Analytical Assessment Of On Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

For Dr. Black Honors Spiritual Formation BIA Analytical Assessment of on â€Å"Moralistic Therapeutic Deism† as U.S. Teenagers Actual, Tacit, De Facto Religious Faith By Sydney Narloch Abstract: The Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is a religion invisibly growing amongst U.S. teenagers. It is an interfaith religion which is has been developed on a book by Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton called Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. The article on â€Å"Moralistic Therapeutic Deism† as U.S. Teenagers Actual, Tacit, De Facto Religious Faith ... Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is a combination of a variety of trains of thought and can be conclusive of many religions. It is found mainly amongst U.S. teenagers as there is a large adolescent inarticulacy regarding religion. This inarticulacy is demonstrated through a few main views of this religion which include God creating the world which he watches over, only becoming involved when he is needed by the people living in it who were created to be good and when they are, allowing them into heaven. These people have life goals of feeling both good and happy about themselves. This train of thoughts is popular among mainline Protestant and Catholic youth and it also can be traced through black and conservative Jews, Protestants, other religions and even non religious groups. The central idea of this religion is living a happy and good life along with being a morally good person. The

Death Of A Salesman Tragedy Essay - 1365 Words

Death of a Salesman is a tragic play written in 1949 by Arthur Miller. The story is about a salesman who lost his identity after having an affair with another woman and can’t seem to accept the changes in his life since the event. The story has been performed in theaters and shown on film for many years. Lee Siegel, a writer for The Nation explains the role of Death of a Salesman in the entertainment industry: Every ten years or so, Death of a Salesman is revived, and every ten years we get the same interpretations: Willy the impossible dreamer, Willy the conformist, Willy the American nightmare on the obverse side of the American dream. Maybe on this sixty-third anniversary of the play—the very age of its enigmatic protagonist—it is†¦show more content†¦As seen throughout Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman isn’t a renowned character to begin with. Rather, Loman is just a plain salesman who’s having a challenging time succeeding. For this reason, Willy Loman doesn’t fit the description of a protagonist in a Greek tragedy, according to Aristotle. However, one may propose that Willy does fit the character because of his personal flaws. Willy was known for venerating his self-perception and holding an elevated level of haughtiness. Throughout the play, we constantly see the attention that Willy craves as he desires for success amongst his failing care er. Willy has a successful older brother Ben who’s in the mining industry overseas. If Willy’s job was at risk, why couldn’t he simply join his successful brother and recover from this personal saga? The answer is, Willy held very highly of himself and thought he could achieve being the best. We see this all throughout the play and here is one example: WILLY: That’s just what I mean, Bernard can get the best marks in school, y’understand, but when he gets out in the business world, y’understand, you are going to be five times ahead of him. That’s why I thank Almighty God you’re both built like Adonises. Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want. You take me, for instance. I never have to wait in line toShow MoreRelatedThe Tragedy in Death of a Salesman Essay932 Words   |  4 PagesModern domestic tragedies began between the late 19th century and feature ordinary people to be the heroes/anti-heroes unlike Greek tragedies in which the protagonist was of high status or noble birth. â€Å"Death of a Salesman† by Arthur Miller is a classic example of this and features the anti-hero Willy showing the audience how his perfect family lifestyle has falling apart contributing to t he disorder of his world which increases as his mind slowly deteriorates. Through the play Willy is strivingRead More The Tragedy of EveryMan in Death of a Salesman Essay1663 Words   |  7 PagesThe Tragedy of EveryMan in Death of a Salesman      Ã‚   Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens? I dont say hes a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money; his name was never in the paper; hes not the finest character that ever lived. But hes a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid ... Attention, attention, must be finally paid to such a person. from Death of a Salesman    Only in America. The AmericanRead MoreEssay on Death of a Salesman: Tragic but Not a Tragedy1360 Words   |  6 PagesDeath of a Salesman: Tragic but Not a Tragedy Though a more modern version of tragedy in its’ classical sense, Death of a Salesman in many ways is very much like an ancient Greek play. In his ‘Poetics’ Aristotle tries to set out the common ideas throughout tragedy, attempting to demystify the necessary elements for such plays. One of his main ideas was that of the ‘Three Unities’ - that of Space, that of Time and that of Action. He stated that all the action of a tragedy must occur inRead More Death of a Salesman - A Modern Day Tragedy Essay1184 Words   |  5 PagesDeath of a Salesman - A Modern Day Tragedy The question which arises within Death of a Salesman is, Is this a modern Tragedy? A tragic play can be commonly observed when a protagonist falls from a great height. His decline is not about immediate death, although in most cases death becomes apparent at the end of the play, e.g. Macbeth. A tragedy shows the suffering of a character and utter compulsion of him if he does not succeed to reach his dream. These plays show the blissful releaseRead MoreDeath Of A Salesman: Illusion In An American Tragedy Essay1738 Words   |  7 PagesWhen the realities of life become too harsh, humankind has a natural tendency to choose the most convenient solution to his problem: illusion. They build dreams and fantasies to conceal the more difficult truths of their lives. In his play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller portrays the hold of such illusions on individuals and its horrible consequences. Through the overly average, overly typical Loman family, Miller shows how dreams of a better life become, as Choudhuri put it, â€Å"fantasies to theRead MoreEssay about Death of A Salesman as a Modern Tragedy1976 Words   |  8 PagesDeath of A Salesman as a Modern Tragedy      Ã‚   It has been stated that the audience needs to have mixed feelings about the destruction of a human being for a play to be a tragedy. To establish Death of A Salesman as a tragedy, we must demonstrate that not only does the audience feel sadness due to Willy’s demise, but also they feel that justice has been exacted on Willy for his behavior. As this is the case I will first examine the reasons why the audience feels sadness for Willy, and then goRead More Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman is A Modern Tragedy Essay1044 Words   |  5 PagesArthur Millers Death of a Salesman is A Modern Tragedy  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      In the fourth century B.C., Aristotle set forth his description of dramatic tragedy, and for centuries after, tragedy continued to be defined by his basic observations. It was not until the modern age that playwrights began to deviate somewhat from the basic tenets of Aristotelian tragedy and, in doing so, began to create plays more recognizable to the common people and, thereby, less traditional. Even so, upon examinationRead MoreEssay on Common Man Tragedy in Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman1778 Words   |  8 Pages The idea of dramatic tragedy is a classical one, discussed in Aristotles Poetics. Before it can be established as to whether Miller really has written a tragedy or not, the very concept of tragedy must be investigated. Aristotle asserted, Tragedy is a representation, an imitation, of an action.1? He went on to outline the common features tragic drama must have. Tragedy has six elements, which, in order of importance, are: plot, character, thought, music, langua ge, and spectacle. The plot requiresRead MoreDeath of a Salesman vs. Tragedy and the Common Man1220 Words   |  5 PagesIt makes little sense that tragedy should only pertain to those in high ranks. As explained in his essay Tragedy and the Common Man, Arthur Miller establishes the pattern for his own notion of a tragedy and the consequent ramifications for the tragic hero. This pattern supports the central idea that a tragedy can occur for characters who are common men as well as those in high places. Throughout his paper, Miller demonstrates that it should be possible for every reader to be able to identify withRead MoreWilly Loman, the Modern Hero in Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman1739 Words   |  7 Pages In Arthur Miller’s essay â€Å"Tragedy and the Common Man†, a picture is painted of a â€Å"flaw-full† man, known as the modern hero of tragedies. Miller describes what characteristics the modern tragic hero possesses and how he differs from the heroes depicted by classic Greek playwrights such as Sophocles and Aristotle. In order to understand how drastically the modern hero has evolved, one must first understand the basic characteristics that the heroes created by Sophocles and Aristotle encompass. The

