Benefits of Enlisting in the Armed Forces Essay Example for Free

Benefits of Enlisting in the Armed Forces Essay Introduction A scrutiny of the history of mankind, down the ages covering a period of 4000 years beginning from 3500BC till today indicates that in almost all the cases, the course of events have been dictated by the military prowess and the consequent superiority of one of the contenders. The fact continues to hold true even today, in this age of modernization when the emphasis is on economic power and political stability. The vital aspect of safeguarding these national interests is dependent upon one crucial factor: ‘Armed Forces’. A career in the Armed Forces may be considered to be one of the oldest professions in the history of mankind (the other being prostitution), and it may have an important role to play in safeguarding national interests, but it is also one of the most forgotten and maligned of career choices. For in times of peace and enduring prosperity, the general propensity of people is to look down upon this profession and all related aspects. It is considered to be the last refuge of scoundrels and the failed cases in society-definitely not a job to take if one has other options. But is this reputation really based on facts? Are conditions in the Armed Forces so bad today that it is anathema to even contemplate enlisting in the Armed Forces? Why do educational institutions and our society at large not promote the idea of their students/youngsters enlisting in the Armed Forces with a sense of pride and honor? Why does the present generation not consider enlisting in the Armed Forces as a worthwhile option? Critics (and there are many) point out that enlisting in the Armed Forces implies an unstated but real risk of life, separation from family for extended periods, frequent moves at short notices , poor work conditions and lower pay. This argument is taking a rather biased and short sighted view of the issue, and it does not do justice to either the interests of the country and the people whom the argument attempts to dissuade. Thesis Statement My endeavor during the course of this essay is to illustrate the benefits of enlisting in the Armed Forces. I am of the opinion that the benefits of enlisting outstrip the disadvantages by a wide margin and overall, it is just as good or better; an employment option as any that is available to the new generation. The scope of this thesis in terms of the people covered is holistic in nature: applicable to the entire scale of economic, racial, religious, gender and educational scale. Social Benefits During the ancient times, people enlisted for monetary and other purposes with the sole aim of garnering the spoils of war by way of loot, women, slaves and resources of the vanquished. At various stages in history, it has been repeatedly proved that other concerns like race, national pride and religion have also been a major motivating factor. The last known war entirely based on religious affinities terminated with the victory of the Crusaders over the Jihadis in 1453 A. D. at Constantinople (Turkey). Upward Social Mobility Enlisting in the Armed Forces opens up a whole new world of opportunities for a person irrespective of whether he joins as an officer or as a GI/soldier. This immediately catapults him from his humble origins to a society much more privileged, acknowledged and recognized as one. The change in social status leads to a subtle refinement in the person, his family and his circle of associates. Consequently, it brings about a change in the perception and quality of life for him as his options in everyday life are less weighed down by the mundane issues that he would have been otherwise negotiating. Culture Culturally, there is a huge leap due to the extensive interaction with people from diverse backgrounds and states. This introduces him to the positive and the negative aspects of life in other cultures both within and outside the country. Presuming that the individual has the sense of purpose and ability to discriminate between good and bad (with few exceptions, most posses this quality in abundance), this exposure introduces in him a better understanding of customs and awareness of other cultures. He can then subconsciously or by design incorporate the good aspects in to his way of life, thereby becoming a better citizen and an effective soldier. It must be appreciated that a person hailing from a remote, under-developed and relatively backward area has a proportionately less chance of making it big in the world. With time, he settles down to a job in the same place or at best moves within his state or county for a steady but not necessarily well paid job. It may not lead to much, but it provides him with basic economic security. Personality Development The tough training, regimental life and high emphasis on discipline permeates the very core and essence of the individual and transforms him from a happy go-lucky, take life as it comes type of youngster into a conscientious, well mannered and disciplined citizen of the future. He is now capable of looking after his own interests in life and takes the decisions best suited to his requirements and a secure future. The training imparts to his personality a combined sense of discipline, mental robustness, endurance and physical sturdiness which is generally lacking in other competitors his age and experience in life. The training and culture within the Armed Forces lays a great deal of emphasis on development of moral values and personal integrity. This development of acquired skills leads to a multi-faceted and versatile individual who would be an asset to any organization he joins. The refined mannerism, positive attitude and basic skills make him an automatic candidate of choice for prospective employers in the future. Pride, Prestige, Honor and Duty In the prevailing national environment, it has been the experience that the prospects of enlisting in the armed Forces are not considered to be a worthwhile option. Whatever be the reason, it must also be emphasized that in the rural countryside and deep interiors of the country, there still exist communities and villages which take great pride in sending their young ones to the Armed Forces. Then there exist certain demographic and regional specific patterns wherein the propensity towards enlisting in the Armed Forces is higher (Mavor 41-3) It is taken as a matter of pride and prestige by both: the family of the individual and the individual himself; as an act of repaying the nation for all it has bestowed them with and also as a matter of tradition. But the idea is a non starter and gradually starts loosing steam as we progress from the rural courtsides and deep interiors towards the cities and the power centers. Purely from a moral ground, it should be the duty of each citizen to do his time in the Armed Forces and contribute to the national effort. After all if democracy bestows certain unquestioned rights, then it also imposes certain unstated obligations. It must be kept in mind that, ‘there is no such thing as a free lunch’. Similarly, it is inappropriate to assume that one can proceed to enjoy the benefits of democracy for free without bothering to fulfill our own obligations to the nation. Every right has a corresponding duty and this is no exception; we cannot leave the nation’s requirement of manpower to just the people from the interiors, highlands and the so called lower classes alone. This burden has to be shared by all of us who swear by democracy and the nation. Economic Benefits When speaking about the Armed Forces, the general refrain is that it is not a well paying job, and that the connected hardships of separation from family for extended periods, the frequent moves on duty at short notice, and the attendant risks to life and health is not worth it. In the subsequent paragraphs, I will examine the merits and demerits of this presumption on a factual basis. Job Security What would be the prospects of a person in his native hometown of landing a job consistent to his qualification? What are the chances that he retains his job in the event of some constraining circumstances either to the person or to the employer? The answers to these questions are obvious. Whereas, in the case of the person employed in the Armed Forces, there is an assured degree of job security that is unmatched in any other form of employment. The individual has to do something really drastic or be highly incompetent to be considered unfit for retention. The chances of retrenchment are virtually non-existent. On The Job Training(OJT) Until the end of World War II, the aspect of enlisting was more or less considered as the beginning of the military career. However, with the modernization of weapons and delivery systems, the process of refining the enlisted personnel in to a trained and efficient operator has to be taken up in earnest and hence the need of putting the person through rigorous specialized training schedule(Buck 204-6). The Armed Forces provide training relevant to the aspect of specialization specific to the individual’s branch before formal induction in to the respective arm or service. There are approximately 360 specialist jobs in the US Army alone of which 20% have similar jobs in the civilian world in departments related to communication, IT, software and allied services (Goldberg 59-60). Upon reporting to the parent unit, the individual undergoes further training at the concerned facilities for a period depending upon the requirement of the job and the laid down parameters. This is to say that depending upon the arm which the individual opts for; the training on the specialist equipment, weapons and other systems are guaranteed. The stipend during this period is paid for by the government. It implies that the individual is undergoing training and at the same time also making up his experience profile simultaneously; and he is being paid for it.! How many other jobs can boast of this facility? Job related risks It is often stated that the attendant risk and hardships of a career in the Armed Forces is a negative factor influencing the new generation from enlisting. It can be argued that the so called hardships are not a way of life and depend entirely upon the number of conflicts and skirmishes the country is involved in. Again, how many other jobs do not involve frequent moves at short notices? The aspect of living out of suitcases is generally well described in all forms of literature and media, hence need not be repeated. Needless to say frequent moves and separation from family is a factor that is true for most other forms of employment. The only difference is in the period, which again is taken care of by the system of rotation of troops that is strictly adhered to by the Defence Forces. As regards physical injuries and risk of death, it is a professional hazard and needs to be taken on its merit and statistical figures. The ratio of casualty sustained in comparison to the number of personnel inducted into the combat zone is very low, especially in the case of the developed countries like the USA, UK, France and other European countries. This is so, due to overwhelming superiority of these countries over the adversary in terms of sophistication and capability levels of weapon