Current Event Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Current Event - Essay Example But to characterize this crisis as a tribal conflict would be simplistic in the extreme. To the contrary, the Darfur crisis is caused by political, economic and social marginalization that, unless properly addressed by both national policies, will wreak havoc upon the region for some time into the future. To fully understand the root causes of the present crisis, it is necessary to gain a complete appreciation of the Darfur region in its proper geographic and historical contexts. Geographically speaking, the western portion of Sudan known as Darfur is in area about 493,180 square kilometers, about 20% of the nation's total territory of 2,505, 813 square kilometers and is subdivided into three wilayats or states known as Gharb (West) Darfur, Janub (South) Darfur, and Shamal (North) Darfur. These states suffer from the lack of perennial watercourses and as a result, their population is scarce and tends to cluster around permanent wells. Western Darfur is a plain that has the greatest water supply. The drainage from the volcanic massif, the Jabal Marrah, washes onto the plain, allowing for a somewhat larger settled population. This area also has a significant portion of the so-called qoz sands. Here, although livestock raising is the major economic activity, significant crop cultivation also takes place. In contrast, North and South Darfur are semi-deserts that have little water from the wadis or the wells that dry up in the winter. The soils in these areas support vegetation for grazing (Geography). The entire region has few natural resources. About six million people inhabit Darfur, drawn from about eighty different tribes and ethnic groups. From a subsistence perspective, these ethnic groups fit into two categories. First, there are the livestock herders who are for the most part, Arabic speakers. The second group is composed of the farmers, who are bilingual and are considered Africans. The ethnic groups in Darfur include the Fur, Bani Halba, Tanhor, Borty, Habaniya, Zaghawa, Zayadia, Rizaigat, Masaleet, Taaishya, Maidoub, Bargo, Dajs, Bani Hussain, Tama, Mahria, Mohameed, Salamat, Messairia, Eraighat, Etafab, Fallata, Ghimir, Bani Mansour, Ab-Darag, Selaihab, Mima, Turgom, Marareet and other African and Arabian tribes. The language spoken is Arabic and the religion for both Arabs and Africans is Sunni Muslims (Darfur Conflict). Historically, the inception of modern day Darfur came with the Fur dominated Keira dynasty that arose in the seventeenth century. This sultanate, which was established by Sulayman Solongdungo (1650- 1680), managed its expansion throughout the region through a combination of peaceful and coercive incorporation of territorial and tribal groups (Young). In 1787, Sultan Mohammed Tayrab extended the sultanate to the Nile when he conquered the Funj province of Korodofan (Young, 2). The rulers of the Keira dynasty then continued to encourage a pattern of immigration into the region to provide for increased manpower needs. Whole groups were brought into the area through means such as land grants and high sultanate positions (Young, 2). Eventually, this process of assimilation and incorporation settled the basic pattern of ethnic grouping into specific regions that still stand to the present day. The tribal distribution that emerged can be categorized by livelihood and ecology. The sedentary farmers, which include

Comparison of Martin Luther King Jr and Malcom X Essay Example for Free

Comparison of Martin Luther King Jr and Malcom X Essay They were black men who had a dream, but never lived to see it fulfilled. One was a man who spoke out to all humanity, but the world was not yet ready for his peaceful words. I have a dream, a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed that all men are created equal. (Martin Luther King) The other, a man who spoke of a violent revolution, which would bring about radical change for the black race. Anything you can think of that you want to change right now, the only way you can do it is with a ballot or a bullet. And if youre not ready to get involved with either one of those, you are satisfied with the status quo. That means well have to change you. (Malcom X) While Martin Luther King promoted non-violence, civil rights, and the end to racial segregation, a man of the name of Malcom X dreamed of a separate nation. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the conscience of his generation. A Southerner, a black man, he gazed upon the great wall of segregation and saw that the power of love could bring it down. From the pain and exhaustion of his fight to free all people from the bondage of separation and injustice, he wrung his eloquent statement of what America could be. (Ansboro, pg. 1) An American clergyman and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, he was one of the principle leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement and a prominent advocate of nonviolent protest. Kings challenges to segregation and racial discrimination in the 1950s and 1960s, helped convince many white Americans to support the cause of civil rights in the United States. After his assassination in 1968, King became the symbol of protest in the struggle for racial justice. (King, Martin Luther, Jr. , pg. 1) In 1964, Malcom X founded an organization called The Muslim Mosque, Inc. In an interview conducted by A. B. Spellman on March 19, 1964, Malcom speaks of his goals for this organization. The Muslim Mosque, Inc. will have as its religious base the religion of Islam, which will be designed to propagate the moral reformations necesary to up the level of the so-called Negro community by eliminating the vices and other evils that destroy the moral fiber of the community. But the political philosophy of the Muslim Mosque