Constantine the Great Essay Example For Students

Constantine the Great Essay Category:BiographiesPaper Title:Constantine the GreatText:Constantine the Great (about AD274-337), Roman emperor (306-37), thefirst Roman ruler to be converted to Christianity. He was the founder ofConstantinople(present-day Istanbul), which remained the capital of the Eastern Roman(Byzantine)Empire until 1453. Constantine the Great was born Flavius Valerius Constantinus at Nis, inwhat is now Serbia, son of the commander Constantius Chlorus (laterConstantius I)and Helena (later Saint Helena), a camp follower. Constantius becameco-emperor in305. Constantine, who had shown military talent in the East, joined hisfather inBritain in 306. He was popular with the troops, who proclaimed him emperorwhenConstantius died later the same year. Over the next two decades, however,Constantine had to fight his rivals for the throne, and he did not finallyestablishhimself as sole ruler until 324. Following the example of his father and earlier 3rd-century emperors,Constantine in his early life was a solar henotheist, believing that theRoman sun god,Sol, was the visible manifestation of an invisible Highest God,who was the principlebehind the universe. This god was thought to be the companion of the Romanemperor. Constantines adherence to this faith is evident from his claim ofhaving hada vision of the sun god in 310 while in a grove of Apollo in Gaul. In 312, onthe eve ofa battle against Maxentius, his rival in Italy, Constantine is reported tohave dreamedthat Christ appeared to him and told him to inscribe the first two letters ofhis nameon the shields of his troops. The next day he is said to have seen a crosssuperimposed on the sun and the words in this sign you will be thevictor. Constantine then defeated Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, nearRome. The Senate hailed the victor as savior of the Roman people. Thus,Constantine, whohad been a pagan solar worshiper, now looked upon the Christian deity as abringer ofvictory. Persecution of the Christians was ended, and Constantinesco-emperor,Licinius, joined him in issuing the Edict of Milan (313), which mandatedtoleration ofChristians in the Roman Empire. As guardian of Constantines favoredreligion, thechurch was then given legal rights and large financial donations. A struggle for power soon began between Licinius and Constantine,from which Constantine emerged in 324 as a victorious Christian champion. Nowemperor of both East and West, he began to implement important administrativereforms. The army was reorganized, and the separation of civil and militaryauthority,begun by his predecessor, Diocletian, was completed. The central governmentwasrun by Constantine and his council, known as the sacrum consistorium. TheSenatewas given back the powers that it had lost in the 3rd century, and new goldcoinswere issued, which remained the standard of exchange until the end of theByzantineEmpire. Constantine intervened in ecclesiastical affairs to achieve unity; hepresided over the first ecumenical council of the church at Nicaea in 325. Healsobegan the building of Constantinople in 326 on the site of ancient GreekByzantium. The city was completed in 330 (later expanded), given Roman institutions, andbeautified by ancient Greek works of art. In addition, Constantine builtchurches inthe Holy Land, where his mother (also a Christian) supposedly found the TrueCrosson which Jesus was crucified. The emperor was baptized shortly before hisdeath, onMay 22, 337. Constantine the Great unified a tottering empire, reorganized theRoman state, and set the stage for the final victory of Christianity at theend of the4th century. Many modern scholars accept the sincerity of his religiousconviction. Hisconversion was a gradual process; at first he probably associated Christ withthevictorious sun god. By the time of the Council of Nicaea (325), however, hewascompletely Christian, but still tolerated paganism among his subjects. .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238 , .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238 .postImageUrl , .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238 , .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238:hover , .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238:visited , .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238:active { border:0!important; } .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238:active , .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238 .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u8d2e9d2f9b3ba9976d06dcb1fb042238:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Chapter 12- Pg. 465-474 EssayAlthoughcriticized by his enemies as a proponent of a crude and false religion,Constantine theGreat strengthened the Roman Empire and ensured its survival in the East. Asthe firstemperor to rule in the name of Christ, he was a major figure in thefoundation ofmedieval Christian Europe. Biographies