systems, logistics, and ensuring of an adequate stand–off distance during delivery of tactical executions of strategic plans. Besides, the other major factor influencing Government decision making is level of intolerance by the media and the country to higher casualties of own nationals. This attitude is in stark contrast to the disdain that the average citizen professes on the issue of enlistment in peace time. What I am implying here is that the possibility of being injured or killed in the war zone is not as high as is being made out to be. It is just a professional hazard which hypothetically states the possibility, but does in no way categorically confirm the same. Fatal casualty/Grevious Injury Having deliberated on the aspect of the very low probability of grievous injury and death, let us presume the case wherein either of these possibility does indeed take place. In that case, the government looks after the individual depending upon the nature of his injury, makes efforts to ensure his rehabilitation and employment in another form of work. In the event of death in action, the full range of military honors and government provisions are laid out to the individual and his family. This is only to state that the individual is not a forgotten chapter in case he is rendered invalid for active service or in case of fatal casualty. Perks and Privileges Every nation bestows upon the personnel of its armed forces a wide range of facilities and privileges which would otherwise adversely impact the monetary status of the individual. The facilities and privileges are not sacrosanct and every nation follows a different yardstick to determine what it gives its personnel, e. g. free Medicare facilities given to the personnel and also extended to their families, accommodation at subsidized rates etc. Now if these perks and privileges extended by the government were to be quantified in terms of costs, it would work out to a high figure, when added to what the individual already earns, amounts to a fat salary bill (Ostrow 219). The idea I am trying to highlight is that the privileges which are not considered while describing the low pay also need to be included just to put things in their proper perspective. And I have deliberately avoided discussing the various allowances which every nation provides its armed forces personnel in recognition of the hardships and limitations endured by them during times of operational deployment and commitments. The allowances by themselves amount to a substantial part of the remunerations and are by and large a realistic reflection of the hardships endured. Pensioner Benefits The armed forces have a stipulated period of service for their personnel, and this duration varies from country to country and within the forces: from arm to arm and service to service (Roza 10-11). However, the bottom line is that the personnel are free to leave active service and proceed home with all pensioner benefits as laid down by the Government. If the individual is smart and has planned his moves well in advance, he can join a new employment which means he has effectively two incomes to go by. It lends him a strong base for procuring home loans and enterprise related loans from banks as his degree of financial security is considerably higher than that of the average citizen. The pensioner benefits also entitle him to medical and other related facilities which result in considerable savings to the overall financial planning and outlay of the individual. Educational Benefits A sound education is defined as the basic foundation upon which rests the edifice of a person’s career. Very often, and in most cases, the inclination, interest, and urge to undergo formal education from a standard university or college exists in individuals. However, there is a large gap in the ability of the existing education system to provide to the needs of each aspiring student due to various factors. Government education institutes in most democracies have an unstated but existing drawback on the quality of education they provide. Quality education in a democracy comes at a price, which not everyone can afford. This leaves a large number of potential aspirants without quality education. However, by enlisting in the Armed Forces, this drawback is also addressed. The Armed Forces offer specialist training in a wide range of professionally oriented courses and degrees with a view to produce qualified and expert specialist in their respective sphere of tasks. Apart from this, the government provides for the service personnel opportunities to enhance their education skills before, during and after enlistment. The Montgomery GI Bill and Tuition Assistance Programme are a case in point(Asch 57). Enlisting for the armed forces thus gives the individual the opportunity to complete a degree or an education that he could otherwise not have achieved (Paradis 106). Infact the consequent experience that the individual gains (mostly under pressures of time and combat) puts him in an advantageous position when looking for a job elsewhere upon termination of his contract with the Armed Forces. Counter Claims Critics of the proposal for enlisting into the Armed Forces cite the attendant risk to life, possible injuries, extended periods of separation and comparatively lower pay packages as the principle reasons to avoid the Armed Forces. This reasoning has been discussed by me during the course of the essay and I have proved that on the surface, these points are apparently valid. However, they do not measure up to an unbiased and impartial scrutiny based on facts and statistics. Conclusion To conclude, it is again reiterated that the proposal of enlisting in the armed forces is highly beneficial to a large section of the society and country. The stated disadvantages regarding enlisting; and the advantages I have highlighted need to be weighed against each other. It would be inappropriate to come to a conclusion that affects the lives and careers of a large number of people just because we think that a particular line of thought is correct. It is more important and relevant to analyze the issue based on facts and arrive at the correct conclusion, before propagating it as a statement of fact. Work Cited Asch Beth J. â€Å"Contextual Information on Recruiting† â€Å"Military Recruiting and Retention After the Fiscal Year : Military Pay Legislation† Ed. Asch Beth A, et al Rand Corporation(2002) 57 Buck Peter â€Å"Adjusting to military Life: The Social Sciences Go to War† â€Å"Military Enterprise and Technological Change: Perspectives on the American Experience† Ed. Smith Merritt Roe MIT Press (1985) 204-6. â€Å"Hearings on National Defense Authorization ACT for Fiscal Year 2003H. R. 4546 and Oversight of By United States Congress†. House Committee on Armed Services. Subcommittee on Military Personnel Summary The Supt. Of Docs. , U. S. G. P. O. (2003) 75-7 Goldberg Jan â€Å"Careers for Patriotic Types Others Who Want To Serve Their Country† McGraw-Hill Professional(1999) 59-60 Jerome Johnston, Jerald G. Bachman â€Å"Young Men and Military Service† Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan (1972) 195 Mavor Anne S. et al, â€Å"Attitudes, Aptitudes, and Aspirations of American Youth: Implications for Military Recruiting† National Academies Press (2003) 41-3 Ostrow Scott A. â€Å"Guide to Joining the Military â€Å"Thomson Petersons (2004) 219 Paradis Adrian A. ; â€Å"Opportunities in Military Careers† McGraw-Hill Professional (1999) 106. Rand Corporation â€Å"The Rand Paper Series† Rand Corp (1946) Roza Greg â€Å"Choosing a Career in the Military† The Rosen PublishingGroup Careers / Jobs (2001)10.

Exoticism in Art: Picasso and Gauguin

Exoticism in Art: Picasso and Gauguin The Exoticism in the Work of Picasso and Gauguin Ask important critical questions in the text. Intricately merge discussion of the two images Write about two pages on each image Introduction Picasso and Gauguin frequently deal with the ideas and values associated with non-western culture. This dissertation looks at one manifestation of this process: what is often referred to as the ‘exotic. This dissertation will look at what the exotic means, specifically for Picasso and Gauguin. It will examine why they were drawn to the idea of the exotic and how they made it their own. How did they imagine it would make their work more vital, vibrant or vivid? By comparing the exotic nature of the work of Picasso and Gauguin it is possible to see the similarity inherent in their exotic ideals and ignorance of non-western culture, however they differ in relation to how their work evolves and their anarchist views. They heard about Africa through a European centred view which †¦.. This It will be shown that they lusted after an exotic world, and how this emerged from a limited Western society and artistic landscape. A Western society based on the reliance on the myths and colonialist ideals, shaped by the mass-media . media. Exoticism is the allure of a culture different from the artist or viewers own, it is about a fascination for the aesthetics of another culture and a yearning for difference. This notion of ‘difference in a Western artists work represents the fantasy of escape from all forms of Western culture and academic systems of art. Exoticism is a term derived from the location of the ‘Orient, a term used in 19th-century France to denote the Near East and the surrounding areas of Northern Africa and Western Asia.[1] Looking at the imperialist power relation between East and West at the time,[2] the ‘exotic does not merely convey information but actually constructs its subject.[3] It positions the Orient, or the exotic, as the lesser half of a dichotomy where the West holds the power and strength of being ‘normal, the Orient becomes the ‘other in relation to it. The Western artists who created exotic art had the problem not only of their own conventional understandings, but of having to represent non-Western culture and non-Western art itself for Western consumption.[4] French symbolists coped with this by appropriating the distant object of ‘the exotic, by describing it in a familiar language to their society.[5] Picasso was a great exoticist although he never travelled to Africa. He could be called a sedentary Gauguin because where Gauguin travelled himself, Picasso had the exotic nature of Eastern islands brought to him through photographs and writings, creating a type of ‘arm-chair exoticism.'[6] Picasso drew from other works and created his own interpretations. His art has an originality of a practical order, the search for correct material is an art of imitation and distorted variations upon the original.[7] Whereas, Gauguin expands on the myth of Tahiti,[8] emphasizing the ‘exotic and the French preconceptions with a foreign culture. For Gauguin the myth of Tahiti would bring his aims into sharp focus. [9] Picassos ‘African period is termed as falling between 1907-1909, however, after this period his later work was still strongly influenced by Iberian sculpture. Picassos work from the first two decades of the twentieth century will be the prominent focus of this debate, beginning with his first ventures into exoticism during his ‘African period, starting from his first inspirations through African art. Matisse claimed that it was he who introduced Picasso to African art in 1906 when he purchased an African mask [10] and brought it to a dinner party at Gertrude Steins home, who was a good friend of Picassos. Several This is impossible to prove but several of Picassos friends such as Max Jacob vividly remembered Picassos connection to African art: ‘fascinated by the black idols, he had been working all night. Cubism had been born (seckel, 233),.