Magician Essays (Examples)

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Essay
Yahwist Priestly & Magician's Nephew
Pages: 4 Words: 1196


Both Creation and the Exodus are presented in different ways in the Priestly and Yahwist traditions. The purpose of the narratives are so different. As mentioned, we are to see God as the all-authoritative one in the Priestly tradition; he is creator and he is savior and he is the one who decides to give mankind the authority over the earth. He also wants to stress how important the Sabbath day is. The Yahwist tradition looks at the relationship between God and man and depicts sin as man having the desire to be like God. The Priestly accounts also talk about God creating mankind in his image, but it is never totally clear in what image God means -- spiritual or emotional? The Yahwist tradition tells us that humans can be wise like God (not as wise as God, of course), but humans can learn to be more like Him,…...

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References:

Bandstra, B.L. Table A: Yahwist Narrative. In B.L. Bandstra, Reading the Old

Testament:An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. Wadsworth Publishing

Company, 1999.

West, C., & Weigel, G. Theology of the body explained. England: Gracewing

Essay
Harry Potter as a Transmedia
Pages: 2 Words: 784

Harry Potter grows up amongst the 'average' human being and he is uncommon. This is stressed as is too the mediocrity and triteness of this human called the ' * ' world. Rowling devotes pages to this and to the contrast of Harry Potter and his relations as well as society that he lives in. Grossman, on the other hand, merely slips in a paragraph alluding to Quentin's 'shitty' existence aside from informing us that Quentin was part of the nerds. But then, so were others.' On page 5, Grossman tells us:
He followed James and Julia past bodegas, Laundromats, hipster boutiques, cell-phone stores limmed with neon-piping, past a bar where old people were already drinking t three forty-five in the afternoon… All of it just confirmed his belief that his real life, the life he should be living, had been mislaid through some clerical error by the cosmic bureaucracy.…...

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Sources

Grossman, L. (2009) the magicians. Viking, USA

Essay
Prestige Where Theatrical Conventions Meet
Pages: 4 Words: 1632

The only connection between the two worlds of Tesla and Robert, electricity and old-fashioned staged magic, is the sense of hyper-reality: of magic and stagecraft in one realm, and electricity and the 'real world' of science that makes the depiction of magic on film possible. Tesla's mad scientist hair, the bags beneath his eyes, make him look more mentally unbalanced than a rationalist -- a mad inventor of film, not a trusted authority to the eye. The viewer's apprehensiveness is dependent upon this awareness of cinematic conventions, just like the audience of a magical illusion is dependant upon their awareness that it is, in fact, an illusion.
Further unsettling the viewer's sense of Tesla's trustworthiness are the buzzing electric generators that hum like tiny bees in the background, sparking with fire. Tesla seems purely a creation of the cinema, of electricity itself. Electricity unlike staged magic is real but close-ups…...

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Works Cited

The Prestige. Directed by Christopher Nolan. 2007.

Essay
Dreamed of Creating Magic - And He
Pages: 5 Words: 1956

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 or three…...

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Works Cited

About Ray Bradbury." June 18, 2002.  http://www.raybradbury.com 

Biography of Ray Bradbury." June 18,2002.  http://www.gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Authors/about_ray_bradbury.html 

Eyman, Scott. "Q&A with Ray Bradbury." Palm Beach Post. Sunday March 10, 2002.

Fat Chucks Index." May 21, 2002. June 18, 2002. http://www.fatchucks.com/z4.bb.html

Essay
Children's Literature Author Study Most
Pages: 5 Words: 2120


In spite o the accusations of being a misogynist and encouraging the young minds to embrace such theories related to gender stereotypes, Polly and Diggory, the first two children to populate the series, are far from impersonating stereotypes. Polly appears to be a smart and sensitive young girl, wiser to some degree than her friend, Diggory. In opposition to the children who regardless of their gender, seem to share similar degrees of intelligence, courage and common sense, the adults they describe as part of their reality are more likely to express what to some degree could be the result of certain personal convictions of the author in the two fields of gender that are not very flattering for women in general.

Nevertheless, the novels of the Chronicles are valuable, among other things, because of their potential to enchant, keep the reader interested and intrigued all the way up to the very…...

