Friday Night Lights Movie Essay Example for Free

Friday Night Lights Movie Essay I strongly believe that it is important for parents to be involved in the extra-curricular activities of their children. This builds encouragement for the son/daughter, and makes them respect their parents even more. Yet at the same time there is a line that must not be crossed by the parent. Once you reach the point of getting physical and abusive, you know that the line has been crossed. There has to be some sort of understanding that your child is not going to be perfect at everything that he or she does. The important thing is the effort that they put into it, not the outcome of their performance. As a parent you must also realize that this is your child’s life, not yours. Parents should try to understand that support is a great way to build confidence. This is vital to building discipline and a stronger relationship between parent and son/daughter. In the movie Billingsley’s dad takes it to a whole different level. He wants everything Donnie does to be absolutely perfect, ultimately trying to live within his son. Donnie’s dad finds the need to humiliate and harass his own son in order to build some sort of toughness, and expects that this method will make him play better. This is definitely not the way to solve the problems Don was having on the football field. I understand that his dad was a drunk with an attitude problem, but that certainly does not give him the right to treat Billingsley that way. Just imagine the frustration and discouragement building inside of Donnie. Trying to have fun playing football must have been near to impossible for him. Donnie probably had a lot of negative emotions and tons of pressure while playing, worrying how his father would react to not living up to his expectations. Any mishaps Donnie would have on the field should have been left for his coach to address, not his dad. His dad should have played his part as a loving parent and supported his son, no matter the outcome.

The Red Baron :: essays research papers fc

Although to most people it may just be a brand of good tasting pizza, The Red Barron was actually a German fighter ace of World War I. His full name was Rittmeister Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen, who will be referred to as von Richthofen for simplicity’s sake. By the Germans, he was called â€Å"der rote Kampfflieger† (The Red Battle-Flyer), the French called him â€Å"le Diable Rouge† (Red Devil), and in the English-speaking world he is known as â€Å"The Red Barron.† In a time of ancient aircraft technology when twenty air victories insured a pilot legendary status, von Richthofen had eighty victories, and he is still considered even today as the ace of aces (The Red Barron). As a child, von Richthofen was privately tutored until his ninth year of schooling. He then attended school in Schweidnitz and became a cadet. After his schooling, he began his military career as a cavalryman in the 1st Regiment of Ehlans. When he received his epaulettes and became an officer in the fall of 1912, his father bought him his own horse with which von Richthofen became a talented contender in jumping and cross-country racing (Perry). Unfortunately, warfare in the twentieth century had little use for mounted cavalry as the invention of machine guns had led to trench warfare (The Red Barron). When the war started, von Richthofen was posted near Verdun as a messenger carrying dispatches between units and climbing into and out of the trenches along the front. When given orders to rummage around the countryside for food for the troops, Richthofen replied, â€Å"My dear Excellency! I have not gone to war in order to collect cheese and eggs, but for another purpose† (Perr y). Exasperated by his attitude his superiors finally let him transfer to the German Air service in May of 1915 (Perry). Von Richthofen began his career as an observer for other pilots. He never considered becoming a pilot himself because the training took three months, and he was sure the war would be over before he completed his training. In the fall of 1915, after being transferred to Ostend, von Richthofen decided to try flying for himself and he started training. On December 25, he passed the tests required to become a pilot, and the legend began (Perry). On April 24, von Richthofen shot down his first plane as a pilot, but the plane crashed behind enemy lines, and the kill was not confirmed, so no credit was given to him.