Mice and Men Analysis Essay Example For Students

Mice and Men Analysis Essay In the opening of chapter 2, the ranch is presented in a very poor state. As George and Lennie enter the ‘bunk house’, they immediately feel uncomfortable and hostile due to the extremely poor lack of hygiene and privacy of where they are expected to sleep while working on the ranch. This is shown when George finds an insect repellent in his bed, and asks Candy â€Å"What the hell kinda bed you giving us†. This shows the living conditions on the ranch, and Candy’s response insinuates that precautions such as keeping insect repellents were common. When Candy indicates to George and Lennie their beds, George feels insulted as to find his mattress is a â€Å"sack of straw†, in response to George’s outburst, Candy tries to make him feel comfort when mentioning the cleanliness of the ‘blacksmith’ that previously lived on that bed, and how he used to â€Å"wash his hands before and after meals†. By mentioning this, shows that this is an unordinary way to live in comparison to an everyday lifestyle of a guy on a ranch, in which this adds to the semantic field of poor hygiene. Steinbeck also presents George as an exception to the filthy ranch workers as he â€Å"made his bed up neatly with blankets†. Life on the ranch is presented as being very simple and basic as the ranch workers don’t have any luxury of any kind as they simply cannot afford it due to the fact they are ‘trapped’ in a cycle of poverty, where on the one hand they get paid for their work, and on the other hand, they have to pay the ranch owner for their substandard living quarters. They only have the very bare necessities so we see as George places on the apple crate for a shelf ‘his razor and a bar of soap, his comb and bottle of pills’. The life the workers live on the ranch consist of survival, which is why the workers use magazines etc. to read about people who have exquisite lives, trying to live in the hope of the American Dream. One of the major themes that Steinbeck presents in the novel consists of loneliness and despair, which is repeatedly shown throughout the chapter, in the motif ‘Solitaire’. This one player card game is very significant as it represents the personality, individuality and pessimistic behaviour of George and the other workers. They are close to company, yet they feel isolated as they don’t feel the need for a friendly relationship as they feel that they will be separated in future due to the lack of job security. We can view that racism is accepted and normalised by life on the ranch, we know this because the main character, George repeatedly uses the term ‘nigger’. Blacks were also treated very harshly in the early 1930’s in America as racial discrimination was not illegal and blacks were segregated from the whites, and were treated as second class citizens, therefore they were given lower wages than white workers and were commanded to do the dirtier jobs. An example of the harsh environment that black people had to live in is expressed in the story the old swamper told about a previous Christmas where they beat up a ‘nigger’ just for the fun of it. Also the disability and inequalities of people were also treated inhospitably on the life of the ranch. Steinbeck continually manifests the de-humanisation of Lennie and how he is rated below the standard of the ‘normal’ workers due to his mental illness.

Composition of Idaho State University

Spin Drift essays

Spin Drift essays I visited the Currier Gallery of Art and I truly enjoyed myself. I had never been to an Art Gallery and only had the impression that I had received through the movies. It was as I pictured it to be, and I would go their or another gallery again. The Currier Gallery had some outstanding pieces of art, they had everything thing from giant wall paintings to small wall paintings and giant sculptures to small sculptures. They even had a room dedicated to technology; they had the old models of vacuums, a boat motor, chairs, a jukebox, and much more. But out of all the big pictures, the bright colors, the big sculptures, and the big name artists such as Picasso and Monet, the one piece by Andrew Wyeth caught my eye. It was a smaller piece with little color that held so much meaning. Andrew Wyeth is an American, who was born in 1917. This piece is Tempera on Masonite. This piece was painted in 1950 and was named Spindrift. Spindrift had an old wooden rowboat that had been used and worn-in sitting on the beach with the waves flowing to about mid boat. The ocean was a grayish color flowing onto the dark sand. There was a bucket of silverfish sitting in the floor of the boat below the seat with a hole in it. An over used ore lye in the boat, while a small black colored bird flew just above the ground past the boat. In the side of the boat you could see the reflection of the waves. Even the frame had an old sense like the picture; it looked like it was made from driftwood or possibly old wood from a boat. When looking at the picture I had my thoughts about what did it mean and stand for. It reminded me of when I was younger and would go to the beach and Mr. Stuvola, an older man, would come home from fishing. But instead of silverfish they would be flounder and everything had more color. I think that the old boat being on the dark sandy shore and the gray water hitting the boat symbolizes Andrew Wyeth ...