will be black nationalism, as well as the social and economic philosophies. We still believe in the Honorable Elijah Muhammands solution as complete separation. The 22 million so-called Negroes should be separated completely from America and should be permitted to go back home to our native African homeland. (Breitmaned, pgs. 5-6) Perhaps the key to these two African-Americans leaders opposing goals lay within their very different pasts. Malcom X was born in Omaha as Malcom Little. Malcoms faith, a Baptist minister was an outspoken follower of Marcus Garvey, the black nationalist leader of the 1920s. The family moved to Lansing, Michigan, and when Malcom was six years old, his father was murdered after receiving threats from the Ku Klux Klan. Malcoms mother suffered a nervous breakdown and her eight children were taken by the welfare department. Malcom was sent first to a foster home and then to a reform school. After 8th grade, Malcom moved to Boston where he worked various jobs and eventually became involved in criminal activity. (Malcom X, pg. 1) In 1946, he was sentenced to prison for burglary. While in prison, Malcom became invested in the teachings of Elijah Muhammed, the leader of the black Muslims also called the Nation of Islam. Malcom spent his time in jail educating himself and learning more about the black Muslims, who advocated racial separation. When Malcom was released in 1952, he joined a black Muslim temple in Detroit and became the most prominent spokesperson for the Nation of Islam by the early 1960s. It was then that he took the name of Malcom X. (Malcom, pg. 1) Martin Luther King was born in Alanta, Georgia, the eldest son of Martin Luther King, Sr. a Baptist minister, and Alberta Williams King. King attended local segregated public schools, where he excelled. He entered nearby Morehouse College at age 15 and graduated with a bachelors degree in sociology in 1948. After graduating with honors from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania in 1951, he went to Boston University where he earned a doctoral degree in systematic theology in 1955. (King, Martin Luther, Jr. , pg. 1) Throughout Kings education, he was exposed to influences that related Christian theology to the struggles of oppressed peoples. At Morehouse, Crozer, and Boston University, he studied the teachings on nonviolent Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi. King also read and heard the sermons of white Protestant ministers who preached against American racism. He was married in 1953, and in 1954, he accepted his first pastorate at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, a church of well-educated congretions that had recently by a minister who had protested against segregation. (King, Martin Luther, Jr. , pg. 1) Where as King was full of love, peace, respect, and compassion for his fellow white brother, Malcom X was full of hate, anger, and vengeance. He was a dark presence, an angry, cynical, implacable man whose good will or forgiveness or even pity the white race could neither earn nor buy. Coffee, he once remarked in an interview, is the only thing I like integrated. He also pleasantly mentioned that whites were inherently enemies of the Negroes and that integration was impossible without great bloodletting. Nonviolence was as he put it, a mealy-mouth, beg-in, wait-in, plead-in kind of action, and it was only a device for disarming the blacks. He also believed that everything we had heard to the contrary from the Martin Luther Kings and the Roy Wilkinses and the Whiteny Youngs was a deadly dangerous pack of lies. Thats etiquette, he said. Etiquette means to blend in with society. They are being polite. The average Negro doesnt even let another Negro know what he thinks, hes so mistrusting. Im black first- my whole objectives are black, my allegiance is black, my whole objectives are black. By me being a Muslim, Im not interested in American, because America has never been interested in me. (Goldman, pg. 5) Black blood, claimed Malcom X, is stronger than white. A person can have a teaspoon of black in him, and that makes him black. Black cant come from white, but white can come from black. That means black was first. If black is first, black is supreme and white is dependent on black. He meant to haunt whites, to play on their fears and quicken their guilt and deflate their dreams that everything was getting better- and he did. Americas problem is us. Malcom X told whites that if they argued that the sins of the past ought not to visited on them, he would reply: Your father isnt here to pay his debts. My father isnt here to collect, but Im here to collect, and youre here to pay. (Goldman, pgs. 6-9) Martin Luther King is known for his key role as president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), the oganixation that directed the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. Montgomerys black community had long standing grievances about the mistreatment of blacks on the citys buses. Many white bus drivers treated blacks rudely, often cursing them and humiliating them by enforcing the citys segregation laws, which forced black riders to sit in the back of busses and give up their seats to white passengers on crowded busses. By the 1950s, Montgomerys blacks discussed boycotting the busses in an effort to gain better treatment- but not necessarily to end segregation. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a leading member of the local branch of the NAACP, was ordered to give up her seat to a white passenger. When she refused, she was arrested and taken to jail. Local leaders of the NAACP, especially Edgar D. Nixon, recognized recently arrived Kings public speaking gifts as great assets in the battle for black civil rights in Montgomery. King was soon chosen as president of the MIA, the organization that directed the bus boycott.