[11] And and in March 1907 there is evidence that he purchased two Iberian sculptured heads, starting his what would eventually grow into an wide extensive and varied collection of African art,.[12] including a large collection of African and Oceanic sculptures and masks. In 1907 he created Les Demoiselles dAvignon which appears to be heavily influenced by African sculpture and was possibly inspired by Picassos visit to the Musee de Trocadero in May or June 1907[13] which housed African masks and sculptures. [14] It is here he is said to have had a ‘revelation about African sculpture.[15] However, Picasso vehemently denied any African influence in his work. In the 1920s when asked if this had an influence on his work he replied â€Å"Lart negre? Connais pas!† (African art? Dont know it!†)[16] For Picasso, African influence was as much a part of social criticism as it was for as a search for a new art.[17] He amassed a large collection of African and Oceanic sculptures and masks†¦ D espite his taste for exoticism from an early age , It it was not until 1891 when Gauguin first arrived in Tahiti that he finally entered his Polynesian period.,[18] despite his taste for exoticism from an early age. In Gauguins day, race provided the predominant intellectual and practical framework in which cultural, linguistic and psychological differences could be examined and expressed; because of its adaptability it was also an effective colonial tool for substantiating any cultural or national hierachy. Gauguin mirrored the typical Nineteenth Century French attitude of Africa; expressing a preference for difference combined with a willful ignorance of historical and cultural practices, marking it as exoticism.[19] Gauguin pursued an interest in travelling and he appeared to have a great desire for difference but until he lived in Tahiti he seemed to have relatively little interest in learning much about the foreign lands and cultures he saw. [20] A lot of the inspiration and influence in their work, that delves into an exotic world was marred by Frances feelings on Eastern culture during this period and how they saw it as ‘primitive. Since the arrival of the European colonial power in Africa from the fifteenth century, the islands were sites of exoticism for Europeans, where fantasies about race, sex and utopian societies could be fulfilled. [21] The artists viewed ‘utopian societies as being about the search for an ideal world; in terms of social, moral and political aspects. In the early 1900s there were utopian visions of a liberal movement which merged with the symbolist movement in art. Anarcho-symbolist ideas helped Picasso form an idea of himself as an artist in a European society and about the virtues of unsophisticated ‘primitive art.[22] The liberation was a revolutionary new struggle for a new society.[23] The European artists first major source of images and information about Africa, would have come through the popular press, itself influenced by fantasy and prejudice. The European prejudice was based on the perceived threat of the minority forces to the tradition European values, coupled with the absence of positive feelings towards them.[24] Political interests also influence the press and this predated actual French contact with urban and tribal populations in Africa and were reinforced by novels and accounts by missionaries, and explorers, often accompanied by fantastic illustrations. To this were added the forced labour and fear in the two congos why, which dominated discussion in late 1905.[25] These elements culminated in modernists minds to form both political outrage and yet essentially romanticized notions about instinct and ‘fetish worship. Explain?! * Summary of each paras to be put at the end of intro. I shall begin by exploring the ‘lure of non-western culture for the artists, why they were inticedenticed by difference and how this influenced their work; the fantasy created by accounts of explorers and how European colonialism influenced their work. In my second chapter I shall explore why they desired sexually primitive women, how they saw them as accommodating the white male bourgeoisie and how they juxtaposed African sexuality against European bourgeois norms. I shall also explore the seemingly different sex codes of the East. In my final chapter I shall create a critical exploration as to what extent they found the exotic nature they were looking for, how it lived up to their expectations and whether it made their work more vital, vibrant and vivid. I shall also explore whether their work showed the ‘true nature of African culture. Chapter 1-The Lure of the Exotic The logic of exoticism is a cycle; the more one is immersed in a culture, the more one discovers sameness and seeks even greater difference. [26] The more Picasso and Gauguin found out about non-western society, the more enticed they became by this foreign culture, leading to it featuring predominantly in their work. The colonialism, fantasy and culture of non-western society offered new means of expression for the artists and are integral in assessing the lure of the exotic for Picasso and Gauguin. I shall also examine why they were enticed by Africa and how the accounts for explorers and knowledge of colonialism influenced them to explore Africa. For Gauguin, Tahiti was a place in which he could fulfill his fantasies, plunging into a free and exotic culture, free from the constraints of his own French culture. He described living in Tahiti as: ‘civilisation is leaving me little by little†¦ ‘I have all the pleasures of a free, animal and human life. I escape from the artificial; I enter into nature. Gauguin wrote this shortly after coming to the island paradise.[27] The anarchist background of Picasso meant that everything to do with Africa was charged with political meaning during this time and leant meaning to their force of Primitivism. The critic Leiris was close to Picasso, and as such strongly influenced and paralleled his thoughts on African Art. He explores the difficulties created by his own relationship as a European to non-European culture, especially Africa. Leiris, in his article ‘LOeil de lethnographe (The Eye of the Ethnographer) he explores the fashion for African art and the exoticism of the Africa of fiction and dreams to explore the absurdities and racial assumptions behind European negrophilia.[28] He feels that the European ideal of Africa will always be about exoticism and fantasy, the real and fantastic, confused between the contradictions of the objective and subjective.[29] Gauguin obviously identified himself in some way with what he imagined to be a ‘savage life. Gauguin saw himself both as the subjugated savage and the dominating conqueror. This is significant because of the period, a time of renewed European colonialism and vigorous debate about imperial policies.[30] Fantasy of the exotic; the traveler is constantly asking to recall the fabled exoticism of ‘primitive cultures. Travelers who ventured in to Africa in the early Nineteenth Century frequently returned with fantastical tales of human sacrifice, cannibalism, violence, sensuality and doom that were made much of in the French press, emphasizing the purported savagery of customs they misconstrued in accordance with their pre-conceptions.[31] Picassos art represented the naà ¯ve fantasy of the ‘Other and was possibly based on the fantastical tales and images brought to France by travelers who had ventured into Africa. Picassos ‘African period of art took inspiration solely from art objects which came to stand in for Africa itself. There is great irony in Picassos work because while he was obsessed with African imagery he never travelled to the continent.[32] African objects became kinds of forces, often unspoken and unlicensed, which he needed in order to break the constraints of modernity. Africa was most useful to Picasso when it was confined to the unconscious, mediating other needs and desires while not serving as a primary faction in itself. [33] Iconography was taken from African sculpture as an artistic device for distinguishing avant-garde art, and a conceptual tool for signifying anarchy and transgression.[34] Black imagery whether drawn from popular carvings or from African carvings, suited the arti sts need for inspiration, difference and subversion.[35] In pre-war Paris, African carvings entered the art market and fuelled the avant-gardes need for new forms of expression. African carvings that reached Paris at the turn of the century were generally and collectively referred to as ‘lart negre or ‘les fetishes.'[36] Europes avant-garde absorbed African imagery into cubism and expressionism, as part of an artists short-hand that stood for the exotic, authentic and spontaneous; sentiments sympathetic with their anarchist status. Expand on his anarchist status For instance even the African forms were not painstakingly represented, the primitive was implicit in depictions of the female nude and the aggressive manner in which the model was sexualized.[37] The French popular Press with mass illustrations such as le journal illustre, lillustration and Le Tour de Monde and the illustrated supplements of the newspapers Le Petit Journal and Le Petit Parisien, played up to fantastical tales, as part of a successful attempt to justify the French conquest. This largely influenced Picassos fantasy of the exotic through its subjugated view of Africa and political fluency. The press followed the war only superficially, concentrating instead on the legendary grotesque practices of the natives. [38] what war? explain Picasso may be seen as more greatly influenced by the French press because he never travelled to Africa, preferring to learn about it from texts and images, whereas Gauguin lived in Africa, immersing himself in the culture and seeing for himself the juxtaposition between fantasy and reality. With primitivism Picasso crossed a geo-political frontier and imported African bodies into Western salons during the peak of colonialism. Picasso may have drawn on the dialogue of postcards whose recurrent subject matter was female nudes[39]. Anne Baldassari drew upon an inventory of Picassos collection of picture postcards, they included postcards of ‘alien people and tribal groups. For example, Picasso possessed albumen prints (used as a photographic device in the early 1900s, it describes negatives exposed to sunlight and printed onto light sensitive albumen paper[40]) (it was the first commercially exploitable method of producing a photographic print-taken from wiki) dating from 1860-80 which included visiting card portraits of Polynesians and a series of postcards from West Africa mainly produced by Daker-based postcard publisher Edmund Frontier.