It the novel The Phantom Tollbooth the author, Norton Juster, tells the story of a city that has split into two parts: Reality and Illusions. The city of Illusions looked very beautiful but was imaginary and the city of Reality was invisible but existed. According to the story the city of Illusions was a mirage but the city of Reality had become invisible because people stopped looking at it because they were in a hurry to get where they were going. At first when people hurried by things without looking at them the things got uglier and dirtier but then over time things started to fade away because no one noticed or cared. Now the Cities can’t be fixed because “they can never see what they are too busy to look for.” Alex stated that the
Dictionopolis is a make-believe world of Dictionopolis from The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and is located near the “Foothills of Confusion.” It makes sense that a land of words and language would be located near a place of confusion because words can be very confusing, especially when you have gotten rid of pattern, sense and logic. Dictionaries are designed to help explain words however, without Rhyme and Reason words do not make sense and everything is confusing. The author points out some of the most confusing things in the English language in this part of the story such as synonyms, homonyms and idioms: words can have different means, two words can mean the same thing, words that sound alike can be spelled differently and mean
In the nonfiction novel The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson uses imagery, tone, and figurative language to portray the dreamlike qualities of Chicago and the beauty that lies within this city. Larson’s use of imagery causes the reader to picture the beautiful landscape of the fairgrounds before the fair becomes, which might make the reader wish they were apart of this scenery. Larson emphasizes people will see things they “have never seen before”. Like a “broad body of water extending into the horizon” (55) , making the reader feel as if
It seems like a fairytale-like utopia until the narrator’s tour of the city takes a dark turn. Underneath the beauty, there is a dirty broom-closet-sized room. A small feeble-minded naked ten year old child sits there in its own excrement. Subject to malnutrition and neglect, the child is only given just enough
Illusion can be defined as a distortion of the senses, of reality, and the perception of a dream like world that consumes us. James Baldwin author of the short story “Sonny’s Blues” uses the unique creativity of illusion to therefore draw in his readers. He uses several literary elements including characterization, plot, and setting to express his elaborate use of illusion in this story. Likewise Nathaniel Hawthorne author of the most controversial short story “The Birthmark” also uses illusion to draw attention to an almost magical setting of mystery and morality. Both of these authors use this theme in their works brilliantly, but in contrasting styles, which on the contrary makes their works masterpieces in distorting the beauty and truth in the world.
Wexler, L. (2005, October 23). Darkness on the Edge of Town. In The Washington Post. Retrieved November 20, 2013, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/20/AR2005102001715.html
Throughout The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs, she writes about the city’s change through a ballet dance and movement surrounding her. “In real life, to be sure, something is always going on, the ballet is never at a halt, but the general effect is peaceful and the general tenor even leisurely” (Jacobs 833). This idea of change she discusses and goes in great depth with, portrays just how constant not just a particular city but the world is. She describes every day to be a ballet of some sort; witnessing everyone’s day as they walk down the sidewalk. Even when a corner is turned, seeing so many different face as they all move at different paces and occupy their time in different manners, it all adds to this dance. Everything changing around her and maybe even things not really making sense but despite all of that, still being able to come together and create something no matter what’s being made of it, relates to Growing up Unrented on the Lower East Side by Edmund Berrigan.
Do you think the most essential skill in political theater is Artifice? You’re probably wondering what the word ‘artifice’ means correct? It means by having a clever trick that you use on someone that is lower than you; power wise. Political Leaders deal with money & have to make deals with others in order to gain more for themselves & to the ones that are higher than them. In order to make those kinds of deals, artifice has to be used. In any way they want to; as long as business is rolling along. Artifice shouldn’t be used in political theater for lots of reasons, but it has its reasons. “Those who have not mastered the art of entertainment, who fail to create a narrative or do not have one fashioned for them by their handlers, are ignored.“
‘Tati-ville’ as it was dubbed, is an exaggerated depiction of a hyper-modern Paris built in the International Style of architecture, made entirely of Glass and Steel. Tati created a multi-million pound mini-metropolis in order to use visual images as his main technique to criticise the city. Using these images Tati could show the audience with their own eyes what Paris could look like in the near future. Forced perspective is used to make buildings
Another prime example of illusion is Gatsby’s parties. The guests themselves create a huge illusion, making it look like everyone loves Gatsby and that he is very popular. Many, however, don’t even know who’s house they are in. They just are there to get drunk and have a good time without a care in the world. The reality of this is that no one cared about him. Nick and his father were the only ones to show up to his funeral, while hundreds of people showed up to his parties.
Jorge Luis Borges’ thought provoking and fantastical literature stems from his philosophical mind. His stories, especially “Death and the Compass”, focus on labyrinths and identity. Borges fascinates his audience with his analysis of reality. He combines fact and fiction to create the perfect genre of mystery. His characters’ conquest for the unknown defines his use of detective fiction.
Hearing only what you want to hear can have deadly outcomes. Shakespeare demonstrated Illusion and reality is a common theme within his play Othello. Many of the characters struggled to differentiate between the two topics. The characters made the mistake of strictly hearing what they wanted to hear. Typically, we don’t take the time to provide ourselves with actual evidence but instead make assumptions that aren’t always correct, much like the characters in this play. During the play Othello, Shakespeare suggested that we as a society tend to jump to negative conclusions about one another purely based on judgemental thoughts or rumours, Iago used multiple characters to get an outcome he wanted and used illusion and reality to turn people into
A street car named desire is a play that consists primarily of the theme illusion vs reality where we are taken back to New Orleans, in the 1940’s during a time where woman are portrayed as fragile beings who are dependant on men. Throughout the play, the theme of illusion vs reality shows itself through Blanche’s character as she sets herself up as a prim and proper woman, who is innocent and has never done wrong when in reality, we learn it is all an act as bits and pieces of her real life are revealed.
When Aciman walked by the Park one day, he realized that it was in ruins. Assuming that the city of Manhattan was closing the park, he began to contemplate what this change meant to him. He began to realize “that even if I don’t disappear from a place, places disappear from me.”
Wicked problems refer to socio-cultural difficulties that are impossible to solve due inadequacy of knowledge, large number of involved opinions of people, heavy effect on the economy, and the interlinked manner of the given problems to others. Wicked, in this context, represents something that opposes resolution. Various urban problems are persistent due to their wicked characteristics. This paper seeks to contextualize three wicked urban issues, namely, urban biodiversity, urban street planning, and urban smart cities, as reported in news articles. This will necessitate a better understanding of the specified wicked problems as a way of finding probable solutions.
As we already said, The Palace of Illusions is a rewritten version of the Mahabharata told through Draupadi's view, so it is preferable to get to know the original version of the myth before tackling Divakaruni's novel as well as the heroine, Draupadi.