Hoosiers Essay -- essays research papers

Hoosiers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As driving into Hickory, Indiana, a tiny town, I see that every house has a basketball hoop on the side of their barn. The little town consists of one main street. It has the local supermarket, barbershop, hardware store and some other small stores. While driving on the main street, I noticed that everyone notices a stranger coming into town. That is how small Hickory is. Driving into the high school parking lot I see that the girls dominate the young men by far. Looking around I also see that everyone is talking about the basketball game that night.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When hearing that Norman Dale was going to coach a high school basketball team, I figured it was worth a shot to see how he would handle high school basketball rather than college. His experience in college was once hailed, but then dramatically failed. I was glad that I took the time to see how much talent coach Norman Dale could dish out of his players. I heard through some townspeople that the practices were unreal. Coach Dale was very intense and had the young men were worked very hard. Coach Dale believed that in every practice it should be helping you to get better for your next game and how you practice is how you play.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There were only nine players on the team and they did have talent. It was whether or not it all worked was up to coach Dale. From watching their first game to the game, there was a great journey that the Hickory Hoosiers had. So many things happened and many memories were made. It is a special journey that needs to be shared.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Hoosiers started out rough, but held their composure. They were losing and the townspeople didn’t like how coach Dale was coaching. They disagreed with his decisions that he made during the game and they didn’t like his attitude. Coach Dale believed that his style of coaching was appropriate and he wasn’t going to change. The townspeople decided to have a meeting to see whether or not they should keep coach Dale. The players were waiting for the answer of if Coach Dale was being fired. The players felt that Coach Dale shouldn’t be let go. As the meeting was going on a young man, Billy, from school who was in excellent basketball player but didn’t play on the team, due to his home life, came to talk. He said that he would come and p... ...o have a chance to win. The Hoosiers got lucky and made a terrific steal to get the ball back. A time out was called and Coach Dale told a play to run with 16 seconds to go. The players slumped in their chairs. Coach Dale didn’t know what was going on and asked them to tell him. The guys wanted Billy to take the last shot. Billy said he would make it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With 16 seconds left Billy dribbled the ball up the court and took his time. Five seconds were left and Billy took three dribbles and pulled up for the shot, nothing but the bottom of the net. The entire place went crazy. The little town of Hickory all rushed the floor. The Hickory Hoosiers were a team of composure and a team that would do anything to win. To see a team from the first game and to the last, it was quite a journey. The love for the game was expressed through the coach to his players and from the players to the coach. The journey is now over but will never be forgotten. This journey shows that no matter how small you are, no matter where you come from, or the past doesn’t matter. What does matter is how much heart you put into something. What a great journey.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

American Beauty (movie)

The movie American Beauty bears the name of the most popular in the USA brand of roses. The roses are present in the picture everywhere. They are like a scarlet ribbon running through the canvas of the narration, each time concentrating audience’s attention upon themselves as upon the stereotype of American beauty. This is not a story about empty cellophane bag flying in the wind. This is not a saga about a masturbating wimp American man. And even not about that that life is a shit and women are you know who. This is rather the story of stereotypization of mass conscience that reached global proportion.This is a story about that that our life as any reality is a mosaic with different patterns – sometimes even ugly and detestable. Some of us see the life lines interlacing as a stifling web and others see it as roads running away beyond the skyline. Overall, American Beauty is a film about the life of an average