The Character of Oedipus in Oedipus and The Infernal Machine

The Character of Oedipus in Oedipus and The Infernal Machine The stories of Oedipus, as told through Senecas Oedipus and Cocteaus The Infernal Machine, contain both similarites and differences. Both authors portray the character of Oedipus as being obstinate, ignorant, and inquisitive. Yet Seneca and Cocteau differ on their interpretation of the motives that propelled these characteristics of Oedipus. Seneca portrays Oedipus as a mature man who, in seeing the troubles of the plague that has descended upon Thebes, feels true sorrow for his dying people and wishes to cure his moribund city. On the other hand, Cocteaus Oedipus is a pretentious, immature, and overweening young adult who seeks to indulge himself in the fast and†¦show more content†¦that I killed the King so that I could marry her. Cocteau, Infernal Machine, p.90 In this quote, so too is Cocteaus Oedipus seemingly blind to the virtually obvious, choosing instead to believe Tiresiass wishes in admitting Oedipuss horrible deeds, were only to seize control of the throne. Jocasta and Creon also try to warn Oedipus of the impending truth, but it is to no avail, as Oedipus will not heed their pleas. Contrary to one another, are Seneca and Cocteaus views on Oedipuss reasons for being so pertinacious in his search for the killer of Laius. Senecas Oedipus, a stately, old, and sage man, is committed to his role as king. But under the present circumstances, in which a horrible plague ravages Thebes, Oedipus with all his human powers a nd abilities, is not able to provide assistance. Only can he pray that somehow it might all go away. And yet I posed my riddle. Next, a shriek- and her impatient claws ripped at the rock and not my entrails. But that tangled mess, her dark enigma, I solved nonetheless. Sen. Oed. 10 In his encounter with the Sphinx, Oedipus bravely faces the beast and answers the riddle that had been indecipherable for so many other men. He arrived in Thebes a true hero, was welcome as their king, and subsequently commenced his benevolent rule. Cocteaus Oedipus, on the other hand, is a much more immature and haughty character. And while Senecas Oedipuss persistence stemmed from his wish to save the citizens of hisShow MoreRelated Sophocles Oedipus the King and Cocteaus The Infernal Machine1440 Words   |  6 PagesSophocles Oedipus the King and Cocteaus The Infernal Machine   Ã‚  Ã‚   Sophocles Oedipus the King and Cocteaus The Infernal Machine relate the same story, yet from quite different angles. Sophocles play is written in heightened language and spends 1,530 lines on an hour of time. On the other hand, Cocteaus characters speak colloquially, and his 96 pages cover 17 years, putting much more emphasis on the events prior to where Sophocles begins his play. Sophocles and Cocteau present Oedipus characterRead More Comparing The Infernal Machine and Oedipus Rex Essay1443 Words   |  6 PagesComparing The Infernal Machine and Oedipus Rex (the King)   Ã‚  Ã‚   The myth of Oedipus’s incest and parricide has been retold many different times. The basic story line has remained the same. Oedipus leaves Corinth to try to escape a fate of incest and parricide. After he leaving the city, he ends up saving Thebes from the Sphinx, becoming king of the city and in the process fulfilling the prophecy. The character of Oedipus changes in each play to help support a different meaning to the entire mythRead MoreThe, The Infernal Machine, And Ubu Roi By Alfred Jarry1609 Words   |  7 Pagesdiscussed in class, Antigone by Jean Anouilh, The Infernal Machine by Jean Cocteau, and Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry, there is a prodigious depiction of female characters and power that come in numerous ways. In The Infernal Machine there are female characters, such as Jocasta and the Sphinx, who show power and authority. Likewise, in â€Å"Antigone,† characters, such as Antigone and her sister, Ismene, also show power and supremacy. In Ubu Roi, the main character that showed power through rule was Mere Ubu.

