Philosophical zombie

“Self Portrait in a Convex Mirror” by John Ashbery is a work of convoluted reflections engaging Renaissance painter Parmigiano, his painting “Self Portrait in a Convex Mirror”, Ashbery himself, and the soul. The poem’s source of inspiration is a physical piece of art, suggesting the poem belongs in the ekphrasis tradition. Immediate tension arises as the painting and the poem belong to vastly different traditions. The technique of ekphrasis in a postmodern tradition has challenged scholars as it appears the muse and the product regard different things. However, rather than consider the works as dichotomized entities, the shared titles suggest the two must coexist and function together despite appeared incongruity. The paradoxical nature causes scholars to claim Ashbery’s poem as one of deconstruction rather than completion; however extensive studies of Ashbery reveal he seeks to gain access to experience rather than disregard it. Therefore, the poem is turned against its muse not in an act of defiance – as some scholar interpret – but in an act of harmony that claims dissonance does not nullify existence. The poem is defined by abstractionism yet it is rooted in the unchanging entity of the portrait from which the poem departs and returns. The syntax of “Self Portrait in a Convex Mirror” diverges and wanders from Ashbery’s initial inspiration as a way of including that which is left out of the portrait – the effervescence and elusively of the soul. The half globular shape of…

“Polite - or impolite - persecution, each form of discrimination bears its own dangers” (Editorial, The Catholic Times, 9th December). Even in science, education and a nativity scene spiritual warfare hides. Ben Stein’s DVD, “Expelled No Intelligence allowed” documents the academic persecution of scientists and educators who believe nature has design. Darwin’s theory, a bedrock of atheism/Russia/China and an increasing secular Britain rejects design. Sacked was a Christian when discovering…

She packed the things she held close, old birthday cards from her dad, pictures of her family living together and happy, and the necklace I had given her after the accident. It was a surprise to me when she packed the necklace in her pack, I didn’t think she would cherish as much as I did but I was clearly wrong. When she finished packing, we made sure we could get to the truck as safe as possible. Emmie was about to get in the truck when out of nowhere, a zombie tried to attack her. I…

In Yeon Sang-ho’s Train to Busan is the most purely entertaining zombie film, finding echoes of George Romero’s and Danny Boyle’s work, but delivering something unique for an era in which kindness to others seems more essential than ever. The titular mass transport vehicle serves as an apt and very literary setting for an exhilarating morality tale that pits humanity’s fragile virtues and delicate principles with a ferocious catastrophe. For decades, movies about the undead have essentially been…

It's official, Warm Bodies wins the award for the most creative and unique relationship ever. R is a zombie who finds himself inexplicably caring for young, vivacious Julie, after stumbling upon her while attacking some humans. As he consumes the brain of her boyfriend, he receives brief memories of his captive's life, including his love of Julie. Through strange circumstances, he decides to protect Julie and keep her safe from other zombies. Now wait right there, it definitely sounds sick,…

The Rocking Dead: A Zombie Musical On November first, 2015 I went to the performance “The Rocking Dead: A Zombie Musical” at Center of the Arts in Coral Springs. Typically I am not the sort of individual to take a seat and appreciate a live musical performance, yet this one was extremely satisfying. Subsequent to the one-hour drive to Coral Springs I was welcomed by a young lady in the entrance of the lobby who was extremely kind and supportive as to where to enter for the musical. After…

I slam down the gas pedal, speeding down the road towards town. When we drove past the plaza with the orthodontist’s office, it was surrounded by zombies. Swearing loudly, I know I can’t get in there. I call my dad to make sure he’s alright, when he finally answers his phone, he had already been to the shed and grabbed a shotgun and was grabbing the spare gas containers and is going to fill them and grab more non perishable food for our emergency room. We had it for things like hurricanes or…

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War – Homework 2 As we get further into the novel, there are a lot of zombie themes that become very clear. One theme I noticed was the failure of technology and the reverting to older, medieval-like weapons and traditions. This idea strongly presents itself in the interview with David Forbes who talks about humanities use of castles and medieval customs for survival. Technology in a lot of instances became useless since resources such as…

Are zombies a myth, something we tell people to scare them or to explain the end of the world, or are they real? If you ever look up the word zombie you would know that one of the definitions, they use to describe zombie is a person who is or seams lifeless, apathetic, or completely unresponsive to their surroundings. If you look around you them, you would see that our society is already turning into a zombified world. The people in our society just walk around on their phones or lessoning to…

In “Vacationing in Zombieland: The Classical Functions of the Modern Zombie Comedy,” Kyle William Bishop writes about the development of the subgenre of zombie comedies. This subgenre, termed “Zombedy” by Bishop, is explained to challenge audiences’ ideas about zombie narratives. To exemplify the evolution of this subgenre, Bishop shares history behind the original tragedy of zombie narratives. Bishop cites Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead as the start of traditional tragic zombie…