Oedipus

Sophocles was born in the year 496 B.C. at Kolonos, a northern suburb of Athens. At the age of sixteen, he was chosen to lead the dance at the celebrations for the Athenian victory over the Persian navy. At twenty-eight, he won the prize of the tragedy competition, with his first entry. He then established a public career at Athens, where he was well distinguished. He was elected to serve a term as State Treasurer, and later served a term as the Special State Commissioner. He obtained one of these positions in a time of major crisis, which suggests that he was well known, and well liked in the Greek democracy. He was also nominated to compete at the annual Festival of Dionysos on approximately thirty occasions, and won the first prize eighteen times. He died at the age of ninety, in the year 406 B.C.
All these achievements go to show that "the conservative view of Sophocles as loftily detached, concerned with 'timeless' or 'universal' themes is mistaken; all seven surviving dramas engage with issues central to contemporary Athenian political, social and religious life" (Ewans). These achievements suggest Sophocles was not writing at a distance from controversy, but rather that he was close to it.

It is thought that Oedipus the King was written between 430 B.C. and 420 B.C. The plague that is spoken about in the book is similar to the plague that hit Athens at this time. The book has no villains, and all the characters are good men and women who are trying their best to help the city, Thebes, escape from the plague. Each of them acts naturally and truthfully, but because of their lack of integration of knowledge, their stories, and the book, become a tragedy. Although the traps can be foreseen, the reader can do nothing to change them, just as Oedipus can do nothing to change his fate. As one critic says, "Few dramas ever written expose so pitilessly the isolation, and the limitations, of human existence" (Ewans).
http://www.bookrags.com/notes/oed/BIO.html

Warren Leight by Nine ten

WARREN LEIGHT wrote Side Man, which won multiple awards including the 1999 Tony Award for Best Play, and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. This play, Glimmer, Glimmer and Shine, received an American Theatre Critics Association Nomination for Best New Play Award. Other theatre includes Mayor, the Musical (Drama Desk nomination, Book) and The Final Investigation of Ceaucescu's Dog; (EST Marathon; Chicago Humanities Festival). Mr. Leight is on the Councils of both the Writers' Guild of America East and the Dramatists' Guild.

Arlene Hutton by I Dream Before I Take the Stand

Arlene Hutton is a MacDowell Colony fellow and member of the Dramatists’ Guild. Her first full-length, LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC, received a 2000 NY Drama League nomination for Best Play and more than fifty regional productions. AS IT IS IN HEAVEN premiered in Edinburgh, opened in NYC at the 78th Street Theatre Lab, moved to the ArcLight Theatre and received a highly-acclaimed four-month run at the Actors’ Co-op in LA. Both plays are published by Dramatists Play Service and in the Smith & Kraus Best Women Playwrights anthologies. A four-time Heideman Award finalist and a three-time Samuel French Short Play Festival winner, her NY credits include: The Barrow Group, Circle-in-the-Square Downtown, Alice’s Fourth Floor, Ensemble Studio Theatre, HERE, and Vital Theatre. At the Australian National Playwrights Conference, she workshopped a sequel to NIBROC. She teaches at Fordham University and The Barrow Group and is writing a play about the Brontë family, a commission for Clear Channel Theatrical Division.

http://www.newdramatists.org/arlene_hutton.htm

Beauty by jane martin

I would say that Beauty represents high comedy. This play relies mostly on wit and wordplay. Bethany tries to relay to her friend the humor of the fact she found a genie and how she was able to use that to get what she really wants. However she waited to be sure of exactly what that wish would be and that was to be beautiful just like Carla. In the end that is exactly what happened Bethany and Carla switched bodies, unfortunately they didn’t switch there souls only the external aspect of what the body truly is just a body.I think the most important trait they have in common is the fact that they want to be each other more than themselves. They are able to find the good characteristics they yearn for in the other person.I think our society encourages people to be beautiful look at the magazines. There are no ugly people on there. Is there a magazine about a beautiful personalities, I don’t think so.I think in general we all want to be someone else and can find a trait or characteristic that we desire within them.I think there are millions of people, who wish they could look or be like someone else, that in some way that would solve their problems. Like Bethany said, “but the difference between those ardent multitudes and me is that I have a goddamn genie and one more wish!” In other words she had the power to fulfill her desire.I think Beauty was an effective comedy by portraying the needs of people and their desires within, even though they may not say it out loud they think about it often.