Personal Narrative My Independence Day - 1134 Words

The summer of 2013 felt like it was just beginning, but it was coming to an end; an end that would last what seemed like forever. That summer I learned things about myself that I never knew or even thought could be true. I learned how to deal with emotionally painful situations because on July 4th, 2013, I found out my Dad would soon pass away. Still to this day independence day is my least favorite day of the year, and July my least favorite month. I realized different ways that loss affected people; some experience it as soon as it happens, others can get stuck in a state of shock. My father dying has provoked me to think about why we do things and the ways people grieve. I woke up in the guest bedroom of my grandparents’†¦show more content†¦As we entered into Houston traffic, I became more and more worried about my dad. I looked out of the window of my grandpa’s red Cadillac and watched us zoom over all the overpasses. It was around ten p.m., so we did not go to the hospital that night; instead, my paternal grandfather took me to my maternal grandmother’s house. She lived in a suburb of Houston called Pecan Grove. I was angry at my grandfather for not letting me go straight to the hospital, but I was tired, so I didn t argue. The next morning around seven my grandfather came and picked me so that we could go see my dad. As we arrived, everyone was just sitting there in the dull gray chairs that were in the waiting room including my brother, sister, soon to be ex-stepmom, my dad’s girlfriend, and my grandmother and grandfather. They were all sobbing; it was almost as if you could feel their pain. The nurse came to me and told me I could go back into my dad ´s room. As I walked through the suffocating gray hallway, I read a sign in front of the entrance I was directed to, and it said â€Å"ICU,† or intensive care unit. I knew from that point on that he would look much worse than I had imagined. There he was, too b ig for his bed. His feet were hanging off, and he looked pale; he was cold and unresponsive, half of his head was shaved down, and there were staples along his head. I found out later that he had to have part of his skull removed because he had brain swelling and internal bleeding. I staredShow MoreRelatedBiological Narrative1617 Words   |  7 PagesPERSONAL POTRAIT: A BIOLOGICAL NARRATIVE 2 John C. Carter Capella University Dr. Janice J. Caron August 29, 2010 Abstract Eric Erickson is best known for his studies with psychosocial development, or the development of a person within a social context. Eric Erickson’s theories focused primarily on the correlation of the release of sexual tension and psychosexual development. The purpose of this paper is for the author to develop a personal portrait integrating Erickson’s developmentalRead MoreThe Story Of American Slavery1595 Words   |  7 Pagesand control their own life, slaves wanted a sense of independence. 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But the creature is the only member of its species, and therefore its narrative can be taken to represent the history of an entire species - the creatures first experiences can be viewed as an amalgam of creation myths.    If we choose to view the creature as an individual, andRead MoreIt Is Widely Known That Slavery Is A Brutal, Cruel, And1709 Words   |  7 Pageswas barely possible for the people in the north to know about the details of how the slaves lived in the south due to several factors such as the limit of communications. Fortunately, Fredrick Douglass, an educated run-away slave, published â€Å"The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass† to tell the slaves’ life and the truths behind the institution of slavery in the south, which shocked the whole nation and became a catalyst for further more intense abolition movements and the outbreak of civilRead MoreHistory Of Education And The Problem Of The Nation767 Words   |  4 Pageson the idea that the communication of a progressive narrative about the country’s past will teach the young students a sense of loyalty to the state or nationalism. 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The first three weeks of this course have provided me with the opportunity to reflect upon my own life and analyze concepts such as growth mindset, age of independence, social mobility, and even the value of relationships. The most prominent influence on my life has unquestionably been my parents. With each passing year it becomes seemingly

Andy Warhol, Prince of Pop Biography Essay Example For Students

Andy Warhol, Prince of Pop: Biography Essay Andy showed an early talent in drawing and painting. After high school he studied commercial art at the Carnegie Institute biotechnology in Pittsburgh. Warhol graduated in 1949 and went to New York where he worked as an illustrator for magazines like Vogue and Harpys Bazaar and for commercial advertising. He soon became one of New Works most sought of and successful commercial illustrators. The Pop Icon In 1952 Andy Warhol had his first one-man show exhibition at the Hugo Gallery in New York. In 1956 he had an important group exhibition at the renowned Museum of Modern Art, In the sixties Warhol started painting daily objects of mass production like Campbell Soup cans and Coke bottles. Soon he became famous figure in the New York art scene, Prom 1962 on he started making silkscreen prints of famous personalities like Marilyn Monroe or Elizabeth Taylor. The strength of Andy Warhol art was to remove the difference between fine arts and the commercial arts used for magazine illustrations, comic books, record albums or advertising campaigns. Warhol