[41] reword A photo-postcard by Edmund Frontier entitled ‘Femme Malinke (Malinke Woman) 1906 appears to directly inspire Picassos ‘Female Nude with Raised Arms 1908. In the images the women appear to situate themselves in an almost identical pose, standing upright with their arms raised above their heads. [42] Picasso uses cubist abstraction to accentuate the features into a more ‘Africanised style, accentuating her womanly curves; the shape of her buttocks and thighs. He also uses strong features that appear inspired by African masks; lozenge shaped eyes and a strong jaw. The postcard evokes a tribal woman, adorned with necklaces (possibly a symbol of her tribe?) ‘Female Nude with Raised Arms saw Picassos African art emerge into a cubist style[43], the feminine body is broken into feminine abstraction, similar to Picassos ‘Three Women 1908. Picassos seemingly primitive endevoursendeavours carried him beyond what many of the public admired about his rose and blue period.[44] Picassos transition from ‘Africanism into cubist proper for which Cezanne seems to be the dominant model.[45] expand Picassos cubism is an abstracting and reorganization classical constraints and a mediated representation of art up until this time.[46] The concepts of pathological distortion or symbolic syntax such as caricature supplies promoted Picasso to undertake a re-ordering and distortion of facial features.[47] The asymmetry of a womanswomans face is not normally part of any of the known mask traditions of Africa. However, the torso of the woman is quite clearly inconceivable without the precedent of non-European mask art.[48] When avant-garde artists such as Picasso began working with African sculptures, they did not make the distinction between curios and genuine ethnographic objects. They were more concerned with what the objects in their paintings would signify rather than their authenticity. [49] Few artists appreciated the African objects; such as masks and statues for their aesthetic beauty and instead were fascinated by their crudeness of expression. Picasso in ‘Female Nude with Raised Arms represents the more grotesque forms of African carvings, rather than depicting her feminine beauty because of their sharp contrast with European art.[50] Through artworks based on evoking a ‘tribal‘ life and art which he saw as violent and degenerate, Picasso is able to implicitly reject colonialism through pointedly revealing ethnic difference.[51] Tribal life was seen as collective or primitive socialism. Everything has become capitalist and liberal Western societies have vanished in the political and cultural milieu of the twentieth century. Therefore, tribal life represented a taboo form, which Picasso was keen to accentuate. Gauguin also drew inspiration from fabled stories and travelers, especially the traveller Moerenhaut. Gauguin read with considerable care the very detailed anthropological and historical accounts provided by Moerenhout, as well as the writings of other travelers.[52] Moerenhaut had clearly benefited from a good, classical French education[53] and found the lure of non-Western culture within the differences in civil law and religion which in turn inspired Gauguin to create such works as ‘There lies a temple (1892) Gauguin wanted to represent the original Tahiti, as it was before colonialism, to do so he had to look in accounts of travelers, those who had been fortunate enough to have seen or heard from the mouths of the elders accounts of travelers stories of ancient times,. But but Gauguin borrowed elements of the book by Moerenhaut to reconstruct a world through the texts he had read, interlinking it with his own experience.[54] Gauguin wrote his own account of his travels, part reality and part myth on which interpretation of a great many of his paintings can be based. In ‘There lies a Temple the composition reveals a conflict between reality and fiction.[55] It shows a composition based on the scene of Tahiti, with abundant vegetation rendered in green, pink-violet and orange which sets the tone; behind it runs a fence, its forms inspired by Asian models, which creates a barrier uninterrupted by openings anywhere. In the centre of the image is the sunrise, in radiant yellow, that dominates the overall composition of the painting. Gauguin, during his time in Tahiti maintained his penchant for complimentary complementary colours and still mostly applied them in an impressionist style. In Tahiti the dazzling light can produce hues that are unusual to the Western audience and therefore appear exotic with tropical intensity.[56] The inspiration for the titleeponymous temple lies in front of a mountain ran ge at the right-hand side of the painting, a monumental stone temple figure, at the foot of which rising smoke emanates. Yet there were no temples left standing in Tahiti, no stone images of gods and no fences marked the boundaries of sacred areas.[57] It is perhaps more inspired by Moerenhauts book in which is described the worship of the moon goddess Hina in the form of a ten-metre high stone statue located on distant Easter Island. Gauguins paintings therefore, like Picassos, may be considered an unauthentic and inaccurate ethnological report which does not benefit future European artists-p.38. Instead it expands on the myth of Africa, not due to Gauguins lack of knowledge, but perhaps to expand on the lure of the exotic and fulfill the expectations of his French audience, representing the world with which outsiders associated him. The religious aspect of the painting seems deliberately falsified, in all letter to his wife he explains the title ‘here lies the temple by sayi ng ‘there lies the temple, a place reserved for the cult of gods, and for human sacrifice (ref in text)[58] All from gs skirt-reword and relate to temple and raised arms painting Gauguins use of exoticism in his work and his preference for difference combined with an almost willful cultural and historical ignorance that was extremely common in 19th century France. [59] The violence and anarchy of an old Tahiti was apparent, but Gauguin preferred to stress the gentleness and compassion of the culture. Gauguin also expressed a willful and historical ignorance of Tahiti, a typical attitude in France at the time; expressing the barbarity of native lore and traditions yet the fundamental humanity of a culture that gave rise to them.[60] Gauguin was determined to develop new themes in keeping with his new surroundings and to adapt some old ones to a new context. [61] The history of the 19th Century French past is conjoined with the South Pacific; their religious beliefs, cultural and sexual? practices. Gs skirt-p.155 The women in Gauguins ‘Ta Matete, ‘The Market are prostitutes, posed like the figures in ancient Egyptian wall painting. The one in yellow at the right holds a cigarette between the fingers of her right hand; two others proudly display health inspection certificates as if they were the painted fans of the French society women. Such behaviour was inconsistent with order, stability, prosperity and the overall French mission civilitrice. -P.155 gs skirt-Anti-govermentalgovernmental sentiment was expressed in more thamthan just verbal form, natives flaunted laws and customs which promoted moral proprierty, physical health and industry. Relate to a painting by Picasso. Both used symbolism to enhance the viewers perceived idea of the debasement and cultural inferiority of another race. Chapter 2-The Desire for a Sexually ‘Exotic Culture Sex codes less rigidly defined-‘what! are you jealous? Concept of identity-the masculine, how Gauguin was seen as feminine. Male dominance, woman as prostitutes- Olympia, poses women posed to accommodate men-comparison of les demoiselles and spirit watching Caricatures of women-represent cultural ignorance? Gauguin and Picasso desire a sexually exotic woman because they are enticed by the schemata of difference and want to project fantasies of white masculinity on to the seemingly base woman. Often ignoring the beauty of women and concentrating on the historical and cultural example of subjectivity. [62]expand They use caricatures and stereotypes of African women in their artwork, Picasso often using features of African masks as inspiration while Gauguin situates his women in a suggestive and sexually enticing manner for the viewer. White male dominance Gauguin and Picasso create a conundrum of oppositions between the passivity of the black female and dominance of the white male conqueror. [63] The ‘primitive creates a paradox: it entices artists in the desire for an exotic nature and yet similataneouslysimultaneously repels them. The fantasy of the exotic woman is pressured to the point where often cracks start to appear and white masculinity prevails[64] crisis of masculinity-continued. P.76 expand 20.p.165. Although Gauguin sought to disparage masculine sexual impulses, in reality the dominating power of the masculine and exaggerated male sexual strength was also naturalised and secretly admired at the same time that it was condemned. Gauguins sympathy for, yet possessiveness over the women in his work sent a threatening message as did the depiction of dread and desire implicit in the female. 20. p.165 Although Gauguins texts such as Noa Noa sought to construct him as ‘savage rather than reveal his true self, he nevertheless exposed in such works culturally formed attitudes towards sexuality, nature and his own desires. Gauguin and Picasso in ‘Spirit of the Dead Watching and ‘Les Demoiselles dAvignon shows two different modes of representing woman as prostitutes, living up to mans desires. They mark a divide between the sexes: between men who can continually ask for sexual services and women who have no opportunity to dispute this. reword 22.p.598 These scenes bring up conundrums between European and other, white and black, female and male, pure and perverse and heterosexual and homosexual. (reword, taken from les dem essay) The subjects of Picasso and Gauguins work are often represented in a hazardous sexual directness, which non-western culture tended to avoid. The power of this sexual primitiveness therefore makes it unclear as to whether Picasso and Gauguin intended their masculine viewer to dominate the female figures or for the figures to dominate them. Women were posed to accommodate the viewer. The exotic nature of Picasso and Gauguins work merged with white masculine prejudice to create a threatening image which was at once desirable and yet hazardroushazardous in its sexual directness. Some of their paintings projectsproject the power of female sexuality onto a largely masculine culture. . Griselda Pollock; ‘Tehamanas body is appropriated to signify Gauguins desire as a white man and artist. [65] (put in about lack of acceptance of Gauguins work at the time?) In ‘Les Demoiselles dAvignon the second sex puts the male viewer at the advantage yet a moral disadvantage for men who exploit human beings. However, instead of letting her bathe in innocence the picture offers up a guilty thrill at viewing up close the ritual performed well away from the curious and censorious.[66] Similarly in ‘Spirit of the Dead Watching the man is put at an advantage through the cultural debasement of the women as prostitutes, exemplified through the male view of the womens indifference to the males subjectificationobjectification.[67] In a text attributed to Gauguin a Tahitian woman is compared to a cat in her savagery and impulsive vigour.