Dolls House Act I Essay Example For Students

Dolls House Act I Essay Doll`s House Act IA Doll House sets the scene for a disturbing commentary on the womans placein society at the time. Noras psychological makeup is one of an oppressive,emotionally depriving and possibly abusive father and an absent, neglectfulmother. Her flighty actions are the ones of a child because as a child, that isprobably the only way she got attention, and she was never taught any other way. Nora is suffering from a neurotic personality disorder. The Microsoft EncartaEncyclopedia, (1996), defines neurosis as a slightly less impaired state thanthat of the psychotic, wherein the individual has lost touch with reality. Because of her being mistreated by men for so many years, by her father and inturn her husband, Nora has developed a strange sense of right and wrong, andwhich is which. The first scene in which Nora brings in the presents alreadyexemplifies her strange reasoning. Although we know that she should be savingevery penny, and she even says later on to Mrs Linde that she tries to make somemoney of her own by copying, and attempts to save by wearing the simplest,cheapest outfits, (p 643), here she contradicts herself by insisting toTorvald that we can squander a little now. Cant we? (p 638) Thisstrange, often moody temperament is a well known characteristic of a neurotic. The way Torvald treats Nora in the very first scene also is tell-tale ofNoras mental problems. She lies to her husband about eating macaroons. Although wives were perhaps more submissive to their husbands desires 120years ago, I certainly doubt that most of them would have accepted being treatedlike a child with rules regarding whether they could snakc on a macaroon or not. Her desire to please is also characteristic of a neurotic, as they cannot oftenhandle rejection. As one might suspect and as we learn throughout and at at theend of the play, Nora and Torvalds relationship really never went beyondsimple flirting, and they never really talked about anything. One who wouldcontinue in a relationship in this manner obviously has a disconnection withreality. During her conversation with Mrs. Linde, (pgs 640-644), Nora doesntseem to be aware that the forgery of her fathers signature was illegal. Although she has been sheltered her whole life, I find it nearly impossible toaccept that she has never heard that it is wrong to fake someone elsessignature. This again is a reflection of her difficulty realizing what is rightand wrong ans the difference between the two. Noras mental state affectsevery character in the play, as she interacts with everyone. There is more toher than just her neurosis, but that is a pivotal part of her character. Wereshe not to be portrayed as neurotic, this would be a very different, andpotentially more boring play. BibliographyIbsen, Henrik. A Doll House. The Bedford Introduction to Drama, 3rd ed. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus, University of Conneticut. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997. Theater