once expressed his philosophy in one poignant sentence: When you think about it, department stores are kind of like museums. The Factory The pop artist not only depicted mass products but he also wanted to mass produce his own works Of pop art. Consequently he founded The Factory in 1962. It was an art studio where he employed in a rather chaotic way art workers to mass produce mainly prints and posters but also Other items like shoes designed by the artist. The first location of the Factory was in 231 E. 47th Street, 5th Floor (between 1st 2nd Eve). Whorls favorite printmaking technique was silkscreen. It came closest to his idea of proliferation of art. Apart from being an Art Producing Machine, the Factory served as a filmmaker studio. Warhol made over 300 experimental underground films most rather bizarre and some rather pornographic. His first one was called Sleep and showed nothing else but a man sleeping over six hours, Nearly Murdered In July to 1968 the pop artist was shot two to three times into his chest by a woman named Valerie Solaris. Andy was seriously wounded and only narrowly escaped death. Valerie Solaris had worked occasionally tort the artist in the Factory, Solaris had founded a group named SCUM (Society for Cutting up Men) and she was its sole member. When Valerie Solaris was arrested the day after, her words were He had too much control over my life, Warhol never recovered completely from his wounds and had to wear a bandage around his waist for the est. of his life. Andy Warhol Art in the Seventies After this assassination attempt the pop artist made a radical turn in his process of producing art. The philosopher Of art mass production now spent most Of his time making individual portraits of the rich and affluent of his time like Mice Jaeger, Michael Jackson or Brigit Aboard. Whorls activities became more and more entrepreneurial. He started the magazine Interview and even a night-club. In 1974 the Factory was moved to 860 Broadway. In 1975 Warhol published THE philosophy of Andy Warhol. In this book he describes what art is: Making money s art, and working is art and good business is the best art. A Bizarre Personality Warhol was a homosexual with a slightly bizarre personality. In the fifties he dyed his hair straw-blond. Later he replaced his real hair by blond and silver-grey wigs. The pop artist loved cats, and images of them can be found on quite a few of his art works. One of Antas friends described him as a true workaholic. Warhol was obsessed by the ambition to become famous and wealthy, And he knew he could achieve the American dream only by hard work. In his last years Warhol promoted other artists like Keith Haring or Robert Manipulators. Andy Warhol died February 22, 1987 from complications after a gall bladder operation. More than 2000 people attended the memorial mass at SST. Patriots Cathedral. The pop art icon Warhol was also a religious man -a little known fact. Outwears later, in May 1994 the Andy Warhol Museum opened in his home town Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. Warhol, Andy Related: United States Art Biographies 1928-87, American artist and filmmaker, b. Pittsburgh as Andrew Warhol. The leading exponent Of the pop art movement, Warhol chose his imagery from the world of commonplace objects such as dollar bills, soup cans, soft-drink bottles, ND soap-pad boxes. He is variously credited With attempting to ridicule and to celebrate American middle-class values by erasing the distinction be,even popular and high culture. Monotony and repetition became the hallmark Of his multi-image. Mass-produced silk-screen paintings: for many of these, such as the portraits Of Marilyn Monroe and Jacqueline Kennedy, he employed newspaper photographs. He and his assistants worked out of a large New York studio dubbed the Factory. In the mid. Sass Warhol began making films, suppressing the personal element in marathon essays on boredom. In The Chelsea Girls 1966), a seven-hour voyeuristic look into hotel rooms, he used projection techniques that constituted a startling divergence from established methods. Among his later films are Trash (1971) and L Amour (1973). With Paul Morrissey, in 1974 Warhol also made the films Frankincense and Drachma. In 1973, Warhol launched the magazine Interview, a publication centered upon his fascination with the cult of the cel ebrity. He died from complications following surgery, The Andy Warhol Museum, which exhibits many of his works, opened in Pittsburgh in 1994, led prefer to remain a mystery, never like to give my background and, nap. Ay, I make it all up different every time Im asked. He was one of the most enigmatic figures in American art. His work became the definitive expression of a culture obsessed with images. He was surrounded by a coterie of beautiful bohemians with names like Viva, Candy Darling, and ultra Violet. He held endless drug- and sex-filled parties, through which he never stopped working. Andy Warhol: Influence on the Twentieth Century Pop Art Movement EssayAs Susan Sonata had reported in her seminal 1964 essay Notes on Camp,' camp embraced extravagance, effeminacy, and an obsession with surface appearances. Indeed, the gayness that Warhol projected in both his art and his public persona entrusted sharply with the macho posturing that had dominated the art world in the asses. But such openness carried a price. When Warhol asked why his idols, Jasper Johns and Robert Reassurances, avoided him, a mutual friend, filmmaker Emil De Antonio, answered, Okay, Andy, if you really want to hear it straight, Ill lay it out for you. Youre too swish, and that upsets them In defiance, Warhol emphasized