culturally specific. In fact, this paper will discuss the veil and its relation to Islam, and how the surrounding culture can color interpretations of the veil in art and in dreams.

Because the symbols in dreams and artwork are influenced by…

Freud believed that dreams had the function of providing latent content that could not be easily discovered by the individual. He believed that the best way for an individual to discover the underlying meaning of dreams was to ignore the natural reaction of censoring thoughts and allow oneself to focus on the associations that can be inferred from the dream. According to Freud, in order to interpret dreams one must be able to think and remember in a visual manner and to understand the unconscious symbols that present themselves in dreams. Interpretation of dreams requires translating the visual imagery of the dream into linguistic symbols. The technique most often employed by Freud in dream analysis was free association, which seeks to uncover the underlying meaning in the dream. Freud utilized free association as a manner by which latent dreams could be manifested. In this method the client is encouraged to…

hen people who experienced lucid dreams were studied in order to determine their brain activity during lucid dreaming, it was found that their cerebral hemispheres behaved similarly to how they did while they were awake. The left cerebral hemisphere was more active when people sang in their dreams while activity in the right cerebral hemisphere would intensify when the subjects counted (Laberge, p. 300).

One of the most common concepts present in the reports of those who claim to have experienced a lucid dream is the one relating to sexual activity. Laberge was also engaged in studying sexual activity during lucid dreams and found that the body reacted to sexual stimuli imagined by the person sleeping similarly to how it would react if the subject was awake. In spite of the fact that most subjects who underwent lucid dreams reported having orgasms, they did not show any signs of actually…

However, things have advanced. ith better technology, we can monitor the brain's activity while in REM. Certainly, one thing is certain: with out sleep there is no life. ithout sleep, body temperature, eating, infection prevention, and basic brain functioning suffer.

In terms of survival, where do dreams fit in? Researchers argue that the continuation of a complex brain process such as REM sleep indicates serves an important function for the survival of mammalian and avian species. Certainly, it was a very valuable step along the evolutionary ladder and led to survival. As the brain grew more complex, it needed downtime to process new information. Like any computer, especially a complex one, the human brain requires maintenance. Besides simple "down time," it also requires reprogramming every 24 hours. Just like our network computers take necessary updates and downloads, the brain needs a reprogramming session every 24 hours to recharge itself and…

Marx's interpretation of Twentieth-Century Capitalism, as described by Miller, describes the changes in the American dream. The American dream was initially one linked to the idea of land ownership. Immigrants came from Europe, where land ownership had been a privilege of the wealthy. However, when America was relatively unsettled, almost anyone could theoretically come to America and claim land, and many people did just that. Of course, some of these early Americans did so in a grand way, traveling westward from the cities and establishing homesteads in the wilderness. The idea of home ownership, however, was not limited to those frontiersmen. Instead, only 100 years ago, someone could come to America and, because of the cheap price of land, afford to build his own home if he worked hard enough to do so. However, the nature of the home, itself, was different. Those homes were centers of production: at the…

American Dream

Defining the American Dream

People have talked about a concept called the American Dream for many years, but the definition is difficult to pin down. The reason for this is that as the situations in the country change, so does the view people have of what the American Dream represents. The purpose of this paper is to define what the American Dream is from history, the generally accepted meaning of the term, and how that definition may have changed over the past couple of years.

History shows that the concept of the American Dream began with the "discovery" of the Americas. hether the explorer was Leif Erickson or Christopher Columbus, all of the people who have come to these shores have dreamed of something better. As a matter of fact;

"The idea of an American Dream is older than the United States, dating back to the 1600s, when…

Arthur's dream of Mordred's treachery, and its implications for the overall King Arthur myth.