[68] ‘She asks to be raped. She is totally indifferent to any consideration you might have for her. ‘She lives as [if] she will never be wanting and this prevents her from being unduly calculating.'[69] (p.214) It is in the debasement of Tehamana that he finds her the most beautiful. [70] Similarly in à ¢â‚¬ËœSpirit of the Dead Watching the woman is in a pose where she appears to seemingly ask to be raped. This differs from ‘Les Demoiselles dAvignon where the women seem sexually powerful in the poses, standing and posed facing the viewer as opposed to Spirit of the Dead watching where the woman is lying down with her back to the viewer. The sexually threatening undercurrents of Les Demoiselles is unlike ‘Spirit of the dead watching who appears fearful despite the sexual directness which Gauguin appropriates as an example of the cultural laxness of the society. Find a ref to back this up. ‘Les Demoiselles dAvignon lends force the power of exotic power through sexual directness. Rubin draws attention to the mesmerizing mesmerising and even terrifying caricatures expand of the masks, it is a transgressive confrontation that projects a trauma, ‘something that transcends our sense of civilized experience, something ominous and monstrous.'[71] ‘While Spirit of the Dead Watching, rather than lending force to the woman as prostitute instead depicts her with a submissive nature. ‘Les Demoiselles assumes the viewer to be male and heterosexual, it tells us what are desires are and marks a divide between the sexes: between men who can routinely contract for sexual services and women who have no opportunity to dispute this.[72] Gauguins ‘The Spirit of the Dead Watching or ‘Manao Tupapau as Gauguin refferedreferred to it, is a tropical version of the Olympia. The title ‘Manao Tupapau means ‘Thought or Belief and the Specter and can have two meanings: either she is thinking of the specter or the specter is thinking of her.[73] In itthe picture, the figure stares with open eyes at the viewer while the ubiquitous figure of the dead keeps watch.[74] The enduring theme of the young, nude Maori girl who has a great fear of the hooded spirit of the dead.[75] p117-gs skirt- Gauguin compares women to animals ‘All indeed wish to be ‘taken, brutally taken, without a single word. All have the secret desire for violence because this act of authority on the part of the male leaves to the woman-will its full share of irresponsibility. (ref citation in book) This appeals to mans desire of the submissive woman, for the dominating conquererconqueror. The woman lies on the bed, naked on her front, seemingly accommodating and enticing the viewer. Gauguin, perhaps to encourage and emphasize his claim that he had found ‘paradise on earth wanted an innate ability to love. [76] ‘Spirit of the Dead Watching, ‘In this position almost anything might make her look indecent, yet it is in this way I want her. [77] The woman represents the image of the prostitute through the flowers strewn in the background of the painting representing a type of ‘exotic and tropical version of Olympia in the mode of prostitute. Gauguin said of this image ‘ my‘my feeling for the decorative sense leads me to strew the background with flowers.'[78] ‘The Spirit of the Dead Watching conveys a new subject; ‘his savage identity to the old world. Foster, Hal, Prosthetic Gods; Primitive Scenes, MIT Press, 2004, p.6 ,like the savage identity represented in Picassos Les Demoiselles d Avignon. In these scenes Picasso and Gauguin challenge our conceptions of identity through the aesthetic and psychological conceptions of art and psyche challenged by colonial encounters. Sometimes these scenes bring up conundrums of Europeans identification with the East, and the conundrum opposition of female and male, ; pure versus and perverse; and heterosexual and homosexual. Taken from essay on les dem! There is no simple notion of a women as ‘pure or ‘peverseperverse as Gauguin and Picasso show women as both pure and perversewith both of these contradictory elements. With Picasso and Gauguins work there is no simple divide between the depiction of African women as pure and virginal, yet simultaneously images ofpotential prostitutionprostitutes. For instance, Gauguin painted his adorned mother in a darkly sensual Tahitian mode even though she was fair and fine, typically considered ‘European characteristics. He also used his mother as the muse for ‘exotic eve Eve (1890) And often presented Tahitian women as Virgin Marys, yet even as he depicts them as pure, he also used them as prostitutes.[79] In ‘Spirit of the Dead Watching it upholds male colonial prerogatives, yet it is equally, a hybrid artwork, which undercuts the paradigm of sexuality upon which European masculinialism, depends. . The posture and anatomy of Tehamana may be seen as boyish, it is possibly an assault on European sexual nudes. Charles Maurice a friend of Gauguins writes that Tehamana is depicted as an ‘androgynous little girl.p.121 sex in Tahiti in gs skirt-rewrite There is an interesting juxtaposition in the discourse between the notion of the ‘femme fatale that Picasso and Gauguin often depict, and yet a ‘womanly vulnerability which reasserts the masculine power of the European conquererconqueror. Gauguin introduced this conflict between womanly power and women as a ‘femme fatale and men as lacking in sexuasexual potency,lly lack and homoerotic.[80] On the theme of inc

Generation of Extreme Ultraviolet Radiation

Generation of Extreme Ultraviolet Radiation Generation of Extreme Ultraviolet Radiation from Intense Laser-Plasma Interactions using Two-Colour Harmonics BRIEF HISTORY Over the past few decades breakthroughs in the production of intense laser fields have meant that multi-terawatt and even petawatt systems are now standard in laboratories**. This has been achieved through reduction of the pulse duration, originally from nanosecond pulses down to femtosecond and recently reaching attosecond levels (1as =10-18s)**. This coupled with important improvements to systems, such as the chirped pulse amplification technique (CPA)**, has allowed laser pulses to be amplified to higher peak powers than ever before and used in laser-matter interactions. The resulting scientific drive from developments such as these pushed achievable laser intensities from 109W/cm2 to the 1014W/cm2, at which the interaction between these high intensity lasers and dense electron-free gas was studied**. Only recently thanks to advances in both laser performance and computer simulation tools has study on laser-plasma interactions in the generation of HHG made progress, providing the possibility to generate sources of incoherent electromagnetic radiation of short wavelength and pulse durations**. As further study was carried out on the interaction of light with relativistic free electrons in plasma, it has reached a point now in which generation of high-harmonics of the fundamental laser, soft and hard x-rays, and shorter pulse duration (1as) lasers of intensities reaching 1018W/cm2 are now possible**. Due to this the generation of high-order-harmonics from high-intensity laser interactions has been a major area of attoscience research within the last decade. HHG PRODUCTION High harmonic generation (HHG) refers to the process in which a high intensity laser pulse is focused onto a target, classically a noble gas, in which strong nonlinear interactions result in the generation of very high harmonics of the optical frequency of the pulse**. This will occur for intensities of 1014W/cm2 and above, where typically only a small amount of this energy is converted into the higher harmonics. From these high-harmonics, spatially and temporally coherent attosecond pulses of extreme ultraviolet light can be generated, which can then be used as a reliable source of highly tuneable short wavelength radiation in many different applications e.g. x-ray spectroscopy**. In the case of high intensity laser-gas interactions this is achieved by tailoring the intensity of the laser pulse so that its electric field amplitude is similar to the electric field in the target atoms**. From this the lasers electric field is able to remove electrons from the atoms through tunnel ionisation, at which point the electrons are accelerated in the field and, with certain conditions controlled, are made to collide with the newly created ion upon recombination. The resulting collision generates the emission of high energy photons**, as shown in fig 1. Fig. 1: HHG three step model. This is known as the three step model; electron is detached from atom through tunnel ionisation, then accelerated within the field away from atom, then accelerated back towards atom where it collides and recombines, from this collision all the energy lost appears as emitted HHG ultraviolet photons. HHG from laser-gas interactions have been used extensively to generate attosecond pulses but is limited in flux and photon energy by low conversion efficiencies between the driving laser energy and the attosecond pulses, this can be attributed to two key factors; loss of phase matching between the driving laser to the generated extreme ultraviolet (XUV) radiation as its propagated through the gas over a relatively large distance, and a restriction on the intensity of the driving laser due to the ionisation threshold of the target gas, this saturation intensity is roughly 1016W/cm2**. Meaning laser intensities above this threshold limit will over-ionise the gas leaving no neutral atoms left to generate the XUV harmonics. The use of laser-solid interaction offers the opportunity of reaching much higher attosecond pulse intensities and generation efficiencies beyond the capabilities of gas based HHG**. The method of generating high-harmonics in laser-solid interactions is fundamentally different than that of laser-gas interactions. Interaction of intense ultrashort laser pulses (of pulse duration around a few femtoseconds) on an optically polished solid surface results in the target surface being completely ionised, generating a dense plasma which will act as a mirror, called a plasma mirror**. The reflection of these high intensity laser pulses will be affected by a wave motion set-up in the electrons within the plasma surface causing it to distort the reflected laser field, resulting in the production of upshifted light pulses and the generation of high-order harmonics**. Due to the coherent nature of this process, these generated harmonics are phase-locked and emerge as attosecond pulse. Fig. 2 Laser pulse moving towards overdense plasma. A key property of this plasma is its electron density, this determines whether the laser is reflected, absorbed or not allowed to pass through. This is known as the density gradient scale length, as the laser pulse interacts with the target and forms a plasma it creates a profile that extends out into the vacuum, forming a plasma density profile. This is a critical factor in HHG and consists of two regions: Overdense scale length, Lod If the electron density is equal to the critical density of the target or above, extending up to the maximum target density, the laser pulse is unable to penetrate through the target and is so reflected or absorbed. Underdense scale length, Lud If the electron density is below this