his effeminacy even more. Like Johns and Reassurances, Warhol was influenced by the ideas of Marcel Decamp, manifested particularly in the recycling of imagery that both celebrates and berets modern mass culture. Whorls silk-screened repetitions Fuchs mundane objects as soup cans and Brills boxes, and similarly mass-produced icons such as film stars, made them chic. His appropriations comment, coolly and ironically, on the collapse of the distinction be,even high and popular art, and on modern obsessions With consumer goods and media-manipulated celebrity. From childhood Warhol embraced the myth of stardom. His attraction to the young and famous motivated some Of his first silkscreen paintings, Which were based on images of Troy Donahue and Elvis Presley and date from 1962. Whorls identification with these celebrities is tuft. Fold, both as objects of desire and as role models. But he also screened images of death and disasters taken from the tabloids. When the theme of tragedy coincided with his fascination with stardom, Warhol found the subjects of his best-known groups of celebrity portraits: Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, and Jacqueline Kennedy. In his gold Marilyn series, initiated shortly after her suicide in August 1962, Warhol contrived the effect to a gilded Byzantine icon, but substituted for the Virgin Mary an image whose face is suffused with eroticism. It stunningly evokes the need to love and to be loved. With his increasing success, Warhol became a celebrity himself, Hailed as court painter to the ass, he amassed a fortune, Critics debate whether his later silkscreen portraits celebrate or satirized the worlds of money, glamour, and style that he himself increasingly inhabited. Whorls characteristic attitude remained deadpan; he insisted that his work had no meaning. Despite his persona of decadent artist, Warhol clung to what might seem, in the context of the jet-set glamour of his public image, an archaic piety. He maintained a diet, surreptitious devotion to the Catholic Church. He was never political, and more a voyeuristic dandy than an engaged homosexual. Nevertheless he supported the careers Of gay artists such as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basque. He died on February 22, 1987, soon after gall bladder surgery. His will established a foundation to help young artists. Today Warhol has entered the canon of significant American artists, his importance signaled by the fact that Pittsburgh has named a museum in his honor and retrospectives of his career attract large crowds. As Robert Summers points out, however, even supposedly impressive exhibits distort his achievement by white-washing him as asexual and divesting his work of its queerer content and connections. Warhol, Andy (as artist) (1928-1987) 1 coos. Even his first major appearance as an artist in 1961 was commercial: five paintings as backdrop in a display window at New Works Bobbin Teller department store. Born Andrew Warhol, Jar, on August 6, 1928 into a working- class family in Forest Cubby, Pennsylvania, Warhol attended art school at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, He moved to New York in 1949, Johns and Robert Reassurances Whorls work needs to be seen as part of the intentions pluralism in the arts that characterized the early asses, as artists joined the assault on conventional pieties and prejudices. In 1966 Time because it insisted on reducing art to the trivial, by which Time meant camp. As Susan Sonata had reported in her seminal 1364 essay Notes on Camp,' camp embraced extravagance, effeminacy, and an Obsession With surface appearances. Indeed, the gayness that Warhol projected in both his art and his public persona contrasted sharply With the macho posturing that had dominated the art world in the asses. But such openness carried a price. When Warhol seed Why his idols, Jasper Johns and Robert Reassurances, avoided him, 3 mutual friend, filmmaker Emil De Antonio, answered, Okay, Andy, bayou really want to hear it straight, Ill lay it out for you. Youre too swish, and that upsets them. In defiance, Warhol emphasized his effeminacy even more. Like Johns and Reassurances, Warhol was influenced by the ideas of Marcel Decamp, subverts modern mass culture. Whorls silk-screened repetitions of such and ironically, on the collapse of the distinction between high and popular art, and on modern obsessions with consumer goods and media-manipulated celebrity. From childhood Warhol embraced the myth of stardom, His attraction to the young and famous motivated some of his first silkscreen paintings, which Whorls identification with these celebrities is two-fold, both as objects of desire with stardom, Warhol found the subjects of his best-known groups Of celebrity contrived the effect of a gilded Byzantine icon, but substituted for the Virgin Mary an image Whose face is suffused With eroticism. It stunningly evokes the need to love and to be loved. With his increasing success. Warhol became a celebrity himself. Hailed as court painter to the ass, he amassed a fortune. Critics debate f the jet-set glamour of his public image, an archaic piety, He maintained a and more a voyeuristic dandy than an engaged homosexual, Nevertheless he supported the careers to gay artists such as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basque, He died on February 22, 1987, soon after gall bladder surgery, His will established a foundation to help pun artists. Today Warhol has entered the screenwriter A stencil process in which the stencil is placed on a screen. Ink is forced through the screen onto paper, fabric, or metal, forming a distinct layer of pigment on the surface.