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Lewis CS. Dorsett LW. Mead, ML C.S. Lewis' Letters to Children. Simon and Schuster, 1996

Hooper W.C.S. Lewis: A Complete Guide to His Life & Works. HarperCollins, 1998

Lindsley a.C.S. Lewis: His Life and Works. C'S. Lewis Institute. Discipleship of Heart and Mind. Last updated on Tue, 2009-09-29. Available at:  http://www.cslewisinstitute.org/cslewis/index.htm

Essay
British Lit Legends Tales About
Pages: 6 Words: 2346

"
In total contrast with these heroes lies the modern hero or better said the modern man defined by his struggle for power. The idea of an individual selling his or her soul to the devil for knowledge is an old motif in Christian folklore, one that is centered upon in Cristopher Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus."

Doctor Faustus, a well-respected German scholar unsatisfied with the traditional forms of knowledge decides he wants to learn to practice magic. He begins his career as a magician summoning Mephastophilis, a devil while Valdes and Cornelius instruct him in the black arts. Despite the devil's warnings about hell Faustus tells the devil to return to his master Lucifer with an offer of Faustus's soul in exchange for twenty-five years of service from Mephistopheles. As the twenty-five years have passed, Faustus begins to dread his impending death and on the final night he is overcome by fear and…...

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Bibliography

1. The Norton Anthology of English, Norton Topics Outline. 2003-2006. W.W. Norton and Company. On the Internet at   retrieved on November 24, 2006http://www.wwnorton.com/nael/middleages/topic_4/welcome.htm.Last 

2. The Sixteenth century topics: The Magician, the Heretic and the Playwright: Overview. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 2003-2006. W.W. Norton and Company. On the Internet at http://www.wwnortoncom/nto/16century/topic_1/welcome.htm

3. Jokinen, Aniina. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Luminarium: Anthology of English Literature. November 2006. On the Internet at   retrieved on November 24, 2006http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/gawainintro/htm.Last 

4. Sera, Joseph. A character analysis of Sir Gawain. Pace University Student Projects on Gawain. November 2006. On the Internet at retrieved on November 24, 2006http://csis.pace.edu/grendel/projs2d/ana/page.htm.Last

Essay
John Dee Such an Enigmatic
Pages: 8 Words: 2419

'" (Molland 257) of course, this kind of thinking would eventually lead Dee to argue that "at length I perceived onely God (and by his good Angels) could satisfy my desire," and ultimately resulted in his extensive travels with the medium and alchemist Edward Kelley. Furthermore, this insistence on an astrological interpretation of cosmology directly influenced his other "scientific" works, something that is taken up in J. Peter Zetterberg's analysis of what he calls Dee's "hermetic geocentricity."
After discussing the somewhat limited commentary on Copernicus' theory of heliocentrism present in Dee's strictly scientific works, Zetterberg suggests that "to resolve the general ambiguity that surrounds the question of Dee's cosmological views it is necessary to leave his works on practical science and turn instead to his occult interests." In Monas hieroglyphica, the only work in which Dee "reveal[s] a cosmology," Zetterberg identifies a kind of hidden meaning Dee proposes to exist in…...

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Bibliography

"A John Dee Chronology." Adam Matthew Publications. Available from   Internet; accessed 20 March 2011.http://www.ampltd.co.uk/digital_guides/ren_man_series1_prt1/chronology.aspx .

Dee, John. General and rare memorials pertaining to the Perfect Arte of Navigation. 1575.

Dee, John. To the King's Most Excellent Majesty. 1604

Heppel, G. "Mathematical Worthies. II. John Dee." The Mathematical Gazette 5 (1895): 40.

Essay
Le Morte D'arthur the Legend
Pages: 10 Words: 3262

No other hero is so frequently mentioned. He is the only person so important that triads are enlarged into tetrads to fit him in. (Ashe 45)
The account that did the most to establish Arthur as a prominent historical figure was the History of the Kings of Britain written in 1135 by Geoffrey of Monmouth, a elsh monk, and the book provides a history of the earliest kings of Britain, some 99 in all, including King Coel, known to us today from the nursery rhyme as Old King Cole. About one-fifth of the book is devoted to Arthur, and Geoffrey provides the first organized version of the story. Many of the elements that would be part of the later tradition were missing, however. Arthur's court is not at Camelot but at a place called Caerlon-on-Usk, or City of Legions. Geoffrey contributed at least three new elements to the existing histories…...