critical density the laser will penetrate through, with some absorption. Fig. 3 Plasma density profile, Lud is underdense region, Lod is overdense region. The critical density is determined from: Where is the angular frequency of the laser. As stated before the target surface is highly ionised by the leading edge of the laser pulse, known as the pre-pulse, therefore becoming rapidly over-dense and creating a plasma mirror of sufficient electron density, ne>nc**. HHG within plasma requires laser intensities >1015W/cm2 for 800nm field**, which is usually stated in terms of a normalised vector potential of a ­0, where: In which; e and m are electron charge and electron mass respectively. c is speed of light in vacuum. E is the amplitude of the lasers electric field. I is the lasers intensity. à Ã¢â‚¬ °l is the laser frequency and ÃŽÂ »l is the laser wavelength. Therefore HHG in plasma requires at least an a0à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥0.03. Recently is was discovered** that there are two mechanisms that lead to HHG from solid density plasma surfaces; Relativistic oscillating mirror (ROM) Coherent wake emission (CWE) These two process result in different distortions to the reflected laser field and therefore a completely different harmonic spectra produced. CWE Coherent wake emission is a process of three steps; Electrons on the surface of the plasma are drawn into the vacuum by the laser field and accelerated back into the dense plasma once they have gained energy from the driving laser field. When propagating within the dense plasma these fast electrons form ultrashort bunches, creating plasma oscillations in their wake. Within the non-uniform region of the plasma (produced from the density gradient between the plasma-vacuum boundary) the electron oscillations will radiate energy in the form of light of various local plasma frequencies found within this gradient. This process will occur once for every laser cycle therefore the spectrum of the emitted light will consist of harmonics of the laser frequency, in which CWE harmonic spectra have a cutoff at the maximum plasma frequency à Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­pmax **. This mechanism is predominant at moderately relativistic intensities of a0à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤1, and short but finite plasma gradient lengths of **. Coherent wake emission has only recently been identified as a factor in HHG in laser-solid interactions but it is known that it along with ROM contributes to the generation of high-harmonic orders below à Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­pmax and the strength of their respective influence below this threshold is determined by laser intensity**. ROM The other mechanism involved in the generation of high-harmonics from laser-plasma interactions is the relativistic oscillating mirror process, this dominates for relativistic normalised vector potentials of a0>>1, although recent studies have shown that ROM harmonics can be observed even at lower intensities when the plasma gradient length is about **. ROM process occurs when surface electrons in the plasma are oscillated collectively by the high intensity incident laser field to relativistic speeds, the plasma will reflect what it observes as a laser pulse of frequency à Ã¢â‚¬ °+. This à Ã¢â‚¬ °+ frequency is a higher upshifted frequency of the fundamental pulse due to a Doppler effect produced from the relative motion of the laser field to the moving reflection point on the oscillating plasma surface. The actual reflected laser pulse will have a frequency of à Ã¢â‚¬ °++ due to a second Doppler upshift effect as it moves towards an observer/target. This is known as Einsteins relativistic Doppler effect, in which the reflected pulse frequency is upshifted by a factor of 4ÃŽÂ ³2**. Fig 4. Schematic of a relativistic oscillating critical density plasma interaction. From past research it has been found that from this mechanism a power-law decay scaling of I(n)ROMn-8/3 is dominant (where n is the harmonic order) in the harmonic spectrum for harmonic orders above the CWE cut-off point, nCWE,** this is the harmonic order related to the maximum plasma frequency of the target, à Ã¢â‚¬ °pmax, mentioned previously. Where: nCWE = nà Ã¢â‚¬ °max = à Ã¢â‚¬ °pmax/à Ã¢â‚¬ °l = In which; à Ã¢â‚¬ °l is the frequency of the laser, is the maximum electron density of the target, Nc is the critical density shown previously. From this process initial femtosecond pulses can be used to create attosecond pulses. When coupled to a relativistic oscillating mirror it adds an oscillatory extension to Einsteins relativistic Doppler effect, so due to the periodic motion of the mirror to the laser field and the double Doppler upshifts this results in the production of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) harmonics**. These ultra-short pulses have been the focus of much scientific research recently as they offer a promising way to resolve in the time domain the ultrafast dynamics of electrons within materials**. Although the relativistic oscillating mirror process is more suited as a macroscopic model for the effective reflection point of the laser field. It assumes that the surface electrons bunch together as the target is ionised and move out into the vacuum to form the plasma where they remain in the overdense region ensuring that the laser field is completely reflected. More recently studies have discovered there is another mechanism in the relativistic regime that can contribute to the harmonic spectrum via a different process entirely. CSE This other process is known as Coherent synchrotron emission (CSE)** and is needed to explain observations that do not fit the previous two models, in which dense electron nanobunches are created at the plasma-vacuum boundary where they produce coherent XUV radiation through coherent synchrotron emission. This is a microscopic model of HHG in laser-solid interactions. It models the electrons in the plasma moving, in dense bunches, under the influence of the incident laser field and subsequent fields produced from the movement of charges within the plasma. These nanobunches are periodically formed and coherently accelerated through an instantaneously synchrotron-like orbit during each laser cycle, for oblique laser incidences. As certain conditions, such as ultrashort plasma density scale length, are met these bunches emit bursts of sub-femtosecond intense high-frequency radiation. This radiation has properties dependent on the electron trajectories and it has been shown that it can b e modelled as synchrotron radiation**, therefore the coherent XUV emissions are distinctly different from that produced in ROM from relativistic Doppler upshifts. In reality actual electron dynamics may be a mix of CSE and ROM, but due to the complex nature of the changing fields within a plasma it makes it impossible to analytically model with accuracy. Therefore requiring the use of computer simulations to deal with the electron trajectories and their respective radiation emissions. PREVIOUS EXPERIMENTS Based on the work of Edwards et al, 2014, in which the study of attosecond XUV pulse generation from relativistic driven overdense plasma targets with two-colour incident light was performed they used 1D, three velocity, particle-in-cell (PIC) code simulations, which treat oblique incidence with boosted frames, to show how pulse intensity can be improved. They converted a small amount (~5%) of the fundamental laser field energy to an additional laser operating at the second harmonic of the fundamental frequency, to significantly enhance the intensity of the generated attosecond pulses by multiple orders of magnitude. This was based on previous work in which mixing of the fundamental driving laser frequency with the second harmonic was performed on laser-gas interactions to increase the attosecond pulse intensity and isolation (K. J. Schafer et al, 1992). Edwards demonstrated that a significant improvement was also possible through this mixing method in laser-solid interactions following the Similarity theory (proposed by Gordienko and Pukhov,**), that suggests the behaviour of laser-plasma interactions follow a similarity parameter of: 1/S = a0/N à Ã¢â‚¬ °l Where S = ne/a0nc, is a similarity parameter and N = ne/nc which is the ratio of electron density of the plasma to its critical density. Therefore from this it would appear that by doubling à Ã¢â‚¬ °l while using the same laser field amplitude the reflected attosecond pulse intensity would also be increase by a factor of two. One of the main limiting parameters in these experiments is the achievable value of a0, while the largest solid material value of N (lithium at ÃŽÂ »=800nm) is 75, so this type of frequency doubling appears to be a promising pathway to optimising attosecond pulse intensity, although a drawback of this is the negative effect it has on the isolation of the reflected pulses. Therefore they stated that a two-colour method, of partially converting a portion of the fundamental laser field energy to the second harmonic, would be a more attractive alternative. Through this process the advantages of using a higher incident frequency, by increasing the gradient of the electric field at certain points within the pulse generation cycle, without the related decrease in pulse isolation and loss of energy associated to simple frequency doubling can be exploited. In their study they used a normal-incidence beam on a step-like plasma density profile using a mix of the first and second harmonic with a phase difference of to produce harmonics with a higher intensity than either incident field individually. They demonstrate substantial gains after the addition of a small amount of the second harmonic to achieve attosecond pulse enhancement of factors >10. As well as a 10-fold enhancement when using density gradients of 0.05ÃŽÂ » and 0.15ÃŽÂ » with conversions of the fundamental to the second harmonic of 5%-10% at an angle of incidence of à Ã‚ ´=30o. Therefore Edwards was able to go on and state that the relative phase of the two incident harmonics were a critical factor in the improvement in attosecond pulse intensity. This is due to the difference in the driving electric field waveform and corresponding resultant electron motion as is varied. Where they linked the strongest attosecond pulse intensities with sharp transitions in the driving electric field that are aided by the addition of the second harmonic at optimum phases, while phases that break the driving field transition reduce the attosecond intensities to levels sometimes substantially below what could be achieved pre-mixing of the harmonics. Therefore when harmonics are combined without thought to their phases they do not always improve the attosecond strength. Further detail into the trajectories of dense electron bunches, which emit synchrotron like radiation (CSE) was given to help explain this effect, where supressed pulse electrons were shown to follow a longer and slower motion before being accelerated and subsequently emitting, resulting in longer elongated trajectories. Whereas electrons that contribute to the improvement of the attosecond pulse strength are shown to experience a larger field before and during emission. This