Madame de Pompadour

Guy de Maupassant uses characterization, symbolism, and irony to convey the effects of social class. With diction relating to characterization, the author brings the characters to life. Mathilde often daydreams about “oriental tapestries and… handsome butlers” catering her every need (221). With these thoughts Mathilde believes she should be in the aristocracy, not a commoner. The day of the ball nears her and she seems “sad, uneasy, and anxious” (222). She worries that although she seems…

The Real World In Michel de Montaigne’s essay, “Of Cannibals,” he speaks about the noble savages of the New World who people in Europe misjudged because of their cultural beliefs and practices. He recognizes that Europeans are resistant and unwelcoming of foreign traditions. Montaigne compares the savages to fruit, and claims that Europeans think fruit is wild, but, “…in truth, we ought rather to call those wild whose natures we have changed by our artifice and diverted from the common order”…

Necklace by, Guy de Maupassant. A woman named Madame Loisel had a learning experience from making careless decisions that physically took some of her precious life including her husbands. “What I gave back to you was another one just like it. And it took us ten years to pay for it. You can imagine it wasn’t easy for us, since we were quite poor. . . . Anyway, I’m glad it’s over and done with” (Loisel 380). This is an example of a con for needing and wanting something because, Madame Loisel…

In the “Drive” directed by Nicolas Refn, the driver starts off as a professional in his career of offering repairs and getaway services for clients organized by Shannon (IMDB). The Driver’s professional code of work breaks loose when he met Irene and her son, Benicio – neighbor in the apartment – and he develops a close connection with her (Rotten tomatoes). Nicolas Refn uniquely presents the movie in such a dramatic way that events surrounding all scenes are stylistically combined to produce an…

the trials and gather around when someone was being guillotined. For the French aristocracy, justice was just a game, but with that, the Revolutionaries took justice into their own hands. They offered justice to those who needed it, to women like Madame Defarge and killed people like the Marquis and Foulon. Granted, the way the revolutionaries went about serving comeuppance, they actually bred injustice. With that being said, one must realize that there might just not be a fine line between…

Company. Dirk Jan De Pree entered the company as a clerk and by 1919 he became the president. De Pree’s father in law, Herman Miller, purchased the majority of shares of the company and renamed it Herman Miller Furniture Company. The company’s culture originated from the story of Mr. De Pree’s visit to one of his workers who died unexpectedly. “This led Mr. De Pree to wonder whether the millwright was a person who wrote poetry or poet who was also a millwright”. This experience made Mr. De Pree…

In Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, the theme of love is constant throughout the whole play. The main love interests consists of Cyrano, Roxane, and Christian, but the three overshadow another love line between Ragueneau and his wife, Lise. Although the two are married, the real love line is between Ragueneau and poetry. Though the two are rather small characters and lack appearances, Ragueneau shows that love does not have to be found in a person and that it is important to find one’s…

we watched in class called Violence Next Door; Growing up in the Favelas followed teenagers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Baltimore City, Maryland. The documentary was made to show the lives of teens that live in what people call slums, ghettos, favelas, or the hood. The documentary interviewed several teens about their living conditions and how it affects them. Although Baltimore City and Rio de Janeiro are on two different continents, the lives of these teens are very similar. Their…

Cinco de Mayo, known as the fifth of May in English, commemorates the Mexican army’s victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War (1861-1867), but a false misconception present in the United States is that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico’s Independence Day. The Battle of Puebla (May 5, 1862) occurred because Mexico did not possess the ability to allocate funding to pay back war debts to European nations, therefore, Britain, Spain, sent their naval forces to Veracruz to…

rulers of their hometown after the realization that money does lead to power. The Medici became stronger as their bank grew all over Europe. They started to make their way into Rome and the Papacy where several Medici became cardinals and Popes. Cosimo de Medici was responsible for the start of the Humanism movement and the commission of several magnificent art pieces, all due to the Medici Bank and the immense wealth and power that they were able to gain from its success. The bank was run…