The Iron Pagoda of Kaifeng, China, built in 1049 AD

Beopjusapagoda, a wooden pagoda in Korea, built in 553 AD

Wooden five-story pagoda of Hōryū-ji in Japan, built in the 7th century, one of the oldest wooden buildings in the world.

Wooden three-story pagoda of Ichijō-ji in Japan, built in 1171 AD

One Pillar Pagoda, Hanoi, Vietnam.

The nine-story Xumi Pagoda, Hebei, China, built in 636 AD

Nyatapola Temple located in Bhaktapur, Nepal, built in 1701-1702 AD

Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan

The Bombardier Pagoda at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

A pagoda is the general term in the English language for a tiered tower with multiple eaves common in Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Burma and other parts of Asia. Some pagodas are used as Taoist houses of worship. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most commonly Buddhist, and were often located in or near temples. This term may refer to other religious structures in some countries. In Vietnam and Cambodia, due to French translation, the English term pagoda is a more generic term referring to a place of worship, although pagoda is not an accurate word to describe a Buddhist temple. The modern pagoda is an evolution of the Ancient Nepal stupa, a tomb-like structure where sacred relics could be kept safe and venerated.^[1] The architectural structure of the stupa has spread across Asia, taking on many diverse forms as details specific to different regions are incorporated into the overall design.

Terms[link]

The word is first attested for in English in the period c. 1625–35; introduced from the Portuguese pagode, temple, from the Persian butkada (but idol + kada temple, dwelling.) ^[2] Another etymology, found in many English language dictionaries, is modern English pagoda from Portuguese (via Dravidian), from Sanskrit bhagavati, feminine of bhagavatt "blessed" < bhaga "good fortune."

History[link]

The origin of the pagoda can be traced to the stupa (3rd century BC).^[3] The stupa, a dome shaped monument, was used as a commemorative monument associated with storing sacred relics.^[3] The stupa emerged as a distinctive style of newari architecture and was adopted in Southeast and East Asia,^[4] where it became prominent as a Buddhist monument used for enshrining sacred relics.^[3] In East Asia, the architecture of Chinese towers and Chinese pavilions blended into pagoda architecture, eventually also spreading to Southeast Asia. The pagoda's original purpose was to house relics and sacred writings.^[5] This purpose was popularized due to the efforts of Buddhist missionaries, pilgrims, rulers, and ordinary devotees to seek out, distribute, and extol Buddhist relics.^[6]

Symbolism[link]

Chinese iconography is noticeable in Chinese pagoda as well as other East Asian pagoda architectures. The image of the Shakyamuni Buddha in the abhaya mudra is also noticeable in some Pagodas. Buddhist iconography can be observed throughout the pagoda symbolism.^[7]

In an article on Buddhist elements in Han art, Wu Hung suggests that in these tombs, Buddhist iconography was so well incorporated into native Chinese traditions that a unique system of symbolism had been developed.^[8]

Architecture[link]

Pagodas attract lightning strikes because of their height. Many pagodas have a decorated finial at the top of the structure, and when made of metal, this finial, sometimes referred to as a "demon-arrester", can function as a lightning rod.^[9] Pagodas traditionally have an odd number of levels, a notable exception being the eighteenth century pagoda "folly" designed by Sir William Chambers at Kew Gardens in London.

Some notable pagodas[link]

