‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by William Shakespeare Essay Example for Free

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by William Shakespeare Essay ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is a romantic comedy and one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays or stories. The main characters of this story are Oberon, Titania, Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Helena. This story deals with marriage, family, elope and comedy. Hermia elopes with her lover Lysander to get married and Demetrius who loves Hermia follows them into while Helena, Hermia’s friend and Demetrius’ lover, follows Demetrius into the forest. Meanwhile, Oberon and Titania, king and queen of the fairies in the forest, have an argument which causes tension between them. Is the forest a magical place? Yes, it is because all the characters in the forest reconcile. The story starts off with Egeus, father of Hermia, reporting to Theseus, King of Athens at that time, that his daughter refused to obey him when he commanded his daughter to marry Demetrius, a man of a noble Athenian family. There was a strict law in the city of Athens that if a daughter refused to marry the man her father had chosen, she would be put to death. Hermia had not loved Demetrius but she loved another Athenian, Lysander. She also didn’t want to marry him because her best friend, Helena, loved Demetrius and she wanted to stay loyal. Theseus could not alter the laws the rules of his country so he could only give Hermia four days to reconsider her decision or else she would be put to death. Lysander was informed about this and proposed to Hermia that they should elope to his aunt’s house outside of Athens, where the laws were not applied. Demetrius heard of this and thus, he followed them into the forest. Helena was afraid of losing Demetrius forever so therefore she followed him into the forest. Demetrius reproached Helena for following him but Helena tried to remind him of his former love and true faith to her. Demetrius, after saying many cruel things to Helena, abandoned her while Helena still raced after him. Oberon and Titania are the King and Queen of the Fairies respectively. They were having a disagreement when Titania refused to give Oberon a changeling boy. Titania dotes over this child which makes Oberon jealous. Oberon wants to make the boy part of his entourage. Titania refuses to give the boy up, hence the conflict. They lived in the magical forest. Oberon had a counsellor, Puck. Oberon observed the conflict between Demetrius and Helena. Oberon was always friendly to true lovers and felt sorry for Helena. He reported this to Puck  and commanded him to use a piece of the purple flower, which has a ‘love-juice’, and use it on Demetrius to make him fall in love with Helena. Oberon described him as wearing Athenian clothes. Puck found a man in Athenian clothes but it turned out be Lysander who was sleeping next to Hermia. Puck poured the love-juice into his eyes and the first person he saw he would fall in love with. The next morning, Helena would find Hermia and Lysander. When Lysander woke up, he saw Helena in front of him and immediately fell in love with her. Helena was confused and then she became angry with Lysander. She thought that he was pulling a sick prank on her. Oberon and Puck soon realized what happened. Oberon scolded Puck and Puck found Demetrius asleep. Puck applied the love-juice to his eyes and when Demetrius woke up, he first saw Helena and became in love with her. Ironically, what had first started out as Lysander and Demetrius chasing Hermia with Helena left behind, now had turned into Lysander and Demetrius chasing Helena with Hermia left behind. Helena outraged, thinking it was a prank, got herself into a war of words with Hermia. Oberon and Puck observed the chaos he caused and immediately attempted to fix it. Puck wearied them out by getting them lost and removed the charm from the eyes of Lysander with an antidote to reverse the effects and forget his new love for Helena. After, everything was back to normal Hermia was with Lysander and Helena was with Demetrius. Meanwhile, Oberon, longing for the changeling boy, had poured some love-juice on Titania to make her give it up. When Oberon had returned, he found a clown sleeping next to her. He put a donkey’s head on him and Titania fell in love with the clown. Oberon seized the chance and demanded the changeling boy which she unwillingly accepted. Soon, Oberon had poured some juices of another flower and had brought her back to her senses. She immediately loathed the sight of the monster. All the couples in this story reconciled. Egeus understood Demetrius not wanting to marry his daughter but Helena and Egeus accepted the marriage between Lysander and Hermia. The forest is truly a magical place because what had started as elope, disagreements and hatred turned out be union, harmony and love.

