Pacific Island Cultures Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Pacific Island Cultures - Article Example In 1964, Dr John Cumpston had the foresight and the stamina to devise a now standard format for listing each and every shipping arrival and departure, vessel by vessel, visit by visit.1 This has proved to be a considerable legacy, as his pioneer work has sparked off research by many others who want to get beyond weak generalisations to look at the Pacific’s maritime past in real and quantitative terms. Comparable SADs have followed not only for all the main eastern Australian ports up to 1840, but also for the Bay of Islands, Akaroa and Port Otago.2 In 2000, the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau (PAMBU) at The Australian National University and the Hawaiian Historical Society published a comparable list for Honolulu.3 The publication of a comparable list for Tahiti is forthcoming, while the Samoas, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Marquesas and Pitcairn have already been covered in different ways.4 Indeed the stage is set to look afresh at all Pacific Islands and their ports to draw out new substantial facts about their contact and early post-contact histories. These new lists allow the track of a ship, previously unknown, to be followed across the Pacific from island to island and to see each ship’s trade, its impact on local health, and other consequences, in time and in space, in ways that were impossible before, because no comparable ethnographic and oral records have survived. Even though some of the lists read rather like a turgid telephone book, all names and no plot, a great deal of red-blooded life can be drawn from these listings. *An earlier version of this paper was read at Te Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa, the 17th biennial conference of the Pacific History Association at Otago University on 7 December 2006. 1 J. Cumpston, Shipping Arrivals and Departures, Sydney, 1788–1825 (Canberra 1964). 2 Rhys Richards with Jocelyn Chisholm, Bay of Islands Shipping Arrivals and Departures 1803 to 1840 (Wellington 1992); ‘The SAD truth about Bay of Islands shippi ng 1803–1840’, The Great Circle, 15:1 (Sydney 1993), 30–5; Ian N. Church, Opening the Manifest on Otago’s Infant Years: shipping arrivals and departures Otago Harbour and Coast 1770–1860, Southern Heritage 150 Series (Dunedin 2001). 3 Rhys Richards, Honolulu, Centre of Trans-Pacific Trade: shipping arrivals and departures, 1820 to 1840 (Canberra and Honolulu) 2000. 4 R. Richards and R. Langdon, Tahiti and the Society Islands: shipping arrivals and departures 1767 to 1852 (Canberra forthcoming), based on ‘Ships at the Society Islands 1800–1852’, lists compiled in the 1980s by R. Langdon, Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, Canberra; Robert Langdon, Where the Whalers Went: an index to the Pacific ports and islands visited by American whalers (and some other ships) in the 19th century (Canberra 1984); Rhys Richards, ‘Pacific whaling 1820–1840: port visits, shipping arrivals and departures, comparisons and sources’, The Great Circle, 24:1 (2002), 25–40. ISSN 0022-3344 print; 1469-9605 online/08/030375–8; Taylor and Francis _ 2008 The Journal of Pacific History Inc. DOI: 10.1080/00223340802499641 Article 2 First Page of the Journal Article International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education Vol. 23, No. 6, November 2010, 671–690 ISSN 0951-8398 print/ISSN 1366-5898 online  © 2010 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/09518390903468339 http://www.informaworld.com Family obligations in

Film Critique on the movie Gladiator (Russell Crow) Essay

Film Critique on the movie Gladiator (Russell Crow) - Essay Example The film Gladiator was a hit at the box office fetching largely positive reviews. However, Elvis Mitchell from The New York Times did see the movie in a negative light and commented eloquently about the film as â€Å"grandiose and silly† (Mitchell, 2000). Nevertheless, the audiences and the fraternity completely disagreed with the cynical critic, and the picture won five Academy Awards at the 73rd Academy Awards including the Best Actor award for Russell Crowe in the leading role and Best Picture award, which was definitely a note of acceptance and accrediting for the entire crew and cast. Apart from captivating an adventurous life of a historical hero, for which the American audience have always shown a special fascination, the film had stolen the show for its â€Å"appealing plot, with distinctive characters, inspired acting, breathtaking cinematography, and a haunting musical score,† as Emily Albu very rightly commented in her epoch making essay â€Å"Gladiator at t he Millennium† (Albu, 2008, p. 185). ... The Final Critique: Gladiator Story Line Plot structure, narrative framework or the screenplay of a film, by whatever name it is called, mostly forms the basic ingredients enabling the success of a film. The narrative framework of a film therefore cannot be undermined at all. The film Gladiator is the brain child of David Franzoni, John Logan, and William Nicholson. The film Gladiator is conceived keeping in mind the 180 AD Rome; the film tries to admit historical personages. The presence of the historical figure such as Marcus Aurelius, who was an emperor-philosopher, and his son Commodus indicates much of the sources drawn from the history. However, it is evident that when the plot of the film Gladiator is judged on a comprehensive scale, it is inferred very easily that the film is a loose adaptation of the history and cannot be treated as a direct conversion of chronicle into drama. The plot of the film is tremendously fictional. Moreover, as the history of Rome or, on the contrar y, any ancient history bases upon the quest for power and throne, the elements of politics, romance, drama, emotion, and action become quite inherent in the stories developed keeping the ancient empires and their stories in the backdrop. The story of the Gladiator revolves around the protagonist of the story, Maximus Decimus Berilius, played by Russell Crowe. Maximus is one of the finest generals of the emperor and is the deserving candidate for the throne. Nevertheless, before the official succession, Commodus played by Joaquin Phoenix brutally murders his father and takes the position of his father and complete control over his throne ordering