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Alice Munro Open Secrets the a - 1516 Words

ALICE MUNROS THE ALBANIAN VIRGIN IN OPEN SECRETS EXEMPLIES HER CHARACTERISTIC APPROACH To try to trace Alice Munros narrative techniques to any particular development in the short story The Albanian Virgin would be difficult. This could be because it is simply written from careful observations as are many of her other short stories. In her short stories, it is as though she tries to transform a common, ordinary world into something that is unsettling and mysterious as was seen in Vandals. Most of her stories found in Open Secrets, are set or focused on Munros native Canada, Huron County, and particularly in the small fictional Ontario town of Carstairs, although the setting in The Albanian Virgin is in British Columbia. The†¦show more content†¦Munro offers us (the reader) a bouquet of stories in one: the narrators escape from and longing for both lover and husband; Charlotte and her husband Gjurdhi, who are somewhere between threats, exemplars of surviving love and path os (as Munros late middle aged couples often are); the adventure of Lottar and the Franciscan priest who helps her escape from what is both new home and prison; the antagonistic mating dance between the bookstore owner and her new, odd friends, Charlotte and Gjurdhi. (Bloom 1995) The change from one characters point of view or narrative to another is changing the setting and mood of the story. The narrator is indirectly portraying her as they both moved to British Columbia and opened a bookstore. It is like telling the story of three individuals with relation to her own life. When Munro was asked once in an interview as to why she used both first and third person, her reply was it allows you to move around a bit more, and it allows you to say things about other characters (MacKendrick, 24). Munros use of stories is one of her many forms of conforming the different narratives and points of view together. She tells the story the way that she sees it forming and lets the reader fi gure it out for themselves. In this story, the reader has to first realize that the main story is not on the bookstore owner, but on Charlotte, the womanShow MoreRelatedEssay on How I Met My Husband by Alice Munro622 Words   |  3 PagesHusband by Alice Munro Deneen Bell Instructor Heather Altfeld Fisher 125- Introduction of Literature November 28, 2011 The Analysis of How I Met My Husband Introduction In this analysis I plan to show that the first person point of view was used to write this short story. I also want to show that there is more than one theme as well. I would like to show how Edie kept secrets and how she was blinded by love. I plan to show that this story contained secrecy almost to the ending. Alice Munro’sRead MoreDeep Holes by Alice Munro889 Words   |  4 PagesAlice Munros story featured in The New Yorker, â€Å"Deep Holes† has complex undertones that mirror the authors feelings as a mother and an artist. Sally, the mother in the story has three children but the main focus lies between the dynamics between Sally a passive wife, Alex her domineering husband, and Kent her rebellious oldest son. The story begins with a family picnic that abruptly ends when Kent literally falls into a â€Å"deep hole.† The interactions leading up to following this accident revealsRead MoreExamples Of Dynamic Characters In The Great Gatsby1350 Words   |  6 Pagesman will store up in his ghostly heart.† (Fitzgerald, 97). This quote shows how Gatsby had reconnected with Daisy through Nick and how Nick admired Gatsby’s passion when he finally meet up with Daisy once again. Lastly, the tragic death of Gatsby opens up a new realm of things for Nick. In the novel, it states, â€Å"After Gatsby’s death the East was haunted for me like that, distorted beyond my eyes’ power of correction.† (Fitzgerald, 176). He now reflected on how Gatsby’s passion and drive to live allowedRead MoreTyfhbgyf1977 Words   |  8 PagesThe short story The short story -- Alice Munro an exception, (perhaps) -- is an illustration of one facet of human nature. Often a character undergoes some event and experiences something which offers him change. This is why its said that short stories usually say something, often a narrow or small something, but sometimes delivered with such precision that the effect is exquisite, even a life-moment for the reader, something akin to a religious experience or seeing a never-to-be-repeated scene

A good and simple example is given by Fromlet Free Essays

