Sunday, March 22, 2020

Parvana Essay free essay sample

Parvana is a novel written by Deborah Ellis. Parvana and Shauzia are 2 young girls who life in a Taliban ruled country, known as Afghanistan. Both girls are faced with many difficulties throughout the novel. The 2 girls are given the chance to leave the war-torn country and Shauzia immediately takes this chance. By doing so, Shauzia will no longer be living under the Taliban’s rules. Being an 11 year old girl, Shauzia deserves to get an education. Shauzia’s family does not value her in any sort of way and she doesn’t deserve to see such disgusting things everyday. Shauzia makes the right decision to go to Afghanistan because she’ll no longer be under the Taliban’s control. Once she’s out of the country, she’ll be able to live on her own free will. After all, Shauzia is only 11 years old. Her life shouldn’t be filled with bombs, landmines, blood, deaths etc. We will write a custom essay sample on Parvana Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In other words, her life shouldn’t be filled with violence. Shauzia stated that she was saving money, a little bit each day. â€Å"I’m getting out of here,† Parvana then replied â€Å"What? When? Shauzia then answered that she would leave by next spring. This clearly shows that Shauzia wants to leave Afghanistan. Shauzia doesn’t want to live in a war-torn country and that she wants a better life for herself. Shauzia’s family does not value her in any way. This is another right reason why Shauzia should leave Afghanistan. To prove this, Shauzia’s grandfather has ‘started to look for a husband’ for her. Shauzia does not have any say in this because he obviously doesn’t care for her feelings. He’s only doing it so that he and the rest of Shauzia’s family would still have or make even more money. He stated that she’ll ‘fetch a good bride price’ because she’s young. As stated before, her grandfather only wants her to get married for the money. Clearly, Shauzia has made the right decision to leave Afghanistan. To get married at such a young is absolutely tragic. To get married to someone you don’t even love, there would be no meaning in the marriage. Her grandfather obviously cannot see any reason of why she shouldn’t get married. Another reason to why Shauzia made the right decision to leave Afghanistan is that she needs to get an education. Ever since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, girls and women had all been ‘ordered to stay inside their homes. ’ They also forbade girls to go to school. Many schools in Afghanistan have been shut down thanks to the bombings that have happened. It seems as though the Taliban does not believe in education for girls. The Taliban would ‘burn books they didn’t like’. It’s as though they would burn educational books; a book that you could learn something from. Books like, literature, humanities, medical etc. Being an 11 year old girl, Shauzia’s life should be filled with things that don’t include so much violence. It is heartbreaking that an 11 year old girl has to go through every single day of her life seeing all of that. After the incident at the stadium a ‘kind man’ told Shauzia Parvana to ‘go remember better things’. This sentence here was stated right after Parvana and Shauzia left the stadium. Seeing that the prisoners’ hands got chopped off is gruesome. While they were exiting the stadium, much to Parvana’s disgust, she ‘caught a glimpse of a young Talib man’ who was the hands which were attached to a rope. In the novel Parvana, written by Deborah Ellis, Shauzia has made the right decision to leave Afghanistan. As stated above, the reasons why Shauzia made the right decision are that if she were to leave she would no longer have to live along with the Taliban’s rules and she needs to finds an education in a better place. In conclusion, Shauzia has made the right decision to leave Afghanistan.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Fidelios Initial Response Essay Example