Service Learning English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Service Learning English - Essay Example Without ethics, society’s ill-tendency will not be tempered by restraint. Such, there is a need to teach ethics among students while their minds are still formative and is still in the preparation stage of life. When students become adults and professionals, it will become extremely difficult if not impossible to teach ethics. Teaching ethics among students will not only make them better in practicing their prospective careers in the future but will also prevent similar scandals which have badly damaged our economy. To ensure that ethics will be taught properly, it has to be incorporated in our curriculum. This value has to be reflected and practiced in the school level because this is the institution where our values as individuals and citizens are being formed. The best method to teach it is through service learning. â€Å"Service-learning is an instructional method that integrates theoretical learning with real life experimentation and community service† (Farazmand e t al., 2010). Teaching ethics is better learned when it becomes experiential. Unlike any theoretical concepts taught in a classroom setting, ethics is based in real world where its efficacy is measured not in understanding but more of practicing it. The most important element of service learning is that it is based on a â€Å"real world† where it will later be used (Judge, 2006). Service learning is not just a teaching methodology. It also meant practicing the sense of belongingness by actually serving the community that he or she is or part of. Only through it can a student can feel that he or she belongs to something bigger than him or herself. Only through this he or she will realize that by giving a part of himself or herself, he or she can make a difference. This idea of service learning is not about servile subservience. Doing service learning is not subjecting oneself to anybody’s whim or caprice but rather a voluntary initiative to make a difference; to be a pa rt of something bigger than oneself. It is a learning process that by practice, a student will realize that giving a part of himself or herself to the community produces a personal satisfaction that cannot be taught in a classroom. Service-learning is an instructional method that integrates theoretical learning with real life experimentation and community service (Farazmand et al., 2010). It has to be felt to be learned. Lectures and books can only do so much. â€Å"Texts, equations or graphs on the chalkboard and assigning students readings from a standard textbooks† (Mungaray et al., 2007) is not effective. This method only underlines a reality of a teaching method that promotes an environment where the students passively listen to the teacher without any direct involvement in the process or any feedback from or exchange with the professor or other students. This passiveness is reflected in the lack of experience to look for and use data, analyze real world situations with the support of the theories and instruments learned in class and discuss issues beyond the textbook (Mungaray et al., 2007). To really learn it, the lesson has to be experienced. .After all, knowledge can only be perfected by experience and there is no better way of learning ethics than by experiencing it. Service learning does not have to be forced to the students. When it is imposed to the students, it will be seen more as a chore that they can no

Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Analysis - Assignment Example At one time, he addressed some of their concerns in terms of the remuneration that they got as a result of their works, while at another time; he compared them, especially the less intelligent ones with draft animals. Taylor argued that all tasks that an employee was assigned could be organised in such a way that the productivity of the worker would increase and that his scientific theory of management was more effective than the usual ‘initiative and incentive’ method, which was based on increasing productivity by placing responsibility on the worker to figure how to do it. In order to establish the best possible way to carry out a job, Taylor carried out some experiments, which he labelled time studies or as time and motion studies. In these studies, he used a stopwatch to time a worker’s motions in order to determine the most effective way to carry out a job based on the way that took the least time1. The chapter talks about the use of theory in public administration, all the past events have happened because of public administration; several theories regarding public administration have been brought forward, however, there are still others that have not been fully developed, these theories are classified as useful depending on their ability to describe, explain and predict matters regarding public administration. For a theory to be useful, it must have the ability to describe or to depict real life events with some level of thought, in these theories, there must be some explanations to some of the discrepancies in real life. In public administration, theory has been simply defined as a framework that, this definition of theory differs from other definition of theory in other sciences. In public administration, theories are classified depending on their degree, form the nature of its elaboration The author questions whether it is possible to have a useful and

