Bertolucci’s, The Last Emperor – An Overview: This 6-page essay examines the 1987 Bernardo Bertolucci film, The Last Emperor. Part embellished fiction, in part fact this epic motion picture depicts the biography of Pu Yi, the last emperor of the Ling Dynasty and much of 20th Century China’s tumultuous history. Bibliography lists 3 sources. SNEmpero.doc

3 pages in length. When Randy Pausch said "experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted" in The Last Lecture speech he gave shortly before his death, his intention was to get people thinking about the benefit of failure. It is not that the late professor wanted others to make a habit out of not being successful but rather he valued failure as a key learning tool in the lessons of life. His message in short was that from failure comes enlightenment. Most people are taught to avoid defeat and disappointment because it somehow equates to less than a winning character. Pausch wanted to make an obvious point about how absolutely off the mark that type of indoctrination is to the quest for achievement, so he incorporated the aspect of failure into his class curriculum by awarding one student team a stuffed penguin who took the greatest risk and experienced the greatest failure. Symbolic of Pausch's penchant for empowering others, the penguin stood for the need to try and fail in order to succeed in life. No additional sources cited.

In 5 pages, the author discusses Roman Emperor Trajan and his claim to be the Optimus Princeps, or best emperor. This includes what he did, why he did those things and support for his claim. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

This is a 5 page paper discussing Rikyu and the formal tea ceremony as important aspects of balance and conflict in the film “Rikyu”. In the 1990 film “Rikyu”, the importance of Rikyu and the traditional tea ceremony provide a reflection of the political balance and conflict going on in Japan during the leadership of Emperor Hideyoshi in the late 1500s. Rikyu was the respected tea master at that time and had formed a close alliance with the emperor. The emperor who enjoyed his power and wealth realized the importance of the tea ceremony in the life of Japan and proceeded to organize a large ten day tea festival. Throughout the development of the well orchestrated ceremonies, led by Rikyu, the emperor experienced conflict between the political forces around him, his need for tranquility, his alliance with Rikyu, his desire to invade Korea and the presence of other powerful political men present, such as Ieyasu. When Rikyu and Hideyoshi conflicted on the political aspects of Hideyoshi’s rule, such as the invasion of Korea, and Hideyoshi realized Rikyu’s growing influence in the country, he knew he had to remove Rikyu from the growing threat to his authority and through the ceremony insinuated that Rikyu must commit suicide; which he did to fulfill his commitment to the emperor and retain the balance in the country. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

An 8 page paper that begins with an introduction to Roman portrait. The writer describes six Roman portraits: The General, Togate, Portrait of a Roman Matron, Republican Couple, Aulus Metellus (The Orator), and Stele of a Republican Family. The writer then compares and contrasts the Egyptian The Seated Scribe and the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Bibliography lists 10 sources.