Magnum opus

English Professor Peter Elbow orated, “Everyone agrees in theory that we can’t judge a new idea or point of view unless we enter into it and try it out, but the practice itself is rare”. From this quote, one can render that contemporarily people have shown fear in deviating from the norm of society and attempting a novel way of life, despite the conventions of society being condemned multiple times. The statement suggests individuals to enter society as fully as possible into a point of view…

The disinclination of humans to question the information they perceive is a timeless phenomenon. This concept dates back to 380 BC, when Plato wrote the short story, “Allegory of the Cave”, in his magnum opus, The Republic. The allegory depicts humankind as prisoners, bound so they can only see what is directly in front of them: shadows cast by various objects passing behind them. However, as they have only ever been exposed to the shadows, the prisoners believe they are the true forms of each…

Why does Edmund Blunden imbue his memoir Undertones of War with irony? To understand the intent and extent of his stylistic choices, one has to understand the context of the work. Written following his experiences as a soldier during the First World War, Undertones of War was written as a recollection of Edmund Blunden’s personal experiences as a soldier. As a memoir, Blunden projects his own feelings and opinions into his writing, detailing both the emotions he felt in the moment of his…

underworld and places them in his version of Hell. The way he utilizes these Classical attributes demonstrates the poet’s views on the world of the Greeks as he both celebrates and condemns them. The first appearance of a Classical element in Dante’s magnum opus is at the beginning of the poem in the first canto when the Roman poet Virgil comes to the rescue of the protagonist. Immediately, Dante shows his admiration for the ancient poet explaining that it was from him that the Italian “took…

What is alchemy? Is it truly just failed science trying to manipulate the elements? Is it more than science? Alchemy, the manipulation of elements to turn them into gold or other perfect metals. Alchemy is not a myth, alchemist were all over the world in the fourth century.Infact by the fourth century astrology, magic, and ritual had begun to gain prominence with alchemy.Many say that alchemy is the mother of modern chemistry and science (Alchemy).Usually only those born from a wealthy family…

Brideshead Revisited is a commercially well received novel written by Evelyn Waugh, and was loosely based on his experiences as a young man. The novel is a Künstlerroman, meaning "artist's novel" in English- a narrative about an artist's growth to maturity. Originally published in 1945, it has since been made into an eleven-part television series, numerous plays, and a film- which was released in 2008. The novel recalls the years post World War One but before World War Two; known by many as the…

War (1914-1918), European society faced astronomical cultural and social changes that eventually led to the rise Fascism in Italy, Germany, and Spain. Throughout the 1920s, Jose Ortega y Gasset gave series of lectures that eventually became his magnum opus entitled The Revolt of the Masses. His work centers on the rise of the mass-man and his disregard for political authority (or the state), culture, and progress. Gasset essentially argues that the perfection of the 19th century gave rise to the…

But this one is different in that it is the most thoughtful, it's almost like her magnum opus out of the ones we've read so far. There is an extraordinary amount of emotion evoked in this and there isn't as much of an emphasis on comparison. It doesn't contradict or complicate others. If anything, it is at least complimentary to the style…

The Republic is Plato’s magnum opus and has become essential to political philosophy. For the greater part of Plato’s Republic, it is goal of Plato, using Socrates as his mouthpiece, to analyze justice by looking at the complex aspects of the just city in reference to the aspects of an individual’s psuché or soul. This is commonly known as the city-soul analogy. The analogy is used in order to define the nature of justice but also serve as justification. The Republic claims are built on the…

safely under Superman’s jurisdiction. It’s not unreasonable to compare the semi-omnipotent and omnipresent Superman to a god. The concept of Batman vs. Superman has existed since their characters first interacted within the JLA. In Frank Miller’s magnum opus, The Dark Knight Returns, an elderly Batman defeats Superman through careful foreplanning. It just so happens that a movie inspired by The Dark Knight Returns is slated to premiere in the summer of 2015. The fact that such an idea is even…