http://www.seesbeauty.com/3406/beauty-by-jane-martin/

Joyce carol oates

Joyce Carol Oates was born on June 16, 1938, in Lockport, New York, the oldest of Frederic and Caroline Oates's three children. The family lived on a farm owned by Caroline's parents. Joyce's father was a tool designer, and her mother was a housewife. Oates was a serious child who read a great deal. Even before she could write, she told stories by drawing pictures. She has said that her childhood "was dull, ordinary, nothing people would be interested in," but she has admitted that "a great deal frightened me."

In 1953, at age fifteen, Oates wrote her first novel, though it was rejected by publishers who found its subject matter, which concerned the rehabilitation (the restoring to a useful state) of a drug addict, too depressing for teenage audiences. After high school Oates won a scholarship to Syracuse University,

http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ni-Pe/Oates-Joyce-Carol.html

Dob dylan

Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He has been a major figure in popular music for five decades.^[2] Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was at first an informal chronicler, and later an apparently reluctant figurehead of social unrest. A number of his songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" became anthems for the civil rights^[3] and anti-war^[4] movements. His early lyrics incorporated a variety of political, social and philosophical, as well as literary influences. They defied existing pop music conventions and appealed hugely to the then burgeoning counterculture. Dylan has both amplified and personalized musical genres, exploring numerous distinct traditions in American song – from folk, blues and country to gospel, rock and roll and rockabilly, to English, Scottish and Irish folk music, embracing even jazz and swing.^[5]

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan}

Dylan performs with guitar, keyboard, and harmonica. Backed by a changing line-up of musicians, he has toured steadily since the late 1980s on what has been dubbed the Never Ending Tour. His accomplishments as a recording artist and performer have been central to his career, but his greatest contribution is generally considered to be his songwriting.^[2]

He has received numerous awards over the years including Grammy, Golden Globe and Academy Awards; he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2008 a Bob Dylan Pathway was opened in the singer's honor in his birthplace of Duluth, Minnesota.^[6] The Pulitzer Prize jury in 2008 awarded him a special citation for what they called his profound impact on popular music and American culture, "marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."^[7]

Jose rivera Tape drama

Rivera was born in the Santurce section of San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1955. He was raised in Arecibo where he lived until 1959. Rivera's family migrated from Puerto Rico when he was 4 years old, and moved to New York. They settled down in Long Island, whose small town environment would be of an influence to him in the future. His parents were very religious and he grew up in a household whose only book was the Bible. His family enjoyed telling stories and he learned a lot by hearing these stories. As a child, he also enjoyed watching The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits T.V. series. He received his primary and secondary education in the New York state public school system. In 1968, when Rivera was 12 years old, he saw a traveling company perform the play "Rumpelstiltskin" at his school. Witnessing the collective reaction of the audience towards the play convinced the young Rivera that someday, he too, would like to write plays.

Everything that Rises Must Converge

Just one year before her death in 1963, Flannery O’Connor won her second O. Henry Award for ‘‘Everything That Rises Must Converge,’’ a powerful depiction of a troubled mother-son relationship. In 1965 the story was published in her well-regarded short fiction collection, Everything That Rises Must Converge.
Most critics view ‘‘Everything That Rises Must Converge’’ as a prime example of O’Connor’s literary and moral genius. The story exemplifies her ability to expose human weakness and explore important moral questions through everyday situations. Considered a classic of the short story form, ‘‘Everything That Rises Must Converge’’ has been anthologized frequently.
The story describes the events surrounding a fateful bus trip that an arrogant young man takes with his bigoted mother. The mother insists on her son’s company because she doesn’t like to ride the bus alone, especially since the bus system was recently integrated. The tensions in their relationship come to a head when a black mother and son board the same bus.
O’Connor utilizes biting irony to expose the blindness and ignorance of her characters. The story’s title refers to an underlying religious message that is central to her work: she aims to expose the sinful nature of humanity that often goes unrecognized in the modern, secular world.