meant their velocity and acceleration components were larger than the suppressed electrons, giving them more energy as it is driven back into the plasma. Overall they state that the larger the electric field experienced by the electrons increases the intensity of the reflected attosecond pulse, due to the number of electrons travelling in a dense bunch increasing as this larger field that the electrons near the surface experience compresses them into higher density bunches. Another study performed by Yeung et al, 2016, focused on controlling the attosecond motion of strongly driven electrons at the boundary between the pre-formed plasma and the vacuum. They demonstrated experimentally that by precisely adding an additional laser field, at the second harmonic of the fundamental driving frequency, attosecond control over the trajectories of the dense electron bunches involved in intense laser-plasma interactions can be achieved. From this considerable improvements in the high-harmonic generation intensity was observed, which confirms the theoretical work by Edwards in two-colour fields reviewed previously while developing upon this to further factors. Experimentally they showed that attosecond control over the phase relationship of the two driving fields is necessary to optimise the reflected attosecond pulse intensity. While also using PIC simulations to determine the optimal and worst phase relationships, in which a phase of was found to optimise the emission. Microscopic focus determined that during each cycle the emission of the attosecond pulse begins as a primary electron bunch which is compressed and then quickly accelerated away from the surface up to relativistic velocities, from here it emits before it disperses and returns back to the plasma. Secondary bunches are also present but these were found not to have a significant effect harmonic spectrum for orders >20. These bunches were found to emit when their velocities where at their max, which confirmed that the two-colour field phase matched the emitted XUV to the acceleration produced from the fundamental laser field. While at the poorest phase relationship, which Yeung found to be , a plateau in the driving laser field is created which impedes the acceleration of the electrons from the surface, therefore reducing the density of the electron bunch produced that can emit. They concluded from the data provided by the simulations that control of the relative phase of the two colour driving fields has a significant effect the electron bunch dynamics. While from the experimental data their collected it was demonstrated that the HHG produced from the two-colour field was increased substantially when no laser pre-pulse was involved, or equivalently when the plasma has shorter density scale length. Confirming the work of Edwards et al, 2014, that two-colour fields generate significantly more higher-harmonic orders than that of a fundamental field alone, even when only a small percentage (5%-10%) of the fundamental laser energy is converted to the second harmonic. INTRODUCTION TO TWO-COLOUR HARMONICS - ABSTRACT BRIEF SUMMARY OF EXPERIMENT, RESULTS AND CONCLUSION 1x INTRODUCTION BRIEF HISTORY .5x HHG PRODUCTION .5x CWE 1x ROM 2x (inc. plasma theory e.g. scale length) CSE 1x COMPARISON WITH GAS EXPERIMENTS 1x PAST EXPERIMENTS LEADING UP TO THIS ONE 2x INTRODUCTION INTO SPECIFICS OF THIS EXPERIMENT 1x METHOD PIC CODES EXPLAINED 2x EPOCH DETAILS 1x LASER DETAILS 1x PROCESS OF ANALYSIS .5x CREATION OF GRAPHS .5x RESULTS GRAPHS COMPARE CONTRAST IMPLICATIONS CONCLUSION FURUTRE RESEARCH 1x IMPROVEMENTS 1x         

Bridge to Terabithia :: essays research papers

Bridge to Terabithia† is set in rural Virginia in the mid-1970's. The story revolves around characters; the Aarons, the Burkes, the students and faculty in the elementary school. Jess Aaron, is one of the central characters. He has four sisters, two older and two younger leaving him in the middle. Brenda and Ellie are the older teenage sisters that have a strong bond with their mother and don’t pay much mind to Jess. Joyce Ann and May Belle are his little sisters that look up to Jess. Mr. Aarons is always away from home working in a city nearby leaving Mrs. Aarons to hold many of the responsibilities. Since she believes in the men taking care of the men jobs Jess always has work to do in place of his father. The girls never seem to have to do any work and Jess feels he is unappreciated and the black sheep of the family. The Burkes move from Washington D. C to rural Virginia. They are well off and move to the area to re-evaluate their family values. Leslie is the other main character who is looking for a sense of belonging and friendship. Bill and Judy are here parents that are writers. They are consumed with their work and don’t pay much attention until their book is completed. Jess and Leslie attend the same Elementary school where they become friends resulting from a race that Leslie won. The two become inseparable and have a special place in the woods called â€Å"Terabithia.† To get to their perfect imaginary world you must swing across the creek on a rope. The lake becomes flooded from the constant rainfall and starts to concern Jess. He continues to be quite and swing across the dangerous water since Leslie is so fearless and he doesn’t want to look like he is afraid of anything. Later, Jess’s music teacher invites him to spend a day in Washington D.C. while Leslie travels to Terabithia without him and the rope breaks and she drowns. Jess returns home that night to find out that his best friend Leslie is dead. Jess goes through the emotions of grieving, angry, to upset, from this incident. A few days later he returns to Terabithia so he can place a funeral wreath for Leslie. Without Jess knowing May Belle has followed him but cries for help since she was stuck in the creek.

The Awakening as an Allegory of Existentialism Essays -- Chopin Awake

The Awakening as an Allegory of Existentialism  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kate Chopin's The Awakening as the title suggests is just that†¹the story of a young woman's awakening to life.   Even though it is a work of fiction, the character of Edna undergoes such a radical change one cannot ignore the psychological depth of the work.   The story could almost be seen as a case study.   In order to analyze the work psychologically, it is important to decide which psychological framework to use.   I chose the critic Cynthia Wolff who uses a Freudian framework for analysis.   Wolff feels that Edna's problems are a result of oral conflicts, while I see the work as more of an allegory of existentialism, and Edna's problems are a result of a lack of Being. Cynthia Wolff draws the reader into the Freudian framework by pointing out how cyclic Edna's life is in relation to eating and sleeping.   Wolff claims, "If one were to plot the course of Edna's life during this period, the most reliable indices to the passage of time would be her meals and her periods of sleep" (Wolff 231).   Since these are the most basic needs, one can quickly recognize the "infantile life-pattern" (Wolff 231) in Edna.   Wolff goes on to explain that Edna does not recognize her desire for Robert to be sexual because "Edna's libidinal energies have been arrested at a pre-genital level" (Wolff 232).   In Freudian terms this means that Edna's relationship to the world around her is on an oral level.   This level is characteristic of very young children whose only concern is for food, and anything they can reach they attempt to put in their mouths.   The "taking in" of the world in this way is the child's attempt to understand and become one with the world by internalizing it.   The oral stag... ... her.   Since this would not be tolerated by the society of the day, her children would suffer because of their mot her's behavior.   Since she cannot be in a world that will not let her Be, she chooses to give up what has become to her an unessential†¹life. Note 1The hyphens in Being-in-the-world are to show that a Being and the world are interdependent on one another and therefore inseparable. Works Cited Dostoyevky, Fyodor.   Notes From the Underground.   New York:   Dover, 1992. Heidegger, Martin.   Basic Writings.   New York:   Harper Collins Publishers, 1993. May, Rollo.   Existence.   New York:   Simon & Shuster, 1958. Sartre, Jean-Paul.   Essays in Existentialism.   Secaucus:   Carrol Publishing Group, 1997. Wolff, Cynthia.   "Thanatos and Eros." The Awakening by Kate Chopin.   Ed.   Margo Culley.   New York:   Norton, 1994. 231-41.    The Awakening as an Allegory of Existentialism Essays -- Chopin Awake The Awakening as an Allegory of Existentialism  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kate Chopin's The Awakening as the title suggests is just that†¹the story of a young woman's awakening to life.   Even though it is a work of fiction, the character of Edna undergoes such a radical change one cannot ignore the psychological depth of the work.   The story could almost be seen as a case study.   In order to analyze the work psychologically, it is important to decide which psychological framework to use.   I chose the critic Cynthia Wolff who uses a Freudian framework for analysis.   Wolff feels that Edna's problems are a result of oral conflicts, while I see the work as more of an allegory of existentialism, and Edna's problems are a result of a lack of Being. Cynthia Wolff draws the reader into the Freudian framework by pointing out how cyclic Edna's life is in relation to eating and sleeping.   Wolff claims, "If one were to plot the course of Edna's life during this period, the most reliable indices to the passage of time would be her meals and her periods of sleep" (Wolff 231).   Since these are the most basic needs, one can quickly recognize the "infantile life-pattern" (Wolff 231) in Edna.   Wolff goes on to explain that Edna does not recognize her desire for Robert to be sexual because "Edna's libidinal energies have been arrested at a pre-genital level" (Wolff 232).   In Freudian terms this means that Edna's relationship to the world around her is on an oral level.   This level is characteristic of very young children whose only concern is for food, and anything they can reach they attempt to put in their mouths.   The "taking in" of the world in this way is the child's attempt to understand and become one with the world by internalizing it.   The oral stag... ... her.   Since this would not be tolerated by the society of the day, her children would suffer because of their mot her's behavior.   Since she cannot be in a world that will not let her Be, she chooses to give up what has become to her an unessential†¹life. Note 1The hyphens in Being-in-the-world are to show that a Being and the world are interdependent on one another and therefore inseparable. Works Cited Dostoyevky, Fyodor.   Notes From the Underground.   New York:   Dover, 1992. Heidegger, Martin.   Basic Writings.   New York:   Harper Collins Publishers, 1993. May, Rollo.   Existence.   New York:   Simon & Shuster, 1958. Sartre, Jean-Paul.   Essays in Existentialism.   Secaucus:   Carrol Publishing Group, 1997. Wolff, Cynthia.   "Thanatos and Eros." The Awakening by Kate Chopin.   Ed.   Margo Culley.   New York:   Norton, 1994. 231-41.   