American family, and problems experienced by each member of this family. And in this case it does not matter is the family American, English, French or any other as it was already mentioned the stereotypical conscience became global.Movie plot is simple enough and, to certain extent, hackneyed. To tell the truth the beginning of the picture evokes feelings of boredom as you expect a typical tearful story of jerk husband, stinker wife, their daughter suffering from loneliness and lack of understanding and their neighbors – a bit screwed guy, trading drugs and practicing voyeurisme with his video camera, his father, colonel retired, who hates homosexuals being himself a latent homosexual. However, the way all this story is presented makes this movie different and distinguished.American Beauty is impressive for the fact that there are no right or guilty characters in the story. For example, Lester (Kevin Spacey) is not a dull, horny jerk, he is rather an average man who could not achieve in this life anything or even establish a normal f amily, where al least someone would understand and support him. His wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) is not a stinker or a whore; she is a simply unhappy woman, which tries hard to bluster way out of difficult life â€Å"I will sell this house today, I will sell this house today†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Carolyn), but fails.And their daughter Jane (Thora Birch) is not a wicked child dreaming of killing her parents but rather a poor little girl, who feels awfully lonely and seeks for someone to understand her. The central event of the film is the moment when Lester is trying to free himself from the chains of commonness and dullness of the life surrounding him. He quits his well-paid position and starts working in McDonald’s and going in for sport. But the outward manifestation is not the point; the point is that Lester got free inward.He ceased being afraid of his wife, he has got that job which does not give you satisfaction and where you have to lick the boots of your boss is worthless. These changes made Lester feel free and happy! â€Å"I feel like I've been in a coma for about twenty years. And I'm just now waking up. † (Lester) But this is the moment when an inevitable end had to come. Lester is killed. Any person from his surrounding could have done it. Daughter Jane, who could not stand his lusty stare at her classmate: â€Å"I need a father who's a role model, not some horny geek-boy who's gonna spray his shorts every time I bring a girlfriend home from school.†(Jane); wife Carolyn, who hates him as she regards him as a sluggard and loser; Jane’s friend, Ricky (Wes Bentley), whom Jane asked to kill her father; Ricky’s father, crazy about patriotism and fascism colonel, who believes his son to have an affair with Lester; and even Lester who feels good and likes his new life. Why not to die at such a moment? To leave this world with pleasant emotions†¦ I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me †¦ but it's hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world.Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst †¦ (Lester) The movie is masterfully shot in all respects. Young film director Sam Mendes has demonstrated fairly good sense of humor and style. Take for example red rose-petals emerging as soon as Lester gets absorbed in his erotic fantasies. Red petals serve as unambiguous, though delicate euphemism of orgasmic feelings of the main character. This cross-cutting image looks very nice though till the end of film it becomes exuberant and starts irritating.And finally the empty bag fluttering in the wind is like a key symbol of the film. It is noticed by Ricky through his camera lens, who looks at the world only in this way, through his camera, as it makes reality to be accepted easier. â€Å"Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember†¦ and I need to remember†¦ Sometimes th ere's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in† (Ricky) Ricky, as a real artist, sees beauty in the things which are seen by others as ugly.This is, as a matter of fact, the notion of â€Å"American beauty†, the world, which you see beyond U. S. model through this or that stimulating means. American beauty is a McDonald’s, but not as a place where you come to gorge fast, sooner as a place of inner freedom. This is a bright scarlet car, of which you dreamt all your life but had not bought because there were more â€Å"useful† things you had to buy. In the long run, American beauty is your inner freedom, freedom in mind and not under the canopy of Star & Stripes flag. Bibliography American Beauty. Dir. Sam Mendes. 1999. DVD, 2002.