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Works Cited

Ashe, Geoffrey. "The Arthurian Fact." The Quest for Arthur's Britain, Geoffrey Ashe (ed.). Chicago: Academy Chicago Publishers, 1987.

Beowulf. Library of the Future CD-Rom, 4th Edition. Irvine: World Library, 1996.

Capellanus, Andreas, the Art of Courtly Love. New York: Columbia University Press, 1990.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. New York: Holt, 1963.

Essay
Dorian Gray Falls From Grace
Pages: 5 Words: 1840

Is this 'good' or natural one might ask, if Basil is one of the moral characters of the book and defying nature and wishing for eternal youth is immoral? Henry's counsel to Dorian that Dorian yield to his every natural temptation and not bow down to societal morality could be seen as an endorsement of the natural, but Henry also celebrates youth to an unnatural, unchanging degree and he too falls in love with Dorian's image before Dorian. Also, Henry, like Basil, is clearly amoral and self-interested himself, as seen in his disapproval that Dorian's impulses do not conform to Henry's own when Dorian is attracted to a pretty young actress.
Henry is a tempting figure, like Mephistopheles, but Dorian easily outdoes him in 'evil' or transgressions and unnaturalness. Dorian's love of youth, spawned by Henry, takes on a life of its own, just like Faustus' taunting of nature and…...

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Works Cited

Clausson, Nils. "Culture and Corruption": Paterian Self-Development vs. Gothic

Degeneration in Oscar Wilde's the Picture of Dorian Gray." Papers on Language and Literature. Fall 2003. 21 Apr 2007.  http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3708/is_200310/ai_n9329138 

Marlowe, Christopher. "The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus." Project Gutenberg Etext.

1997. 21 Apr 2007. http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext97/drfst10a.txt

Essay
Genealogy of Morals This Work
Pages: 5 Words: 1644

This way, he can support, protect, compel, correct, and discipline them. He needs to defend his followers, his herd against healthy people and their envy. He must be the original and natural opponent and critic of all hard, violent and predatory element and forces. The ascetic priest is the more refined animal, who despises more capably as it hates. He isolates the image of the ascetic priest as one who brings or pretends to bring ointments and balm for the sick and suffering. ut in so doing, he must first inflict wounds, then eases that wound while poisoning it. He knows well how to do it as the seasoned magician and animal trainer, in whose company everything sound and healthy necessarily becomes sick and foul. He even defends his sick herd in a strange way against wickedness, scheming and malicious among the herd itself. He fights shrewdly, hard and…...

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Bibliography

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Walter Kaufmann, editor. On the Genealogy of Morals (Vintage). Random House, Inc., 1967

Essay
Houdini Was Able to Modulate His Normal
Pages: 6 Words: 1748

Houdini Was Able to Modulate His Normal Physiology During His Stunts
The objective of this study is to examine how Houdini was able to modulate his normal physiology during his stunts.

Harry Houdini caused the world to marvel at his skill in escaping the bondage of handcuffs and was referred to as the 'handcuff king' and as well Houdini performed many other magic tricks that required more than merely illusion but instead required that he be able to alter his own body's physiology. The modulation of physiology enabled Houdini to accomplish great feats and to capture the imagination and attention of a large base of fans across many years. Houdini is well-known for having spent a great deal of time and effort to invalidate individuals who were so-called mediums communicating with the dead because he detested this type of trickery.

Modulation of Physiology

The modulation of physiology is similar to the technique used…...

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Bibliography

Randi, James (2001) My Heroes, The Pale Blue Dot, Houdini's Last Stunt. SWIFT. Online Newsletter of the JREP. 28 Dec 2001. Retrieved from:  http://www.randi.org/jr/122801.html 

Shermer, Michael (2001) Houdini's Skeptical Advice: Just Because Something's Unexplained Doesn't Mean It's Supernatural. Scientific American. 4 Feb 2011. Retrieved from:  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=houdinis-skeptical-advice 

Seabourne, Tom Dr. (nd) Breathing and Heart Rate Control. Universal Nutrition. Retrieved from:  http://www.universalnutrition.com/features/breathingheartrate.html

Essay
Communication History
Pages: 15 Words: 4777

Communication History
Fans of science fiction are fond of recalling a remark by novelist Arthur C. Clarke, to the effect that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. I am currently typing these sentences onto a laptop, where I am also currently watching a grainy YouTube video of the legendary magician Harry Houdini, performing one of his legendary escapes -- from a straitjacket, in this case. Houdini is probably the most famous stage magician of the twentieth century, as witnessed by the fact that his name is familiar to my generation although he died almost a century ago. If Houdini were to suddenly reappear in front of me right now -- in the flesh, I mean, and not merely on YouTube -- how would I explain to him that the way in which all of this is taking place? To someone who has been dead for a century, the notion…...