Fidelios Initial Response Essay Example Fidelios Initial Response Essay Fidelios Initial Response Essay Fidelio, Beethovens only opera, is difficult to analyze in the Reception Theory due mainly to the fact that it was released on three separate occasions, changing drastically each time. Its difficult to really understand the general audiences reception to Fidelio, unless analyzing each release separately due to the differences in each piece respectively. Regardless of which form of Fidelio youre discussing, it has become common knowledge that the final version, released in 1814, became widely regarded as an operatic masterpiece over the years. The goal of this paper is to review the general publics response to each of the revised pieces, and attempt to determine when exactly the final work grew to be hailed as a masterpiece. Beethoven took his time over a span of years looking through libretto after libretto to write what he thought would be the greatest opera of the time. Though that sounds a bit arrogant, he was Beethoven; the greatest composer of western music to date, and that was his goal. Finally he stumbled across a libretto inspired by the French technique, which intrigued him, and he jumped at the opportunity. : By November of 1805, the initial version of what was called at the time Leonora, was ready to be premiered. A key fact to the reception of this piece however lies in history. In late October 1805, Napoleons armies were bearing down on Vienna (Brener 27). By the 30th they had entered Salzburg, leading to the flea of most persons of wealth and nobility (27). These people were who would have normally made up the audience at a premier such as Beethovens first and last opera. So it was under these horrendous circumstances that Fidelio was performed at the Theatre an der Wien (28). The usual audience had either fled or was unable to reach the theater as the city had been closed to the suburbs (28). The initial version of the opera was a very long, drawn out piece, consisting of three acts. Needless to say under the circumstances the first performance was not acclaimed by either the reviewers or the audiences. After three performances Beethoven withdrew the opera in disgust, for further review (28). It is safe to say the initial result was what no one expected as it was ridiculed by audiences and critics alike. After the initial catastrophe, Beethoven went back to work importing a new librettist, shortening the work, and changing some music as well. By 1806 it was ready to be premiered again, and this time to the usual audience. The performance was extremely anticipated, however again failed in the eyes of the critics; however more importantly to Beethoven was the opinion of the audiences. The audience adored the re-release. The great Hector Berlioz states: Some time afterwards, however, it reappeared; modified in several ways, both as to music and text; and furnished with a new overture. This second trial was a complete success; and Beethoven, loudly recalled by the audience, was brought upon the stage after the first act, and again after the second act; the finale of which produced an enthusiasm hitherto unknown at Vienna. The score of Fidelio was, however, none the less subject to varying degrees of bitter criticism (132). Although the second release of Fidelio was certainly better received than the first, and to the correct audience, Berlioz goes on to say, The fact is that, of these three scores, the first is extremely weak; the second scarcely a work of talent; and the third a masterpiece of genius (133). This statement exemplifies the bulk of Reception Theory research found today. Though the second version of Fidelio was rather widely acclaimed and began to play all over Europe at different theatre companies, it was not until the third and final version, released in 1814, that Fidelio could be called an operatic masterpiece for the ages. Many years and many works after the release of the second version of Fidelio, with yet another librettist and more changes including the addition of an overture, the final version of Fidelio premiered on 23 May 1814. This form and performance catapulted Fidelio into a widely acclaimed masterpiece of opera. Critics and audiences alike would praise the work for years and years to come, as it is still acclaimed as one of the great operas of the time today. Beethoven in response to the much awaited success wrote in his daybook, It is certain that one writes best when one writes for the public (Brener 31). The Reception Theory combines a variety of thoughts on a piece with its reception by the critics and general public at the time, and when the piece is widely acclaimed, which could be much later in time. Often times works that are experimental in one era become hailed as masterpieces in another, thats the whole point of the Reception Theory, to determine when a work makes this crossover. Beethovens Fidelio had the perfect timing as far as this approach states. With the final changes to the piece, it became praised as one of the all-time masterpieces almost immediately. One can only guess at the depth of Beethovens frustration upon being repeatedly told, by even the most well-meaning of his admirers, that he was writing for the future and that he could not be understood in his own day (Brener 31). What Fidelio, accomplished upon completion and acclaim was prove to Beethoven that as often as his pieces were based on where music was going, he could still write for the people of the time, while moving in the direction of the future. What is found upon further research is that Fidelio has grown like a fine wine, though highly praised in 1814 at the conception of the final version; it has only grown in the publics appreciation over time. There is not exact date in which the work crossed over to a masterpiece, essentially from the final versions premiere it was a fact understood by the audience, that this was and would be a great opera for a lengthy period of time.