Warrior Leader Course Pa

December 2008 MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD SUBJECT: Warrior Leader Course Welcome Letter 1. Congratulations on your selection to attend the Warrior Leader Course at the 3rd BN, 166TH Regiment at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. You will report between the hours of 0800 and 2200 on the ATRRS report date. 2. Effective 10 August 2006 soldiers attending WLC are still required to meet the APFT and HT/WT requirements.However, soldiers who meet academic course requirements, but fail the APFT or HT/WT standards, will be considered a course graduate under the category of marginally achieved course standards. 3. Soldiers that have returned from OIF/OEF within 90 days of reporting to WLC are required to take the APFT. However, prior to the test you will have the option to have the PT test count towards your academic average or not. Soldiers in this category need either their DD 214 or a memorandum from their commander stating that they returned from deployment with in the last 90 days. . Physical re quirements for this course are very demanding. Students must be able to pass the APFT, meet HT/WT standards, carry a 50 pound combat load, low crawl, high crawl, rush for three to five seconds, walk a minimum of 2 miles with combat load and negotiate rough terrain under varying climatic conditions. 5. Soldiers who have a permanent profile designator â€Å"3† or â€Å"4† must include a copy of their DA Form 3349 and the results of their military medical review board (MMRB) as part of their course application.Soldiers who have met the previous criteria may attend WLC and train within the limits of their permanent profile, provided they can otherwise meet course prerequisites and graduation requirements. Soldiers with temporary profiles, with the exception of shaving or nonperformance deterring profiles who have participated in OIF/ OEF can attend WLC provided they have a copy of their current profile and memorandum bearing the commanders signature stating that the tempor ary profile exists as a result of injuries during participation in OIF/ OEF.

Battle of Anzio in World War II

Battle of Anzio in World War II The Battle of Anzio commenced on January 22, 1944 and concluded with the fall of Rome on June 5. Part of the Italian Theater of World War II (1939-1945), the campaign was the result of the Allies inability to penetrate the Gustav Line following their landings at Salerno. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sought to restart the Allied advance and proposed landing troops behind the German positions. Approved despite some resistance, the landings moved forward in January 1944. In the resulting fighting, the Allied landing force was soon contained due to its insufficient size and cautious decisions made by its commander, Major General John P. Lucas. The next several weeks saw the Germans mount a series of attacks which threatened to overwhelm the beachhead. Holding out, the troops at Anzio were reinforced and later played a key role in the Allied breakout at Cassino and the capture of Rome. Invading Italy Following the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943, American and British forces drove up the peninsula until being halted at the Gustav (Winter) Line in front of Cassino. Unable to penetrate Field Marshal Albert Kesselrings defenses, British General Harold Alexander, commander of Allied forces in Italy, began assessing his options. In an effort to break the stalemate, Churchill proposed Operation Shingle which called for landings behind the Gustav Line at Anzio (Map). While Alexander initially considered a large operation that would land five divisions near Anzio, this was abandoned due to a lack of troops and landing craft.  Lieutenant General Mark Clark, commanding the US Fifth Army, later suggested landing a reinforced division at Anzio with the goal of diverting German attention from Cassino and opening the way for a breakthrough on that front.   Allied Plan Initially ignored by US Chief of Staff General George Marshall, planning moved forward after Churchill appealed to President Franklin Roosevelt. The plan called for Clarks US Fifth Army to attack along the Gustav Line to draw enemy forces south while Lucas VI Corps landed at Anzio and drove northeast into the Alban Hills to threaten the German rear. It was thought that if the Germans responded to the landings it would sufficiently weaken the Gustav Line to permit a breakthrough. If they did not respond, the Shingle troops would be in place to directly threaten Rome.  