The Role of Religion in Presidential Elections

The Role of Religion in Presidential Elections â€Å"The relationship between faith, reason, and fear sometimes resembles†¦rock, paper, scissors (45). † This is the opening sentence in chapter two of Al Gore’s book, The Assault on Reason. In this chapter Gore talks about how fear takes over reason, reason challenges faith, and eventually faith defeats fear. This is the way that our society worked when he wrote the book, and it has not changed for the better since then, although it has not necessarily gotten substantially worse.Today religion is still a huge player in political debate because people are guided, for the most part, by their morals and it is commonly held that morals come mainly from religious teachings. This is a complex subject because that also opens the door to the idea that atheists, agnostics, etc are not moral people because they are not religious. By that logic, only the religious should be allowed to lead our country because they are the only moral people. Do we believe that all religions are good, though? Are some better than others?Ideally, and under our Constitution, no; all religions are equal in the eyes of our laws. However, there are stigmas attached to certain religions, and to many non-religious people there is a stigma on religion itself. So why, then, does religion play such a large role in political campaigns? It’s simple; because we view religion as having a direct correlation with morals, politicians, political parties, and interest groups can use fear to override our reason in order to sway our opinions. Historically, here in the United States, our citizens have elected white Christian men to the office of the President.To go even further, we have elected Protestant Christians to office. It is apparent that, political parties aside, we have a preference as to what our President should be, religiously. We have only had one Roman Catholic President, John F. Kennedy; during his campaign there were fear s that he would follow the wishes of the Bishop rather than the people. To some degree we still hold these beliefs. If we did not, religion wouldn’t be used as a fear tactic. The colonists who came from England were escaping religious repression, and were the inspiration for our freedom of religion.In modern times, we seem to have lost sight of that. Four years ago, Barack Obama was running for office for the first time. Among many other controversies, i. e. whether he was actually born a U. S. citizen, was the rumor that Obama is a Muslim and not a Christian as he has time and time again identified himself to be. In the United States, where we have the freedom of religion outlined in our Constitution, people were worried that someone of a Muslim background would be able to become the most powerful man in the world.A large part of that fear certainly stems from the attacks on September 11, 2001 but surely there is no legitimate reason to fear Muslims other than the combinatio n of our ignorance of Muslim culture and faith, and the fear that is instilled in us not only by political parties but by non-affiliated extremist groups as well, that say all Muslims are terrorists. Barack Obama went on to win the election, which is not surprising because the public could see right through these shaky scare tactics. However, this has not stopped people from trying to use it in the current election.In a ninety second audio clip taken from a call between a Republican volunteer and a constituent, the volunteer calls Obama a Muslim and says that he wants to take away their Medicare (Dixon, 2012). So even though this tactic has not worked in the past, it doesn’t do much to stop people from trying to spread these rumors again. Between the 2008 election and the upcoming election not much has changed, although in this year’s election the religion card will likely play a larger role in who will win the electorate.Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and while the small ou tcry claiming Obama to be a Muslim was never on firm ground, there is no question of Romney’s religion. This is where we fall back to the days of Kennedy’s campaign. People are worried that Romney will place his religious views before the welfare of our nation. The accusation that people are making is that he is incapable of leading our country because he is a Mormon. Some of the big issues on his plate currently involve women’s rights.As a Mormon, he does not believe in abortion and has made it clear that he would try to pass legislation that sets the beginning of life at conception. While there are certainly non-Mormon people who do not believe in abortion, this is being attributed to his religion. Fifty years ago, or even twenty-five to thirty years ago, this would have been a non-issue. Romney’s beliefs would have been more in line with the more conservative nature of the time period. Needless to say Mitt Romney faces an uphill battle on his quest for the White House.Given all of this information, it would seem very apparent that religion plays a huge role in presidential elections. This is true, but not necessarily in the way that one might think. According to an article in the Huffington Post, most Americans say that it is important for the President to have strong religious beliefs, even if the beliefs differ from their own. This information seems to undermine what the media would have us believe. In addition, constituents tend not to know or be confused about the candidates’ actual religion.Only four in ten citizens could correctly identify Mitt Romney’s religion and forty-six percent of American’s said they did not know (Neroulias, 2011). This goes back to the idea of morals; those who have religion are moral and good, while those who do not cannot be moral and therefore should not lead our country. In the end, politics have not done much to change for the better. We still fear religions that we have no need to fear, and this is largely because fear tactics are used every day by political parties as well as extremists who have the ability to make it into mainstream media.Absolutely anyone can start a rumor that a candidate is Muslim and can’t be trusted, and that could catch like wildfire, or it could be blown off for the most part. It is also exponentially easier to take a candidates religion and a single belief, and then convince the country that he should not be President. Another thing that we see is that citizens place a large emphasis on religion itself, but there is still a large stigma on religions that are not traditional Christian. Until we become collectively more knowledgeable about other religions and debates become more informed, not much could possibly change.References Dixon, M. (2012, September 27). Call from clay county gop:obama is a muslim who'll take away medicare. Retrieved from http://m. jacksonville. com/news/metro/2012-09-27/story/call-clay-county-g op-obama-muslim-wholl-take-away-medicare Gore, A. (2007). The assault on reason. (p. 45). New York, NY: Penguin Group. Neroulias, N. (2011, September 24). How religious identity is influencing the presidential election. Retrieved from http://www. huffingtonpost. com/2011/07/25/presidential-candidates-religious-beliefs_n_908858. html

Classroom Management Essay

You are the teacher of a 5th grade class. Two students finished their assignment early, one student arrived late, and one student is not attempting the assignment. Being able to have the skills to handle situations like this takes practice and experience. The skills that are required are the ones that complete Jacob Kounin’s Classroom Management Model, â€Å"Lesson Movement. † Kounin’s theory on classroom management was the first to integrate instructional and disciplinary aspects of the classroom. The basis of the model is for teachers to be organized, prepared, and use proactive behavioral management combined with high student involvement with the goal of leading to a more effective classroom while minimizing disruptive behavior. Kounin coins his theory as Lesson Movement, comprised of techniques called: withitness, overlapping, momentum, smoothness, and group focus (â€Å"Classroom Management Theorist and Theories/Jacob Kounin,† 2009). Withitness is the ability of a teacher to know everything that is going on in his/her classroom at all times to prevent discipline problems before they occurred. However, as important as it is for teachers to achieve this skill, it is just as important for students to believe they their teacher is â€Å"withit. † Students will still act disruptively if they feel the teacher does not notice them. Some ways that teachers can display this technique are: consistently suppress misbehaviors of exactly those students who began the problem; dealing with the more serious of two discipline problems occurring simultaneously; and decisively handling off-task behavior before it gets out of hand or imitated by other students(â€Å"Whom are We Talking About: Jacob Kounin,† 2008). Similar to withitness, overlapping involves the ability to attend to multiple classroom events at one time, and avoiding fixating on one event at the expense of all other classroom activities. For example, if a teacher is conducting small group assignments, and a pair is off task, a teacher may address them from a distance while still conducting the activity. (â€Å"The Kounin Model,† 2008). Momentum is keeping the lesson moving briskly, requiring the teacher to plan effectively to avoid slow downs. Kounin believes that teachers should not lecture for a long period of time to allow students to gain knowledge by moving around and maximizing their allotted time. By minimizing delays and interruptions, causes students will not lose interest and misbehave. (Charles, 1989). In conjunction with momentum is smoothness. While lecturing, a teacher must maintain direction and not drift off on tangents, be diverted with irrelevant questions and information or fall victim to â€Å"flip flops,† â€Å"dangles,† or â€Å"truncation. †Otherwise, students will be confused and act out from loss of interest. (â€Å"Classroom Management Theorist and Theories/Jacob Kounin,† 2009) Lastly, Kounin refers to group focus as the ability to engage the whole class. Some techniques he offers are: building suspense or ask community questions Though community questions may appear random, it draws the group’s attention and intrigue. The teacher must incorporate procedures to handle multiple situations at once to maintain group focus. For example, if a student completes an assignment early, he/she must have a back up plan such as providing another assignment or enrichment activity while he/she helps other students that are struggling (â€Å"Classroom Management Theorist and Theories/Jacob Kounin,† 2009). Kounin’s Model of Classroom Management is an important topic for teacher’s today, because it is one of the most difficult skills to acquire. Student-centered classrooms and discovery lessons are becoming much more popular in our classrooms, leading to a more active learning environment. Being able to handle multiple situations at once, keeping students engaged, maintaining momentum and smoothness in your lessons and transitions takes experience. These are the most difficult techniques for a first year teacher to learn; therefore, making them a habit during that year will allow for mastery of these skills to occur. I believe that Kounin’s Model is important to develop an effective classroom environment; however, discipline problems will occur, no matter the amount of preventive planning a teacher makes. Kounin does not address his procedures for disciplining, if he would or would not discipline children differently, nor does he address misbehaving as a response to some factor that is outside of the teacher’s control. As a teacher, I would incorporate Kounin’s theory in my teaching planning and practices, though remembering that each student may require different accommodations. References Charles, C. M. (1989) Building Classroom discipline: from models to practice. New York City, New York: Longmans Inc.. Teacher Matters, (2008). The Kounin Model. Retrieved May 31, 2009 Teacher Matters http://www. teachermatters. com/index. php? option=com_content&view=article&id=9:kounin-model&catid=4:models-of-discipline&Itemid=4 WikiBooks, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (2009). Overview/History of Jacob Kounin’s Work. Retrieved May 28, 2009, from http://en. wikibooks. org/wiki/Classroom_Management_Theorist_and_Theories/Jacob_Kounin WikiEd. (2008). Whom are we talking about: Jacob Kounin. Retrieved June 8, 2009 from http://wik. ed. uiuc. edu/index. php/Kounin,_Jacob.