One fundamental notion in the finance and economic fields with regards to decision making has always been based on the underlying assumption that individuals or decision making agents are rational and objective. However, in many cases, rationalistic explanations have failed to answer major financial occurrences in the past. A good and simple example is given by Fromlet (2001), In 2001 the Swedish currency – the crown- was seriously undervalued in the foreign exchange market despite the fact that Swedish economy enjoyed a good economic growth record, had the lowest inflation rate among the 12 European Monetary union members, surplus government budget and a good, positive balance of payment position. We will write a custom essay sample on A good and simple example is given by Fromlet or any similar topic only for you Order Now Thus in this case all the rationalistic theories could not adequately explain the weakening of the crown given the fact that all economic indicators showed that it should be stronger. According to many theorists, even though realism cannot be attained, a good theoretical model should include mechanisms that help in relaxing as much assumptions as possible to attain a near realistic empirically based theory. Most of the traditional and neoclassical financial theory such as the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and expected utility theory (EUT) are based on the unrealistic assumptions that can be explained as: †¢ Representative agents and players in the financial market are rational therefore base their decisions with the objective of maximizing wealth therefore asset pricing reflect the real value of the asset at any particular time (Thaler, 1999). †¢ The market given time will settle on an equilibrium point and that the equilibrium price reflects the real value of the asset that can rationally be explained using traditional theories (Ideal or rationally explained equilibrium) (Thaler, 1999). Behavioral finance is a relatively new field of study that has made tremendous progress in the attempt to answer these unrealistic assumptions and offer an alternative explanation of the financial market. Behavioral finance holds that the market is unrealistic due to the human element; therefore, in evaluation of financial market decision making and market condition, financial theories should recognize the role of human behavior in financial assets price determination. The composition of financial investors is diverse from fathers and mothers, household, spouses, students, businessmen, government leaders etc. are all decision makers in the financial market thus the assumption of rationality as provided by these theories is unrealistic (Ritter, 2003). These paper is an in depth evaluation of the behavioral theory and its application in the financial market. The paper will look at the strength and weaknesses of behavioral finance in an attempt to show its applicability as a tool in the financial market. Definition and description of behavioral finance. Behavioral finance is an empirically based theory, Behavioral finance theorists argue that to understand the performance and decision making in market, it important to integrate psychological and behavioral variables and classical financial theories in decision making and market atmosphere. According to this theory, the market is sometimes information inefficient and participants do not often make decision rationally. Behavioral finance uses to main concepts namely cognitive psychology and limits to arbitrage. Cognitive psychology as applied in behavioral finance focuses on behavioral factors influencing investor’s decision making or how people think; it postulates that investors make systematic errors in the manner they think and this contributes to irrationality in decision making. For instance, some investors might be overconfident and end up loosing due making investment decision based on this behavioral trait. This cognitive biases lead to irrational decision and can explain the weaknesses of classical financial theories with regards to why the market fails to attain equilibrium or conceptual expectation of rational investor decision in the financial market. (Ritter, 2003). Cognitive biases. Cognitive psychologists hold that there several cognitive biases that affect investor’s decisions in the market, as mentioned this biases lead investors to make systematic errors hence explaining irrationality in the financial market. This paper will highlight the cognitive biases by combining some of the documented behavioral patterns in arguing the case and behavior finance model case in the financial market it should be noted that psychological patterns and behavior categories as presented are interlinked to the extent that an individual can make decisions due to several behavioral patterns (Fromlet, 2001): 1/n Heuristics or rule of thumb. Heuristics or the rule of thumb is one common behavioral technique applied in decision making. According to the definition (as quoted in Fromlet, 2001), â€Å" heuristic means ‘use of experience and practical efforts to answer questions or to improve performance. † Heuristics mean fast, selective interpretation of information, determined to a high extent by intuition–taking into account that the conclusions may not give the desired results because of the velocity and/or the incompleteness in the decision-making. † This technique makes it easier for investor’s since information in the market usually spreads faster, changes often and has become more complicated to interpret. Therefore, given various options many investors use the 1/n rule by spreading their funds equally or proportionately on the available options since it is easier than choosing the rational option based on the information hence introducing irrationality in the market in terms of decision making. A good example is if in a given financial market six different economic indicators are published, economists and investors have to assimilate and use the information as fast as they can to take advantage of the market, some result to heuristic approach. This sometimes leads to suboptimal