Is The World Running Out Of Oil

Introduction Scientists, geologists and other opinions makers have for years been trying to comprehensively answer the question on whether the world is running out of oil. To this day, there is no comprehensive answer to this question. This research paper argues that the world will not run out of oil as predicted by some environmentalists and geologists.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Is The World Running Out Of Oil? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This argument is based on the fact that although the world has had its fare share of prediction that oil will be depleted sooner, the discovery of new oil fields, and the improvement of new technology which allows for more oil exploration and exploitation have proved that the world still has enough oil resources. Research method This research is based on the review of existing literature Literature review The 20th century was awash with predictions that sugg ested that the world was facing an imminent shortage of oil. Most of these predictions have already been proven as false especially as more oil has been produced in the recent years triggered by more discoveries of oil fields. Deming (b) however observes that even though the predictions have been proven wrong so far, there are new predictions that cast a lot of doubts about the longevity of the oil resource. Key among them is the Hubbert model, â€Å"which assumes that like all natural resources, oil is limited and finite† (1). Deming (b) does not agree with this model. He argues that while conventional oil reserves may be finite, there is no precise way of measuring the ultimate amount of the resource making it even harder to measure it against the world’s consumption of the same. He also points out to the fact that the cumulative production of oil in the last 50 years has been outdone by the sizes of crude oil resources. This has led to an increase of oil reserves in the world. Another notable author who disagrees with the Hubert Model is Bradley, who states that the theory is disapproved by the functional theory (1). But what exactly does the Hubert model state? Well, according to Bradley, the model is bell shaped and seeks to represent the trend that oil production will take over the years. In the model, Hubert predicted that the 1970s would experience a peak in oil production.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This was a right prediction. He also predicted that the US would experience a peak in gas production in the 1970s, but this has long been proven as an errant prediction. Another of his predictions that oil production would reduce considerable beginning in 2000; this has not been proven yet (Bradley 1). The functional theory was developed by Erich Zimmerman and states that any static interpretation of a natural resource i s futile because resources change with social objectives, react to revised standards of living, alter depending with the expertise or knowledge of the people handling them and change as new technology or arts are discovered. In this theory, Zimmerman suggested that man created resources through his knowledge and hence as his knowledge level increase, so would be the resources (Bradley (a) 6). This theory is supported by Deming (a), who argues that the reason why the world has not yet run out of oil despite the many predictions suggesting otherwise could lie in the new technological development. He also states that high oil prices always signal an impeding shortage of supply thus sending oil explorers back to the fields (1). Among the notable oil scares made in the 20th century include the 1916 Model-T scare, the 1918 Gasless-Sunday scare, the 1920-1923 John-Bull Scare, the 1943-1944 Ickes-Petroleum reserve scare, the 1946-1947 Cold-War scare and the 1947 Winter scare. In the 1970s, the world faced similar scares caused directly by politics in the Middle East. They include the 1973 Arab-embargo oil scare, and the 1979 Iranian-revolution oil scare (Deming (a) 2). The ‘predictions of doom’ on oil production have not had an entirely bad effect in the world. Deming (a) notes that the predictions have led to more innovations and today, men know that they do not only have to rely on conventional oil resources but can as well rely on unconventional resources such as oil shales and tar sands for production of oil. Tar sands The exploitation of tar sands began in Canada in 1967 (Deming (b) 4). Over the years, this unconventional oil resource has proven that quite huge amounts to last the world’s oil needs for the next 1000 years can be produced from the same. Although it was challenging at first usually pushing the cost of production high, the newer technology employed currently has brought the costs down while increasing the amount and rate of produ ction. According to Lomborg, the extraction of oil from tar sands in Canada has helped in pushing the prices of the commodity down from 28 US dollars a barrel in 1978 to 11 US dollars a barrel in 2000 (128). Oil shale Oil shale may be more expensive and difficult to extract, but the entire resource in the United States alone is estimated to provide for the country’s oil needs for a period of 26,667 years (Deming (a) 5).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Is The World Running Out Of Oil? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Citing information from the Energy information Agency in the US, Lomborg states that current estimates show that a combination of shale oil and tar sands can help in the production of 550 billion barrels of oil, with the production cost estimated to be approximately 30 US dollars (128). This would then lead to a 50 percent increase in global oil reserves. Lomborg further reveals that the total size of recoverable shale oil through out the world is unbelievable to most people who hold the opinion that the world will run out of oil (128). In the entire world, it is estimated that there are 242 times more resources in shale oil than contemporary resources, which could last the world 5,000 years or more. Just like Deming (a), Sah makes a distinction between oil reserves and oil resources and states that those who predict that the world is running out of oil do so by judging prevailing world consumption of oil against the available oil as available in the reserves (242). By doing this however, they miss the mark because resources are more wide and probably a lot of oil resources are yet to be discovered. The fact that exploration for oil remains an ongoing process means that no geologist or environmentalist can correctly predict the extent of the resource. According to Sah, â€Å"reserves are petroleum (crude and condensate) recoverable from known reservoirs under p revailing economics and technology† (242). The reserves can be equated to any past reserves plus additions to reserves minus any production from the same reserves. Accordingly, oil reserves can change as new technologies for oil exploitation keep on being discovered. The reserves can also be added through the discovery of new oil fields; discovery of new reservoirs; the extension of reservoirs in existing fields; and redefining reserves using newer oil extraction technologies. Tertzakian is another writer who believes that though the world is no where near running out of oil, it is the world unquenchable thirst for ‘cheap oil’ that places much pressure on explorers (8). According to him, the world is better off agreeing that oil in future will take more to find, to drill and exploit. As such, he says that price spikes and other incentives can be used to encourage oil companies to find and drill even more oil wells. Like Lomborg notes, man becomes better in exploit ing resources once he is pushed by the need to do so (125). As such, the world can expect that newer and more efficient technology will keep on being discovered for the sake of finding better ways of not only exploring oil, but exploiting already existing oil fields. Technology is especially significant in the exploration of oil in fields that had been deemed too complex to drill or where the oil drilling process was deemed too expensive.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Analysis and conclusion As observed in the literature review section and unlike what some environmentalists and geologists would make the world believe, there is no immediate need to worry about running out of oil because as Lomborg puts it, â€Å"judging what is left of the oil resources is akin to looking at someone’s refrigerator and arguing that once the food therein is finished, then they will starve to death† (125). To justify the thesis of this research paper, it is important to observe that the oil resource is not a finite entity because in addition to already discovered oil fields, there may be numerous others lying undetected and it can only take exploration and maybe some newer technology to discover them. Since exploration will only be spurred by the need for extra production beyond what the world already has in the reserves, it will take a reduction in production for explorers to spend the money that usually go into the exploration process. Until explorers declare that no more oil fields are being discovered, it is immature for geologists or any other person to declare that indeed the world is running out of oil. Based on the arguments of the authors analyzed herein, it is clear that even those claiming that the oil resource will soon run out have no solid evidence to base their claims. More to this, is the fact that none of the predictions some made as early as 1850s have never come true is evidence enough that after all, no one has the abilities to foretell when a natural resource like oil cannot be produced anymore. This is because as oil exploration continues, the chances of newer oil discoveries increases. New technology development also gives us the assurance that just as long as innovators continue searching for better ways to explore and exploit oil; the world could very well be able to go back to the oil wells and reserves to exploit more oil using more efficient technology. Annotated Bibliography This section gives a brief overview of the sources used in the essay. It contains seven sources (books and journals) which have addressed the oil resources agenda extensively. In this section I have identified the author(s), his argument and his conclusion. Most of these sources have considered the views of oil doomsters who claim that oil is a finite resource and based on this, I have come with proven evidence that shows otherwise. Bradley, Robert. â€Å"Are we Running Out of Oil?