http://www.enotes.com/everything-rises

Doe season

Personal Information: Family: Born April 4, 1946, in New York, NY; son of Sidney and Minnie Marie (Henson) Kaplan; married Elizabeth Hope Crighton, August 16, 1976 (divorced); married Joyce Winer, July, 1988. Education: Yale University, B.A., 1967; University of Iowa, M.F.A., 1987. Addresses: Office: Department of English, Crown Center for the Humanities, Loyola University of Chicago, 6525 North Sheridan Rd., Chicago, IL 60626
Career: North Carolina Advancement School, Winston-Salem, English instructor, 1965-66; Learning Institute, Durham, NC, curriculum construction, 1968-71; Shadowstone Films, Durham, NC, creative director, 1971-76; National TV News, Los Angeles, CA, production director, 1976-84; Loyola University of Chicago, IL, assistant professor, then associate professor of English, 1987--.
Comfort (short stories), Viking (New York), 1987.
Skating in the Dark (novel), Pantheon Books (New York), 1991.
Revision: A Creative Approach to Writing and Rewriting Fiction, Story Press (Cincinnati, OH), 1997.

http://www.amyscott.com/david_michael_kaplan.htm

A good man is hard to find

O'Connor's story is told by a third-person narrator, but the focus is on the Grandmother's perspective of events. Even though she complains that she would rather go to Tennessee than Florida for vacation, she packs herself (and secretly her cat, Pitty Sing) in the car with her son Bailey, his wife, and their children June Star, John Wesley, and the baby. In a comical instance of foreshadowing, she takes pains to dress properly in a dress and hat, so that if she were found dead on the highway everyone would recognize her as a lady.
When the family stops for lunch at Red Sammy Butts' barbecue place, the proprietor, a husky man, is insulted by June Star. Nevertheless, he and the Grandmother discuss the escaped murderer known as the Misfit. Noting that the world is increasingly a more dangerous and unfriendly place, Red Sammy tells the Grandmother that these days "A good man is hard to find." Back on the road, the Grandmother convinces her hen-pecked son to go out of their way so they can visit an old plantation she recalls from her childhood. The children second her suggestion when she mentions that the house contains secret passageways.... »
http://www.enotes.com/good-man

The problem with human compassion

This is a story that needs your help... Many of you know me and the dogs I save and advocate for. This is a compelling story. PLEASE, don't go back and attack the shelter system, as they are making the dog available to rescue, not killing him as others might. The fault here lies with the civilian who broke the rules and put his hand into a cage and then reported it.There are a series of disturbing questions, however: Eight years before the Hokget saga began, the same world that showed extraordinary compassion for a dog sat on its hands as hundreds of thousands of human beings were killed in the Rwandan genocide. The 20th century reveals a shockingly long list of similar horrors that have been ignored by the world as they unfolded. Why have successive generations done so little to halt suffering on such a large scale?

http://www.pittsreport.com/2010/02/the-problem-with-human-compassion/

the dinner of the hour

It takes place only after the young Andy realizes that death is involved in this thing called "Hunting." There are three symbols in this story that have a great deal to do with the central theme. Of course, the doe would represent the innocence being destroyed. The ocean is supposed to be adulthood, when it is mentioned that "That was the first time she'd seen the ocean, and it frightened her. It was huge and empty, yet always moving. Everything lay hidden" (345-346). As well as the last context stating, "...all around her roared the mocking of the terrible, now inevitable, sea" (354). Her mother's accidental exposal of her breasts is a symbol of Andy's seeing that she will, one day, be like that. Her mother is the only way of seeing what womanhood is like. Finally, the changes made in the main character, Andy, have a lot to do with the central theme. She first prays, " Please let us get a deer" (348). After she shoots the deer, she thought, "What have I done" (352)? At the end, when she watches her father cut the deer open, Andy started running away from them. "Charlie Spoon and Mac and her father--crying ‘Andy, Andy' (but that wasn't her name, she would no longer be called that)" (354). Each experience enabled her to lose a little bit of innocence each time. Actually, for a child to advance and grow in life, it takes the loss of innocence. So that is what the change in the character was; her loss of innocence. It is clearly shown throughout each and every one of the elements that in order to fully become an adult, a child must come to terms that living comes along with the difficult reality of dieing. In the sense that the child's loss of innocence cannot be avoided, just as the doe's loss of life cannot be. This is just a part of life, a part of growing, a part of becoming an adult. Everyone goes through it. Everyone has their own personal experience of the loss. This little girl's was conveyed in the scenario of death.
http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Doe-Season-Analysis/65513