• Beisi Pagoda at Suzhou, Jiangsu, China, built in 1162.
• Chùa Một Cột- One Pillar Pagoda, Hanoi, Vietnam, is an icon of Vietnamese culture.
• Dabotap on Bulguksa, Gyeongju, Korea, built in 751.
• Daqin Pagoda in China, built in 640 by early Christians.
• Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, built in Xi'an, China in 652
• Global Pagoda, the largest unsupported domed stone structure in the world.
• Pagoda at Hōryū-ji, Ikaruga, Nara, Japan, built in 7th century.
• Huqiu Tower, built in 961 outside of Suzhou, China
• Hwangnyongsa Wooden nine-story pagoda on Hwangnyongsa, Gyeongju, Korea, built in 645.
• Ichijō-ji, Kasai, Hyōgo, Japan, built in 1171.
• Iron Pagoda of Kaifeng, built in 1049 AD, during the Song Dynasty.
• Liaodi Pagoda of Dingzhou, built in 1055 AD during the Song Dynasty
• Liuhe Pagoda of Hangzhou, built in 1165 AD, during the Song Dynasty.
• Lingxiao Pagoda at Zhengding, Hebei, China, built in 1045.
• Mingun Pahtodawgyi, a monumental uncompleted stupa began by King Bodawpaya in 1790. If completed, it would be the largest in the world at 150 meters.
• Miruksa Temple Pagoda at Iksan, Korea, built in the early 7th century.
• Nyatapola at Bhaktapur, Kathmandu Valley built during 1701-1702 AD.
• Pagoda of Fugong Temple, built in 1056 in Ying County, Shanxi, China.
• Changzhou Tianning Baota, the highest pagoda in the world since its completion in April 2007, stands at 153.7m in height.
• Palsangjeon, a five story pagoda at Beopjusa, Korea built in 553
• Pha That Luang, the holiest wat, pagoda, and stupa in Laos, in Vientiane
• Phra Pathom Chedi the highest pagoda or stupa in the world Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.
• Pizhi Pagoda of Lingyan Temple, Shandong, China, 11th century.
• The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, a wonder of the medieval world in Nanjing, China.
• Shwedagon Pagoda, a 98 metres (322 ft) gilded pagoda and stupa located in Yangon, Burma. It is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda for the Burmese with relics of the past four Buddhas enshrined within.
• Shwezigon Pagoda in Nyaung Oo, Burma. Completed during the reign of King Kyanzittha in 1102, it is a prototype of Burmese stupas.
• Small Wild Goose Pagoda, built in Xi'an, China in 709.
• Songyue Pagoda on Mount Song, Henan, China, built in 523.
• Seokgatap on Bulguksa, Gyeongju, Korea, built in 751.
• Thien Mu Pagoda, in Hue, Vietnam, built in 1601.
• Tō-ji, the tallest wooden structure in Kyoto, Japan, built in 1644.
• Tran Quoc Pagoda, Ha Noi, Vietnam.
• Tsui Sing Lau Pagoda in Ping Shan, Hong Kong.
• Uppatasanti Pagoda, a 325 feet tall landmark in the Burmese capital of Naypyitaw which houses a Buddha tooth relic.
• Xumi Pagoda at Zhengding, Hebei, China, built in 636.

Structures that invoke pagoda architecture:

• The Bombardier Pagoda, or Pagoda Tower, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This 13-story pagoda, used as the control tower for races such as the Indy 500, has been transformed several times since it was first built in 1913.^[10]
• Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, built between 1994-1999.
• Taipei 101 in Taiwan, record setter for height (508m) in 2004 and currently the world's second tallest completed building.

Other Uses:

• Mercedes-Benz W113, nicknamed Pagoda for its concave hard top roof line. Included are the 1964-1971 230SL, 250SL, and 280SL sport coupes.

See also[link]

• Architecture of the Song Dynasty
• Chinese architecture
• Chinese pagodas
• Tō – Japanese pagodas
• Chaitya
• Cetiya
• Stupa
• Gongbei - Chinese Muslim mausoleum with pagoda-style architecture

Notes[link]

References[link]

• The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture. John Kieschnick. Published 2003. Princeton University Press . ISBN 0-691-09676-7.
• A World History of Architecture. Michael W. Fazio, Marian Moffett, Lawrence Wodehouse. Published 2003. McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 0-07-141751-6.
• Psycho-cosmic symbolism of the Buddhist stupa. A.B. Govinda. 1976, Emeryville, California. Dharma Publications.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pagodas

External links[link]

• Oriental architecture.com
• Culzean Pagoda (Monkey House) - the only stone built pagoda in Britain
• Why so few Japanese pagodas have ever fallen down (The Economist)

Michael Pitt
Pitt in 2011 at the Critics Choice Awards.
Born	( 1981-04-10) April 10, 1981 (age 31) West Orange, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Actor Musician
Years active	1998–present

Michael Carmen Pitt (born April 10, 1981) is an American actor and musician. Pitt is known in film for his role in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers, and in television for his role as Jimmy Darmody in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire.