Disguise As An Art Form

In Euripides The Bacchae, disguise is used as an art form, seeing that Dionysus is the god of the mask who offers his worshippers the freedom to be individuals that are other than themselves. Hence, Dionysus, the most important character in the play, uses disguise when he enters Thebes after many years wearing the costume of a stranger, and accompanied by bacchants. It is only at the end of the play that Dionysus unmasks himself to reveal his true form to the people. Moreover, the rites alluded to in the play happen to be replete with masked dancers, choral performances and processions of citizens in costumes (Segal).Pentheus is the second most important character in Euripides’ play. This man is the ruler of the state as well as the preserver of social order. During the course of the play, Pentheus acts as Dionysus’ double. The two are seen to switch roles. What is more, Pentheus masks himself as a woman by cross dressing. He wears a wig and long skirts, stripping himse lf of his masculinity and authority, only to be with women who have been seen resting blissfully in the forest, feasting on milk, honey and wine that springs from the ground.The women are playing music, suckling wild animals, and singing and dancing with joy. Pentheus cannot resist the sight. In his woman’s costume, he is attacked by the ladies and eventually killed in the fight by his own mother, Agaue (Segal). Whereas masking, disguise, or the use of costume to act as someone other than oneself, is an important art form throughout the play – and Euripides’ play would be nothing without it – the use of costume to disguise one’s lecherous intentions leads to the death of Pentheus. There is a strong message from the divinity of Dionysus, which practically rules the play.The message is: creativity through disguise is desirable, especially when the intention of the one who masks himself is good; however, evil intentions are strictly punished. As a mat ter of fact, the punishment of the mask is inevitable, seeing that Dionysus is also the â€Å"god of confrontation,† with his big, penetrating eyes foretelling doom for those who misuse the mask (Henrichs). While it is true that Dionysus – being the god of the mask – is the model for Pentheus, who would like to use the mask to enjoy life to the fullest, Dionysus as the god of the play must exercise his absolute authority.After all, the teaching of virtues is the responsibility of god. When Pentheus uses the mask just to eyeball the ladies in their private moments, the omnipresent god must allow the ladies to attack him. Dionysus allows the mother of Pentheus to kill him for his immorality, seeing that the man with the mask has merely used disguise to satisfy his lecherous inclinations. It can be inferred from this that the mask of Dionysus, the god of the mask, was simply a tool to help the god live on the earth with his people. While living with his people, the god must take action against man’s wrongdoing.Hence, Henrichs quotes Walter Otto on the subject of the mask thus: â€Å"Here there is nothing but encounter, from which there is no withdrawal – an immovable, spell-binding antipode. † While the mask of Dionysus is a â€Å"sacred object,† it is also a â€Å"source of the fascination and confusion† for the people, given that Dionysus is wearing the mask to merely live among his people and judge them according to their good or evil deeds (Henrichs). In a way, Dionysus is fooling his people by wearing the mask. Even so, it is his prerogative to fool his people if he wants to do so.There is a vast difference between the god of the mask and the man of the mask. The latter has not been granted the right to fool the people. This is the reason why Dionysus must keep an eye on his people to ensure that all those who imitate him by wearing masks would use the mask for good as opposed to evil. The immediacy of Dionysus’ gaze is a warning for the wrongdoers (Vernant). Nevertheless, Pentheus is totally unmindful of the god’s presence on earth. The masked dancers, on the other hand, do not have to be punished by Dionysus, for they did not use his attribute of masking for unethical deeds.The mask of Dionysus actually reveals that the masked one is not an ordinary human being. In point of fact, there is a â€Å"radical otherness† emphasized by the mask of Dionysus (Vernant). Moreover, it reveals the masked one as an elusive and enigmatic character who has the power to disorient all those who come across him. The smile of the mask may have allowed the masked dancers, at least, to understand that the attribute of masking must not be used for evildoing. Unfortunately, Pentheus could not understand the true use of the mask.After Dionysus has unmasked himself, however, the rest of the people may appreciate the reasons for Dionysus’ presence among them. According to Su: T he mask of Dionysus is a simulacrum not a representation. As Ginette Paris argues, â€Å"Dionysus is not the God behind the mask. He is the mask. † The mask of Dionysus is its own double which imitates nothing, a double that nothing anticipates. There is no original mask of Dionysus as such. The mask is always the mask of a mask. It is with this mask that Dionysus enters into the theater and becomes the patron god of the theater, a place which celebrates theart of miming, of disguise, of illusion, and of role-playing. Like the mime's operation professed by Mallarmà © in Mimique and interpreted by Derrida in â€Å"The Double Session,† the mask's performance does allude, â€Å"but alludes to nothing, alludes without breaking the mirror, without reaching beyond the looking-glass. † The mask of Dionysus defies Platonic or metaphysical conceptions of limitation. Through the mask, Dionysus introduces the unpredictable dimension of the ‘elsewhere' into the very heart of daily life. This ‘elsewhere’ is the ‘distancing places,’ where Nietzsche theDionysian piper would like to lure us. This ‘elsewhere’ is also the ‘outside’ where Blanchot would like to lead us; it is a radical outside which has nothing to do with the dialectical struggle of the inside and the outside, and transgresses the limit set by the idea of a self, of the subject, then of Truth and the One, then finally the idea of the Book and the Work. Undoubtedly, Dionysus’ mask also serves the purpose of helping his people to experience the difference between truth and falsehood. All that is seen by people may not be real.There are hidden intentions and objectives that we cannot see behind people’s actions. Similarly, the mask of Dionysus – while deluding his people with regards to the presence of the supreme judge among them – also allows his people to experience the fact of truth being mixed with false hood in the lives that they ordinarily live. The fact that Dionysus unmasks himself at the end of the play is to teach his people the lesson to look beyond the obvious. Perhaps there are many shades of truth, or no truth at all in our visions of the world.Dionysus would like his people to be strongly aware of the fact that there is much more to life than what they observe. The mask of Dionysus is always smiling, which expresses the fact that the god of the mask is fooling his people by appearing among them as a masked character – solely for judgment, as shown in the case of Pentheus. Dionysus enters the theatre with the mask, which is believed to have risen from the deep sea. The mask appears foreign and strange – an enigma that the people of Dionysus must decipher.It is also an unknown kind of power for them to appreciate. In short, the mask with its penetrating eyes calls for an interpretation. Although the masked dancers are able to interpret the mask of Dionysus in a perfectly innocent way, Pentheus is punished for his wrongdoing by way of the mask. At the end of the play, however, the god of the smiling mask also reveals to his people that there may be truth or falsehood behind what they see. Thus, the stranger’s mask serves many purposes, all of which are intelligently designed by the god of the mask.