The Allied leadership also felt that should the Germans be able to respond to both threats, it would pin down forces that otherwise could be employed elsewhere. Field Marshal Harold Alexander. Public Domain As preparations moved forward, Alexander desired Lucas to land and quickly begin offensive operations into the Alban Hills. Clarks final orders to Lucas did not reflect this urgency and gave him flexibility regarding the timing of the advance. This may have been caused by Clarks lack of faith in the plan which he believed required at least two corps or a full army. Lucas shared this uncertainty and believed that he was going ashore with insufficient forces. In the days before landings, Lucas compared the operation to the disastrous Gallipoli campaign of World War I which had also been devised by Churchill and expressed concern that he would be scapegoated if the campaign failed. Armies Commanders Allies General Harold AlexanderLieutenant General Mark ClarkMajor General John P. LucasMajor General Lucian Truscott36,000 men increasing to 150,000 men Germans Field Marshal Albert KesselringColonel General Eberhard von Mackensen20,000 men rising to 135,000 men Landing Despite the misgivings of the senior commanders, Operation Shingle moved forward on January 22, 1944, with Major General Ronald Penneys British 1st Infantry Division landing north of Anzio, Colonel William O. Darbys 6615th Ranger Force attacking the port, and Major General Lucian K. Truscotts US 3rd Infantry Division landing south of the town. Coming ashore, Allied forces initially met little resistance and began moving inland. By midnight, 36,000 men had landed and secured a beachhead 2-3 miles deep at a cost of 13 killed and 97 wounded. Rather than move quickly to strike at the German rear, Lucas began strengthening his perimeter despite offers from the Italian resistance to serve as guides. This inaction irritated Churchill and Alexander as it undercut the value of the operation. Facing a superior enemy force, Lucas caution was justified to a degree, however most agree that he should have attempted drive further inland. German Response Though surprised by the Allies actions, Kesselring had made contingency plans for landings at several locations.  When informed of the Allied landings, Kesselring took immediate action by dispatching recently-formed mobile reaction units to the area. Also, he received control of three additional divisions in Italy and three from elsewhere in Europe from OKW (German High Command). Though he initially did not believe the landings could be contained, Lucas inaction changed his mind and by January 24, he had 40,000 men in prepared defensive positions opposite the Allied lines. Battling for the Beachhead The next day, Colonel General Eberhard von Mackensen was given command of the German defenses. Across the lines, Lucas was reinforced by the US 45th Infantry Division and US 1st Armored Division. On January 30, he launched a two-prong attack with the British attacking up the Via Anziate towards Campoleone while the US 3rd Infantry Division and Rangers assaulted Cisterna. In the fighting that resulted, the attack on Cisterna was repulsed, with the Rangers taking heavy losses. The fighting saw two battalions of the elite troops effectively destroyed. Elsewhere, the British gained ground up the Via Anziate but failed to take the town. As a result, an exposed salient was created in the lines. This bulge would soon become the target of repeated German assaults (Map). A Command Change By early February Mackensens force totaled over 100,000 men facing Lucas 76,400. On February 3, the Germans attacked the Allied lines with a focus on the Via Anziate salient. In several days of heavy fighting, they succeeded in pushing the British back. By February 10, the salient had been lost and a planned counterattack the next day failed when the Germans were tipped off by a radio intercept. On February 16, the German assault was renewed and Allied forces on the Via Anziate front were pushed back to their prepared defenses at the Final Beachhead Line before the Germans were halted by VI Corps reserves. The last gasps of the German offensive were blocked on February 20. Frustrated with Lucas performance, Clark replaced him with Truscott on February 22. General Sir Harold Alexander with Major General Lucian K. Truscott Jr. in the Anzio beachhead, Italy, 4 March 1944. Public Domain Under pressure from Berlin, Kesselring and Mackensen ordered another attack on February 29. Striking near Cisterna, this effort was repulsed by the Allies with around 2,500 German casualties. With the situation at a stalemate, Truscott and Mackensen suspended offensive operations until spring. During this time, Kesselring constructed the Caesar C defensive line between the beachhead and Rome. Working with Alexander and Clark, Truscott helped plan Operation Diadem which called for a massive offensive in May. As part of this, he was instructed to devise two plans. New Plans The first, Operation Buffalo, called for an attack to cut Route 6 at Valmontone to aid in trapping the German Tenth Army, while the other, Operation Turtle, was for an advance through Campoleone and Albano towards Rome. While Alexander selected Buffalo, Clark was adamant that US forces be the first to enter Rome and lobbied for Turtle. Though Alexander insisted on severing Route 6, he told Clark that Rome was an option if Buffalo ran into trouble. As a result, Clark instructed Truscott to be ready to execute both operations. Breaking Out The offensive moved forward on May 23 with Allied troops hitting the Gustav Line and beachhead defenses. While the British pinned Mackensens men at Via Anziate, American forces finally took Cisterna on May 25. By the end of the day, US forces were three