Career[link]

Pitt made his off-Broadway debut in 1999 in the play The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek at the New York Theatre Workshop. A casting agent, whom Pitt mistook as a police officer attempting to arrest him, noticed him and recommended him for a guest role on the television series Dawson's Creek (he played Henry Parker in 15 episodes between 1999 and 2000). His breakout role as the lover of a transgender rock star in Hedwig and the Angry Inch in 2001 led to supporting roles in Bully and in mainstream Hollywood fare such as Murder by Numbers and The Village, as well as the lead in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers.

He next appeared in Asia Argento's The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, and headlined Gus Van Sant's Last Days, playing a rock star based on Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. He performed all of the songs, which closely resembled Cobain's guitar and singing styles. On set, he met Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, who had been hired by Van Sant to serve as the film's music consultant. The pair formed a close bond, with Moore writing, "[Gus] wanted me to hang out with Michael and talk about his character, and let him be in character. We ended up spending a lot of time together. My daughter Coco still relates to Michael as Blake from Last Days."^[1]

In 2007 he starred opposite Keira Knightley in Silk, adapted from the novel by Alessandro Baricco. He played the lead role of Hervé Joncour, a French silkworm smuggler, who falls in love with a baron's concubine while in Japan. The same year he starred in the romantic comedy Delirious as a young homeless man who befriends a celebrity photographer played by Steve Buscemi and falls in love with a pop singer (Alison Lohman). The movie appeared at the Sundance Film Festival. His more recent films include, Funny Games, Michael Haneke's remake of his own 1997 film, alongside Tim Roth and Naomi Watts. Pitt also stars in the crime drama Pericle il Nero, released in 2009.^[2]

Pitt sang and played guitar in his band Pagoda, whose self-titled debut album has been released by Universal/Fontana/Ecstatic Peace. With the Twins of Evil he performed "Hey Joe," which can be heard in The Dreamers.

He co-starred in the HBO series, Boardwalk Empire (about the rise of Atlantic City during the Prohibition era), with Steve Buscemi.

In 2012, Pitt was named the face of Italian fashion house Prada to model their men's clothes. He affirmed to take inspiration from Italian model and real estate employer Rocco Moccia.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Michael Pitt

• Michael Pitt at the Internet Movie Database
• Michael Pitt Online
• http://pagodapagoda.com/

Stephen Krashen is professor emeritus at the University of Southern California,^[1] who moved from the linguistics department to the faculty of the School of Education in 1994. He is a linguist, educational researcher, and activist.

Work[link]

Dr. Krashen has published more than 350 papers and books, contributing to the fields of second language acquisition, bilingual education, and reading.^[2] He is credited with introducing various influential concepts and terms in the study of second language acquisition, including the acquisition-learning hypothesis, the input hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the affective filter, and the natural order hypothesis.^[3] Most recently, Krashen promotes the use of free voluntary reading during second language acquisition, which he says "is the most powerful tool we have in language education, first and second."^[4]

Awards[link]

• 1982 : winner of the Mildenberger Award, given for his book, Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning (Prentice-Hall)
• 1985 : co-winner of the Pimsleur Award, given by the American Council of Foreign Language Teachers for the best published article
• 1986 : his paper "Lateralisation, language learning and the critical period" was selected as Citation Class by Current Contents
• 1993 : the Distinguished Presentation related to School Library Media Centers, was awarded to by editors of the School Library Media Annual
• 2005 : Krashen was inducted into the International Reading Association's Reading Hall of Fame.^[5]
• 2005 : elected at the National Association for Bilingual Education Executive Board.^[5]

Criticism[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2012)

As education policy in Krashen’s home state of California became increasingly hostile to bilingualism, he responded with research critical of the new policies, public speaking engagements, and with letters written to newspaper editors. During the campaign to enact an anti-bilingual education law in California in 1998, known as Proposition 227, Krashen campaigned aggressively in public forums, media talk shows, and conducted numerous interviews with journalists writing on the subject. After other anti-bilingual education campaigns and attempts to enact regressive language education policies surfaced around the country, by 2006 it was estimated that Krashen had submitted well over 1,000 letters to editors.