† Property and Environment research Center Reports September (2004): 3-6. This report is written by researcher Robert Bradley in response to a National Geographic published in June 2004 claiming that the world was witnessing an end to low-cost oil. Bradley claims that though environmentalist and geologists have always published alarming reports about the extinction of oil, none of their predictions have come true so far. He gives the example of geologist King Hubert who had predicted that oil production would be at its peak i n the 1970, but would hit a deep decline in 2000. According to Bradley, the geologist’s predictions have already been proven wrong by oil production in recent times, with 2003 recording a 2.5 production than was the case in 2000. Supporting the argument that the world is not indeed running out of oil, Bradley cites the work of different authors chief among them Erich Zimmerman. According to Zimmerman’s work, people should not assume that the oil resource is fixed since the extent of natural resources is not known to man. â€Å"Resources are highly dynamic functional concepts; they are not, they become, they evolve out of triune interaction of nature, man and culture in which nature sets outer limits†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Zimmermann 814-15, cited by Bradley 4). In conclusion, Bradley argues that even the lowest oil production periods in the world were not a result of the scarcity of the resource, but as a result of government interventions that blocked oil production hence di storting the oil market processes. Deming, David (a). â€Å"Are we Running out of Oil?† Policy Backgrounder 159 (January 2003): 1-14. Writing for the National Center for Policy Analysis, Deming starts his article by acknowledging that oil resources are non-renewable. He further observes that for more than 150 years, â€Å"harbingers of doom† who include geologists and environmentalists, have been predicting that the world’s oil resources would run dry sooner or later. He however states facts that contradict the positions posed by the scientists. Key among these facts is the continued production of oil throughout the world especially as the 20th century came to an end. Deming also points out that by adjusting oil prices to inflation, it is clear that the prices for petroleum products, gasoline and other oil related products are lower now than they were 150 years ago. His third fact supporting the analogy that the world is not running out of oil is the fact that t he total oil endowment in the world has witnessed a significant increase. As a result, the discovery of new oil resources is higher than the amount that oil driller can take from the ground. To Deming, the ‘gospel’ about extinction of oil has become a favorite past time among prognostics. He for example observes that the US population had been issued with an oil shortage warning even before the first well was ever drilled in the country back in 1859. The writer observes that nature has always proved people who predict an oil shortage wrong through events like the oil glut that was observed in the world in the 1990s. Deming, David (b). Oil: Are we running out? Second Wallace E. Pratt Memorial Conference â€Å"petroleum provinces of the 21st century. Jan. 2000. Web. Deming has written about oil extensively. He specifically appears incensed by people who keep claiming that the oil resource is finite without clearly understanding their allegations. According to him, oil ju st like other fossil fuels can be categorized as either reserves or resources. He defines reserves as the identified oil resources, which awaits extraction and exploitation. Accordingly, he states that reserves keep on expanding as new technological innovations are made in the world. Resources on the other hand include the oil field which have already been identified and those that are yet to be identified. It is because of the definition that he gives to the former that he takes offence with people who keep predicting a looming oil shortage or extinction based or already identified reserves. Citing research from other writers, Deming has done a good job of proving that crude oil reserves in the United States alone grew at the same pace as the consumption rate from 1915 to 1995. Like other authors who oppose the notion that oil is a finite resource, Deming observes that the 20th century was full of ‘false’ predictions which have been proven wrong the cumulative producti on of oil in the same period. He also observes that even if conventional sources would be depleted, man has proven that he can successfully use unconventional resources such as tar sand to produce oil. The author does not doubt that there could be interruptions in supplies and prices as the world tries to make the transition to unconventional sources of oil, but he does state that the world can be sure that the oil potential in the unconventional sources can support the petroleum needs in the world for up to one thousand years. Lomborg, Bjorn. The Skeptical environmentalist: Measuring the real state of the world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Print. In the ‘optimists and pessimists arguing’ subsection of his book, Lomborg addresses the question of why people are bombarded with news about running out of oil, while it actually never happens. He notes that it is odd that human kind is using more and more oil, yet available statistics show that there could be even more oil deposits left. The writer offers three reasons why the world is not running of oil and probably will not in the near future. First, he states that oil being a known resource means that it is â€Å"not a finite entity† (125). He explains that the fact that man does not know all oil fields and hence needs to keep exploring for the same means that there is a probability that he will keep finding new fields with new oil. The second reason pointed by this author is that humankind has become better at exploring and exploiting as demand for resources rise. He explains that new technology has been a major contribution