results and explains the difference between the ideal classical financial market of a rational investor and the real world. (Fromlet, 2001 and Ritter, 2003). Thaler (1999), argue that from empirical evidence collected in their research most individuals investing for retirement have little or no knowledge of the financial market hence uses the rule of thumb or 1/n heuristic approach to make decisions on where to put there retirement savings. Overconfidence and preference for certain information. Another pattern that manifests itself and lead to irrationality in decision making in the financial market is overconfidence. Ritter (2003), notes that entrepreneurs tend to be overconfident and hence invest too much in stocks or options that they are familiar with. This can be termed as an irrational tendency to the extent that it leads overconfident entrepreneurs tend to limit their options by not diversifying their portfolio hence irrational since they tie up their assets (for example real estates) to the company they are familiar with partly due to the fact that they would feel in control of local familiar stocks compared to high returns stocks that are outside their control, this is referred to as control illusions. A good example world over is the fact that most workers tend to invest too much in the company they work for and this has led to loss of entire savings to many of the companies in the event of insolvency (see Ritter, 2003 pg. 434 for examples). Furthermore, it was noted that generally, men are more overconfident than women and this behavior extends to investment decisions. It was found out in a research by Bernard and Odeon (2001 as quoted in Ritter 2003) that the more men on average perform worse than women and this is partly attributed to the fact that they are overconfident than women. How to cite A good and simple example is given by Fromlet, Papers

Picasso Essay Summary Example For Students

Picasso Essay Summary Now is the time in this period of changes and revolution to use a revolutionary manner of painting and not to paint like before. Pablo Picasso, 1935. (Barnes) Undoubtedly Pablo Picasso is one of the most famous and well-documented artists of the twentieth century. Picasso, unlike most painters, is even more special because he did not confine himself to canvas, but also produced sculpture, poetry, and ceramics in profusion. Although much is known about this genius, there is still a lust after more knowledge concerning Picasso, his life and the creative forces that motivated him. This information can be obtained only through a careful study of the events that played out during his lifetime and the ways in which they manifested themselves in his creations (Penrose). As Rachel Barnes points out in her introduction to Picasso by Picasso: Artists by Themselves, there seemed to be no doubt that Picasso would become a painter. In order to better hone his prodigious abilities, Picasso attend ed the Academy in Barcelona for a brief period of time. He spent most of his early years painting in Paris, where he progressed through various periods including a Blue period from 1900 to 1904 and a Rose period in 1904 before creating the Cubist movement that lasted until the beginning of the First World War. Picassos development toward cubism reached its climax with the monumental justly celebrated Demoiselles dAvignon (1906). This painting, named for a brothel in Barcelonas Avignon Street, depicts, in a highly stylized form, five angular nude or partially draped women grouped around an arrangement of fruit. This final, condensed version, developed through many preparatory works, was attained by gradual simplifications and eliminations of an originally conspicuous subject matter. Picasso shows a rethinking of the human body in Les Demoiselles.# This ranges from a simplified naturalism, (in the centre figures) to an increased sense of fragmentation in to angular forms, each of wh ich appears to have an independent existence. Such disjunction of body parts challenged the standards by which the human body had been constructed before. In synchronicity, the background elements of draperies and wall were fragmented, aligned with the figural handling. Picasso initiated Cubism at the age of twenty-six after he already had established himself as a successful painter. According to Souchre, Picasso led the evolution towards cubism in order to escape the tyranny of the laws of the tangible world, to fly beyond all the degradations of the lie, the stupidity of criticism, towards that total freedom which inspired his youth. As Barnes notes, Cubism was an art that concentrated on forms, and an artists job was to give life to that form. Until this goal is accomplished, the Cubist painter has not fully realized his purpose. After his initial Cubist period, Picasso moved through various other stages. He experimented with sculpture and still lifes, and by his death at the age of ninety-two, could be considered the most famous and talked about painter in recent history. (Barnes). After progressing past Cubism, Picasso frequently came back to this style of painting because, as stated by Souchre, Picasso felt liberated and powerful when painting this way and believed Cubism to be the best way to speak out against the scandalous outer world. As Picasso pointed out Cubism is