The Difference Between Homology and Homoplasy

Two common terms used in the science of evolution are  homology and homoplasy. While these terms sound similar (and indeed have a shared linguistic element), they are quite different in their scientific meanings. Both terms refer to sets of biological characteristics that are shared by two or more species (hence the prefix homo), but one term indicates that the shared characteristic came from a common ancestor species, while the other term refers to a shared characteristic that evolved independently in each species.   Homology Defined The term homology refers to biological structures or characteristics that are similar or the same. These characteristics are found  on two or more different species when those characteristics can be traced to a common ancestor. An example of homology is seen in the forelimbs of frogs, birds, rabbits, and lizards. Although these limbs have a different appearance in each species, they all share the same set of bones. This same arrangement of bones has been identified in fossils of a very old extinct species,  Eusthenopteron, which was inherited by frogs, birds, rabbits, and lizards.   Homoplasy Defined Homoplasy, on the other hand, describes a biological structure or characteristic that two or more different species have in common that was not inherited from a common ancestor. A homoplasy evolves independently, usually due to natural selection in similar environments or filling the same type of niche as the other species which also have that trait. A common example often cited is the eye, which developed independently in many different species.   Divergent and Convergent Evolution Homology is a product of divergent evolution. This means that a single ancestor species split, or diverges, into  two or more species at some time in its history. This occurs due to some type of natural selection or environmental isolation that separates the new species from the ancestor. The divergent species now begin to evolve  separately, but they still retain some of the characteristics of the common ancestor. These shared ancestral characteristics are known as homologies. Homoplasy, on the other hand, is due to  convergent evolution. Here, different species develop, rather than inherit, similar traits. This may happen because the species are living in similar environments, filling similar niches, or through the process of natural selection. One example of convergent natural selection is when a species evolves to mimic the appearance of another, such as when a non-poisonous species develop similar markings to a highly venomous species. Such mimicry offers a distinct advantage by deterring potential predators. The similar markings shared by the scarlet kingsnake (a harmless species) and the deadly coral snake is an example of convergent evolution.   Homology Versus Homoplasy Homology and homoplasy are often difficult to identify, since both may be present in the same physical characteristic. The wing of birds and bats is an example where both homology and homoplasy are present. The bones within the wings are homologous structures that are inherited from a common ancestor. All wings include a type of breastbone, a large upper arm bone, two forearm bones, and what would be hand bones. This basic bone structure is found in many species, including humans, leading to the correct conclusion that birds, bats, humans, and many other species share a common ancestor.   But the wings themselves are homoplasies, since many of the species with this shared bone structure, including humans, do not have wings. From the shared ancestor with a certain bone structure, natural selection eventually led to the development of birds and bats with wings that allowed them to fill a niche and survive in a particular  environment. Meanwhile, other divergent species eventually  developed the fingers and thumbs necessary to occupy a different niche.