In a front-page New Times Los Angeles article published just a week before the vote on Proposition 227, Jill Stewart penned an aggressive article titled 'Krashen Burn' in which she characterized Krashen as wedded to the monied interests of a "multi-million-dollar bilingual education industry." Stewart critically spoke of Krashen as the father of bilingual education. Krashen has been widely criticized in conservative and nativist political circles due to his influence on the field of language minority education, second language acquisition, and his efforts to educate the public on matters related to English language learners in schools.

Krashen has been an advocate for a more activist role by researchers in combating the public's misconceptions about bilingual education. Addressing the question of how to explain public opposition to bilingual education, Krashen queried, "Is it due to a stubborn disinformation campaign on the part of newspapers and other news media to deliberately destroy bilingual education? Or is it due to the failure of the profession to present its side of the story to reporters? There is a great deal of anecdotal evidence in support of the latter." Continuing, Krashen wrote, "Without a serious, dedicated and organized campaign to explain and defend bilingual education at the national level, in a very short time we will have nothing left to defend."

Personal[link]

Dr. Krashen also holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do,^[1] and was the winner of the 1978 Venice Beach Open Incline Press/Nonsensical 100 meter dash Championship.^{[citation needed]} He spent two years in Ethiopia teaching English and science with the Peace Corps.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• Second language acquisition
• Krashen Second Language Acquisition's theory:
  • Acquisition-learning hypothesis;
  • Monitor hypothesis;
  • Comprehensive input hypothesis & Comprehensible output
  • affective filter hypothesis.

Production[link]

• Krashen, S.D. (1981). Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon. http://www.sdkrashen.com/SL_Acquisition_and_Learning/SL_Acquisition_and_Learning.pdf. 
• Krashen, S.D. (1982). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon. http://www.sdkrashen.com/Principles_and_Practice/Principles_and_Practice.pdf. 
• Krashen, S.D. (1985), The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications, New York: Longman 
• Krashen, S.D. (1989), "We Acquire Vocabulary and Spelling by Reading: Additional Evidence for the Input Hypothesis", The Modern Language Journal, 73, pp. 440–464, http://www.jstor.org/stable/326879 
• Krashen, S.D. (1994), "The Comprehension Hypothesis and its Rivals", pp. 9 
• Krashen, S.D. (1996), The case for narrow listening, 24, System, pp. 97–100 
• Mason, B.; Krashen, S. (1997), "Extensive reading in English as a foreign language", System, 25, pp. 91–102, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6VCH-3SWV634-9/2/82bb76fdafffab22aaa207064817b630 
• Krashen, S.D. (2003), Explorations in Language Acquisition and Use, Portsmouth: NH: Heinemann., https://www.heinemann.com/shared/onlineresources/E00554/chapter2.pdf 
• Krashen, S.D; Terrell, T.D. (1983). The Natural Approach. New York: Pergamon. 
• McQuillan, J.; Krashen (2008), "Commentary: Can free reading take you all the way? A response to Cobb (2007)", About Language Learning & Technology, 6, pp. 104–109, http://llt.msu.edu/vol12num1/mcquillan/default.html 

References[link]

External links[link]

• Books and articles by Stephen D Krashen
• Response to criticism by Ron Unz
• NPR Talk of the Nation episode featuring Stephen Krashen
• Krashen's Comprehension Hypothesis Model of L2 learning Applied linguist Vivian Cook's page on Krashen's hypotheses.