the attitude of aggression that could give him complete control over himself, his emotions, and his surroundings. This logically leads to a brief discussion of what Picasso felt was art and what he considered the duty of the artist to be. In a brief conversation with one of his biographers, Picasso commented that he saw art as something not to be understood or interpreted. Everyone wants to understand art. In the case of a painting people have to understand. If only they would realize above all that an artist works out of necessity, that he himself is only a trifling bit of the world, an d that no more importance should be attached to him than to plenty of other things, things which please us in the world, though we cant explain them (Barnes). Picasso painted for himself, as a release from the pressures of his society and as a way to express his thoughts and problems in tangible form. For this reason, the events happening around the time of any Picasso work must be understood before the true meaning of any resulting art can be understood. In the time period directly before the painting of Bulls Skull, Fruit, Pitcher, many hardships befell Picasso. As William Rubin explains, during the winter of 1938, Picasso was bedridden with a severe attack of sciatica. Two other tragic events happened to Picasso during the month of January 1939. On January 13, Picassos mother died. On the 26th, Francos army completed its victory over the Spanish republic and set up its fascist regime. These two events had a profound effect on Picasso. He thereafter openly expressed his negative f eelings towards Francos regime and used his paintings, especially his great mural Guernica to clearly express his abhorrence of the military caste which, he believed, had sunk Spain into an ocean of pain and death. (Barnes) The way Picasso set about painting has been well documented by many people. Roland Penrose, in writing about a photographic study of the artist at work, eloquently describes the conflicting influences seen in Picassos method of creation. The first is the positive clarity with which the idea is born. Picasso, particularly when he begins to draw on a virgin surface, seems to trace the outline of a vision which is already there but visible only to him. For a time he continues with complete conviction but as the drawing materializes a second phase begins which is like a dialogue between him and the image to which he has given birth. The image has already been given a personality of its own which can provoke surprises that demand to be taken into account. Picasso the finder can now interpret the impatient demands of his offspring and with a parents insight he guides his child as it grows in stature or rescues it if it stumbles. The artist and his creation during this time are inseparably linked; they reciprocate, and rise or fall together. He is the product of his own work. (Barnes) Furthermore, as Picasso pointed out to Christian Zervos: I see for others, that is to say, in order to put on canvas the sudden apparitions which come to me, I dont know in advance what I am going to put on canvas any more that I decide beforehand what colours I am going to use. While I am working I am not conscious of what I am putting on the canvas. Each time I undertake to paint a picture I have a sensation of leaping into space. I never know whether I shall fall on my feet. It is only later that I begin to estimate more exactly the effect of my work (Barnes). Many argue, among them Barnes, that Picasso was strongly and greatly influenced by Paul Czanne and, to a lesser extent, by his friend Henri Matisse. These influences can be seen in some of his earlier Cubist paintings and their color schemes and in others that concentrate on the African mask. But, as Picasso himself pointed out to Zervos: It is not what the artist does that counts but what he is. Czanne would never have interested me a bit if he had lived and thought like Jacques Emile Blanche, even if the apple he painted had been ten times as beautiful. What forces our interest is Czannes anxiety thats Czannes lesson that is the actual drama of the man. The rest is a sham (Barnes). Although these artists did not stylistically influence Picasso, they spiritually influenced him. It also shows that it was essential to the evolution of his own style that Picasso preserve his independence and solitude so that his paintings come from his own feelings. For this reason, too, Picasso built up many walls around himself in order to protect his art; and, as a sign of his true genius, he consta ntly changed styles and media because he refused to be satisfied with any of his achievements and wished his art to be fresh, original, and uninhibited. This is the reason that Picasso pushed the extremes in art. He constantly looked for new territory to explore, searching for something that would better express what he wanted. This shows the true genius of Pablo Picasso. Social Conscience: The Work of Pablo Picasso One must speak of problems in painting! I never do a painting as a work of art. All of them are researches. I search incessantly and there is a logical sequence in all this research. Pablo Picasso, 1956 (Barnes). In paintings typical of his work during the late 1930s, Picasso concentrated on subjects that reflected the troubled times in which he