miles from Valmontone with Buffalo proceeding according to plan and Truscott anticipating severing Route 6 the next day. That evening, Truscott was stunned to receive orders from Clark calling for him to turn his attack ninety degrees towards Rome. While the attack towards Valmontone would continue, it would be much weakened. A Controversial Decision Clark did not inform Alexander of this change until the morning of May 26 at which point the orders could not be reversed. Exploiting the slowed American attack, Kesselring moved parts of four divisions into the Velletri Gap to stall the advance. Holding Route 6 open until May 30, they allowed seven divisions from the Tenth Army to escape north. Forced to reorient his forces, Truscott was not able to attack towards Rome until May 29. Encountering the Caesar C Line, VI Corps, now aided by II Corps, was able to exploit a gap in the German defenses. By June 2, the German line collapsed and Kesselring was ordered to retreat north of Rome. American forces led by Clark entered the city three days later (Map). Aftermath The fighting during the Anzio campaign saw Allied forces sustain around 7,000 killed and 36,000 wounded/missing. German losses were around 5,000 killed, 30,500 wounded/missing, and 4,500 captured. Though the campaign ultimately proved successful, Operation Shingle has been criticized for being poorly planned and executed. While Lucas should have been more aggressive, his force was too small to achieve the objectives it was assigned. Also, Clarks change of plan during Operation Diadem allowed large parts of the German Tenth Army to escape, allowing it to continue fighting through the rest of the year. Though criticized, Churchill relentlessly defended the Anzio operation claiming that though it failed to achieve its tactical goals, it succeeded in holding German forces in Italy and preventing their redeployment to Northwest Europe on the eve of the Normandy invasion.

An Introduction to Mark Rothko Essays

An Introduction to Mark Rothko Essays An Introduction to Mark Rothko Essay An Introduction to Mark Rothko Essay Encounters with Mark Rothkos Light red over black (1957) Mark Rothko, Light red over black 1957. In this essay I will explore Light red over black (1957) by Mark Rothko. Although apparently simple, infact shows a wonderfully complex process of thought and throughout this essay I will interpret and get a better understanding of Rothkos intention and meaning. Filled with shades of red, the upper part of the painting comes to create a strong opposition with the black area below it, itself encircled by a darker red. This painting consisting of three floating rectangles in various colour combinations, creates a sombre mood conducive to spiritual contemplation. With the use of Rothkos saturated colours the viewers are moved and as ones eye adjust to the light that the painting emits. The colour field, I feel, embraces the mind, and the palettes warm variety of tones mesmerises. Further analysing this painting, the two darker oblongs appear like two openings in the centre of the painting, creating a sense of freedom. Conveyed in this painting is a sense that the oblongs are two openings in the centre of the picture, as the two darker rectangles are much more prominent in relation to the red tones. When first encountering this piece I questionned perhaps whether these oblongs were openings or whether in fact they were floating on the surface. In many respects it reminded me of of a stained-glass windows, except that there is no pattern or decoration. However, through its title, Light red over black it seemed that perhaps Mark Rothko wanted the red to be more of a protrusive focus. However, with such contrasting colours it is definitely the black and dark blue that strick as the main aspect of this painting for me. On a chronological outlook, the shades from the upper half, the lighter red, move slowly downwards to a much darker colour. This could possibly be perceived as a means of human life, which has been said that Rothko tried to aim for TESHUVA, 2003:45 , the lighter red being an earlier life time ending with the black as the end of it evoking an endless enthrall. It is, in my belief, the energy that comes off this painting is a result of Rothkos spontaneity nd improvising. Like many of Rothkos work, Light red over Black made in 1957 was created on canvas using the material, oils. Rothkos techniques added further importance to the attraction of this piece. Rothko applied paint very thinly with sponges and cloths to avoid leaving any visible brushstrokes. (Auping, Karnes, Thistlewaite, 2002:286) Despite Rothko having the result of a controlled perspective, the edges of the rectangles are indistinct. The edges of the shapes are soft and blurred , and contributes to their ambiguity. It seems that rothko wanted us to think only about colours and the moods they create, not about himself. This concept demonstrates what Rothko aimed at, the aspect of colour-field painting. Light red over black takes the format of a pulsating rectangle with a vertical format, and is large in scale taking the dimensions of 2306 x 1527 x 38 mm. Rothko explained that the