The one hour

What Causes Heart Disease?

by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, PhD

For almost forty years, the lipid hypothesis or diet-heart idea has dominated medical thinking about heart disease. In broad outlines, this theory proposes that when we eat foods rich in saturated fat and cholesterol, cholesterol is then deposited in our arteries in the form of plaque or atheromas that cause blockages. If the blockages become severe, or if a clot forms that cannot get past the plaque, the heart is starved of blood and a heart attack occurs.

Many distinguished scientists have pointed to serious flaws in this theory, beginning with the fact that heart disease in America has increased during the period when consumption of saturated fat has decreased. "The diet-heart idea," said the distinguished George Mann, "is the greatest scam in the history of medicine."And the chorus of dissidents continues to grow, even as this increasingly untenable theory has been applied to the whole population, starting with lowfat diets for growing children and mass medication with cholesterol-lowering drugs for adults.

But if it ain't cholesterol, what causes heart disease? We don't know enough to say for sure but we do have many clues; and although these clues present a complicated picture, it is not beyond the abilities of dedicated scientists to unravel them. Nor is the picture so complex that the consumer cannot make reasonable life-style adjustments to improve his chances.

http://www.trit.us/moderndiseases/hd.html

Love and Other Catastrophes: a mix tape

What is love? It is one of the most difficult questions for the mankind. Centuries have passed by, relationships have bloomed and so has love. But no one can give the proper definition of love. To some Love is friendship set on fire for others Maybe love is like luck. You have to go all the way to find it. No matter how you define it or feel it, love is the eternal truth in the history of mankind. Love is patient, love is kind. It has no envy, nor it boasts itself and it is never proud. It rejoices over the evil and is the truth seeker. Love protects; preserves and hopes for the positive aspect of life. Always stand steadfast in love, not fall into it. It is like the dream of your matter of affection coming true. Love can occur between two or more individuals. It bonds them and connects them in a unified link of trust, intimacy and interdependence. It enhances the relationship and comforts the soul. Love should be experienced and not just felt. The depth of love can not be measured. Look at the relationship between a mother and a child. The mother loves the child unconditionally and it can not be measured at all. A different dimension can be attained between any relationships with the magic of love. Love can be created. You just need to focus on the goodness of the other person. If this can be done easily, then you can also love easily. And remember we all have some positive aspect in us, no matter how bad our deeds maybe. And as God said �Love all�

http://www.love-sessions.com/whatislove.htm

Under the banyan tree

“Under the Banyan Tree,” the title story in R. K. Narayan's collection Under the Banyan Tree, and Other Stories (1985), appeared originally in his earlier volume, An Astrologer's Day, and Other Stories (1947). It is the story of an old-fashioned storyteller named Nambi, in whom Narayan has created a character of mythic dimensions. The story radiates its author's deep love for tradition as he, using the omniscient point of view, nostalgically evokes the Old World charm of oral storytelling by showcasing Nambi.

http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-heroes/rk-narayan.html

a&p

"A & P" is a short story written by John Updike in 1961 in which the hero and first person narrator seemingly takes a stand for his version of what is right, only to face disappointment. M. Gilbert Porter referred to the titular "A & P" in Updike's story as "the common denominator of middle-class suburbia, an appropriate symbol for [the] mass ethic of a consumer-conditioned society." According to Porter, when the main character chooses to rebel against the A & P he also rebels against this consumer-conditioned society, and in so doing he "has chosen to live honestly and meaningfully."^[1] William Peden, on the other hand, referred to the story as "deftly narrated nonsense...which contains nothing more significant than a checking clerk's interest in three girls in bathing suits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A&P_(story)