lived. Indeed, these were troubled times for all of Europe. Economic hardships, moral turpitude, and the rise of fascism were all too common. The personal life of Picasso, too, was just as turbulent. During the months of Decembe r, 1938 to January 1939, Picasso was confined to bed with severe back problems, lost his beloved mother, and witnessed the fall of his homeland, Spain, to the regime of Franco. Picassos still life Bulls Skull, Fruit, Pitcher is typical of his mature Cubist paintings of this time period in that he uses various symbols to express his inner feelings, especially towards his country, his family, and himself, while at the same time representing the feelings of a whole nation and telling his fellow countrymen that, despite all of their hardships, they must still have hope. Bulls Skull, Fruit, Pitcher is clearly a Cubist painting. None of the forms portrayed in the painting is as it should be. All of the objects are seen, seemingly, from varying viewpoints simultaneously, a Cubist perspective. There are only five clearly discernible objects in the painting: a large bulls skull, two pieces of fruit, a pitcher, and a pink tree. The bulls skull, which lies on the left-hand side of the canvas, is grotesquely malformed. All over the bone are various cracks and places where the skull has been chipped away. Nothing about the skull is as it should be. For example, although both eyes stare at the viewer, the jaw points to the right. Furthermore, the jaw is drawn in such a way as it never could be; the left side of the jaw connects to the right side of the face and thus creates a paradoxical image. The nostrils are chipped and bleed into the mouth; in other words, one cannot tell where the nostrils end and the mouth begins. The bull has no upper teeth but has four lower ones. They are straight and in the center of the mouth and would look like a perfect set of teeth were they not cracked and chipped. The only other physical feature of the bulls skull is the two short horns that rest upon its head. There is one basic color used for the most part in the skull and that is white. This white fades into yellow in some places and goes all the way to brown in others, but on most of its surface, the skull has a muted white or yellow tone. The shape of the head is, on the whole, triangular. The horns are triangles as are the shapes formed by the jaw and the mouth. Even the varying shades are applied in triangular regions. The two pieces of fruit are scattered about on the canvas. One is situated between the skull and the pitcher and the other is on the right side of the painting. Both pieces are circular in form and consist of the colors red, yellow, and green. There is a definite skin around both pieces but the viewer can still see the middle of the fruit. The shapes inside, which are set off by the varying colors, are both circular and triangular. The only noticeable difference between the two, besides the different patterns on the inside, is that the fruit in the middle has an awkwardly shaped stem that makes the piece of fruit look almost like a stopwatch. The pitcher is situated between the two pieces of fruit. Unlike the fruit and the skull, the pitcher has n o sharp edges formed by contrasting colors in its interior. This gives this object a certain flow that is lacking in the others. The colors used to paint it, too, contrast sharply with the rest of the painting. Rich oranges, yellows, browns, and reds are used with a deep black swirled in to give it texture. The pitcher is somewhat ornate, having a curved handle, an upturned spout, a fancy lid with a ball on the top, and a tented base extending from its bottom. The tree that can be seen in the dead center of the painting is a bright pink. It has a brown trunk and brown branches as well a few scattered white and green leaves. Its leaves (predominantly pink) form a halo in the center of the canvas and suggest a cherry tree in full bloom. There are a few less defined objects in Picassos work as well. The aforementioned objects (excepting the tree) rest on a table that is mostly a dark brown. The edges are warped and, because of this, the viewer is unable to be certain where the table en ds and its base or the background begins. In the background, there are four black bars evenly spaced on the canvas. They are all half of the length of the painting except the one on the right which runs from top to bottom. These bars are painted somewhat three-dimensionally and add the only discernible aspect of perspective to the otherwise flat piece. This perspective allows the viewer to see that the tree is outside while the table and the objects resting on the table are inside. The only other noticeable objects in the painting are the shadows created by each of the main objects. They are all triangular in shape and, because of this and their sizes, they do not naturally fit with the objects creating them at all. They are not pointing in the same direction, suggesting either multiple light sources or the cubist theory of viewing objects from varying viewpoints. This is exemplified in by the pitcher, which has two shadows of different colors. The background of the work is painted using pink, green, white, and blue. These colors are applied in triangular forms in apparently random order. There seem to be two different light sources