Arthur's Dream of Mordred's Treachery

The legend of King Arthur is full of various significant dreams and their interpretations. Celtic history, of which the King Arthur legend is a part, placed a huge emphasis on the meanings of dreams. Dreams were taken very seriously, and often professional dream interpreters were employed in order to divine the true meaning of dreams. In the King Arthur legend, dreams turn out to be very significant and symbolic for Arthur. One of the most important symbolic dreams that Arthur has is his dream of the treachery of his son/nephew, Mordred. Mordred was Arthur's son by his half-sister, Morgaine. Arthur knew nothing of Mordred's existence until Mordred himself was an adult. However, Arthur does have a symbolic dream after inadvertently sleeping with his half-sister, right at the moment that Mordred is…

American Dream" in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" with References to Mark Twain and Henry Thoreau

Arthur Miller's play entitled "Death of a Salesman" is a story about a man who has created a conflict with his family because of his great belief in the American Dream. Willy Loman, the main character in the story, makes a living by being a salesman, and the story revolves around his frustrations in life, particularly the strain in his relationship with his eldest son, iff Loman. Willy's frustrations stems from the fact that iff was not able to have a permanent and stable job, and is often fired from work because of some petty offense or misconduct on his son's part. Willy always insist that his son iff must develop relations with other people, and he must also have charisma and the ability to interact with them in order to achieve prosperity…

Finally, it was my turn and -- but then I woke up.

When I told this dream to a friend, he said, "Sounds like you have a bad conscience!" This was an interesting interpretation of my dream, I thought. He said that he had been dreaming the night before of snow mobiling all over the mountains and he said it had been such fun that he had not wished to wake up. I thought that he must possess a very good conscience if he could dream about such nice things.

I got to thinking about what my friend said to me, and I decided that perhaps he was not so far off the mark. Perhaps my conscience was not very clear. After all, some things had been troubling me, and I knew I had not been behaving as well as I should have. Therefore, perhaps it was not such a…

Burden of Dreams

In 1979, German filmmaker erner Herzog set out to produce a movie about a rubber baron who dreamed of bringing the opera to the jungles of South America. Herzog's film, which would be titled Fitzcarraldo after the protagonist's name, took four years, as well as literal blood, sweat, and tears, to make. Moreover, the plot of Filzcarraldo eerily parallels the actual process by which Herzog made his film. Both depict a European man hauling his pride and ambition to a world in which he remains sorely out of place, imposing on the indigenous society and environment a set of foreign ideals. American documentary filmmaker Les Blank followed Herzog and his crew through the harried production of Fitzcarraldo and the result was the Academy Award-winning feature-length documentary entitled Burden of Dreams. The aptly-titled "making of" documentary captures the near-insanity of Herzog's ambitiousness, and also subtly illustrates the various…

"(Miller, 96) However, even if it can appear that illy's death is a further failure and humiliation, Happy points out at his funeral that Loman had the braveness to pursue his dream to the end, despite the fact that he did not succeed: "I'm gonna show you and everybody else that illy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. it's the only dream you can have - to come out number-one man. He fought it out here, and this is where I'm gonna win it for him."(Miller, 111) the promise that Happy makes to follow his father's dream and accomplish it for him is again ironic however. Miller points thus to the perpetuation of the American Dream in society, and hints at its probable permanence.

Thus, Miller's play is one of the most 'American' productions as it points to the conflictive relationship established between the American…

This lesson sparked one of the most influential times in American History: the 1960's. The dream of freedom from preconceived notions of happiness, which Elvis first whispered in the ear of everybody in 1956, had by the late 1960's, blossomed into a time of social awareness. By creating a new way to live the "American Dream," no longer constrained by the traditions of the materialistic past, American society has been expanded, allowing for all Americans to pursue their own version of the "American Dream." And this version can still be the traditional version if one likes, but it can also be whatever makes one happy, without the restrictions of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or anything else.

Recently the United States of America has been rocked to its financial core by the actions of many in the financial community. Hard working Americans will once again suffer the consequences of economic…

Gail Godwin's "Dream Children" and Tobias Wolff's "The Liar" are both stories about escapism. In "Dream Children" a woman whose baby was stillborn and who may have had a hysterectomy because of it finds solace in out-of-body experiences and dreams. Her escapism is harmless, and yet it deeply disturbs her neighbor and worries her husband. Likewise, James's compulsive fibbing in "The Liar" is not intended to hurt anyone, but the behavior gravely disturbs his mother. James lies to create alternative realities, just like Mrs. McNair uses astral travel. The two short stories are told from different points-of-view: "The Liar" in first person and "Dream Children" in third. However, the tales share a considerable amount in common including characterization, resolution, and theme. Both Godwin and Wolff show how escapism is a natural human response to painful life situations.

