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This is a 4 page paper discussing the interpretations of Descartes’ cogito argument. Philosopher Rene Descartes (1596-1650) wrote his Mediations de prima philosophia in 1641 in an attempt to find the basic absolute truths in our beliefs, more specifically into a “belief he can be certain is true, even if he is believing, or God or an evil demon is trying to deceive him as fully as possible”. In Mediation II (1642), Descartes writes that “So after considering everything very thoroughly, I must finally conclude that this proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind”. There are several interpretations which have arisen from Descartes’ Mediation II, the most common being the idea “Cogito ergo sum” or “I am thinking, therefore I exist”. The two main interpretations of Descartes’ Mediation II involve the emphasis of the “I” within “I am, I exist” and the emphasis of the concept “think” within “I am thinking, therefore I exist”. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A 3 page paper which discusses Manet’s focus on consciousness in his painting “Olympia.” The painting is compared to Couture`s “Romans of the Decadence” and Courbet’s “Demoiselles des bords de la Seine.” Bibliography lists 4 sources.

A 4 page paper which examines whether the views in Michel de Montaigne’s “Apology for Raymond Sebond” are closer to those in Pope Innocent III’s “On the Misery of Man” or Giannozzo Manetti’s “On the Dignity of Man.” Bibliography lists 4 sources.

This is a 6 page paper discussing structuralism in the study of media and culture. Structuralism is based on the premise that “societies and sociological or cultural practices can be analyzed, along the lines of language, as signifying systems [and within] structuralism the subject is decentered, in other words the central focus on the individual in much social analysis is replaced by the focus on the structures, of which the individual is just another element”. Structuralist methods apply to various divisions within the social sciences such as the linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure, the cultural critical of Roland Barthes, the anthropology of Claude Levi-Strauss and the psychoanalysis of Jacques Lacan. Structuralism plays a large part in the presentation and perception of the media as some critics believe that viewers can look beyond media reports by perceiving the signs throughout the text while other researchers, such as Barthes in his post-structural phase, believed that language was not transparent by in fact most communication was distorted and could not be presented otherwise. Structuralism overall, tends to assume that there is a structure or a “depth model” in which researchers can find the “truth” and in so doing are able to “stand outside language using the meta-languages of linguistic, sociological or philosophical analysis. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

A 5 page examination of the character of Sancho Panza in Miguel de Cervantes' "Don Quixote." Bibliography lists 3 additional sources.

This is a 5 page paper discussing the film “The Matrix” as a dystopia. The 1999 Wachowski brothers’ film “The Matrix” reflects the most severe fears and anxieties within today’s society in regards to a futuristic world as a “dystopia”. Opposite of More’s idealistic world portrayed in his work “Utopia”, the literary term “dystopia” refers to a “bad place”. Since the industrial revolution and more recently the computer and information revolution, society’s fears of possible negative results from growing technological achievements have been reflected in literature and cinema. While currently cyber-technology, that which is related to the computer world and artificial intelligence, is being promoted as a positive element within society in that humans are able to access free information and share information on a global scale, the film “The Matrix” portrays more so that element not promoted within technological circles, that is, the negative and de-humanizing aspects of cyber-technology which robs human of their individuality from a physical and mental perspective and uses humans for the proliferation and eventual dominance of artificial intelligence. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

A 5 page paper which discusses how Ralph Waldo Emerson may have reacted to Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America." Bibliography lists 2 sources.

This is a 3 page paper summarizing Victor Hugo’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”. Victor Marie Hugo (1802-1885) was considered one of France’s greatest writers of the 19th century. His work “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” or “Notre Dame de Paris, Volume XII” was written in 1831 and in Hugo’s preface to that volume he writes how he was influenced by the dark Gothic writing he had once seen on the walls during a visit of his to Notre Dame. For Hugo it was that fact that the words had been inscribed on the wall many centuries previously that impacted him as he tried to visualize the cathedral during the Middle Ages; an image which resulted in the novel. The novel depicts a darker time in Paris during the 15th century when the city had criminal and influential elements which led to the eventual demise of the central characters of the loyal hunchback Quasimodo, the gypsy Esmeralda and Dom Frollo who deceived and used them for his own selfish desires. Bibliography lists 2 sources.