to the extraction of already existing oil fields. In addition, technological innovations are playing a major role in tracing new oil fields, and also enabling oil companies to exploit fields that had previously too difficult or expensive to exploit. The third reason cited by Lomborg is man’s ability to substitute. In his explanation, he argues that man is not specifically interested in oil for the sake of it, but his interest lies in the services that oil provides. This means that he can easily substitute to other sources of fuel, energy and heating when oil becomes too expensive. This then means that oil will only be used for services that cannot be easily be substituted. Sah, S. L. Encyclopedia of petroleum Science Engineering. New Delhi: Gyan Publishing House, 2003. Print In pages 86-87 of this book, Sah documents the significance of the discovery of giant oil fields in different parts of the world. Most importantly, he lists the importance that oil explorers attach to new oil wells. First on the list is the fact that the new fields contribute significantly to the world’s oil reserves. More to this, there is an understanding among geologists that the position of â€Å"tectonic setting, geological history and conditions for hydrocarbon formation†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (183) contribute significantly to the understanding of oi l origin and supply of the same in future. Second on Sah’s list is the fact that the giant fields are not located in one part of the world. It is however notable two thirds of such well are to be found in the Middle East. Third, Sah notes that even though the frequency of giant wells have decreased over the years, some regions like West Africa and Brazil which were previously unexplored continue to offer new prospects to the world oil market. Sah argues that the equation to present oil reserves is attained by adding past reserves to additions made to reserves and then subtracting the production made from such reserves (246). From this equation, he argues that oil reserves and their capacities are bound to change with time especially because new fields keep on being discovered; reservoirs fields keep on being extended; and changes in extraction technology keep presenting extractors with new ways of getting more oil from existing fields. Tertzakian, Peter. A thousand Barrels a Second: The coming oil break point and the challenges facing an energy dependent world. London: McGraw Hill professional, 2007. Print In the first chapter of his book titled â€Å"lighting the last whale lamp†, Tertzakian states categorically that the world is simply not running out of oil. He however observes that the world may be experiencing the cheap oil that is most preferred due to its low sulfur content. According to the writer, the dependency that people place on the cheap oil has grown tremendously over the years and is also facing pressures from forces from business, policy, geopolitical and environmental quotas, which may eventually lead to the growth and dependency reaching a breaking point. The writer is however quick to state that with radical technologies in oil exploration today, this will eventually lead to the rebalancing of oil production, which will in-turn lead to more growth in dependency on the same. Tertzakian notes that any time in the oil production that the world is faced with uncertainties, radical technologies are developed with contribute significantly to a rebalance in production. He however notes that at some point governments have had to impose aggressive taxes on oil products in order to rebalance demand, but this usually happens for a short-term before a solution to the oil production is found. Although this book chapter deals primarily with the whale oil which was sought after for lighting before the invention of kerosene and later the light bulb, Tertzakian draws similarities in the fact that the pressures that face human kind for energy solutions will always lead to greater inventions, which in turn mean that explorers will only give up exploring for oil when it has been completely proven that oil deposits are no more. This is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future. Maugeri, Leornado. â€Å"Oil: Never Cry Wolf—Why The Petroleum Age Is Far From Over.† Science 204. 5674 (2004):1114-1115. This auth or argues that the Hubert model which oil doomsters are using to herald an end to oil is nothing more that geological faith. Maugeri observes that there are no enough geological facts for the oil doomsters to claim that they can specifically predict when the oil resources will cease from being. Although he specifically acknowledges the view that hydrocarbon reserves are finite, he says that it is contrary to the Hubert model for geologists or environmentalists to claim they know just how finite the oil reserves are. Like other authors analyzed herein, Maugeri draws a distinction between the already identified oil resources and the yet-to-be-discovered resources. He argues that besides the geological knowledge that most of the oil doomsters possess, they need also to acknowledge that technological development and economics of oil have taken over the evolution of oil production. Maugeri concludes by stating that â€Å"geology is not destiny, but rather only a part of a much complex p icture that does not indicate the world is running out of oil† (1115). This research paper on Is The World Running Out Of Oil? was written and submitted by user Rhett A. to help you with your own studies. 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