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Works Cited

Abbate, Janet. Inventing the Internet. Boston: MIT Press, 1999. Print.

Babbage, Charles. Table of the Logarithms of the Natural Numbers from 1 to 108000 by Charles Babbage, Esq., M.A. London: Clowes and Sons, 1841. Print.

Babbage, Charles. "On a method of expressing by signs the action of machinery." Address to the Royal Society, 1826. Web.

Bryant, John H. "Heinrich Hertz's Experiments and Experimental Apparatus: His Discovery of Radio Waves and His Delineation of Their Properties." In Baird, Davis; Hughes, R.I.G.; and Nordman, Alfred. Heinrich Hertz: Classical Physicist, Modern Philosopher. Hingham, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998. Print.

Essay
Doctor Faustus Reasons Why He Was Willing to Accept Eternal Damnation
Pages: 20 Words: 6431

Faustus' Acceptance to Eternal Damnation
Many traditions and legends have been created all the way through the long history of western culture. Among which one of the most outstanding and well-known as well long lasting traditions of western culture is of the Faustus legend, where in this legend, a man called Faust or Faustus, sells his soul to the devil for almost twenty-four years for the purpose of worldly power. This makes it a very prominent story that has been narrated many times over by writers such as Goethe, Lessing, and Mann. However, most probably the famous telling is Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe.

The social upheaval during the time period is the most prominent influence on Marlowe's version of Doctor Faustus. This novel has been suspected of being first performed in 1594, which was a time of great change in Europe. During this period the Medieval Times were over and…...

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Works Cited

Conflict in the Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. November 6, 1998.

A www.kcweb.nhmccd.edu

Christopher Marlowe. Books and Writers.

A www.kirjasto.sci.fi

Essay
Words and Pictures in Picture Books
Pages: 5 Words: 1619

Pictures in Picture Books
Most picture books combine pictures and words to make stories more understandable, fascinating, and memorable. Without pictures, the true meaning of a text may be lost. Equally, without words, the true meaning of a picture may be missed. Indeed, Perry Nodelman notes that "words without pictures can be vague and incomplete, incommunicative about important visual information." At the same time, "pictures without words can be vague and incomplete, lacking the focus, the temporal relationships, and the internal significance so easily communicated by words" (10). With examples, this essay explains how words and pictures complement each other in picture books, and why the interaction between the two is important for the development of reading comprehension.

A popular adage says pictures speak more than a thousand words. It is true that pictures communicate information in a way words may not. Nodelman posits that pictures support and complete the meaning of…...

Essay
Shakespeare's Sense of Order in The Tempest
Pages: 3 Words: 751

Is Justice Served? Yes, in The TempestIn The Tempest, Shakespeare presents a complex but clear picture of justice being served. For instance, Prospero is rightfully reinstated as Duke of Milan, while those who conspired against him are punished (but also forgivenshowing Prosperos magnanimity). Additionally, Ariel is released from slavery for having faithfully served Prospero. And Ferdinand is rewarded with marriage to Miranda for his good behavior. This paper will show how all three are justly rewarded according to Shakespeares understanding of the natural order and why it should just as well work for us today.First, there is the main character of Prospero. Shakespeare presents Prospero as a good man who has been wronged. He is a skilled magician and has the ability to control the elements. However, he chooses not to use his powers for evil. He is also a loving father and husband. He shows his love for his…...

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ReferencesCressler, L. (2020). The Tempest. Shakespeare Bulletin, 38(2), 274-278.Frey, C. (1979). The tempest and the New World. Shakespeare Quarterly, 30(1), 29-41.Jones, H. K., & Denman, S. (1875). Notes of a conversation on Shakespeare\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Tempest\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, 9(3), 293-299.Shakespeare, W. (n.d.). The Tempest. Retrieved from  https://www.shakespearefreelibrary.com/uploads/4/2/1/6/4216153/2010_cbury_tempest.pdf

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