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The American and Chinese culture have a different perspective of what ghost really are. The word ghost has many different meanings in The Woman Warrior. As Maxine was growing up apart from her family’s culture but in a different culture, she knows she is alone. Americans have many different customs than the Chinese do. The ghost change depending on everyone’s point of view. Her mother, Brave Orchid, would describe these different people as ghost, because they weren’t of her culture. The only important people are the Chinese people. They didn’t speak the same language or worked as hard as they did. In the memoir, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, Kingston uses the motif of ghosts, to establish the separation between different cultures as an individual yearns to understand who she is. One way the Chinese culture interprets the word ghost is people who disgrace their own family. As in Maxine no name Aunt, she had a baby outside her marriage so she became a disgrace to her family. They called her â€Å"Ghost! Dead ghost! You have never been born† (Kingston 14). Maxine is ...

French Revolutin DBQ

The French Revolution of 1789 caused many changes in the social, political, and economical world of France. The French Revolution sparked the beginning for many new reforms in France that were previously unavailable to the 3rd estate. The things that led up to the French revolution were all caused from within the social, political, and economic world of France. The Social causes for the French Revolution were varied. One such problem was the well being of the 3rd estate.According to Travels in France by Arthur Young the conditions of the 3rd estate were terrible as people could not purchase bread due to the high prices and the ragged conditions of the children (Document #1). Because of these factors the people were forced to fight each other for a piece of bread alone. Another problem was the middle class’ knowledge of the Enlightenment. According to The French Revolution historian Albert Mathiez, the middle class’ knowledge of the Enlightenment made them start the revo lution rather than the unintelligent working class (Document #3).The social world of France was a front for the revolution to begin because of the people who were mistreated by the government. The political reasons for the Revolution were also varied. One such reason was the signing of the Declaration of Independence. According to Lord Acton, the spark supplied by the signing of the Declaration of Independence was the cause of the French Revolution (Document #5).Another reason was the 3rd estates demands of the monarchy. Some of their demands were to lower the taxes assigned to them, have definite meeting times, and take votes by head (Document #3). The political state of France did not fare well in preventing the revolution. Finally the Economic reasons for the revolution were less varied than the others but just as important. One economical reason for the revolution was the unfair taxes to the 3rd estate.A chart of the tax and land ownership percentage in the 1700’s clearly shows how much more the 3rd estate was being taxed than the 1st or 2nd estate (Document #2). The economical causes for the revolution most likely set off the 3rd estate when their request for a tax change was denied. In conclusion the French Revolution was a result of the three different worlds of Frances system: Economy, Social, and Politics. The changes caused by the Revolution paved way for modern France and spelled out a new era for France.

My Philosophy of a Constructivist Mathematics Education...

â€Å"Understanding is a measure of the quality and quantity of connections that a new idea has with existing ideas. The greater the number of connections to a network of ideas, the better the understanding (Van de Walle, 2007, p.27).† My philosophy of a constructivist mathematics education At what point does a student, in all intents and purposes, experience something mathematical? Does it symbolise a student that can remember a formula, write down symbols, see a pattern or solve a problem? I believe in enriching and empowering a student’s mathematical experience that fundamentally stems from a Piagetian genetic epistemological constructivist model. This allows the student to scaffold their learning through cognitive processes that†¦show more content†¦This is achieved by using a range of effective teaching strategies. Justified learning teaching strategies to develop understanding meaning It is important to note that a student’s view of a subject is founded upon the experiences in which he/she is immersed in and this subsequently forms their expectations of mathematics (Knowles, 2009, p.29). The strategies that teachers employ should be both challenging but achievable and furthermore harmonize with Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD). My belief of a constructivist mathematics classroom is that it should be a welcoming and dynamic place. This entails that the classroom should look different to traditional mathematics classrooms by having numerous types of concrete materials (MAB blocks, dice, counters, etc) and measuring devices for hands-on activities. Desks should also be arranged in groups to encourage, and further stipulate, a collaborative learning environment (Crawford et al., 1999, p.24). By working in groups, through co-operative and collaborative tasks, students are moreShow MoreRelatedMy Philosophy of a Constructivist Mathematics Education545 Words   |  3 Pagesenriching and empowering students’ mathematical experiences that fundamentally stems from a Piagetian genetic epistemological constructivist model that allow students to scaffold their learning through cognitive processes that are facilitated by teaching in a resource rich and collaborative environment (Thompson, 1994, p.69). The student Constructivist learning in mathematics should endeavour to encourage students to â€Å"construct their own mathematical knowledge through social interaction and meaningfulRead MoreEssay Theoretical Stance on Learning and Teaching Mathematics1495 Words   |  6 Pagesthe Teaching of Mathematics – As a pre-service teacher, my philosophy of teaching Mathematics is based on a constructivist, student-centred approach. 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