A 7 page paper which examines how the character of Bertrande in Natalie Zemon Davis’ “The Return of Martin Guerre” would have reacted to Poullain de la Barre’s arguments in “Three Cartesian Feminist Treatises.” No additional sources cited.

A 6 page paper which examines the themes of alienation, entrapment, and escape in two Italian pieces of literature. The literature examined is "The Garden of the Finzi-Contini" by Giorgio Bassani and "The Secret Diary" by Alba De Cespedes. Bibliography lists 2 additional sources.

A 7 page paper which examines how two Medieval works offer us an examination of the political structure of the time period. Though the works do not directly discuss politics, they get a great deal of information across to the reader through such political examinations as gender, social class, and the issue of power. The stories examined are "Guigemar" by Marie de France and "Erec and Enide" by Chretien de Troyes. No additional sources cited.

A 5 page paper which examines the theme of human goodness in Louis De Bernieres' "Captain Corelli's Mandolin. The primary focus is on the characters of Weber and Mandras. Bibliography lists 5 additional sources.

This 10 page report discusses the Byzantine emperor, Justinian I. Justinian is known for expanding Byzantine rule in the Western world, developing and beautifying the city of Constantinople, and completing the codification of Roman law. It has been due, in great measure, to Justinian I’s efforts and determination that Western civilization and the law governing it have developed in the ways they have. Bibliography lists 8 sources.

A 5 page paper which presents a book report on Katia M. de Queiros Mattoso's "To Be A Slave In Brazil: 1550-1880." No additional sources cited.

A 6 page paper which examines various aspects of Chretien De Troyes' "Yvain or The Knight with the Lion" as it relates to the code of chivalry and the feudal code. Bibliography lists 5 sources.

This is an 8 page paper discussing the maritime territorial disputes between Nicaragua and Columbia and Nicaragua and Honduras. Nicaragua currently has two territorial dispute cases before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The first case forwarded in December 1999 was for the need of a determination of the delimitation of maritime zones between Nicaragua and Honduras. While Honduras claims that an area of delimitation already exists, Nicaragua does not recognize the current boundaries used and because of this fishing vessels from both countries have been captured without resolution. In December 2001, Nicaragua filed a claim against Columbia for disputed ownership of the maritime areas associated with the Archipelago de San Andres y Providencia and Quita Sueno Bank; an area which consists of over half of Nicaragua’s maritime territories. With consideration for the International exclusive economic zones (EEZ) agreed upon in the 1970s which allows for ownership up to 200 nautical miles off the coasts of each country, the territories become harder to define and often overlap. The two cases are still pending with the ICJ with further testimonials and application deadlines are set for the years 2003 and 2004. Bibliography lists 8 sources.

A 5 page paper which examines Alexis de Tocqueville’s understanding of the contribution of women as seen in his work “Democracy in America.” No additional sources cited.

This is a 5 page paper analyzing the character of Don Quixote including his relationship with Sancho Panza. When Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra wrote “The Adventures of Don Quixote” in 1604 and 1616, he did not have much compassion for his central character’s “impossible dreams”. Despite this however, Cervantes wrote the character of Don Quixote as a combination of a man who was compassionate, chivalrous, independent, pure, true in his friendships and trustworthy while at the same time as being a dreamer, obsessive, imaginative, unrealistic and insane. In his relationships with those around him, especially with his companion Sancho Panza, the reader can tell that Quixote has always been respected and well liked because of the care and respect his friends have for him in their attempt to prevent him from harming himself. Sancho allows for Quixote to live with his dreams originally based on promises made to him by Quixote but eventually in Sancho enjoying in the adventures himself. Overall, the character of Quixote is admired and well liked by the readers who not only enjoy reading of his adventures but realize that he is a man of ideals and high morals during a time when not many men were described as such. Bibliography lists 5 sources.