Video Games Children

Video Games Children For kids, playing video games is one of the most important activities of their daily lives. Aside from doing their home works, most of these children spent time playing video games, and most probably spent more time playing as compared to the time spent in doing their homework. It is not only a trend for kids but for young adults and adults as well. From the time it was invented it has evolved into a more exciting and challenging media games of all time. Technological advancement has made it even more exciting for the players to play it and challenge themselves with tricks and clincher that comes with every game. The graphics and sound effects are fascinating making the experience real for the player especially those three dimensional computer machines. The ability of the player to control and maneuver the situation made it more even exciting. Violent video game is one type of game that has been the most out popular among players. But with the increasing number of people engaging into these computer games, a number of issues have been raised: negative and positive effects of these violent video games to children and young adults. This essay will take the position that violent video games do have negative effects on children. One of the negative effects of these violent video games is the physiologic changes that happen while they are playing. The excitement brought about by these violent video games stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, thereby creating significant changes in the individual’s heart rate, respiration and other involuntary responses in the body. It is exciting and stressful at the same time, the stressful events could affect gastric stimulation and frequent adrenaline rush, and this adrenaline rush is what makes these players to feel â€Å"good† and makes them want to do it repeatedly. Sympathetic nervous stimulation promotes vasoconstriction, and this vasoconstricting effect is not good as it alters cardiac mechanism. This in turn affects blood supply going to the central nervous system, causing dizziness, headache and nausea. According to Grossman DeGaetano, â€Å"the effects of violent video games on young adults’ arousal levels, hostile feelings, and aggressive thoughts have been measured. Results indicated that college students who had played violent virtual reality game had a higher heart rate, reported more dizziness and nausea, and exhibited more aggressive thoughts in a posttest than those who had played a nonviolent game† (70-71). Similarly, these violent computer games could have a direct effect on children’s behavior, since they are vulnerable especially on their formative stage. Not everybody who plays these violent video games have good foundation of moral values and an intact well being. There are those who are easily persuaded and affected by what they see in their environment, especially those children that lack parental guidance, as well as those individuals who have a low self-esteem. These vulnerable individuals are more prone to be affected by what they play and see on video games. There is a great possibility that these supposed to be virtual thing could be played in reality. As cited by Tompkins in an article in AllPsych Journal, The Academy of Pediatrics states, â€Å"More than one thousand scientific studies and reviews conclude that significant exposure to media violence increases the risk of aggressive behavior in certain children, desensitizes them to violence and makes them believe that the world is a ‘meaner and scarier’ place than it is.†Ã‚  According to Tompkins, if children become accustomed and believed that this violent behavior is acceptable and normal, it will be hard to change that belief as they grow older.  She also relates this to the study of domestic violence where in a person exposed to this violence tends to become either abused or be the abuser.  She further explains this by citing the Columbine incident as an example, where in the two students, who committed a violent act are video fanatics. Their exposure to vi olence was linked to their violent act since both of them came from a family with good parental guidance. Moreover, another negative effect of these violent video games to children is that it teaches the kids wrong values for reinforcement of behaviors. In psychology, there is a thing called â€Å"positive reinforcement†. It is a way of reinforcing a â€Å"good deed† or behavior by rewarding a child if the child has done a good job in school or if they behaved well. On the other hand, computer games bestow rewards on the player after killing or defeating their opponent. This process is totally the opposite of what id thought in â€Å"positive reinforcement†, the act of killing is rewarded and the purpose of â€Å"positive reinforcement† is defeated, which in turn could affects the child’s perception of what act or behavior must be rewarded. And this reward system in violent video games could affect the child’s behavior by imitating those seen and done in violent computer video games. As mentioned in the Gentile’s book, â€Å"reward increa ses imitation† (136). Furthermore, the experiences felt by the individual, especially in violent video games or even in media violence could have a significant effect on a child’s interpersonal interaction. Unconsciously, a child could internalize what is happening on what they see. This type of violence is emotionally stressful and could alter interpersonal interactions. â€Å"Participation in violent video games cast a negative cloud over the children’s views of interpersonal interactions. One research revealed that preschoolers most likely experienced fear and anxiety when they saw bloodied victims and watched expressions of emotional distress in connection with the media’s constant showing of the events of September 11th and their aftermath† (Cantor, 2002). These experiences that are internalized by children, unconsciously affects their behavior, and when they are placed in situations similar to what they have seen, they could become anxious and restless. On the contrary, there are also sectors that would oppose as to the negative effect of violent video games. According to Doug Lowenstein, who is the president of the Interactive Software Association, people who do not understand the industry are prone in distorting the effects of video games on children. In fact, Lowenstein claims, violent video games cannot be shown as result in increased aggression of the part of the children (as cited in Anderson Bushman, 2001). But how can we expect them to see the negative effect of these violent video games, well in fact what they mean is purely business. Likewise, Steven Johnson said: â€Å"The most debased forms of mass diversion-video games and violent television dramas and juvenile sitcoms-turn out to be nutritional after all† (9). It is nutritional in the sense that learning comes along while playing these violent video games, such as mastery and control and hand-eye coordination. This paper totally disagrees with this notion. There are more appropriate ways of learning these things, without jeopardizing the minds of these children of what is good and what is wrong. Example are art camps, indoor and outdoor activities that utilizes the body, where in physical, psychological and emotional aspects are given importance, which builds friendship and the values of sportsmanship, as well as maintaining a healthy active body, which computer games don’t give. Furthermore, computer video games promote isolation, aggressive behavior and a sedentary life style by sitting long hours in front of these computers. In conclusion, violent video game has a strong correlation in children’s aggressive behavior. Violent video game has a great impact in children’s behavioral, emotional, physiological, and psychological well being.  Parents are the first line of defense against the invasion into children’s lives. The decision to buy or not to buy violent video games is a true freedom and should be taken seriously. They should know the consequences of possible effects of such materials to their children.  Moreover, parents, caregivers and government sector should be more careful and protective to these vulnerable children.  Manufacturer should consider designing games that will teach children the good values, true manhood and moral courage; games that will provide fun, excitement, and will give visceral pleasure that is engaging and absorbing without the unnecessary violence.