Friday, March 20, 2020

Ideas of the Parthenon essays

Ideas of the Parthenon essays The Greek people of the 5th century BC created a culture that was deeply rooted in philosophy and the arts. Their endless search for their place in the grand scheme of the universe and in nature around them influenced everything in their lives especially their love of the arts. Their drama, sculpture, and even architecture are all shining examples of the ideas that were so dominant in the minds of the Greek people. What could be considered the crown jewel of Greek architecture, the Parthenon, is one such of these examples. It brings into form the three principal ideas of humanism, rationalism, and idealism of the 5th century Greek people through not only its structure, but its ornamentation and sculpture as well. The basis of humanism can be summed up in the words of Protagoras, Man is the measure of all things. Humanism is the idea that human beings are the yardstick by with to measure all things in the universe, including Greek gods and goddesses. The Parthenon stands for this very idea through the fact that it is a human organization of space. It brings an understandable order into a chaotic space that would otherwise be incomprehensible to a human being. It allows a human to see the space and recognize it as something that is real. It also consists of repeated patterns and distance intervals throughout its structure that add to this order. The metopes, for example, are set in an alternating pattern with the triglyphs around the entire building at distinct intervals bringing a clear order to the entablature of the Parthenon. The columns that support the Parthenon are also placed in certain distance intervals from each other and coincide with the pattern formed by the metopes and triglyph s. These columns, however, are not in a perfect pattern of equal distances around the entire Parthenon. The columns on either side of the doorway to the Parthenon are placed a little farther apart than the rest to show a clear entranc...

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

12 German Movie Recommendations For German Learners

12 German Movie Recommendations For German Learners Watching a movie in a foreign language is a fun and helpful way to help you learn the language. If youre at the beginning of your language-learning journey, look for films with subtitles, either in German or English translations, depending on your level of ability. But even if youre not a pro, letting your brain relax and not try so hard and just absorb the language on the screen taps into a different way of learning. Its how people naturally learn their native tongue: by listening and needing to understand. We asked our readers what movies were especially helpful to help them learn the language. Here are 12 of their German movie recommendations: 1. Sophie Scholl – Die Letzten Tage,  2005 Ken Masters says: Sorry, don’t have time to write a full review, but it’s not necessary- these films, especially Sophie Scholl, speak for themselves. And, if you’re interested in the history of film, then you have to watch the silent film Metropolis (1927). 2. The Edukators, 2004 Kieran Chart says: â€Å"I would recommend ‘The Edukators.’ It’s a really good movie and also has an interesting message. To add to that, ‘The Counterfeiters’ (‘Die Flscher’) is a really good German war movie concerning a Nazi plot to counterfeit English and American money and flood the economy with these false notes, bringing it to its knees. Then, of course, it would be remiss of me to not include ‘Das Boot.’ Really worth a watch. Suspense doesn’t get better in a movie. Enjoy.† 3. â€Å"Die Welle† (â€Å"The Wave†), 2008 Vlasta Veres says: â€Å"‘Die Welle’ is also one of my favorites. The story starts with a simple high school workshop, where through a game, a teacher explains how fascism works. However, you can see how gradually students start getting carried away and start acting violently toward other groups. This movie perfectly depicts the psychology of a group and how humanness can step away in front of instincts inside us that are frightening. Definitely a must see.† 4. â€Å"Himmel uber Berlin† (â€Å"Wings of Desire†), 1987 Christopher G says: This â€Å"is a film I have seen often; it never fails to challenge and force questions. Wonderful direction and script by Wim Wenders. Bruno Ganz communicates with silent gestures more than his words. Intriguing line: ‘Ich weiss jetzt, was kein Engel weiss.’† 5. â€Å"Erbsen auf Halb 6,† 2004 Apollon says: â€Å"The last film that I watched was ‘Drei.’ Such a good movie. But I’ve watched before a better one called â€Å"Erbsen auf Halb 6,† about a blind woman and a famous movie director who becomes blind after an accident.† 6. â€Å"Das Boot,† 1981 Sachin Kulkarni says: â€Å"The last German film I saw was ‘Das Boot’ by Wolfgang Petersen. This movie dates back to World War II and is about a submarine carrying a relatively young crew. Very good movie with a sad ending.† 7. â€Å"Almanya - Willkommen in Deutschland,† 2011 Ken Masters says: â€Å"A serious/comical look at Turks in Germany. Mostly lighthearted, but dealing with sometimes serious subjects and cultural differences.† 8. â€Å"Pina,† 2011 Amelia says: â€Å"Testimonials and dance moves created by the company’s dancers make a beautiful tribute to the choreographer Pina Bausch.† 9. â€Å"Nosferatu the Vampyre,† 1979 Gary NJ says: Werner â€Å"Herzog’s ‘Nosferatu’ from 1979 with Klaus Kinski and Bruno Ganz is very good. The scenery and music are great. A good creepy movie for fall or Halloween.† This film is an art-house vampire horror flick. 10. â€Å"Goodbye Lenin,† 2003 Jaime says â€Å"... a bittersweet take on the fall of the Berlin Wall and the western economic change in East Germany, which he tries to hide from his ill mother.† 11. â€Å"Das Leben der Anderen,† 2006 Emmett Hoops says: â€Å"‘Das Leben der Anderen’ is probably the most beautiful, most moving film to come out of Germany in the past 30 years. Another good one is ‘Der Untergang,’ with Bruno Ganz as Hitler. It shows the insanity of National Socialism brought to its inevitable (and hotly desired by Hitler) conclusion.† 12. â€Å"Chinesisches Roulette,† 1976 Anonymous  says: â€Å"The climax of the film is the 15-minute guessing game of the title, with lots of questions of the form ‘if this person were X, what kind of X would they be?’ Plenty of practice with Konjunktiv 2.†