shapes in which he painted have no direct association with any particular visible experience, but in them one recognises the principles and passions or organisms. studio-international. co. uk/archive2/causey_1972_183_943a. sp Furthermore, the development of Rothkos work from surrealism to abstract interested me, interlinked with his change in the use of his colours over his artistic lifetime . After 1957, in which this painting was created, Rothkos choice of colours tended to adopt a darker palette using more darker browns and blacks, which can be emphasised in the contrasting colour of red and black in this painting. (Comparision between earlier works to his latter works) When first encountered with this painting, I believed that Rothkos work had moved away from more representational objects and moved more into the form of colour of abstract art. Although Rothkos use of colours, varying in only 2 shades of red, blue and black, they juxtapose together creating a deeper meaning to his paintings and questions the viewer to create their own theories on how to interpret the mood. Jacob Baal-Teshova wrote Rothko always resisted attempts to interpret his paintings. He was mainly concerned with the viewers experience TESHUVA, 2003: 7 , and in contrast to this, the independant wrote, Its too focused on the hit it will give its audience. It simply doesnt have enough world in it to be worthwhile art, enough complication, contingency, resistance, negotiation, argument – and abstract art can have these things as much as any other. THE INDEPENDANT: 2008 I first encountered Rothkos work at the Tate Modern gallery in London in 2008. When first examining his works, including other famous paintings such as Mural for End Wall it struck me as a simplistic style, yet with its luminous rectangles and saturated colour, a sense of mystery was conveyed in a modern era. Moreover, on cream idilic walls, Light red over black automatically illuminated from the walls in deep dark red, blues and blacks which led me to interpret his work as profoundly imbued with an emotional content that he articulated through a range of styles that had evolved from figurative to abstract. Furthermore, when examining this painting up close, the application of what seemed to be very thing layers of paint over each other, allowed the colours to radiate through, creating a sense of drama and light, despite the colours being much darker than others Id seen in the gallery. Suggested towards the latter part of his life, and through his means of depression, I first interpreted his work as a form of expression, which emplyed shimmering colour to convey a sense of spirtuality. However, after research it is perhaps more profound to say that this painting has a sense of depression with connotations of the red and black insinuating death, a mood of sadness, something Rothko was suffering from. HARRISON, 2003:230 The emphasis of his paintings are highlighted of course not only in colours but in its size. When visiting the Tate modern, it was the pure size of these images that drew me in,with a seperate room in which to display Rothkos work. Rothko I believe, intended his paintings to be seen up close so that the viewer could appreciate and be enveloped by the paintings colour aura. The function of such a large painting was perhaps precisely because he wanted to be very intimate and relate it to human life itself and to his audience. The feeling of such an overwhelming large piece of art not only inspired but led ways to interpret why this size had been used. If for example, Rothko had created these pieces on a smaller scale the simplistic outlook on them, I feel would have been lost. What struck me most about Light red over black was the difference in his early works. Rothko was known for his use of expressionist landscapes, genre scenes, and still lifes. However, it was soon emphasised that artists could not longer merely copy photos or images to due the ever expanding artistic changes. Redundant, Rothko, and many other artists discussed conceptual changes and with this promoted the idea of using colour as a means to establish a relationship between the artist and the viewers. This influence, occuring early in the 1950s, led artists like Rothko to begin painting an entire canvas one colour. Moreover, the influence of World War II led many European artists to emigrate to the United States, including those associated with the surrealist movement. Sharma, 2006:35 They were a major influence on Rothko who began to attempt to apply theories on the collective unconscious to his work, and he started to orient his art toward a more abstract style and bring his colours to darker tones. In my opinion it was the events occuring in World War II that evidently influenced abstract art and artists to experiment with exploring the connection between forms and colours. While the population visually saw colours simply on a canvas it was Rothkos eternal interest in the human figure, character and emotions which led him to express himself indivually. Rothko believed, â€Å"The most interesting painting is one that expresses more of what one thinks than of what one sees. (Breslin, 1993:261)