Godwin and Wolff are both Southern writers; both were born in Alabama but…

If the American dream is real to someone, it is real; land and products can be bought and sold as a consequence.

Obviously, for the dream of a better life to be sold to anyone it needs to be established that their current existence is less than attractive. This is why water is diverted away from a city in desperate need of water: the citizens need to be convinced that what they need is somewhere else. Furthermore, all of the town's undesirables are lumped into the center of the city, where they are most visible and most difficult to avoid. Poor minorities, essentially, are caught within the low income housing projects in the inner city. This is why Chinatown is unattractive to white, affluent citizens. Racism is as much of an impetus to leave the city as the stifling drought. The organizational structures in place demand that the Chinese live…

Goal! The Dream Begins

Summary of Plot

The movie begins by showing a young Hispanic man working in Los Angeles both with his father as a landscaper and in a restaurant. The young man has played soccer on the streets of Los Angeles and in the parks since he was a child, but he has never taken the incredible skill he has acquired farther than local city leagues. His father is of the belief that people of their background and station in life should not dream of becoming something that they are not. The father thinks that Santiago, the young man, should work as the father has all of his life. Santiago is able, with the help of his grandmother, to travel to Newcastle, England to try out for their soccer team.

Through a lot of difficulty (another player becomes jealous and smashes his inhaler, he is stuck on the…

Message of Empowerment in Dream Deferred, Dreams, and Daystar

Dream Deferred (Harlem) by Langston Hughes, Dreams by Nikki Giovanni, and Daystar by Rita Dove are most often categorized as poetry offering insight into the frustration of African-Americans because of societies continuous oppression of their hopes, desires, and dreams. This is correct, but upon further examination one finds there is a deeper, more universal message among the prose...personal empowerment.

A person's individual capability must be fully developed before embarking on a revolution. Langston Hughes in A Dream Deferred warns of the danger involved when potential is subjugated. "What happens to dreams deferred" (Line 1) he asks. "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" Or fester like a sore and run" (Lines 3-5) The imagery is vivid, bringing a tangibility to the emotional death caused by a crushed spirit. The inevitable result of burying potential is a powder keg…

Jeremy ifkin: The European Dream

So we are all familiar with the proverbial American Dream. Whether it exists or not, whether it is attainable or not are questions that better to be left alone at this point because there appears to be another proverbial dream that has emerged that demands our attention. According to Jeremy ifkin, the idea of American dream is not only outdated, it is also being quickly replaced by the European Dream. "While the American Spirit is tiring and languishing in the past," ifkin writes, "a new European Dream is being born.." In his book, The European Dream, ifkin lays down the thesis that America has lost its charm, its appeal and almost everything it once symbolized, the new American generation is overweight, under-educated and unnecessarily aggressive with little or no regard for religion. So the American Dream that revolved around tapping into opportunities, buying a nice…

Theseus reminds Hermia that the person she is, with her beauty as an asset that is so appreciated by Lysander, is because she is the product of her father. She is "but as a form in wax (Shakespeare online), a reproduction of her father, "By him imprinted within his power (Shakespeare online).

Johnnie Patricia Mobley resolves the conflict between the characters of Hermia and Helena (on whose behalf Oberon intercedes with his good intentions of administering the magic potion). Hermia and Lysander do this by sharing with Helena their plan to run away beyond the authority of Hermia's father so that they can be together (Mobley 16). This is Shakespeare's way of addressing the love triangle, which must have often come up in the lives of people whose marriages were arranged. It also looks at the solution for Hermia and Lysander, and Oberon's intervention gives the audience, and Hermia, time…

We are also often unaware of the manner in which social forces such as economics, politics, and research professionals shape our technological advances. This is also evidenced in our response to technology that malfunctions; we oftentimes do not seek to understand how to fix it and instead will call in a professional to do so (Bijker, & Law, 1992). This does not make us any more knowledgeable about our own technology, its workings, or its design. One must question if this is due to a lack of knowledge or a purposeful desire to remain uninformed as to not have to face the give and take relationship between technological advances and the good of society.

Technology is not pure and while it provides us with opportunities to function in ways that we have never done before it also has negative aspects that cannot be ignored (Lawson, 2010). While it is difficult…