emanating from the top of the two innermost bars. Overall, the painting is similar to most other cubist paintings. Picasso used one basic form throughout, the triangle. He did this using straight and circular brush strokes. There is no real perspective with a traditional vanishing point although the viewer can tell that the tree is outside the rest of the painting. The viewer, too, can easily tell what Picasso wishes him to look at because of the thick layering of paint on the main objects in comparison to the light layers of paint on the background. All of these things, in combination with the colors used, come together to create the eerie feeling of sadness and doom one gets when looking at this painting. As is typical in most still life, Picassos work is intended to have a deeper meaning than simply being a study of various form s (Harwood). The most obvious story Picasso might have been telling is that of his own life at this time. As mentioned before, many hardships had befallen Picasso during the late 1930s and, in order to deal with the feelings associated with these hardships, Picasso painted. The bulls skull sitting on the left side of the canvas is probably the most obvious symbol in the painting. Picasso had a special love for the bull. In Spain, as in most of the world, it has been the subject of myth and legend. The Spanish tradition of the running of the bulls is one of the most beloved in Picassos homeland (Marrero). This special mysticism of the bull found its way into many of Picassos works in many different ways, mainly as a symbol of pride, strength, power, and nationalism (Chipp). These otherwise up-beat symbols are sharply contrasted by the fact that the bull portrayed in this work is dead and decaying. This most likely directly correlates to the dismay that Picasso felt after learning of the fall of the Spanish republic.* Picassos still life, however, must be seen as a whole in order to completely understand it. By doing this, two different ideas arise. The first is supported by the belief that during this time the bull became a precise moral symbol of the forces of darkness which fascism had loosed in Europe (Packard). This would lead one to believe that Picasso was warning of the eminent rise and aggressions of the totalitarian regimes in Europe. He does this by placing the symbol on the table along with other everyday objects, the fruit and the pitcher. He furthers this idea by placing the bars behind the table but in front of the outside. This allows for a sense of entrapment to all that view this work and serves as a parallel to the entrapment of Europe with the fascist governments. The other idea derived from studying the picture is based on the many contrasting elements present the skull, the fruit, and the tree, the gloomy foreground and the bright backgrou nd which fit nicely into Picassos belief in the oviform*, also known as the Yin-Yang in oriental cultures. This symbolizes the opposing principles of life, good and evil, light and dark, man and woman, and all other contrasting dualisms in life (Marrero). Specifically in this work the contrasting ideas of light and dark are seen in the opposing color schemes used in the background and foreground. The background is painted using pastels exclusively while in the foreground darker browns and reds are used. Life and death are also present in this work in the bulls skull and the fruit and tree. The skull, an obvious representation of death, sharply contrasts with the fruit, a symbol of nourishment and life, and the tree, in full bloom despite the gloomy surroundings. As Herschall B. Chipp points out in his study of Guernica, Picasso held the view that death is omnipresent and that life is a constant struggle, balancing precariously on the precipice between survival and annihilation. Thi s is indeed a bleak outlook on life, but in keeping in line with his belief in the oviform, Picasso must have known that for all the bad things in the world, there must be an equal amount of good. This is most likely the reason that Picasso included the cherry tree, in full bloom, in Bulls Skull, Fruit, Pitcher. Set in the background and omitted from the title, this beautiful object can easily be overlooked. Once noticed, however, it is an important part of the painting. It gives this otherwise depressing work a hint of hope, a hope for something better. *It is widely recognized that Picasso was an extremely patriotic Spaniard. This patriotism is easily seen in any of his historical paintings of this time, most notably Guernica, in which he vividly depicts the horrors and atrocities of the Spanish Civil War. In Guernica, a massive mural painted on commission, Picasso uses the bull and other animals as well as screaming human forms to express his contempt for Francos regime as a over all feeling of death is felt from this painting (Chipp). *The oviform, as Marrero explains, is obtained by describing a circumference and then drawing a diameter, followed by a semi-circle on each radius, on one side and the other of the original diameter. By then erasing the diameter, the circle has been in half in the only other possible way. This can be interpreted as being symbolic of the contrasting dualisms in life. Picasso often used this concept in his paintings, especially after 1937. Sophia's Resturant Essay